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Cops And Prohibition Are Not Comedy
Philosophy gives clarity and meaning to life. But it can also make you really seem like a weirdo. (Occasionally, if you're especially good at it, it will get you a cupful of hemlock.) You won't be able to cheer with the crowd for sports or for wars. You won't feel like you're pitching in for the good when you are forced to pay for things you don't want. And you won't be able to enjoy movies that make light of prohibition or celebrate the armed enforcers funded with money stolen from the innocents they abuse.
My dear lady friend is friendly toward my explanations of non-aggression and economics, but she hasn't embraced anarchism by any stretch. She also understands why I bristle at the sight of police officers (thugs in uniforms with guns) and why I hate prohibition as a violation of self-ownership and a cause of crime and misery. But the presence of police and the reality of prohibition aren't sources of misery for her the way they are for me.
So when she convinced me to watch the cop comedy The Heat (starring Sandra Bullock) with her I agreed with considerable reservation. Cop stories take up a lot of space in the movie and television entertainment world. I manage to avoid them mostly because I get most of my entertainment from reading things online or laughingly ignoring "intellectual property" restrictions online. But occasionally I find myself watching cop stories and having to shut my moral outrage off, or at least turn it way the hell down.
This was the case with The Heat. The scenes that introduce the two main cop characters are both so full of insulting assumptions of the state's right to tell people what to do with their bodies and what to put in them that I had to stop watching after just 20 minutes. Sandra Bullock's character is an FBI agent who gives a patronizing lecture as she figures out where a couple of hostages have hidden recreational substances they intended to sell. Sandra and her fellow gang members invade the home and hold the hostages at gunpoint as she goes on about how these old houses from the era of alcohol prohbition had all kinds of secret compartments to hide drugs and guns because back then, "People still kept wanting their alcohol, even though they weren't supposed to."
Ugh.
And then a little later we meet the overweight, foul-mouthed and unpleasant local Boston City detective lady who will partner up with Sandra's "straight man" character. The Boston cop disrupts a man's attempt to pick up a prostitute (the frustrated john is that actor who plays the one-handed brother in Arrested Development, by the way). She puts him in handcuffs in the back of her car and then heads off to harrass, chase and kidnap a fey black pimp and drug dealer on the grounds that he is smoking marijuana in public.
Granted, the jokes and acting are funny. But this is too infuriating a premise for any freedom-loving or fundamentally peaceful person to laugh. What I saw where the state's presumption of the right to threaten, kidnap and ultimately kill in the face of resistance for people buying certain products (marijuana) and services (sex for money as opposed to mere dinner or drunkeness) that happen to be unpopular. I couldn't have been less amused if I'd been watching a minstrel show from the 1930s. Or a public service announcement short from the '40s about keeping one's women, children and colored folk in line with regular, sound beatings.
It was vulgar. And it made me sad to think that so many in the world casually agree with this fundamental immorality…that a) there ought to be a central monopoly on violence to prevent unpopular but non-aggressive activities and b) if the government says it's not allowed, then it is right that it should not allowed. That second one sticks in my craw the most. There are people who think that even when the government's rules are immoral they ought still be obeyed until they are changed within the "legal" framework provided by the system.
It's a land of violent busybodies and submissive sheep. Luckily, I usually have so much on hand to keep me busy and making money that I don't get a chance to be exposed to reminders that would make me want to drink to forget. In fact, in the upcoming issue of TDV Homegrown, I'll be letting subscribers in on what I've been up to increase my already decent income by over 50% so I have even more chances to protect myself financially as the wheels come off the monetary system. You can click here to learn about signing up to Homegrown in time for the soon-to-be-published November issue.
Regards,
Gary Gibson
Editor, The Dollar Vigilante
Before we get to the review let’s have a look at what you missed November’s TDV Issue.
First up, in my “Memory Hole”, I continued our ongoing conversation about Bitcoin, adding Richard Nixon to the discourse.
Then, in Jeff Berwick’s “Big Picture”, TDV’s Editor-in-Chief discussed farmland and crop investment, and more opportunities at Galt’s Gulch Chile.
Next up was Ed Bugos’ “Review & Outlook”. In “Other News from TEOTMSAWKI and TDV Related Tidbits”, Jeff took us on a tour of absurd stories of statism, as he does every week in TDV's subscriber-only publications.
Then, we had a look at our TDV portfolios.
Finally, we profiled Thomas Aquinas through the lens of Murray Rothbard.
