2022 Book List

Here is the long awaited 2022 book lists! My wife and I started a competition with who could read/listen to more books in the year. It has created wonderful conversations around these books. I started this year wanting to read what the Founding Fathers read to understand their philosophies and how it influenced the making of our government. This has lead me to discover a lot of excellent new authors and deepen my understanding in epistemology. Here is my reading list for the year:

January

• Principles for Dealing with the Changing World Order, by Ray Dalio

• Twain's Feast: Searching for America's Lost Foods in the Footsteps of Samuel Clemens, by Andrew Beahrs

• The Death of the Banker, by Ron Chernow

• Passionate Sage: The Character and Legacy of John Adams, by Joseph J. Ellis

• Thomas Aquinas in 90 Minutes, by Paul Strathern

• Nicomachean Ethics, by Aristotle

  February

• Symposium, by Plato, 340 BCE

• Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysics of Morals, by Immanuel Kant, 1785

• Introduction to Metaphysics, by Heni Bergson

• The Wealth of Nations, by Adam Smith, 1776

• After Virtue, Alasdair MacIntyre

• Radicalized, by Peter R. Neumann

• The Doors of Perception, by Aldous Huxley

• The Social Contract, by Jean-Jacque Rousseau, 1762

• The Republic, by Plato, 375 BCE

• The Apology, by Plato, 399 BCE

• The Allegory of the Cave, by Plato, 375 CE (re-read)

• The Art of War, by Sun Tzu, 5th Century

• Meditations, by Marcus Aurelius, 161-180 CE

• Murder-Bears, Moonshine, and Mayhem, by Luke Harrington

• Civil Rights: Rhetoric or Reality?, by Thomas Sowell

• A Vindication of the Rights of Men, by Mary Wollstonecraft, 1790

• A Vindication of the Rights of Women, by Mary Wollstonecraft, 1792

• Reflections on the French Revolution, Edmond Burke, 1790

• Two Treatise of Government, by John Locke, 1698

• Rights of Man, by Thomas Paine, 1791

• The Communist Manifesto, by Karl Marx, 1848

• A Criticism of Hegelian Philosophy of Right, by Karl Marx, 1844

• On the King of Prussia and Social Reform, by Karl Marx, 1844

• Moralizing Criticism and Critical Morality: A Polemic Against Karl Heinzen, by Karl Marx,

• Proudhon, by Karl Marx

• French Materialism, by Karl Marx

• The English Revolution, by Karl Marx

• The Road to Serfdom, by Friedrich A. Hayek, 1944

March

• Candide, by Voltaire

• Game Theory, by Ken Binmore

• Gratitude, by Oliver Sacks

• The New Jim Crow, by Michelle Alexander

• A Higher Loyalty: Truth, lies, and Leadership, by James Comey

• Putin’s People, by Catherine Belton

• Tribe, by Sebastian Junger

• Discourse on the Origin and Basis of Inequality Among Men, by Jean-Jacque Rousseau

• Leviathan, by Thomas Hobbes, 1651

• A Letter Concerning Toleration, by John Locke, 1689

• Thomas Paine, by Craig Nelson

• Pacific, by Simon Winchester

• The Hope of Glory, John Meacham

• The Field of Fight, by Michael Flynn

• Educated, by Tara Westover

  April

• The Name of God is Mercy, by Pope Francis

• Seven Brief Lessons in Physics, by Carlo Rovelli

• Saving Justice: Truth, Transparency, and Trust, by James Comey

• The Good Neighbor: The Life and Work of Fred Rogers, by Maxwell King

• Casino Royale, By Ian Fleming

• The Gulag Archipelago 1918-1956, by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

