A Financial Expert, An Economist, A Public School Teacher And An Anarcho-Capitalist Walk Into A Bar…
My dear lady friend has come to visit me in Chile. She is a much more experienced traveler and has been forcing me to stop sitting in front of my laptop and actually go out and explore my new country. We've been doing what I would normally consider embarrassingly touristy stuff, but it turns out that kind of thing is very helpful in getting to know a new place and feel comfortable. That's how I ended up in a bar outside of the Santiago cemetary, a little drunk and pleasantly shattering the world view of an economist-in-training.
We'd just finished out guided tour of the central portion of Santiago. The tour ended in the cemetary where we saw the grave of the Allende, Chile's first democratically elected socialist president and then with the memorial to those killed and "disappeared" by the military dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet which followed Allende's overthrow.
The tour guide had a guide-in-training with him. On the short walk from Allende's tomb to the memorial I got into a bried discussion with them about "free" higher education. They were both for it. I asked who would pay the teachers and they admitted that "free" education would in fact be paid through taxes which the government would take by force from its subjects. I tried to tell them that government subsidy through extra-market loan guarantees would just increase unaffordability while direct transfer payment via taxes would just guarantee lower quality. The guid-in-training said that not everything was a matter of economics. I had a good chuckle at that and told him that's like saying not everything has to do with physics.
After a round of telemotos at the bar, the group dispersed, but I and my dear lady friend stayed behind for a couple of pisco sours. Two members of the group came back in a f ew minutes later and we insisted they join us for a round. They were both of Indian descent, but the man was from UK and the woman from Australia. The man worked in finance while the woman was training to be an economist. One round turned into three and the conversation of course turned to politics and economics. By the end of it, I had made a very good case for anarchism while educating the would-be economist on the immoral nature of the state and the inherently distorting nature of coercive monopolies on currency.
The finance guy agreed with a lot of what I said and I even managed to change his mind about a few things. He already had some Bitcoin and he I'd bet he is now leaning toward libertarianism if not outright anarchism. The woman seemed to be having a painful epiphany. She actually agreed with just about every argument I made and saw the case for a libertarian limited government, too. But she couldn't see any way to get to that better, freer world from. I told her that all we can do is have these conversations with people. I sincerely hope that she will.
Regards,
Gary Gibson
Editor, The Dollar Vigilante
Before we get to the review let’s have a look at what you missed in this weeks’ TDV Dispatch.
First up, in my “Memory Hole”, I looked at the new Fed Chairperson, Janet Yellen. Meet the new boss, same as the old boss…
Next, in Jeff Berwick’s “Big Picture”, TDV’s Editor-in-Chief discussed the current state of the Dow.
Ed Bugos’ “Review & Outlook” investigatef the budget compromise, and other issues of the day. In “Other News from TEOTMSAWKI and TDV Related Tidbits”, Jeff took us on a tour of absurd stories of statism.
Finally, we profile David Howden.
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Here’s what we wrote about this week…
MONDAY, October 14
The Alarming Lack of Pretense in Politics
Wendy McElroy on the government’s lack of pretense.
“One of the most alarming trends in American politics is the lack of pretense being displayed by authority. Like a ravening beast that loses its fear of humans, government becomes more dangerous when it loses the need to pose as a public servant who performs legitimate tasks. In short, government becomes more dangerous when it doesn't care what you think of it. The sentence-long version of the argument for pretense is this: the need to pretend is a restraint upon authority.
The libertarian icon Murray Rothbard used to chuckle gleefully over the statements and antics of the notoriously corrupt politician Boss Tweed (1823-1878) of Tammany Hall. Murray loved the blatant quality of the man's corruption. “Those were the days before politicians had PR agents, and a crook was a crook,” Murray would declare. He found the transparent corruption to be charming because it was non hypocritical and it publicly revealed the ugly face of politics.”
TUESDAY, October 15
Antonius J. Patrick on the failings of the Constitution.
“Arguably, the most important reason why conservatives, populists, and even libertarians have failed to halt and turn back the rise of the American Leviathan state has been largely due to their uncritical acceptance, and often times deification, of the United States Constitution.
While at first not venerated and, in fact, detested by many among America's founding generation, the Constitution, over the time, has gained the status of Holy Writ among those on the modern-day Right.”
Wednesday, October 16
Brazil is Going to Block the NSA
Jeff Berwick on the ongoing saga that is the NSA.
"General Keith Alexander has admitted that Edward J. Snowden's revelations have caused “significant and irreversible damage” to the US's national security, and that national governments and terrorist organizations now know how to get around US spying.
He seems to underestimate the real damage: The NSA revelations are but another smear against brand USA in the global psyche, having done potentially as much damage as the Middle East wars started under President George W. Bush.
Even US allies are implementing mechanisms by which to keep the US from eavesdropping.”
Thursday, October 17
Capital Controls Offically Begin for US Businesses with JPMorgan
Big money, big problems. Jeff Berwick on changes at the big banks.
“The next major fascistic blow for Americans landed this week. On Wednesday news broke of JPMorgan Chase's business banking division's issuance of a letter to customers to inform them that after November 17, 2013, the bank will cease international wire transfers – and would "cancel any international wire transfers, including recurring ones."
In what surely will worry many business owners, cash activity is also limited to $50,000 per statement cycle, including money orders. JPMorgan reminded customers, "Cash activity is the combined total of cash deposits made at branches, night drops and ATMs and cash withdrawals made at branches and ATMs." JPMorgan Chase has told customers over the phone that this is all designed to serve them better.
In the letter the bank also states: "These changes will help us more effectively manage the risks involved with these types of transactions.”
FRIDAY, October 18
Feedback Friday – October 18, 2013
Your questions answered in our weekly feedback feature. Send any questions you may have to tdv@dollarvigilante.com.
SATURDAY, October 19
The Weekend Vigilante — October 19, 2013
In his weekly address to TDVers, Jeff Berwick checks in from Cambodia.
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