In a few hours I will be heading back to the US. My feelings on this are very mixed. On the one hand, I'll get to see my cat again. On the other hand I'll be back in the scariest police state in the Western World where my chances of getting kidnapped by state enforcers with guns go up immensely.
It seems like every few weeks, something else comically totalitarian becomes a legal reality in the US. Law by law, they are dismantling Americans' right to do anything or keep anything private. The latest insult to privacy and freedom comes from US District Judge William Griesbach who ruled that it was reasonable for DEA agents to enter rural property without permission or a warrant in order to install a bunch of covert digital surveillance cameras to get evidence that marijuana plants were being grown on the property.
Griesbach has adopted a recommendation by US Magistrate Judge William Callahan that says this warrantless surveillance did NOT violate the Fourth Amendment. According to Callahan: “The Supreme Court has upheld the use of technology as a substitute for ordinary police surveillance.”
So much for the Constitution. What a joke. States are by their nature deceptive, thieving and violent. Expecting them not to erode liberty, wealth and privacy over time is the height of delusion. This is what annoys me about minarchism…because the government that starts off the smallest will allow the creation of the most wealth (that's what liberty does) and steal more and more of that wealth to end up the biggest government. This isn't even conjecture anymore. We have the evidence before us. The most strictly limited government the world has ever seen has in just two hundred years grown into the monster with a claw in almost every other country in the world…and which steals the lives of people for growing a plant the state doesn't like.
The two defendants in this case are facing up to life in prison and $10 million in fines…for growing plants. Meanwhile presidential candidate and stuffed suit Mitt Romney is still calling marijuana a “gateway drug”… and promising muscular dystrophy patients that he'll send armed men to kidnap or kill them if they use marijuana to ease their pain.
Gateway drug, Mitt? In my experience people generally either like marijuana or they like cocaine (or meth or crack or heroine). The people I know who smoke marijuana ONLY smoke marijuana. They are the most boring drug-users ever. They don't move on to “harder” drugs. And they aren't nearly as entertaining or dangerous as people who abuse the legal hard drug known as alcohol.
There is absolutely no logic here. There is just the random stupidity of the state meddling with and ruining people's lives. Alcohol is the drug that results in fighting, falling asleep at the wheel, and sex you'll regret. Yet it's completely legal (not that it should be illegal!)…marijuana calms users, eases pain and induces hunger that keeps places like Taco Bell in business.
Not that it matters in the end. While the state's actions piss me off, it is the very existence of the state itself – of society ordered by violence – that really sticks in my craw. I'm not just giving the stink eye to dictatorial meanie Mitt, however. Or even just to hypocrite Barack Obama who partook of the same drugs whose prohibition he has no intention of ending. I'm also disgusted with the hundreds of millions of Americans who lend their support to the state and its representatives…all of them believing that there's a way to legitimize making others live a certain way at the point of a gun. A pox on them as they line up to exercise their "civic duty" this Tuesday.
Regards,
Gary Gibson
Editor, The Dollar Vigilante
Well, we’ve reached the final review before the USSA Presidential election. By this time next week, we expect most of you to be heading south for Mexico, or Paraguay, or anywhere not in the US. Enjoy this final Sunday, and have a look at our articles from last week.
MONDAY, OCTOBER 29
Mexico Joins the US and Other Countries in Implementing Capital Controls
Jim Karger, TDV legal correspondent on the ins and outs of Mexico’s new capital controls.
“Regrettably, Mexico, too, has now hopped on the capital control bandwagon. In 2010, Mexico instituted strict limits on foreign exchange cash transactions to $1,500 per person per month which made it tough on tourists and resulted in many dollar exchanges closing their doors.
"Now, under the auspices of shutting down a $60 billion drug trafficking business, Mexico has passed a law nominated the "Federal Law on the Prevention and Identification of Operations from Illicit Sources", due to take effect in July of 2013. This law will require the reporting of certain transactions involving cash while prohibiting others. The law is complex and much is left to be interpreted. With a broad brush, however, here are the requirements.”
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 30
Hurricane Draws Out Political and Economic Fallacies
Gary Gibson considers Hurricane Sandy in a manner the mainstream media can’t, won’t, but should.
“Again, why wait for the hurricane? Why not regularly just run around breaking stuff? Bring the tanks and bombers back from the Middle East and set them loose in downtown Chicago, Los Angeles, New York…or even better, Washington, DC? We don't do it because when it comes to our own stuff we reflexively understand that that kind of vandalism would make us poorer, despite the "economic activity" the rebuilding would generate. Yet the vast majority of people just nod their heads when the mainstream Keynesian on television or in print explains that war and natural disasters breaking stuff and killing people is good for the economy.”
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 31
Remember, Remember the 6th of November
Jeff Berwick breaks down the lead-up to the US Presidential “election”, and how TDV can help you prepare for the next USSA administration.
“They've mastered it. Slow hand clap. Huzzah!
"The US democratic fasco-communist system has finally mastered the US elections. Before it used to at least hold out some sort of imagined hope of a change. McCrazy versus the Obamanator? The creator of the internet, Al Gore, versus the wretched filth offspring of the Bush Crime Family? At least they had a perception of having a difference!
"But, Obambney versus Robama? Well done, political/elite class. Well done.”
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 1
How Not to Start a Business in Mexico
TDV reader and new contributor Ben Lagow follows up Jim Karger’s article on “So, How Can I Make a Living in Mexico?" with some personal experiences n trying to start a café in Mexico.
“For about a year during 2006-2007 my wife (fiancé at the time) and I made our foray into the wild world of small business. We moved to the beautiful town of San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, loved the place, and decided to strike out on our own and support ourselves with a local business. Our dream and vision was to create a bohemian-chic art-café near the Art Institute and attract a wide range of artists, locals, and tourists. The Gypsy Café opened and over a few months expanded into a restaurant, and then a bar, and finally closed its doors in the spring of 2007.
"After much introspection and reflection I can summarize our missteps into seven categories. I hope these lessons will be helpful to other aspiring entrepreneurs.”
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 2
Feedback Friday – November 2, 2012
In this week’s opportunity for the TDV readers to address, assess, and access our dynamic collection of writers, we answer questions on living and dying in the USSA, Obama’s phone lady, Acapulco, and open containers.
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 3
The Weekend Vigilante November 3rd, 2012
Checking in from from Las Terrenas, Dominican Republic, Jeff Berwick talks more about the election, the Dominican Republic, some strange goings on in Michigan, and previews this week on TDV.
TDV VIDEO
Our featured video this week has Jeff at Libertopia with Future Money Trends on increasing your freedoms. Check it out, and more informative videos on TDV’s media page.
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We’re getting closer and closer to the “election”, and its more important than ever to be aware of your options as a global citizen, and not just a slave of the state. TDV is the place to open up your mind to new opportunities and new philosophies in the never ending battle for liberty.
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