I was at a libertarian conference hosted by Lew Rockwell. I was a cheeky young multi millionaire at the time and a bit arrogant. I asked the panel of libertarians a hard question that I knew they might have trouble with, since not all of them were super rich like me. See, my wealth made me arrogant. I asked, “Since Libertarian political views teach that in a more libertarian world, the economy would be far better off, and thus, people in general would be far richer, it stands to reason that knowledge of Libertarian principles would more surely enable those who know about them to become rich, and it further stands to reason that we who know about libertarian ideas ought to be rich as good examples, so can you explain how you personally used libertarian ideas and values to become rich?” Well, one man on the panel had an interesting answer. He replied, “Well, I actually left my lucrative practice of medicine delivering babies to pursue a career in politics, precisely because I wanted to expose and promote libertarian values to more people, thinking this would be more important than growing rich.” So, in thinking about this, I then asked him a follow up question after the panel discussion. I asked, “When are you going to run for President?” He replied, “I don’t really think I can win, it seems the nation is not yet ready for a libertarian President.” I replied, “Didn’t you get into politics to reach more people with the Libertarian message? If you ran for president, you would certainly reach far more people with the message. And in that sense, you can’t lose.” A month later he ran for president for the first time. That man’s name was Ron Paul.
I responded:
Congratulations!
Indeed the decision about idolizing money is going to become even more critical as you actually laid out but you probably did not see the entire picture that I now know. See the blog linked below…
I am happy to read that now you realize you had become too arrogant and unteachable. That’s not to imply that my contributions and interactions were without fault.
[…]
Possibly it’s nearing the time for you to come back to writing for a wider audience as you once did?
Today I wrote to Jason Hommel (whom I knew from 2006 when I used to be a silver bug):
Jason this is very, very important. Actually the world is going to be entirely shredded and remade by the proof-of-work in Bitcoin. Please read the following linked, more succinct summary comment post, which has some economics charts you can instantly appreciate and is more geared towards an economics understanding of the ramifications:
Proof-of-work Fundamentally Changes the World
For example see the summary rebuttal I wrote there in response to “realr0ach” who is a silverbug as you and I used to be:
Everyone has no choice but to accept that proof-of-work is an objective meritocracy based on marginal energy per token mined. This is what gives gold its valuation. This is the way it has always been. Bitcoin is not really new, from an economic standpoint, just a technological innovation on gold.
Society needs a meritocratic standard of valuation. That is why it embraced gold. Once you understand that the marginal energy expended by token mined is what gives gold (and proof-of-work) its MERITOCRATIC valuation, then you understand that everybody NEEDS Bitcoin to exist. And they better get some BTC else they’re going to worth much less soon.
Of course 70% will be wrong. The “MAJORITY must always be wrong” because of the nature’s entropic need for a power-law distribution of wealth. And the majority will lose the illusion of wealth they thought they had because of it. Meritocracy is objective, not a democracy. Democracy is an illusion of egalitarian value (http://esr.ibiblio.org/?p=984) (which obviously can’t exist in nature).
The key point of the model (which has been backtested) is that the valuation of a monetary commodity is the related to the opportunity cost of mining it. The only reason we value gold is because it is very costly to mine more of it. So costly that only 1/80th of the total supply is mined each year.
Now the huge improvement that proof-of-work (the algorithm in Bitcoin) makes is that the ratio of the available stock to the flow of new mined supply is entirely controlled by algorithm. The free market economics shifts into a competition wherein the energy expended to mine new units of Bitcoin sets the opportunity cost and thus the valuation of all the Bitcoins, analogously to gold.
Given that the algorithm is halving the new production of Bitcoins every 4 years, this causes the valuation to rise 10 times (+900%) every ~4 years! This is guaranteed by the model and the economics.
My linked post above explains the economic principle for when that exponential growth will slow down or stop.
In short, the entire human race is being revalued according to their relative value to energy production!!!!!!!!!
This is going to absolutely destroy the nation-states because most humans will be unemployable (worthless) and force them towards a world government to attempt to confiscate Bitcoin because they can not possibly stop the Bitcoin algorithm which runs decentralization (and will run even if they turned off the Internet, i.e. the block solutions could be sent by HAM radio).
This is all going to happen very quickly. By 2032 Bitcoin will be consuming at least 50% of the world’s electricity.
Bitcoin appears to be one of the bowls being poured out in Revelation. Or maybe you can figure out its Biblical significance better than me once you understand all the details.