• Rich Dad, Poor Dad, by Robert Kiyosaki and Sharon Lechter

• Warlords, by Simon Berthon and Joanna Potts

• Outliers, by Malcom Gladwell

• Bogle on Mutual Funds, by John C. Bogle

• 32 Yolks, by Eric Ripert

• The Third Wave: An Entrepreneur's Vision of the Future, by Steve Case

• The Tipping Point, by Malcolm Gladwell

  May

• Blink, by Malcolm Gladwell

• Common Sense on Mutual Funds, by John C. Bogle

• The Little Book of Common Sense Investing, by John C. Bogle

• Enough, by John C. Bogle

• Grit, The Power of Passion and Perseverance, by Angela Duckworth

• Stewardship, by John G. Taft

• Astrophysics for People in a Hurry, by Neil deGrasse Tyson

• Born a Crime, by Trevor Noah

• Supermoney, by Adam Smith

• Marxism: Philosophy and Economics, by Thomas Sowell

• The Rise and Fall of Nations, by Ruchir Sharma

• The Odyssey, by Homer 725BCE

• The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak

• The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today, By Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner

  June

• The Art of Start 2.0, by Guy Kawasaki

• Security Analysis, by Benjamin Graham

• Think and Grow Rich, by Napoleon Hill

• The Grapes of Wrath, by John Steinbeck

• Smarter Faster Better, by Charles Duhigg

• 1984, by George Orwell

• Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley

• Venus Plus X, by Theodore Sturgeon

  July

• Here, Right Matters, by Alexander Vindman

• The Industries of the Future, By Alec Ross

• The Innovator’s Dilemma, by Clayton Christensen

• The Last Empire, by Serhii Plokhy

• Salt, by Mark Kurlansky

• Cultish, by Amanda Montell

  August

• A Spiritual Biography Martin Luther, by Herman Selderhuis

• The Confessions of Saint Augustine, by Saint Augustine

• The Story of Civilization: Our Oriental Heritage | Volume 1, by Will Durant

• The Story of Civilization: The Life of Greece | Volume 2, by Will Durant

  September

• The Story of Civilization: Caesar and Christ | Volume 3, by Will Durant

• The Story of Civilization: The Age of Faith | Volume 4, by Will Durant

October

• The Story of Civilization: The Renaissance | Volume 5, by Will Durant

  November

• The Story of Civilization: The Reformation | Volume 6, by Will Durant

• The Story of Civilization: The Age of Reason Begins | Volume 7, by Will Durant

• Julie and Julia, by Julia Powell

December

• The Story of Civilization: The Age of Louis XIV | Volume 8, by Will Durant

• The Story of Civilization: The Age of Voltaire | Volume 9, by Will Durant

• The Story of Civilization: Rousseau and the Revolution | Volume 10, by Will Durant

2021 Book List and more

For fun, I am going to start sharing the books I have read for the past year. I hope this reading list encourages others to read the books I have read, be influenced by what others have read or have a conversation about the Book!

2021

• Thank God for Bitcoin, by Bitcoin and Bible Group, Julia Tourianski, Gabe Higgins, Lyle Pratt, Jimmy Song, Robert Breedlove, George Mekhail, J.M. Bush, Derek Waltchack

• Chesapeake Requiem, by Earl Swift (re-read)

• The Cause, by Joseph J. Ellis

• Origins, by Don Goldsmith, Neil deGrasse Tyson

• Endurance, by Alfred Lansing (re-read)

• What to Expect the First Year, by Heidi Murkoff

• The Rights of Man, by Thomas Paine (re-read)

• The Happiest Baby on the Block, by Harvey Karp

• Sailing a Serious Ocean, by John Kretschmer (re-read)

• Principles, by Ray Dalio

• Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, by Dee Brown

• The Federalist Papers, by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, John Jay

• Escape from the Ordinary, by Julie Bradley

• The Bitcoin Standard, by Saifedean Ammous (re-read)

