The Side Hustle That Ate the World

I’ve been feeling a specific kind of exhaustion. Is it only me? I doubt it. I think every one of us feels exactly the same.

It feels like we’ve entered an era of total over-monetization. That’s right. We’re suffering severe over-monetization. The pothole in the cultural highway was when ads started showing up in the comments section—brad573 ranting next to an ad for a secret path to personal wealth.

The side hustle has somehow become the main hustle, and the main hustle has split into a zillion exhausting pieces. The world is a glass ashtray full of matchbook-cover ads. (Ask your parents.)

Everything online is fake. We’re in a rip-tide of an over-monetized, AI-generated world where every hobby needs a premium tier, every thought needs an optimization strategy, and every creative outlet is treated like a founder’s wet dream. I’m a founder, you’re a founder, every son and daughter is a founder.

I find myself staring bug-eyed at my screens, asking: How do I actually get off this ride? How do we find our way back to things that are slow, messy, and real? Is Maine an option?

📴 My Small Revolts This Week

Because I'm trying to be Action Man, not just back porch writer, I put together  three completely un-optimized, un-monetizable things I did this week to feel human:

• [Action 1 - Make it offline]: I scored the 6th game of the ALCS in a scorebook in ink. The only bummer was the Rays won, and I immortalized it.

• [Action 2 - Make it analog]: I worked out fingerings for a jig on my Celtic bouzouki in my head. I found that a totally liberating mental exercise.

• [Action 3 - Make it quiet]: I took a walk with Buddy by the lake with no music, podcast, or audiobook in my ears. I listened to waves crashing on the shore. Winter is coming.

💬 Can we opt out?

We all have an off-grid dream of living in the woods and only having a moose for a friend, don’t we? But moose aren't actually that friendly, so I guess we need to talk about fixing the internet. Would it help if I wrote a PDF called Ten Ways To Be More Human In Elon World and sold it for $7.99?