.jpg)
It's hard for a black anarchist libertarian to visit family during an election year. Political talk is always in the air, the driest of tinder ready to spark a family conflagration. I'm black and my black family is thoroughly Democrat. Black people tend to be Democrats the way Japanese people living in Japan tend to speak Japanese. As tiresome as neocons and Republicans can be about things like war, prohibition and immigration, Democrats tend to be much more difficult to talk to because they live in a parallel universe where the laws of economics don't apply. Talking to a Democrat about human action and economics is as exhausting and embarrassing as trying to hold a conversation about complex social issues with a really drunk stranger at a bar.
I bring this up because I happen to be visiting my family back on the USSA plantation. Normally when I'm in the US I stay in my bungalow in the Midwest, but this week I'm in Florida where most of my immediate family has settled in the past couple of decades. The occasion was my grandmother's 85th birthday celebration. I managed to avoid talk about politics for the most part and excused myself early so I could write today's column. At one point, however, I was speaking with my sister and her boyfriend (who is white and who votes Republican) about a radio show to which my sister had been listening. The topic was little acts of theft in which regular people regularly engage. One caller told of how he and his wife did not drink milk, but occasionally would need milk for a recipe. So he would just march across the street to the local deli and fill up a cup of milk at their coffee station and then walk out without paying for anything. Amazingly, this caller didn't consider this to be really wrong. His argument was that he and his wife would just waste most of any milk they bought and his little theft didn't take that much away from the deli owners. I remarked, perhaps a little too loudly, that I bet that that guy votes Democrat. My very outspoken Democrat/socialist aunt (who has Obama paraphernalia festooning her home) shot me a look.
Thing is, I bet I was absolutely right about that milk thief's voting habits. Milk can be bought in containers as small as a half pint that suit single-serving needs. Sure it's not as economical as buying milk in a larger quantity, but if you "don't use that much milk" the extra cost per purchase really will not add up to more than a fistful of change per year. But the Democrat/socialist mind can't help but consider a little theft less wasteful and therefore more noble than actually paying for his own stuff. Their logic goes something like this: "Hey, why not redistribute wealth and property a little bit (or a lot!) since the proper owners don't 'need' all of it? I got needs and desires and you have more than I have…so forced redistribution and outright theft is okay!"
In any case, I didn't find my day with the family as philosophically and emotionally trying as I usually do. That's probably because of a Skype conversation I had with fellow TDV editor Justin O'Connell last night in which I read something much more upsetting. Justin shared a recent post from one of his Facebook acquaintances:
"Dear Federal and State Governments. Thank you for taking a chunk out of my paycheck every month. I really enjoy being able to drive on good roads, to pass schools where I know children are receiving a decent education – and in many cases free breakfast and lunch, to know that my parents can receive Meals on Wheels and necessary healthcare, and to know that if I post an ill-conceived, bigoted video on YouTube, my government will protect my right to do so, however offensive. Personally, I don't think I am paying enough for the privilege of living in a peaceful democracy, but that's just my take."
Sigh. This is as sad as watching African slaves argue about whose master is richer and more virile (something which would actually happen). First, the money your politicians take by force is not being used for what you think. The stuff that goes to the feds mostly pays interest on the money they've borrowed to keep bombing foreigners. Maybe some of your local income taxes pay for infrastructure, but even then you are getting a horrible deal, one which you are being forced at gunpoint to take. The roads and schooling, like every other good and service in the world, could be provided by the private sector and would be of higher quality at lower cost. That's because the private sector has no choice but to make things ever cheaper and better in a free market where failure to meet consumer demand is met in turn with economic death (as long as the government doesn't step in to bail out the losers). There is nothing magical about schools or roads or bridges or tunnels that makes this less true for those things than it is for smartphones or laptops or clothes.
The “education” from public schools and government-licensed private schools is mostly brainwashing and a slanted view of history that amounts to propaganda. Real education is something that you get through your own efforts and whose cost has dropped to almost nothing in the Age of the Internet. As for how the world could possibly work if all the roads were private: I point out that right now I travel a lot and am constantly using roads FOR WHICH I PAY NOTHING IN TAXES. The “free rider” problem already exists, but I'd argue that its' not really an issue and would be less of one in a stateless world. Privately funded roads would likely use some combination of tolls and the roads' owners simply letting people use the roads because it was in the owners' best interests. Think of a business which happily allows people come in and wander around for free. The business owners know that in order to get sales, they have to let strangers come in and temporarily use the space for which the business owners have paid. Roads in urban commercial centers could act like extensions of the commercial building space to which they are attached.
Yes, government has departments that provide and maintain infrastructure. But government is the costliest way to get the goods. People who write little love letters like the one above lack imagination and any economic understanding and quite frankly are simply in love with the idea of being slaves or children who need taking care of. It's also funny how the writer praises his "stable democracy" when it is the military violence of his beloved stable democracy that is the real cause of uprisings in the Islamic world, not some video on YouTube.