I would be willing to explain it all verbally if you like. You can add me on Skype if you wish: shelby.h.moore.iii
Why can’t I direct message you? Did you turn off that feature of Quora? I no longer have a phone number contact for you. And you do not seem to be active on Facebook nor Twitter?
Sorry I disappeared as I have been experiencing much hardship with my health. But I may be getting a handle on it now.
I hope you are doing well. Your relationship with your son is so wonderful to see.
Btw, I think you can also make a lot of money in this sector. You really should get involved asap, before you miss out. But I hope you can control those aspects that derailed you in the past. I am really praying for your success and wisdom.
Apologies this is written very rushed so may not be that eloquent.
I do not need anything from you. I want to help you. So you can help the world. Remember you suggested to me to try to sway the politicians in the Philippines. Well I did! I have an official letter from the Office of the President of Duterte to prove it.
You are a better communicator and writer than me, once you grasp the subject matter. And of course your logic skills are exceptional given your high IQ. My SAT was only 600 verbal yet 740 on math (and I was hungover when I took it). So my IQ is weaker on written communication. My talent is in the realm of mathematical visualization (conceptualization such as the equation I discovered/invented as written in my blog). And of course I have decades of experience in computer science and more recently in blockchain technologies given I have been studying it ever since the last time I spoke to you in March 2013.
I replied to that “derailed” post of his:
Non-apportioned taxation is Unconstitutional. The 16th Amendment was never constitutionally ratified. But we live in a dystopian police state in the USA run by thugs and Kangeroo courts that those thugs control in certain districts especially New York. Thus we are coerced into paying Unconstitutional tribute. I can dig up a lot of new information for you Jason that you’re unaware of, for example filtered from the 1000s of Martin Armstrong blogs. But I do not want to communicate with you via public blog comments on Quora.
Fighting the IRS has tied you up whilst Bitcoin has gone from $10 to $20,000 since I told you in March 2013 that I was getting interested in Bitcoin.
Don’t throw pearls at swine. What rationale is there for expecting justice from an Unconstitutional lawless State?
From my perspective the most challenging thing you need to overcome is your own weaknesses. If you had refocused yourself in 2013, you would already be 100 times wealthier by now and had paid the “fuck you” extortion to the IRS to cast that nuisance flea off your back. Also pitching penny stocks instead of paradigms that can actually sustainably grow would be more ethical (by a Parable of the Talents measure) in my opinion. I value most in retrospect your writings on economic and Biblical philosophy. How we effect the change to a meritocracy for the world is IMO how we’re valued. Granted you thought gold and silver was how we would get there, because you had no way of fathoming that Bitcoin and proof-of-work would be invented. Actually from about 2009 to 2011 (before my health cratered) was trying to invent something like Bitcoin. So I was already ready for that innovation when it arrived. Unfortunately my bad health threw me off the train for a few years.
Regarding Jason’s life story, I wrote another comment response on Quora:
You’re gaining perspective.
Remember I warned you that buying the $million house was the typical step that a couple makes right before the marriage collapses.
You never were very receptive to input from me. Closed ears and eyes. But also I admire some of the insights you taught me. There’s a ying and a yang to our past relationship.
And I have read on your other post that you had turned into an alcoholic at that time. I remember everything for you just collapsed. I urged you to not double-down on that failing situation, but I guess we all have to learn through experience not another’s experience so communicated. I’m happy you survived it.
I wrote on Quora in response to a snowflake actress-coder follower of Jason Hommel:
I stumbled onto your profile from Jason Hommel’s.
Numbers aside, tech is about innovation. New voices are necessary for continued innovation and with diverse perspectives come the added potential to appeal to a broader market.
So go innovate. Innovation in tech starts with coding and not talking. “Show me the code” — Linus Torvalds
I wish more people understood that diversifying tech is crucial to its continued success.
But you have not stated any reasoning nor evidence that demonstrates the outcomes of the presumed enforced egalitarianism you want. If you have some other proposals for achieving the gender balance that does not involve enforcement from the government, then fine.
There is something going on in “tech” and the economics of valuation that you do not see, which is going to entirely shred the world as you knew it.
IOW, your wants and beliefs do not matter. I do not say that to be mean-spirited but rather for your edification. This may be the best wealth generation tip you ever receive. Just stating a fact which is backed up by the following link, which if you can grok it, will shock you:
RE: Secrets of Bitcoin’s Dystopian Valuation Model