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Book review for Moral Money: The Case for Bitcoin by Eric Sammons
Book review for Moral Money: The Case for Bitcoin by Eric Sammons
Ok, this will be a short review because for an experienced Bitcoiner, there isn't too much to say. This is a good book. In my opinion, it takes the correct approach to orange pilling. It starts with the why of Bitcoin---and not from the perspective of why Bitcoin is good for you as an individual, but why Bitcoin is good for society. By doing so, Sammons elevates the conversation beyond simplistic number-go-up thinking---which many critics think is the only purpose of Bitcoin---and directs the reader to the sound money principles that motivate the Bitcoin community. Although Sammons approaches Bitcoin from an explicitly Roman Catholic perspective, the moral principles he focuses on should be agreeable to most faith traditions and secular systems of ethics. For example, he says that a money is immoral if a small group of people can control it for their own benefit at the expense of others. Who would disagree with that?

Eight principles of moral money

The book is a highly organized and logical introduction to why Bitcoin is a morally superior form of money. Chapter 1 starts by laying out eight moral principles that good money should satisfy:
  1. Theft of someone's purchasing power is always condemned
  2. We have a right to the fruits of our labor
  3. Workers should receive a just wage
  4. Economies should have a stable currency
  5. Temperance should be encouraged
  6. Excessive consumption should be discouraged
  7. Parents must be able to provide for their families
  8. Societies should care for the poor
Most people would find these principles broadly agreeable, though some may quibble with the definition of a "just wage" or "excessive consumption", or the extent to which the poor is society's responsibility. Still, social voting patterns suggest that these principles are not controversial and are held by a large majority of voters, both religious and secular.

Seven properties of moral money

Chapter 2 goes on to list seven properties of money which would help satisfy the above moral principles:
  1. Money should be divisible
  2. Money should be portable
  3. Money should be durable
  4. Money should be fungible
  5. Money should be verifiable
  6. Money should be scarce
  7. Money should be independent
Sammons connects these properties to the aforementioned eight moral principles. For example, he explains how money which is not scarce and not independent (e.g. money that can be printed) discourages temperance and encourages excessive consumption. This is because holders of the money cannot trust that the money won't be devalued in the future, and are thus incentivized to spend the money now. This is all pretty well-trod ground for Bitcoiners, but Sammons presents his arguments in a clear, logical manner that should be accessible even for people with little prior exposure to Bitcoin.
The rest of the book is devoted to comparing different systems of money: physical commodity money, fiat money, and Bitcoin, along the above properties. Spoiler alert: it is determined that commodity money fails on portability and to some degree scarcity and independence, whereas fiat money fails on verifiability, scarcity, and independence. By comparison, Bitcoin satifies all seven properties. Again, this won't come as a surprise to anyone who's studied Bitcoin for a long time, but it may be eye opening for someone who hasn't.

