Cihan 🦍⚡️

Institutional grade yield for the historically disenfranchised. savUSD means anyone with a wallet can access the kind of structured, risk-adjusted yield that used to be gatekept for institutions. Movement is building financial infrastructure for the global south. We’re just getting started.

Traveling to Turkey opened my eyes to how relatively miserable our American culture is towards families. Almost every sit down restaurant in Turkey had designated kids areas, some even had actual indoor playgrounds. There are always kid specific treats, chairs, and attractions. My daughter was 1 years old and I swear every single waiter and waitress picked her up, showed her love and doted on her. Genuine smiles and happiness. Contrast that to the typical first parent nightmare of kids crying on a plane or restaurant. Or a kid having a meltdown in the grocery store because they want candy and you said no. That perceived feeling that everyone is judging you. You might say “well Torab, that’s just your perception, doesn’t mean it’s true.” Fair point, but the question is why didn’t I feel that way in Turkey? In Turkey, children are just seen as essential fabrics of society, as they should be. So why does typical city American culture feel so adversarial towards kids? My take is simple: because younger adults (18-32) generally live alone or with other adults. They don’t have to deal with kids. As a result their child empathy muscles atrophy and patience becomes thinner and thinner. This is why it sucks to be the first person in your group of friends to have a kid. You are more likely to change plans, be late, have to leave early, kid throws up, step away to change diapers, etc. This can be really annoying for the friends who haven’t experienced kids of their own, or haven’t dealt with kids for a while. You forget how kids are. Both the enchanting splendor of their imaginations, and the stinky rotten diaper smell. It’s also the same reason why we lack empathy with the elderly. We don’t meaningfully interact with them in a daily basis. The moment they can’t be fully independent, we ship them off to senior homes. As a result we create a fake world where we are almost exclusively surrounded by fully capable adults, with full autonomy and independence. The empathy muscles continues to atrophy. This is also why modern relationships are so difficult. Most people settle down in their 30’s, after their personalities have ossified. If you are used to unilaterally choosing where to go, what to wear, what to eat, when to sleep, when to gym, when to work, etc…it’s aggravating to have to give up any portion of that autonomy to another person, even if you love them. What am I supposed to take away from this diatribe? Spend more time with kids. Spend more time with the elderly. Touch grass anon.