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Alexander Hamilton, the American System, and How a Professional Poker Player Became a Libertarian
Description
What did Alexander Hamilton actually believe about sound money and central banking — and how does a professional poker player end up embracing libertarian philosophy? Joe sits down with Adam Haman, who walks through his years as a professional poker player, the psychology and probability that shaped his thinking, and how that world became the on-ramp to his first political awakening as a libertarian. Adam argues technical analysis is really the study of market psychology, not just math — a thread that carries straight into the heart of the episode.
From there, Adam and Joe dig into the American System and the real historical fight between Hamilton and Jefferson over sound money, credit, and central banking — including what Hamilton actually believed (gold- and silver-backed money) versus the fiat distortions his name gets attached to today. The conversation closes on the biggest question of all: is a transition to a genuinely voluntary society actually possible, and what role do private markets, individual agency, and local commerce play in getting there.
In this episode:
- Adam Haman's background as a professional poker player and what that world teaches about psychology, probability, and risk
- How poker was the on-ramp to Adam's first political awakening as a libertarian
- Why technical analysis is really the study of market psychology, not just math
- The origins of the American System and the real historical fight between Hamilton and Jefferson
- What Alexander Hamilton actually believed about sound money, gold and silver backing, and central banking
- How Hamiltonian monetary principles got distorted into the modern fiat system
- Whether a transition to a genuinely voluntary, stateless society is actually possible
- The role of private markets, individual agency, and local commerce in that transition
Guest: Adam Haman — hamannature.substack.com | youtube.com/@HamanNature
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