It's Friday again, and so the TDV crew is on call to answer all of your questions, queries, and commentary on a world less free. This week, we eschew the "debate" nonsense, and go right to your concerns about the War on Drugs, second passports and Paraguay, gun culture, Libertopia, Acapulco, and a disagreement with Gary Gibson.
On to the feedback…
REAGAN, AND THE WAR ON DRUGS
Hi Gary and Jeff,
Just wanted to point out that the graph you published, which does show a spike in the arrest rate after Nixon initiated the War on Drugs, also clearly shows that the worst effects occurred in the Reagan years. Reagan, who for some reason is revered by conservatives as some kind of libertarian hero, not only ratcheted up the drug war, but was the catalyst behind such atrocities as the RICO statutes and "three strikes and you're out". Look at the graph for 1980 and beyond — it proves my case.
Sincerely,
Glen L.
Gary and Jeff’s Response:
Excellent point. Yeah, Reagan deserves heaps of scorn too. He just about tripled the deficit, ballooned the size of the federal government, and raised taxes almost every year of his presidency (a total of 11 times). And while the incarceration rate edged up under Nixon, it really zooms right after Reagan takes office. So a pox on Reagan's moldering corpse, too. If there is a hell, we hope he and Nixon are sharing a room in it.
MORE INFORMATION ABOUT PARAGUAY
Dear TDV,
Since TDV is facilitating passports in Paraguay, I would love to get some information about Paraguay and spending time there from the "boots on the ground" staff for TDV.
Jeff’s Response:
Paraguay is a really interesting little place. I haven't actually ventured too far outside of Asuncion, however, so I can't comment on that. Asuncion has some really beautiful burroughs where you'd never know you weren't in Beverly Hills… except that it is much freer, obviously. I could easily live in some of those burroughs. And even the downtown area, though with some rough/dirty areas, is set for a major restoration that one of our lawyer friends is heading up. It looks like it will be a fabulous investment. In fact, you can't go ten feet in Paraguay without recognizing an opportunity. For people looking for a place that is quite cheap but where you can be meeting the upper echelon of Paraguayan business within days of arrival (due to you being a welcomed foreigner with potential capital or skills), Paraguay should be near the top of your list… along with places like Nicaragua and Cambodia.
Our staff on the ground welcomes you at the airport and will take you to their boutique hotel just a few minutes from the airport, should you wish to get Paraguayan residency or citizenship and will take you around to all the government offices to complete your application. It's a truly VIP service and makes the rigors of applying for foreign citizenship a pleasure. The last time I was there I sat around with numerous TDV clients as the hotel owner made up truly amazing German food (she is originally from Germany but has lived in Paraguay for decades). Her husband is a tour guide operator and can take you almost anywhere you wish to go in South America, should you desire. The whole thing is so downright comfortable and enjoyable that you almost forget you are there on business. I am truly proud of the people we have on the ground there, their professionalism and their warm desire just to spend enjoyable evenings with a glass of wine or a very nice glass of scotch – of which they have a full selection. Not to mention the cigars… which you'll find out are a staple in Paraguay. Every gas station has a selection that would make a typical tobacco shop blush.
In short, it's definitely worth a visit. I still call it a hidden jewel in the world… hopefully it stays that way for a long period to come. But with all the TDV subscribers and clients flooding in with a wealth of talents and capital it probably will get more expensive over time. So go now while it's still very cheap!
GUN CULTURE
Dear Jeff,
yet another interesting article, keep it up! Could you write maybe in a future article about the gun politics/gun culture in your part of the world? I'd love to know what it's like down there. Do people open carry? You've written about that part of Mexico is akin to a failed state, so how do the state-sanctioned puppets in uniform react to guns being wielded outside of the blessed government class? I'm sure I'm not the only one interested in hearing about how it really is. Thanks!
Jeff’s Response:
Mexico is a massive country. Most people underestimate how big and diverse it is. Some people from some parts of Mexico can barely understand others from another state… similar to how I, born in Western Canada, need a translator when I meet someone from Newfoundland. Down here, in lawless (in a good way) SouthWest Mexico, you can pretty much do whatever you want. Just make sure you adhere to cultural norms and make friends and you'll be fine, almost no matter what you do. As for guns, it is illegal for a foreigner to own a gun. But, here's the good news… down here, no one cares what is illegal or not. It's the closest place I've found to a nearly anarchist mindset. Here, if you don't hurt or kill anyone, you can do whatever you want.