And as for those meals and healthcare for your parents, I ask the poster: Why don't YOU buy meals and medical care for your parents, you economically-illiterate, morally-challenged mooch? Why do you assume that other people should pay for the things you want? But the writer and I agree on one thing. He is truly not paying enough to live in the “stable democracy” he loves so much. Governments at all levels are constantly having to borrow. Borrowing is only necessary when income isn't enough to meet expenditures. Taxes are the governments' income. So if he loves them so much and think what they do with his (and all our) money is so wonderful, then he ought to put his money where his mouth is. He ought to pay them more. In fact, if they do such a better job with the money than private citizens could do, he should give them all his money. If 30 to 50% is too little (by his own admission), then he is being a freeloader by not paying more of his own volition. But then again, this guy probably thinks that the only people who should truly be paying more taxes for his wonderful "stable democracy" are the people who earn more than he does.
Far too many people in the States (and the West) honestly agree with that poster. In fact, in one of the TDV forums, someone posted that a friend claimed she'd happily pay 100% of her income in taxes if she got all her housing, transportation and medical needs met! (Note: the one sure way to misallocate resources and kill innovation and progress is to let a centrally planned economy without a profit motive take care of all your needs.) These people are afflicted with a plantation mindset. They think that the good things in their lives come about primarily from the government taking money from them or from "the rich". These people really deserve what they have coming. The inherent failure of the statist arrangement of taxation and redistribution can no longer be hidden. The unpayable debts because of entitlements and wars…the continuous currency debasement…In a few years the statists will all be eating each other after they're done consuming the wealth that the "greedy" capitalists created in the first place.
Regards,
Gary Gibson
Editor, The Dollar Vigilante
P.S. You know they'll eventually be coming for whatever wealth you've managed to amass. If you've stocked away a lot of money in a traditional retirement vehicle like an IRA, then you should click here to learn how to keep your savings safe. The time is soon coming when you'll be glad you did.
Welcome to your Sunday tradition, TDV’s Week in Review, a quick encapsulation of the dynamic and diverse postings from the here at TDV. What better way to end your weekend?
And think about signing-up for the new Homegrown newsletter here, a new TDV edition that we’re really excited about.
On to the review…
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 24
The Digital Revolution & How Books Will Be Banned in the 21st Century
Jorge Gato on Orwell, Huxley, and the manner in which digital technology lends itself to censorship.
“Why is this a problem you might ask? Well, just look at the little stunt pulled by Amazon, its Kindle and Orwell's 1984. Amazon remotely deleted the eBook from customer readers, along with Ayn Rand literature in another instance. It's bad enough that 1984 isn't really being read in high schools anymore.
So the global "aristocracy of purpose" will be able to censor revolutionary literature simply by deleting them from eBook readers. Coupled with the demise of books in print, this poses a great threat for future generations of free and independent thinkers.”
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 25
The Death of the American Teenager
Justin O’Connell on the transition the teenage market, and the cultural and economic effects of that change.
“The teenager is today a dying notion in the US and in the rest of the west, as these years seem destined to, once again as they were before and during World War II, be spent hustling for cash to feed their families. In 2006, there were about 31 million teenagers in the US, an all-time high. They represented a consumer market worth $89 billion. That is nearly ten times what they were worth as a market when Elvis Presley was thrusting his hips. In 2008, the worst market collapse since the great depression diluted the economic oil of the US economy, and expendable American incomes left the stage forever like the American teenager.”
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 26
The Monetary Times They are a Changin’
Jeff Berwick invokes the lyrics of Bob Dylan, and in considering “Ben Bernanke and all the other Keyniacs”, and the changing face of our economies.
“And in this mercantilist, nation-state, democratic and fasco-socialist Western world of today, no one can ever resist devaluing their currencies along with the big players, which will likely mean almost every major country in the world will have to step things up or they risk the chance that their currencies won’t get to zero as quickly as the others, which will anger their exporters.
In other words, this could be the final stages of the crackup boom, as Ludwig von Mises predicted. Now that Ben Bernanke and others have committed to QE to infinity, it certainly looks that way. But, exactly how long it will take is the main question.”
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 27
The Sailboat Diaries’ Michael Fielding contributes a short essay on the manner in which we are already living in a state of anarchy, we just don’t realize it. Yet.
“Many make the mistake of thinking something has to change in order for anarchy to emerge, that anarchy means a land without government. This fallacy traps people within the statist paradigm. A government is no more than the most powerful aggressive organization in a territory. Anywhere aggression exists, there is ‘government’, whether it’s Al Qaeda, the mafia, or a modern constitutional democratic republic. Government will never be eradicated because aggression will never be eradicated.”
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 28
Feedback Friday – September 28, 2012
In this week’s Feedback, silver custody and the pedantic semantics of dictionary definitions. Plus some shout outs for Getting Your Gold Out Of Dodge, and TDV Homegrown.
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 29
The Weekend Vigilante September 29, 2012
Back home in sunny Acapulco, Jeff talks about smoking, breasts, rap, and freedom. Now there’s an irresistible quartet if ever there was one.
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:
Thanks for all your kind words about TDV Homegrown. We’re truly happy that you’ve embraced it. Read all about TDVs latest newsletter filled with health, survival, and freedom tips, here.
Thanks as always for reading or subscribing!
Managing Editor