If you’re interested in receiving articles like these, consider our weekly subscriber-only publications, like our Issue, Dispatches, and Homegrown. You may subscribe here.
Here’s what we wrote about this week…
MONDAY, November 18
The Final Blow to Free Enterprise, The Constitutions, and Jenna Jameson
A not to be missed post that could only come from the twisted mind of Jim Karger .
“It was 3:07 a.m. when the caller ID illuminated: ‘Berwick.’
I jerked the phone off the cradle.
‘What the fuck do you want you evil bastard!? I told you that if you ever drunk-dialed me again I would hunt you down like the rabid animal you are and . . .’
‘No, Karger,’ he interrupted. ‘This is serious,’ he said, no humor. ‘There is a story developing that only you can understand, only you can write. We need to be the first publication to seriously deal with what may be the most heinous government incursion on human rights in history,’ which he slowly pronounced ‘his-to-ry.’
‘My God,’ I said, "either another hooker roofied you in Panama, or they are drone-killing babies and house pets in Toledo."
‘Neither,’ he said flatly. ‘It is much worse.’”
TUESDAY, November 19
American Borders Will Be Changing
Wendy McElroy warns of ever-transitioning border over-policing.
“An iron curtain is slowly descending around the borders of America. When it falls, some people will be shut in; others will be shut out. It will be up to bureaucrats and agents with guns to decide which one of those people you are.
Changes in border policy are in the wind. On June 27th, 2013, the 1,300-page Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act passed the Senate and proceeded to the House of Representatives. Debate on the Act has focused on the path of citizenship being extended to the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants in America. This is controversial because Republicans fear that the new Americans, and especially Hispanics, will vote Democrat in upcoming elections. Happily, the bill has stalled in the House.”
WEDNESDAY, November 20
The Dollar is a Barbarous Relic: The Rise of Bitcoin
Jeff Berwick on the inevitable fall of the dollar, and rise of Bitcoin.
"John Maynard Keynes once stated that "gold is a barbarous relic". He much preferred currency that was controlled by a small group of bearded men in secretive boardrooms who "managed" paper money that was ordered by law (force) to be used by the citizens of a geographical region.
Whether or not you agree with Keynes (I certainly don't) what you do have to admit is that Bitcoin is making the Federal Reserve Note (FRN), a.k.a. the US dollar, look like a barbarous relic today.”
THURSDAY, November 21
Redmond Weissenberger continues Bitcoin’s ever-evolving story.
"Bitcoin has taken off lately, and so have the cryptocurrency's detractors. The same talking heads who trash gold-bugs now have their new target: a currency not reliant on the government. Should Bitcoin succeed in establishing itself as a means of exchange people can trust, the dollar's demise won't be far away. What we are witnessing right now is the rise of totally state-less currency that threatens the normal working order. The is why the Fed and fiat lovers are scared – they know central banking all over the globe is losing legitimacy.”
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 22
Perhaps the Best Investment for Surviving the Dollar Collapse
Jeff Berwick on investing in farmland, and some news about Galt’s Gulch Chile.
“Here at The Dollar Vigilante (TDV) we have written for years about The End Of The Monetary System As We Know It (TEOTMSAWKI) or, to put it more bluntly, the coming collapse of the US dollar. Our total body of work on the subject is enough for a book… and will soon be a book entitled Escape from Amerika.
Our focus and tagline has been “Surviving and Prospering During & After the Dollar Collapse”. We constantly lay out the facts on why the dollar will collapse but today let’s take a focus on one of the best ways to survive and prosper as that occurs.”
SATURDAY, November 23
The Weekend Vigilante — November 23, 2013
In his weekly address to TDVers, Jeff Berwick checks in from Acapulco Bay with some discussion of some personal milestones, JFK, and more.
TDV VIDEO
Our feature video this week has Jeff Berwick interviewed by Luke Rudkowski about the future of the US economy and the rise of Bitcoin.
Have a look at our wide array of informative videos featuring interviews, opinions, and analysis on TDV’s media page.
TDV SERVICES
Don't forget, TDV is much more than a newsletter. We also offer many of the solutions to the problems we identify in the letter to help people internationalize their self and wealth to protect themselves from The End Of The Monetary System As We Know It (TEOTMSAWKI). Check out all our services designed to help you gain more freedom in your life here:
Remember, if you have any questions, concerns, or issues with what you've read on TDV, write us at: tdv@dollarvigilante.com.
Thanks as always for reading or subscribing!
Managing Editor