Even for Mexicans it is fairly difficult to get a gun license. But, again, down here, no one cares that it is illegal nor that they need permission. On the Mexican version of July 4th you almost need an umbrella from the bullets raining from the sky as everyone, happy, dancing and smiling fire off their guns.
That is the biggest mistake a lot of Americans make, in my opinion. They always say, "you are not allowed to have guns in Mexico!" But the part they are missing, is they actually think they need to be allowed or need to have permission. Down here people look at politicians and police as funny people in costumes who at best are a nuisance.
For those who like to get permission, however, then I recommend Chile. We are just in the final stages of closing our property development in Chile and it is very easy and legal to get guns in Chile… even if you are just a resident and not a citizen. We are even considering having a shooting range on our property and a host of armaments.
ON LIBERTOPIA
I attended Libertopia also and noticed the rigid adherence to "law". My wife and I were on our second beer after dinner on the hospitality deck and decided to retire to our room. We were told we could not leave with our beers. I just kept going and told the girl not to worry as "Our room is right here." Of course, it was about 500 feet away. I had taken my beer downstairs the night before without a thought. I live in Nevada. They have the same law there but do not enforce it, so I am used to walking outside while drinking.
I was surprised to hear attendees question you and Doug for smoking on the mainstage, since the subject was "Providing Government Services Voluntarily." I expected to hear questions on the expat community in Chile. Why your personal lifestyle choices were of interest is a mystery to me.
Jeff’s Response:
Yes, I was surprised as well! In fact, of all my years talking about how government has killed hundreds of millions of people… how it impoverishes billions of people… the #1 most contested thing I ever have said is when I stated that I had started smoking! I really don't know what to say. There is a massive hatred for smoking in most of the West now. Smokers are treated like child molesters. Perhaps, being a perma-contrarian, that is why I have gravitated to smoking. After all, if no other slaves are doing it, it must be something good!
4TH MOST DANGEROUS CITY IN THE WORLD: ACAPULCO?
Hey Jeff,
Apparently Acapulco is the 4th most dangerous city in the world, by homicide rate, according to the Consejo Ciudadano para la Seguridad Pública y la Justicia Penal…whoever they are and whatever it means (no hablo espanol)! http://incakolanews.blogspot.ca/2012/10/the-worlds-50-most-dangerous-cities-all.html
Jeff's Response:
I received quite a few emails about this one! I just came back from a lovely lunch at one of my favorite small Italian places, Forza, with TDV Passports director, Ken Johnson and business manager, Michael Bach. I smoked some cigarettes, bantered with the long-time owner, Franco, and had a nice glass of wine. Later tonight, almost all the gang from TDV will be meeting up at Mangos, a sports bar on the beach, and a few TDV subscribers are in town soaking in the sun and enjoying the relaxed atmosphere. In short, this is the nicest, most dangerous city I've ever been to!
This whole concept of "dangerous" and "safe" is bizarre to me. I once had a 6'2" 200 pound guy from Canada who was visiting Acapulco ask me, with a scared look in his eye, "Is it dangerous here? I was told not to take a taxi by myself!" I looked up at his looming, muscular frame and couldn't believe what I was hearing. It took me even a moment to process what I just heard. Finally I responded, "What, do you think you are going to get raped?"
Is this what men from the West are like now? Scared, whipped dogs? I'll bet he shouts out with pride to the Canadian national anthem, "the true north strong and free!" Yet, he is not strong and certainly not free.
But, that is besides the point. The point is that I can't remember the last time I heard a foreign tourist had anything done to them other than having the time of their life. Even if there has been a spate of killings, it all occurs on the other side of the mountain range separating the rich/tourist side of Acapulco from the more ghetto areas. And it is always, ALWAYS violence between two entreprenurial drug groups fighting over territory. They are forced to do that because they cannot use normal arbitration systems thanks to the heinous and criminal "War on People"… sorry, they call it the war on drugs. This may be news to people in the West, but most people don't kill other people for no reason. It would make no sense. Why take a massive amount of risk for no reward? If anything, Western tourists are actually safer anywhere in Mexico than they are in the US. The actual homicide rate of Americans in Mexico is MUCH lower than it is in the US.