2020

• Inside the Jihad, by Omar Nasiri

• Billions & Billions, by Carl Sagan

• Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power, by John Meacham

• Caffeine, by Michael Pollan

• The Man Who Knew the Way to the Moon, by Todd Zwillich

• Transaction Man, by Nicholas Lemann

• The Brain, by David Eagleman

• Unfu*k Yourself, by Gary John Bishop

• Alexander Hamilton, by Ron Chernow

• How to Change Your Mind, by Michael Pollan

• Artemis, by Andy Weir

• Contact, by Carl Sagan

• Eliza Hamilton, by Tilar J. Mazzeo

• The Bassoon King, by Rainn Wilson

• The Triumph of Seeds, by Thor Hanson

• Accessory to War, by Avis Lang, Neil deGrasse Tyson

• His Excellency, by Joseph J. Ellis

• Becoming, by Michelle Obama

• Capitalism in America, by Alan Greenspan, Adrian Wooldridge

• Sailing a Serious Ocean, by John Kretschmer

• How to Win Friends & Influence People, by Dale Carnegie

• Second Nature, by Michael Pollan

2019

• 12 Strong, by Doug Stanton

• The Billionaire’s Vinegar, by Benjamin Wallace

• Dreams from My Father, by Barack Obama

• The President is Missing, by Bill Clinton, James Patterson

• Dinner at Mr.Jefferson’s, by Charles Cerami

• In Defense of Food, by Michael Pollan

• The Bitcoin Standard, by Saifedean Ammous

• Founding Brothers, by Joseph J. Ellis

• Revolutionary Summer, by Joseph J. Ellis

• Cooked, by Michael Pollan

• Wicked Plants, by Amy Stewart

• American War, by Omar El Akkad

• The Botany of Desire, by Michael Pollan

• The Man in the High Castle, by Philip K. Dick

• The Underground Railroad, by Colson Whitehead

• Benjamin Franklin: An American Life, by Walter Isaacson (re-read)

• Your Inner Fish, by Neil Shubin

• Einstein, by Walter Isaacson (re-read)

• Savage Kingdom, by Benjamin Woolley

• The Wilderness Warrior, by Douglas Brinkley

• The Intelligent Investor, by Benjamin Graham

• Endurance, by Alfred Lansing (re-read)

• The Martian, by Andy Weir (re-read)

Church Hill in Virginius Dabney’s "Richmond: The Story of a City"

Down a long hallway in the basement with too many turns to count, sitting on the shelves was a signed copy of Virginius Dabney’s book Richmond: The Story of a City at the Richmond Public Library. They were having a sale in their private collection and here I discovered two of his books, detailed focuses on Richmond and Virginia. Dabney was born 1901 in Charlottesville, Virginia and died December 28, 1995. He was a teacher, journalist, editor and writer at the Richmond Times-Dispatch. He is the author of thirteen books, and won the Pulitzer Prize in 1948 for his attacks on segregation in buses and an end to the Poll tax.

My wife, daughter, and I live in one of the surrounding neighborhoods of Church Hill, which is what drew me to the book on the shelf in the first place. Dabney’s earliest descriptions are based on geographical locations while later descriptions are referred by street locations. The following excerpts focus on Dabney's discoveries in the Richmond east end neighborhoods of Shockoe Bottom, Union Hill, Church Hill, Chimborazo, Oakwood, and Fulton.

Below are excerpts of Church Hill related text, in order from past to present.

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Date: 1607

Location: The Falls on the James River.

Description: “Newport decided over the objection of the more aggressive Captain John Smith that this would be in expedient for the present. The placing of the cross, bearing the legend “Jacobus Rex, 1607,” with Newports name below, apparently signified that the men from beyond the sea were laying claim to the region in the name of King Jame. Three centuries later, a cross was erected on Gamble’s Hill at the foot of Richmond’s Fourth Street, to commemorate the event.” P.1

Date: 1607

Location: Powhatan Park, Fulton Hill.

Description: "En route upstream, the Englishman with their beards, curling hair and wide-brimmed hats, their doublets and hose, had been received in altogether friendly fashion by the natives. At Powhatan Village, consisting of twelve houses, “ pleasantly seated on a hill,” they were greeted hospitably by little Powhatan. The Village was on the site of today’s grass covered Powhatan Park on Fulton Hill in Richmond extreme eastern end. Gabriel Archer, chief chronicler of the expedition, speaks of “a playne” between the hill and river, “whereon he soes his wheate, beane, peaze, tobacco, pompions, gourdes, Hempe, flaxe, &c.” This plain must have been the site of today’s Fulton, which like Fulton Hill is named for Irish born James Alexander Fulton, who married Eliza Mayo about 1800 and built his bride beautiful “Mount Erin” where Powhatan Village once stood.

