The Human Revolution with Dylan Bain

New Year's is a time to reflect and ponder resolutions. Maybe you want to lose weight by eating more healthily or exercising more frequently. Maybe you want to read more books, discover new music, or see your friends more often. The list goes on.

But resolutions like these are usually abandoned by mid-January because they leave little room for meaningful growth. They force you to change your habits through sheer willpower, rather than work to change your attitudes and motivation.

If you're one of the many people who struggle to keep their New Year's resolutions, you might be better off setting a New Year's theme instead.

In this episode, Dylan talks about New Year's themes as a realistic and viable alternative to New Year's resolutions and how you can create yours.

Show Highlights

• [02:07] On the time-honored tradition of New Year's resolutions
• [04:06] Weight loss as a New Year's resolution
• [10:44] On setting a New Year's theme instead of a resolution
• [12:39] Why your New Year's theme has to be broad
• [15:20] Why your New Year's theme needs to be directional
• [16:27] Why your New Year's theme has to be resonant

Links and Resources

• Your Theme - CGP Grey
• Fiscally Savage
• Fiscally Savage Tools
• Fiscally Savage on Instagram
• Fiscally Savage on Facebook
• Fiscally Savage on Twitter

Crypto investors have had their share of market meltdowns this year. Last month, all eyes were on the cryptocurrency exchange FTX, whose founder and former CEO, Sam Bankman-Fried, was recently arrested by Bahamian authorities in connection with multiple fraud charges involving FTX.

The FTX collapse has sent shockwaves through the crypto space and will likely continue to do so for some time. But how exactly did a once multi-billion dollar company implode so spectacularly?

In the last episode ​​of this four-part series on cryptocurrency, Dylan attempts to make sense of the dumpster fire that is the FTX collapse. Who is Sam Bankman-Fried? Where did things go wrong for FTX? What are the broader consequences of this fiasco for the cryptocurrency industry? And what can we learn from all of this?

Show Highlights

• [03:29] On Sam Bankman-Fried's background
• [07:54] What FTX is
• [09:58] Why it's not unusual for startups to be dumpster fires
• [13:38] On Alameda Research and Caroline Ellison
• [20:23] On the relationship between FTX and Alameda
• [23:06] The beginning of the end for FTX
• [28:12] Why the FTX collapse gets compared to Enron
• [31:00] On Sam Bankman-Fried admitting to fraud in YouTube interviews
• [38:07] Takeaways from the FTX scandal

Links and Resources

• Part 3: Down the Rabbit Hole: A Decentralized Finance Primer
• Part 2: Making Sense of Bitcoin and the Blockchain
• Part 1: Money Talks: What Money Is and How It Works
• Fiscally Savage
• Fiscally Savage Tools
• Fiscally Savage on Instagram
• Fiscally Savage on Facebook
• Fiscally Savage on Twitter

Books Mentioned

• The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine by Michael Lewis

With Christmas just around the corner, brands and retailers are keen to make the most of the holiday rush, blasting ad after ad of children opening presents, families eating together, and similar moments that tug at people's heartstrings.

But make no mistake. Advertisements are never as innocent as they seem.

In this week's episode, Dylan unwraps the truth about advertising, the ways they evoke emotion, and what we can do about it.

Show Highlights

• [04:34] What advertising is
• [09:08] What advertisements are designed to do
• [09:56] How advertisements play on fear to sell products and services
• [12:07] How advertisements exploit our sense of community
• [14:10] On advertisement as emotional manipulation
• [16:22] The type of people advertising doesn't work on

Links and Resources

• Fiscally Savage
• Fiscally Savage Tools
• Fiscally Savage on Instagram
• Fiscally Savage on Facebook
• Fiscally Savage on Twitter

Decentralized Finance (DeFi) is an emerging financial technology that is based on peer-to-peer transactions through blockchain technology. Via blockchain, DeFi increases access to financial services, circumventing traditional financial institutions like banks.