Addressing objections and assessing crypto

My two favorite chapters in the book are one that addresses objections to Bitcoin and the one that assesses other cryptocurrencies. The chapter on objections offers responses to many of the common criticisms of Bitcoin, such as how it's too volatile to be used as a money, its environmental impact, and its usage by criminals. The arguments that Sammons gives in response to these objections are all pretty standard, but it's good to have them all in one place for someone who wants to defend Bitcoin against its critics. It's also useful if you haven't seen some of these arguments before.
The chapter on cryptocurrency is helpful because Sammons is willing to steel-man the use case of some cryptos, while not being shy to label others as outright scams. Sammons classifies cryptos into the following categories: attempted forms of money, stablecoins, technology projects, memecoins/scams, and CBDCs.
  • Attempted forms of money
    • These include bitcoin spinoffs like Litecoin and DASH. These were attempted improvements to the Bitcoin protocol, but Sammons argues that Bitcoin's network effect will keep Bitcoin dominant.
  • Stablecoins
    • Sammons rightly labels these as (in the best case scenario) a payment layer on top of fiat. Stablecoins therefore can't be considered a different form of money than fiat. Of course, in the worst case scenario these could also be outright frauds.
  • Technology projects
    • This is where Sammons puts projects like Ethereum, which aim to be more than just sound money. Sammons offers some criticisms of proof of stake, but because he doesn't see these projects as attempts at money, he doesn't spend too much time on them.
  • Memecoins/scams
    • Sammons acknowledges that many crypto projects are simply get rich quick schemes where the creators of a coin have no interest other than running quick pump and dumps or having a laugh.
  • Central Bank Digital Currencies
    • Lastly, Sammons criticizes CBDCs as even more immoral than traditional fiat, because they are even worse in terms of independence and scarcity. He highlights how the government will always be tempted to print more money, and if money is programmable, to even put a negative interest rate on the money so as to encourage profligate consumption.
I found the chapter on cryptocurrencies to be especially important for Bitcoin novices who haven't yet learned to distinguish between the various types of crypto projects. Given that I think this book's intended audience are no-coiners and pre-coiners, this was a crucial chapter to include.

Conclusion

Overall, I don't think experienced Bitcoiners will learn too much that is new. The principles of sound money espoused in this book are frequently discussed in the Bitcoin community, and I imagine that most of the readers here on Stacker.News are already quite familiar with them. What the book does best is to organize and communicate these principles in a logical, persuasive, and accessible manner. This is a book that you could consider gifting your pre-coin friends, especially if they have a Christian background.
he says that a money is immoral if a small group of people can control it for their own benefit at the expense of others. Who would disagree with that?
Clearly someone, since it's the system we have now.
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Do lizard people qualify as "someone"?
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Probably. Maybe it depends on the context.
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Niiiiiice!! You def beat me to it.
You'll excuse me that I won't read the review (and be influenced) — at least not until after I've read it myself
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Looking forward to your take
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30 sats \ 1 reply \ @LibertasBR 4h
Thanks for your reading and for sharing your analysis — it’s not a book I’d be able to get through, especially because of the language. From what I understood, this summary reflects more of a Bitcoiner’s view, seeing something beyond just the protocol.
I get that those 8 reasons might be valid for someone, but tying them so closely to the protocol feels like a cheesy overreach — what really matters is what we do with Bitcoin, not Bitcoin itself. Still, it sounds like a solid read for beginners who might find their niche or starting point through it. Is that right?
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I think it would be a good read for open minded beginners, especially if they have a Christian faith background
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'he says that a money is immoral if a small group of people can control it for their own benefit at the expense of others. Who would disagree with that?'
It can be argued that fiat money by effectively giving the government and bankers the ability to debase the savings of all citizens also gives the government the power and leverage to defend the nation against adversaries.
It can also be argued that by giving banks the power to issue fiat funding to productive investment proposals the entire wider economy can benefit from this investment as it spurs jobs and wealth creation by creating an effectively limitless source of capital funding for potentially productive investment proposals.
What Bitcoiners often fail to recognise is the significant role the nation state and its government play in the wealth and security of a nation and its people.
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Fair enough. Maybe you should write a book about the moral case for fiat money
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I do agree there is a strong case for Bitcoin being superior in terms of the way the individual is treated and there is definitely a case where the modern nation state (and probably less modern nations states as well) have abused fiat monetary powers. My own position is simple and does not require a book to explain... since neoliberalism of the 1980s deregulated banking allowing bankers to issue new money toward finance of any purpose whether productive or not, our fiat monetary system has become dysfunctional and has directed huge sums of capital/debt fiat monetary issuance toward non productive speculative asset price pumping which dose not compensate most participants in the host economy with any increase in overall wealth production and prosperity. It is in protest of this misuse of fiat money that I hold Bitcoin and partially escape the rentseeking neoliberal banksters fiat debt slavery while being part of building an alternative. Fuck the banksters and their politician puppets.
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