The Native American Village was further described as facing “three fertile isles,” near the opposite shore of the river. They have since disappeared in floods or been incorporated into the south bank.” P.2

Date: 1609

Location: The Falls & Powhatan Park, Fulton.

Description: “ The next year, when Smith was president of the Jamestown colony, he decided to make an attempt to establish a settlement at The Falls. Captain Francis West, brother of Lord De La Warr, was dispatched up river with 120 men and “sixe months victtewells.” Some months later Smith paid them a visit to see how the settlement was prospering. He was surprised, en route, to meet West returning to Jamestown, but proceeded upstream without requesting an explanation. Upon reaching the limits of the tidewater, he found that West had settled near the riverbank, where there was constant danger of floods, instead of higher up on Powhatan Hill.

Smith persuaded little Powhatan to sell him the village on the hilltop for some copper. He wished, among other things, to help protect the werowance, or chief, against the incursions of the Manacans. Little Powhatan had told him two years of war that these native Americans “came downe at the fall of the leafe and invaded his Countrye.” But Smith’s plan did not appeal to Captain West’s Englishmen, Who for some reason resented his intervention. It was apparently part of the internal bickering and squabbling that went on among the Jamestown settlers.” P.4

Date: 1609-1610

Location: The Falls

Description: Most likely after John Smith left for England, “West brought his and entire force back to Jamestown, thus terminating, for the time being, all efforts to settle The Falls. P.4

Date: 1656

Location: Chimborazo Park

Description: “All was relatively serene at the falls for about a decade, when some six or seven hundred Native Americans suddenly appeared. Variously described as Iroquois’s from New York-known as Ricaherian in Virginia-or members of the Siouan tribe from the upper Rappahannock, they began taking possession of extensive tracts of land. Colonel Edward Hill of Shirley, Speaker of the House of Burgesse, was put in command of English warriors and several groups of friendly Native Americans, including Pamunkeys under famous Chief Totopotomoi. When efforts at peaceful persuasion failed to dislodge the intruders, Colonel Hill moved to the attack near Richmond’s present day Chimborazo Park.

The fight took place in 1656 in the vicinity of a small stream which rose at the juncture of what is now Marshall and 31st St., in the cities east end, and ran southeasterly around the base of Chimborazo into Gillies Creek. In modern times, it has been enclosed in a culvert. The sanguinary encounter caused the little stream to be named “Bloody Run.” Chief Totopotomoi was killed with many of his braves, and numerous white settlers were slain.” P.5-6

Date: 1737

Location: Richmond and Church Hill

Descriptions: William Byrd II owned much of the land surrounding The Falls and did not want to give up his most profitable land for growing tobacco. However, this area was becoming more and more settled and was an area of commerce with Native Americans. The House of Burgesses wanted 50 acres of land on the north side of the river to establish a town from Byrd, but it was very difficult for him to give it up, even with compensation. “ Byrd finally had to bow to the inevitable. Four years elapsed, following the entry in Byrd’s diary, before Major Mayo laid off the town. By 1737 when he did so, taverns had been opened at what are now 23rd and Main and 23rd and Cary Street, and Byrd had established a ferry. These, with his store and warehouses, combined to form the nucleolus for the lively settlement that soon came into being.

Much of the area laid out by Mayo was along the river, at the foot of what is now Church Hill, but it extended to the crest of that elevation. Lot No. 97 and 98 were donated by Byrd for “The Church,” soon to be erected and later to be named St. John’s. It superseded “The Falls Chapel,” which had been in existence since 1717 and whose location is not known.