But DeFi is constantly evolving. And because it is unregulated, it is riddled with infrastructural mishaps and controversies.

In part three of this four-part series on cryptocurrency, Dylan talks about DeFi and how it works, its promises, and what it could mean for the future of finance.

Show Highlights

• [02:45] A real-world example of a "pseudocryptocurrency"
• [05:01] DeFi and its promise
• [08:30] How Bitcoin fueled the Canadian truckers' protest
• [11:18] Why DeFi isn't unstoppable and untrackable
• [12:53] How the Canadian truckers' protest proved the FBI can seize cryptocurrencies
• [13:51] Why DeFi isn't anonymous
• [15:38] Why DeFi can't and shouldn't be judged by its current abilities
• [17:56] On whether cryptocurrency will be a core part of a future financial system

Links and Resources

• Part 2: Making Sense of Bitcoin and the Blockchain
• Part 1: Money Talks: What Money Is and How It Works
• Fiscally Savage
• Fiscally Savage Tools
• Fiscally Savage on Instagram
• Fiscally Savage on Facebook
• Fiscally Savage on Twitter

There is an emotional element in our attitudes and decision-making around money. And when that element takes over, financial challenges like overspending can occur.

In this episode, Dylan walks us through the emotional wounds that lead to overspending, the ways we fall victim to them, and how we can take back control over our personal finances.

Show Highlights

• [03:05] The four things that are at the root of most people's overspending
• [04:29] How the childlike excitement over having money dovetails with overspending and retail therapy
• [07:08] How having more money than normal can inflate our sense of safety and security
• [10:10] On the idea of nobility in poverty
• [15:41] Self-doubt about money and how it leads to overspending

Links and Resources

• Fiscally Savage
• Fiscally Savage Tools
• Fiscally Savage on Instagram
• Fiscally Savage on Facebook
• Fiscally Savage on Twitter

Books Mentioned

• Wild at Heart: Discovering The Secret of a Man's Soul by John ​​Eldredge

14 years ago, a mysterious individual or group of people known only by the pseudonym "Satoshi Nakamoto" published the Bitcoin Whitepaper. It introduced Bitcoin as the world's first and most valuable entrant in the emerging class of digital assets known as cryptocurrencies and outlined the original plan and protocol for Bitcoin.

In part two of this four-part series on cryptocurrency, Dylan discusses Bitcoin and the technological fundamentals outlined in the Bitcoin Whitepaper.

Show Highlights

• [01:14] The foundations of Bitcoin
• [03:42] Why Bitcoin's foundations play into the idea that money is emotional
• [06:41] Possible relevance of the name "Satoshi Nakamoto"
• [07:34] What was happening when the Bitcoin Whitepaper was released
• [12:46] Why people didn't have faith in anything financial prior to Bitcoin's creation
• [14:14] The Bitcoin Whitepaper explained
• [17:23] Why Bitcoin doesn't function as a medium of exchange
• [19:53] Why Bitcoin doesn't serve as a store of value
• [20:59] Why Bitcoin doesn't act as a unit of account
• [22:44] The possible intent of the Bitcoin Whitepaper

Links and Resources

• Money Talks: What Money Is and How It Works
• Fiscally Savage
• Fiscally Savage Tools
• Fiscally Savage on Instagram
• Fiscally Savage on Facebook
• Fiscally Savage on Twitter

Books Mentioned

• Wild at Heart: Discovering The Secret of a Man's Soul by John ​​Eldredge

Security. Zero debt. Passive income. These are just some of the many different visions people have of what it means to be financially successful.

However, these are merely pseudovisions, i.e., things that society tells you will somehow make you complete, like a college degree, a high-paying job, and a house with a yard and a white picket fence.

But if you are to take control of your financial life and live free, you need to create an authentic vision, one that is gripping, inherently emotional, and grounded in your reality.

In this episode, Dylan discusses the importance of creating a financial vision for the future, pseudovisions and how they lead to the civilized path, and how you can make a vision that speaks to you and you alone.

