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# Talking To Congress
- URL: https://andys.blog/preaching/
- Published: 2026-02-06T09:59:24.000Z
- Updated: 2026-02-06T09:59:23.000Z
- Author: Andy Trattner

After I testified to the "Congress" of Ecuador (National Assembly), some of the lawmakers came up to me afterwards for selfies. I was flattered.

**one of my career highlights living in South America, especially after the Fintech Law passed*

Although this all made sense [at the time](https://world.hey.com/tratt/shutting-down-banconect-21606595?ref=andys.blog), today I'd hesitate to preach in another country about their legal system when the United States is so desperately in need of domestic repair.

The people deserve [internet-fluent](https://andys.blog/internet/) institutions. The dollar is inexorably [crumbling](http://www.givemeliberty.50megs.com/An%20Economics%20Lesson.htm?ref=andys.blog). We could really use a politics of the [future](https://andys.blog/future/).

What do we want America to look like in 100 years and why can we not even start that conversation today?

Why can't you?

Why can't I?

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> *"the concept of individual rights is far, far from self-evident... most of the world does not grasp it... the United States grasped it only for a brief historical moment and is now in the process of losing the memory...* 
>  
> *The military collapse of South Vietnam was preceded by the philosophical collapse of the United States some decades earlier."*

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Excerpts from chapter 14 of *The Voice Of Reason*, a fascinating book:

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/cd/86/cd86d82c-7ac7-4970-a6aa-07c9f50c77ba/content/images/2026/02/IMG_2751.jpeg)

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