Thanks Sabha ⚡ for the careful reading and sharing the passage from my chapter on the Gold Rush

If that can happen to George Floyd in broad daylight in 2020 with the cameras rolling and screaming witnesses, what must have happened to his people under the cover of darkness through the years of slavery, segregation, and the war on drugs. #imagine

Bhu Srinivasan Naval jack your book, Americana, is amazing. 🙏🙏

This is not America. But it is.

On looting: the brilliant William Dalrymple explains in his intro to The Anarchy on the British East India Company how the Hindi word for plunder ‘loot’ became an English word...that the English word LOOT even exists means that the west was not always anti-looting.

From older US gov report in 2001, 11.3% of all American males will spend time in state or federal prison during their lifetime. 32% of black males will go to prison during their lives. It used to be less in 1974. Is it just me or is this insane? bjs.gov/content/pub/pd…

Sam Altman This book is the stone cold nuts: amazon.com/Americana-400-…

Bhu Srinivasan Bhu Srinivasan I just finished #americana. Really Loved it. An enjoyable history lesson told in a fun way that patched together many snippets (and filled many blanks) from all the US movies while I saw growing up in UK. Thanks Chamath Palihapitiya for the recommendation. My fav book 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

Teslas aren't just electric cars, they're software cars. From the way legacy automakers phrase their announcements about switching to electric, it sounds like they still haven't grasped that.

Having our two teenage sons jumpstart the car outside by themselves. Lots of yelling, not a lot results. Might end up voiding warranty instead at this rate.

This is why artists are important. Their pulse on what is about to happen is sometimes far better than that of the linear thinkers. Bowie from 1999...

Americans: if you were being shown footage of something similar from Beijing or Moscow today, would you assess the state of affairs over there as stable or unstable?

There is a meaningful probability that the 2020s will be like the 1850s in America. Compromise of 1850, Bleeding Kansas, the demise of the Whig party, creation of Republican party, Dred Scott decision in 1857, Harper’s Ferry 1859, Lincoln‘s win, S. Carolina seceding in Dec 1860.

This is not a “failure of leadership” on Trump’s part as I just heard on CNN. This is a demonstration of his enduring power, his charismatic hold - this is the reason why Republicans still do not treat him as a lameduck.

After John Brown attacked Harper’s Ferry in 1859 - a federal armory, hoping to set off an insurrection, he was considered a terrorist in the South and a hero to abolitionists in the north. The men inside the capitol will be heroes to their people. Trump could even pardon....

“If he who bases his hopes on human nature is a fool, he who gives up in the face of circumstances is a coward.” Thinking today of Camus and his uncommonly insightful perspective on the antidote to violence, aptly titled "Neither Victims Nor Executioners" brainpickings.org/2018/03/05/alb…

Two weeks ago, the citadel of democracy, Washington DC, was so vulnerable Silicon Valley had to urgently step in. Today, the citadel of capitalism, Wall Street, has proved itself vulnerable to the power of the network. NY and DC are like Paris and London, powerful once.

If you want to best understand the history of our country as told through investments & economics, this is a magnificent read amazon.com/dp/0399563814/…

Most interesting telling of the story of the Pilgrims and the Mayflower: amazon.com/Americana-400-… Bhu Srinivasan

Some of the remarkable books that I read this year