Show Highlights

• [03:43] What a lack of financial vision looks like
• [06:02] How pseudovisions can keep you from taking control of your financial life
• [08:50] The importance of creating an authentic vision for your life
• [16:06] Identify your vision by writing your own obituaries
• [17:48] Three sentence stems that can help you determine your wants and goals
• [21:25] Assess your vision by spending a day by yourself oudoors

Links and Resources

• Fiscally Savage
• Fiscally Savage Tools
• Fiscally Savage on Instagram
• Fiscally Savage on Facebook
• Fiscally Savage on Twitter

Books Mentioned

• The Way of Men by Jack Donovan

Cryptocurrencies have demonstrated their value in recent years. Bitcoin, for instance, is worth over $16,000 today, and there are currently over 19,000,000 Bitcoins in circulation.

But apart from the declared price of cryptocurrencies, those invested in them appear to rely on a perceived "inherent value" of cryptocurrencies, something that fiat currency — like the US dollar — generally does not have. This, among other things, has sparked debates over whether cryptocurrencies are better than "real" money and whether they are the future of finance.

In this episode, Dylan gets to the heart of money, laying the foundation for future discussions on cryptocurrencies and the evolving cryptocurrency market.

Show Highlights

• [04:11] The basic definition of money
• [07:05] Why money is a concept or an agreed-upon fiction
• [08:11] The definition of currency
• [08:55] The three types of money
• [12:42] How gold began as only a representative form of money, not money itself
• [16:47] The three functions of money
• [22:09] Why gold functions as a commodity

Links and Resources

• Fiscally Savage
• Fiscally Savage Tools
• Fiscally Savage on Instagram
• Fiscally Savage on Facebook
• Fiscally Savage on Twitter

Books Mentioned

• Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari
• The Jungle by Upton Sinclair

Money and emotion go hand in hand. We work hard to take care of ourselves, provide for our families, and save up for the future, so it's hardly surprising that money is an emotional topic for many people.

In this episode of Fiscally Savage, Dylan talks about the dynamic between emotions and money, how emotions can affect your financial decision-making, and why managing your money starts with your emotions.

Show Highlights

• [03:24] Why money is emotional
• [05:35] Why money is foundational to Maslow's hierarchy of needs
• [08:52] The relationship between logic and the emotions of money
• [12:08] Example of how emotions drive decision-making
• [15:25] On retail therapy and emotional spending
• [17:12] How emotions come into play when we judge ourselves for spending
• [20:18] Examples of money wounds
• [25:08] Why we shouldn't stress too much about our finances

Links and Resources:

• Fiscally Savage
• Fiscally Savage Tools
• Fiscally Savage on Instagram
• Fiscally Savage on Facebook
• Fiscally Savage on Twitter

Practically everything served at a traditional Thanksgiving dinner is heavily domesticated, from roast turkey and mashed potatoes to cranberry sauce and corn on the cob.

But, as the saying goes, it takes one to know one. That is to say, humans are just as much a product of domestication as dogs or cows are. But that's not necessarily a bad thing.

In this episode, we take a look at domestication in the wake of Thanksgiving. What is it? How did we domesticate animals and plants? And what does this process say about us, humans?

Show Highlights

• [03:10] The process of domestication
• [05:07] Four requirements for animals in order for humans to domesticate them
• [10:25] Thanksgiving dinner stapes that are heavily domesticated
• [14:10] Why domestication applies to humans as well
• [17:22] The results of domestication in humans
• [20:17] When the domestication of humans possibly began
• [25:46] Steps for coming to terms with the idea of human domestication
• [28:41] Closing statements

Links and Resources

• Fiscally Savage
• Fiscally Savage Tools
• Fiscally Savage on Instagram
• Fiscally Savage on Facebook
• Fiscally Savage on Twitter

Books Mentioned

• The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals by Michael Pollan
• Tribe: On Homecoming and Belonging by Sebastian Junger