Byrd named the new town Richmond because its situation and surroundings reminded him of Richmond on the teams. As delineated by Mayo, it’s extended from what is now 17th St., first Street in his plan, to today’s 25th St., then known as ninth. The cross streets were designated by letters. The one nearest the river, now Carrie, was D St., Maine was E, Franklin was F, Grace was G, and Broad was H.” P. 13

"Facsimile of the first map of Richmond from Richmond: her past and present by W. Ashbury Christian. The original was made by Colonel William Byrd II in 1737. Between Lot B and the James River, at the bottom of the map, was D St., now Cary Street. Just west of Lot a, and at right angles to the river, was fifth Street, now 17th. Then came second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth streets. Lots 97 and 98 were given to the city by Byrd for the Henrico parish church, later named Saint John’s." P.14

Date: 1739

Location: St. John’s Church 2401 East Broad Street

Description: “ construction of a house of worship was one of the first concerns of those living in and near Richmond. The vestry of Curl’s Church, in Henrico County some miles below Richmond, of which the reverend William Stith, the historian, was rector, considered this matter in 1737. At that time, a site on or near the property of Thomas Williamson near Brook Road was preferred. The vestry voted in 1739 to build the church there, on land owned by William Byrd II. However, Byrd advised that “ there are so many roads already thro that land that the damage to me would be too great to have another of a mile cut thro it.” He urged that they accept from him two lots in what is now the Church Hill section of Richmond. The vestry agreed, and arranged for Richard Randolph to construct the building. This house of worship was completed in 1741. Much smaller than it was in subsequent years, and with the pulpit in the eastern end, it was known until about 1828 as “the Church,” “the Upper Church,” “the Richmond Hill Church,” and “the Old Church.” The structure was enlarged in 1772 by adding 40 feet to its length and 40 more feet on the north side, with galleries on both sides. The tower was built about 1830.” P.14-15

Date: 1738-1739

Location: Nineteenth and Twentieth Streets on Main

Description: “Of special interest was the coming in 1738 of 25 year old Jacob Ege, a Württemberger, who purchased land on lower Main Street. About 1739 he is believed to have built the small stone dwelling between 19th and 20th St. on Main, known today as the old Stone House. Rocks from the river were apparently used in the construction of this, the oldest building still standing in Richmond. The letters “J.R” over the entrance were supposed for many years to have signified “Jacobus Rex” or “King James,” and if so the structure would have been built in or before 1688, the year when King James II Of England was dethroned. But there are strong reasons for believing that the old stone house does not date from the 17th century, so the initials must have some entirely different meaning. Reports that Washington, Jefferson and Madison visited or lodged in the house are apparently without foundation.” P.15

Date: 1742

Location: Richmond

Description: “With Richmond formally laid out, it remained for the General Assembly to pass an act of incorporation. This was done in 1742. The town had only 250 inhabitants and covered only 1/5 of a square mile, but it’s situation at the head of navigation augured well for steady growth and development.”

Dabney, V. (1976). Richmond: The story of a city. Doubleday.

Understanding Bitcoin

There are a lot of people in the cryptocurrency industry who can explain Bitcoin better than I can, so I will synthesize their explanations, writings, videos, and graphs below in an easy to understand format and add hyperlinks to help give you a basic understanding of Bitcoin. Feel free to use the information below to dive in as deep or little as you want into Bitcoin. Let’s start with the easiest explanation and continue down the rabbit hole.

What is Bitcoin?

Cryptocurrency is a form of digital payment online for exchange of goods and services. Bitcoin is a one type of cryptocurrency. This peer-to-peer electronic cash system is decentralized digital money using blockchain technology. Bitcoin replaces the bank as the third party in a transaction and replaces it with an anonymous verifier to complete the transaction over the internet. Instead of taking days to complete a transaction with a traditional bank, Bitcoin transactions are verified within minutes. The two people making the transaction can live in different countries and can transfer any amount of this cryptocurrency within a matter of minutes using an internet connection with no exchange rate and banks not taking fees. For example, Person A sends their Bitcoin using an exchange from their wallet to person B’s wallet with a unique address. Bitcoin is not the first cryptocurrency and has used the failures and successes of past cryptocurrencies and probability theory to create Bitcoin.

