$633M gay certification contracts
California's CPUC established procurement goals requiring large utilities to direct $633 million in contracts to state-certified LGBT-owned businesses by 2024.
Snapshot · Modern Wisdom
The Most Important Questions Of Our Time - George Mack - #1124
Explore episode
Jul 16, 2026
Where this was said
Do Trends in the East Always Translate to the West?
At 27:24 · chapter starts 17:43
George introduces Montaigne's lists — the philosopher's private collection of culturally strange practices across history (killing your father at a certain age, grinding the dead into wine at funerals, judging weddings by how many of the groom's friends slept with the bride) — as a tool for reminding himself that all norms are arbitrary. [1] — George Mack "Normal person: 17 tsp sugar/day: George Mack's 'modern normal' list includes consuming 17 teaspoons of sugar per day, $104,755 in debt, bei…" 21:02 He then delivers a modern update, cataloguing the current Western 'normal' as 17 teaspoons of sugar daily, $104,755 in debt, 30 pounds overweight, 22.3 hours spent indoors, and 20 years of screen time across a lifetime. Chris adds the beard-wearer Joseph Parker who was imprisoned in 1830s Massachusetts for refusing to shave. The conversation shifts to which Asian trends actually migrate West: live shopping hasn't crossed over despite years of predictions, while South Korea's 'dopamine websites' — where users browse food menus they can't actually order from — represent a more intriguing behavioural export. Japan's enforced subway silence, where even whispering is taboo, is offered as a reminder of how much of identity is just postcode.
Montaigne's List for the 21st Century
George Mack reimagines Montaigne's famous collection of bizarre cultural norms — applied to modern life. The result: 17 teaspoons of sugar daily, $104K in debt, 30 pounds overweight, less than 10 minutes of silence a day, and 20 years of life spent on TV and social media. This is 'normal.'
Normal person: 17 tsp sugar/day
George Mack's 'modern normal' list includes consuming 17 teaspoons of sugar per day, $104,755 in debt, being 30 pounds overweight, and spending 22.3 hours indoors daily.
Normal: 20 years on TV/social media
The average person will spend 20 years of their life watching TV or scrolling social media, according to George Mack's 'modern normal' statistics.
California's $633M Gay Certification Program
California's CPUC requires large utilities to direct up to $633 million in contracts to state-certified LGBT-owned businesses. Qualifying requires letters from personal contacts on company letterhead attesting to your homosexuality — and falsely claiming the certification carries up to a year in jail.
Similar snapshots
8 states have filed social media lawsuits
A total of 8 states have filed lawsuits against social media platforms, including an ongoing case in Tennessee, using product liability and public nuisance theories to seek accountability.
France built 56 nuclear plants in the 1970s
France built 56 nuclear plants in the 1970s and now has the cheapest energy in Europe, making it independent of Russian or Middle Eastern energy geopolitics.
Estonia has one tax form
Estonia has a single tax form, a law preventing the government from asking citizens for the same information twice, and a flat rate of tax — enabling competitive taxation.
Lisbon legalised drugs and slashed crime
Portugal's Lisbon, once a city with a major heroin problem, legalised drugs and redirected enforcement spending into rehabilitation and housing, dramatically reducing crime.
Boland Amendment vote: 411-0
The first Boland Amendment banning CIA and Defense Department funds for the Contras passed the House unanimously — yet the Reagan administration ignored it.
Saudi Arabia donated $32M to Contras
Over just two years, Saudi Arabia alone donated $32 million to the Contra rebels, giving loosely affiliated factions millions they had no way to spend on arms.
National Endowment: 52% program rate
The National Endowment for the Preservation of Liberty raised $6.3 million for the Contras but only $3.3 million reached them — a shockingly low 52% program expense rate.
Secord & Hakim marked up arms 300%
Richard Secord and Albert Hakim marked up their arms shipments to the Contras by as much as 300%, making enormous personal profits from the covert operation.
Oliver North had zero covert experience
Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North, tapped to run the entire covert Contra support operation, had no prior experience in covert operations whatsoever — he was learning as he went.
