American Kingpin

First of all, if you haven't read this book, you really should. It's a wild insight into a criminal mind and poses some important questions on the war on drugs. That said, I think Ross Ulbricht was unequivocally in the wrong for what he did. Creating a completely open marketplace seemingly aligns with libertarian ideaology at the surface, but at a deeper level, legalizing all drugs introduces complications to personal liberties that can't be overlooked. I'll get into that later.

It seems as if Ross Ulbricht initially started the Silk Road as a libertarian crusade to push a completely free online market only monitored by the invisible hand. It quickly spiraled out of control and there's no doubt in my mind that the power went to his head. No moral person would hire a hitman to kill 6 individuals.

Back to the point about legalizing drugs... To an extent, I agree that decriminalizing drugs would have a positive impact on society. It's unreal how many people are locked away for petty marijuana possession charges. In my eyes, it would be a net positive to society if these types of convictions would be erradicated. I disagree, however, that decriminalizing hard drugs like heroin would benefit society. Hard drugs have implications on people that span beyond just the individual. At its core, libertarianism prioritizes personal freedoms but also emphasizes the need for order in preventing infringement on other individual's liberities. Hard drugs have incredibly severe impacts on family members and the physical offspring of addicts. Take this thread on the National Institute of Health, for example. Children born to hard drug users are introduced to the world at a severe disadvantage compared to others. What about this screams liberty?

Back to the book itself, Nick Bilton did an incredible job telling a captivating story. After reading the book, I learned a little bit more about how he wrote the book and pieced together the narrative. It only made me more impressed with Bilton's writing abilities.

If you happen to read the book and are looking for more, I strongly recommend listening to the Lex Fridman podcast episode with Chris Tarbell, the FBI agent who ended up taking down Ross Ulbricht. I loved hearing his view from a law enforcement perspective. It was both insightful and intruguing to hear the ins and outs of how a high profile case is managed in bureaucratic organizations.