Who Created Bitcoin?

Satoshi Nakamoto created Bitcoin with it launching on January 3, 2009. The public is unsure if Nakamoto was a single individual, pseudonym, or a group of people who created this cryptocurrency. Nakamoto built Bitcoin with other well established software programs, such as cryptographic, to build Bitcoin. Nakamoto is listed as the sole author who wrote the Bitcoin white paper explaining in an advanced way what is Bitcoin, how it works, and its security and philosophy. Satoshi Nakamoto White Paper

What is Blockchain?

A block is a digital ledger of a transaction and a record of a digital cryptographic known as a hash. A block holds transactions. One block contains around 500 transactions. Multiple blocks joined together are called a blockchain. Bitcoin uses an open source software and you can view all the past transactions from its inception, much like a paper check ledger from people running nodes. These blockchains are secured by what is called cryptography. Each block has a signature with a private key and is verified by using its public key. If any data is changed in the block, the block becomes invalid and will not make it into the chain.

This is a screen capture from Satoshi Nakamoto’s white paper explaining the transaction process of Bitcoin

For example, a paper check ledger is a small book where you record the amount you are taking out of your bank account, the total amount in your bank, where the money is being moved, the check number, and date. The actual check note has the date, amount of money, who the transaction is going to, who the transaction is coming from, what bank you are using for the transaction, routing number to your account, the bank routing number, the memo, and signature. Bitcoin works in a similar way, it is a digital transaction with the miner (third party) being anonymous to verify the transaction.

The scalability of Bitcoin transactions on its blockchain is limited. This is solved by off-chain transactions beside the main Bitcoin blockchain by the lightning network. To understand the, Bitcoin Lightning Network: Scalable Off-Chain Instant Payments, you need to read the Lightning Network Paper.

What is Bitcoin Mining?

In the simplest terms, Bitcoin miners are auditors who are verifying the Proof-of-Work in a block and are rewarded in Bitcoin. Miners can only verify 1 megabyte at a time and may not get rewarded unless they are the first person to solve the problem. Bitcoin mining is correlated with a transaction, timestamp server, proof-of-work, network, incentive, reclaiming disk space, verification, combining & splitting value, and privacy. More Information

There are a limited amount of Bitcoins that can be digitally mined in the world which equates to a total of 21,000,000 Bitcoin. Over 18,000,000 Bitcoins have been mined and are in existence with 900 bitcoins being mined daily (144 blocks are mined daily and there are 6.25 bitcoins in one block). The amount of Bitcoin you can mine in one block is halved every four years. For example, on May 11, 2020 when block 630,000 was mined it halved from 12.5 to 6.25 bitcoin. The next halving will be in 2024 and the mining rate will halve from 6.25 to 3.12 and so on and so on. This halving will continue to happen every four years until all the Bitcoins are mined which will happen in the year of 2140.

Each Bitcoin contains 100 million Satoshi. One Satoshi, named after the creator, is equal to 0.00000001 and one Bitcoin looks like this: 1.00000000. For example, in the year 2041 the mining reward will be .19531250 Satoshi. Continued halving will make Bitcoin more scarce with the reward becoming less as time moves forward.

What is the intrinsic value of Bitcoin?

As more and more people buy Bitcoin the social construct of this cryptocurrency rises. People holding Bitcoin as a continued growing society are giving it value just like a regular fiat currency not backed by anything except the government of that specific fiat itself. More Information

This graph is from Plan B showing the market capital value of Bitcoin compared to the market capital value to Real Estate, Diamonds, Silver, and Gold.

