gus what was your impression of berlin?
City felt alive open to ideas trying to build something
In New York the atmosphere's that the city stopped growing a long time ago, so you can just squabble over the spoils. Status, recognition—these are zero-sum games. More credential-hungry, all about what you do institutionally
Berlin, with blockchain, they're straight up inventing new value out of thin-air. It's a bit more positive sum, bit more of a Wild West, less reverent less neoliberal
The bleakness of any urban youth culture is still there—the petty jealousies, the polyamorous distractions, the "this shit's so high school." But it's better.
And the affordable Vietnamese/Thai/Indian on every corner rules
Wish there were more all-hours coffeeshops, types that stayed open til 10/11, where you could work, & go from caffeine to alcohol at some point when the sun goes down