I have been threatened with physical violence a grand total of 0 times in 5 years here. Everytime I go to the US or Canada someone wants to fight me… or I have to run out of a club (especially in Vancouver) with my head down as shots ring out.
That said, things are about to get even better down here. In the Mexican elections over the summer, the Mexican version of the neo-cons (PAN) was finally ousted after 12 blood soaked years. Genocidal mass murderer, Felipe Calderon, was finally turned aside after his, and Vicente Fox's, attempt at vanquishing drugs by killing as many people as possible. Prior to PAN, the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) had been in power for decades and there was never any major drug violence… because they actually worked as a partner with the entreprenurial plant vendors. PAN, on the other hand, declared war… and they got it. While I dislike any political party, I am looking forward somewhat to the return of PRI who will become business partners once again with the heroic medicine transporters and, barring any further destabilization from the criminal US Government, a certain level of peace will return to the back streets of Mexico.
We'll see in a few months… but, in either case, it won't affect my life too much. I'll just go on living. But perhaps people will stop sending me these things telling me what a dangerous place I live in… especially people who have never been here. The height of absurdity.
DISAGREEING WITH TDV’S GARY GIBSON?
Gary,
I often agree with you, but you're very wrong here when you say: The US is "ahead of the rest of the Western world" in terms of citizenship-based taxation. They are not at the forefront of implementing citizenship-based taxation as you imply. They are actually a laggard in terms of repealing it. The U.S. is one of the last holdouts of countries that use citizenship-based taxation and has not yet dropped it.
Most recently, the Philippines ended their citizenship based taxation in 1998. And the few other countries that ever attempted citizenship based taxation, ended it even prior to that.
Only the US and Eritrea remain with citizenship-based taxation.
Also, Hungary has not adopted citizenship based taxation. If you're getting that info from Mark Nestmann's post, know that he is wrong on that too, at least to the extent that he has greatly exaggerated to make for a more enticing blog post for him (and it looks like he since changed the post title from his original to more accurately reflect the truth). Hungary is more like Canada, Israel or dozens of other countries. They will only tax non-resident Hungarians on Hungarian-sourced income, just as they do for anybody else living anywhere in the world who has Hungarian-sourced income. If a Hungarian lives abroad (>183 days/year) and has no Hungarian-sourced income, they owe no taxes to Hungary. So a Hungarian can leave and not owe any taxes to Hungary. As you know, this is vastly different from the US or Eritrea's citizenship-based taxation that cannot be escaped, except by renunciation (in the case of the US) or ever (in the case of Eritrea because they do not allow renunciations).
Obviously, no one here is for citizenship-based taxation. But even many non-US governments now seem to realize how citizenship based taxation is unworkable and unnecessarily complex in a globalized world where people travel, work and live in different countries at different points in their life and some even hold dual and tri citizenships. Unfortunately, the US Congress is too dull to understand this and to understand how citizenship-based taxation is harming the US by hindering US exports and consequently citizenship-based taxation will probably remain until renunciations spike more dramatically to make it part of the public conversation or until the US dollar collapses and they simply lose their power. Either way, the US is not ahead. It's behind and a laggard behind those countries that have tried citizenship-based taxation, realized it's a horrible system for myriad reasons, and then ultimately repeal it in favor of a more fair, residency-based system. Hopefully the US catches up and switches to a residency based system.
Gary’s Response:
Thanks for the excellent input! You know, I met an Eritrean cab driver during FreedomFest in Las Vegas. I asked him what his impression of the US was and he said it is still the best place in the world. I didn't make too much of an issue about the growing police state or coming economic collapse. I didn't realize at the time that the poor chap's home country would extract tax money from him for the rest of his life no matter what. Even the USSA must seem like a beacon of reason and liberty compared to that.
And that brings us to the end of another Feedback Friday. I'm off to join Jeff and the TDV crew at our usual booth in Mangos (man, I really love that place). Remember to keep Feedback Friday alive…by sending us feedback!