The market capital of Bitcoin is almost 1,000,000,000,000 dollars and continues to fluctuate, but grows annually (the market capital of gold is 10,000,000,000,000 to give you a comparison). Bitcoin’s intrinsic value has slowly been rising due to being divisible, durable, recognizable, portable, and scarce. Bitcoin has become socially adopted by people and companies around the world since 2009, but the greatest adoption by businesses started within the 2020-2021 time frame. Two of these public traded companies include MircroStrategy and Tesla while the list of companies continues to grow.

How Secure is Bitcoin?

There is no central authority over Bitcoin making it decentralized across the world. No one person controls the Bitcoin protocol. Bitcoin software and its blockchain is open source, meaning anyone can view the ledger of all Bitcoin transactions and these transactions are irreversible solving the double spend issue. In order to change the Bitcoin protocol a person needs to first submit a Bitcoin Improvement Proposal. Then it must be approved by an editor and finally voted on with 95% confidence from miners. After this vote the Bitcoin community upgrades to the newest version of Bitcoin software. More Information

A node is a server or or storage device that holds the entire bitcoin blockchain. The miners and nodes work together to verify all transactions. These nodes run Bitcoin software that enforces Bitcoin rules/protocol. The Blockchain cannot be tampered with, as any change to the transaction data changes the unique hash and exposes the cheating node. No transactions can be deleted as each is linked to the preceding one and any disruption is easily detectable. More Information

Bitcoin is actually protected by the United States First Amendment during a court case against Phil Zimmerman and his Pretty Good Privacy email software. This cryptographic software was originally used as a humans right tool and was published online for free in 1991. He then became the target of a three year criminal investigation by the United States government for exporting cryptographic software outside the United States. In order to ban Bitcoin in the United States the government would have to take away the First Amendment. More Information

The only way to shut down bitcoin is to turn off the internet world wide and keep it off indefinitely from any nodes. Not one industry would want to turn off the internet because of how integrated businesses are to the internet and the costly interruptions it would cause to their own businesses.

How is Bitcoin Taxed in the United States?

The United States taxes Bitcoin as property and you only pay capital gains in the United States when you sell, switch it to another cryptocurrency, or trade your Bitcoin to someone other than yourself. If you move your Bitcoin from your own wallet to another wallet you own, you are not taxed.

For this reason, it is not prudent to constantly sell or use any type of cryptocurrency as a daily currency because the short term and long term capital gain tax rate is currently above 15%. However, using Bitcoin as a store of value over a lifetime and taking out loans against Bitcoin are more economical since you will not be taxed on the loan. For more information on loans see BlockFi below. More Information on U.S. Taxes

More Information

If you would like to learn more about Bitcoin please click on the links below.

Bitcoin.org

Plan B Model: Bitcoin Stock-to-Flow Asset Model

The Investor Podcast: Bitcoin Fundamentals

Lyn Alden: 7 Misconception About Bitcoin

The Bitcoin Lightning Network

Taking a Loan, Lending Bitcoin and Earning Interest: BlockFi

Book: The Bitcoin Standard by Saifedean Ammous

Book: Transaction Man by Nicholas Lemann

What is Bitcoin Cash?

Alexander Hamilton

This is a review of Ron Chernows book, Alexander Hamilton and Hamilton the play by Lin-Manual Miranda. Miranda has taken Chernow’s book about Alexander Hamilton and made a historic American founding father and an immigrant become popular through musical theater. This will investigate important political questions on immigration, slavery, adultery, and suicide. Below is a short discussion reviewing the book and the play.

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Chernow’s focus on Hamiltons life in the 1790’s is fueled by the amount of documents there are of Hamilton. Though Hamiltons was an immigrant himself, anyone who talked malicious against him especially French immigrants would soon be threatened with imprisonment or exile from the United States. Hamilton would control and silence these critics by drafting, passing and enforcing the Sedition Act of 1798, which would imprison a person who was presumed to or was a threat to the United States during the Quasi-War with France under the U.S. President John Adams.

