Recently I left the house during daytime to go for some errands in a more crowded area of Tokyo. It was impressive to see 99.9% of the people all dutifully wearing a mask, even in the open and in spots that are not so crowded. I personally wear a mask when I enter a closed area, mostly out of respect, because there's a stronger demand to do so, because there's an obvious limitation of the air circulation. In the open however I consider it as an excess, and I think that people should consider reclaiming the freedom of not being muzzled as much as possible.

I guess that many don't take the mask off because it's easier to leave it on. Some I'm sure actually like the idea of a mask. Maybe because it gives them more privacy, maybe because they truly feel that they are "saving lives".

I'll assume however that most people would rather go back to the default of not wearing a cloth also for their face. By now we've heard contradictions on just about anything regarding COVID-19. Yet, most people would rather live a guided life, one where there's no questioning of authority, even in face of obvious contradictions and even at the cost of personal freedom.

Part of me wishes that people would realize that this level of conformity is dangerous to themselves and to society. Lack of individuality can be used to further truly evil plans, but it's also a state in which mediocrity can flourish at the expense of exceptionalism, without which technology and society can't evolve.

The other part of me is "black pilled", if most people are happy with being guided by politicians and high priests of creative science, to the detriment of their freedoms, then perhaps they deserve it. What is my place in all of this then ? Should I scream from the rooftops and try to tell everyone that life is not that good if you're just another brick in the wall, or should I perhaps come to terms with the fact that that's just how society is right now, and if I can't fight the social engineers, then perhaps I should join them ?

If people are willing to be scammed, maybe that's what they deserve and maybe I need to take a piece of that. I suppose that by trading the markets I'm already making a buck out of people's stupidity, because it's likely that most of what my algorithms earn comes from the "dumb money", from people that jump into trading thinking that money is there for the taking, while it's only really there because them and their peers are losing it.

However it goes, I'll always value family and friends, and I still consider myself as a good guy, but in some ways life is a zero sum game. Help those that want to be helped, but don't break your back to help those that act like sheep and are begging to be taken to the slaughter.