Miranda takes a different view point on this immigration issue by focusing on Hamilton’s early life of being an immigrant himself, arriving at the British Colonies (now the United States), and making a name for himself through hard work and education. As a young child in the Caribbean, Hamilton was unable to attend school at the Church of England because his parents were divorced and per the terms of his parents divorce his mother was unable to remarry. So, he received individual tutoring and schooling as well as teaching himself with their family library. After a hurricane destroyed St. Croix’s, Hamilton wrote an essay and it got published in the local news paper. A number of people read this essay and they soon started a fund to send Hamilton to the colonies so he could receive a proper education at Kings College. Like Hamilton, Miranda’s father left the Caribbean country of Puerto Rico for a chance to study at New York University, graduated and worked for the New York Mayor at the time, Ed Koch.

Miranda takes a flexible viewpoint on Hamiltons relationship with slavery by saying he was an abolitionist and a strong opponent against slavery. However, we know throughout historic documents Hamilton, not only being apart of George Washingtons inner circle, was complicit in buying and selling his mothers family slaves as a young man. Furthermore, during the foundation of the United States slavery was very well established and ingrained into the United States economy. For example, slaves built the white house, other capital buildings and tens of thousands were strewn across the colonies during Hamiltons lifetime. It is hard to say Hamilton was not complicit despite what his written personal views may have been at the time.

It seems everybody loves to gossip and not scape goat on the specific issue of peoples live especially when it entails adultery. Chernow and Miranda do not shy away from this issue but both take it head on in a historical context because Hamilton actually released a public pamphlet describing the affair. Chernow does make a connection with Hamilton releasing his pamphlet on the matter to cover up an issue far greater than an affair, but it is only left to speculation and not definitive historical evidence. Whether it actually happened or not, historical documents tell us Hamilton had an affair with Maria Reynolds. Chernow and Miranda explore the possibilities of the affair. Whether Mr. Reynolds told Mrs. Reyolds to have the affair to blackmail Hamilton or if Mrs. Reyolds actually seduced him with their first meeting.

Hamilton was no stranger to dueling and the affects of the after math on family members since his own son, Philip Hamiton was shot and killed in a dual by George Eacker in the same town where Hamilton was shot and killed by sitting Vice President Arron Burr at Weehawken, New Jersey. Most of us know Hamilton threw away his shot leading some historians to accept Hamilton wanted to die and this was one of his ways out of his failing political career. Before the duel Hamilton spent time compiling his estate to make sure his wife and children would be cared for in the event of his death. According to history, most duels at this time did not end in deaths because the duelers would throw away their shots. Depression ran through Hamilton’s family with a cousin, Peter Lytton, committing suicide. Hamilton saw the first hand affects suicide has on a family when a member takes their own life. This makes it plausible, but not accurate, Hamilton wanted to die not by his own hands but by the hands of the Vice President of the United States Aaron Burr. On Hamiltons death bed he forgave Burr and held no malice against him.

Both the author Ron Chernow and Lin-Manuel Miranda do an excellent job working for each others promotion. Chernow first published, Alexander Hamilton, in 2004 giving Miranda ample time to write an extraordinary play which would bring to light one of our Founding Fathers. Miranda’s play, Hamilton, lead people to buy Chernow’s book wanting to know more about this unique founding father. This play and book have reignited the conversation about historical truthfulness and lead people to further their knowledge of Alexander Hamilton.

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Chernow, R. (2004). Alexander Hamilton. London, UK: Penguin Group.

Miranda, L. (2015). Hamilton: an American Musical [MP3]. New York: Atlantic Records.

Introduction to Greg's Blog

Two main goals for my blog: 

1. Use this blog to help myself improve my writing and analytical skills.

2. Promote myself to peers and institutions in finance by establishing a timeline with an overall theme of finance. 

Establishing these goals above will help me lay a path for a career change from the recreation industry to the finance industry. These goals will keep me focused on preventing drifting from my overall mission. Documenting my writings relating to finance will assist me in determining whether the blog ideas presented were good or bad. It will archive my successes and failures and guide me to educate myself to not make the same mistake multiple times. Collecting these learning experiences will teach me, but hopefully, they will also influence others to take risks to achieve their own goals.