Well, TDVers, we’re getting ever closer to the election, and judging from your emails, comments, and queries, you’re as unimpressed with the inevitable outcome as we are—that inevitability being four more years of an ever increasing police state and reduction of civil liberty in the good ole USSA. You’ve come to the right place…we can help.
On to the feedback…
WHAT’S WRONG WITH ACAPULCO…?
Hello Jeff,
I have question for Feedback Friday.
What are the 3 most annoying things in Acapulco, Mexico? You're telling us about the nice sides, but surely there must be something in Mexico that you don't like?
Kind regards,
Max
Jeff’s Response:
Hi Max,
No place is perfect and so you are correct. There are some things I don’t like about here, but coming up with three may be tough.
#1: By far, without question, the most irritating part of Acapulco is the massive police presence… many of them in SUV’s with mounted machine guns and their faces covered… like the criminals they are. This, of course, all comes from the US War on Drugs and is all mostly paid for by US tax theft dollars. The reason I find it irritating is that if all plants (drugs) were legalized, then there’d be no need for any of this show of force. And without seeing these guys with guns riding up and down the main street everyday it’d be much nicer scenery! On the plus side, those guys with guns NEVER bother anyone. I actually said to a taxi driver the other day as we passed by one car full of machine gun toting police, “Don’t you hate all these criminals?”… his response was, “Nah, they don’t bother anyone.”
#2: My two least favorite months here are July and August… for two reasons. One, the weather is extra hot and extra humid in the summer months (the best months are from November to May where it is cooler and much less humidity). And, secondly, Acapulco is a major tourist destination for Mexicans and just like in the US, their kids are out of school during those months and entire families of 5 or 10 people jam into Acapulco in July and August. It can get a little crowded. But it all depends where you live… I live slightly outside of the main hotel/tourist area and so it isn’t a big problem for me.
#3: Trying hard to think of a third thing I find irritating down here. Well, as I write this, I am sitting out on my deck in the evening overlooking Acapulco Bay and the ice in my scotch keeps melting too fast because it is still about 25c/77f, but with a nice breeze.
TO LIVE AND DIE IN THE USSA
Dear sir,
I commend you for your LRC contribution today and must say that you articulated sentiments exactly like my own. I saw the coming debacle some time and like you, I believe it is the most optimistic development for the human race since the development of the written word. Like you, I am an anarcho-capitalist, and like you, I believe the present system is corrupt and broken beyond any hope of repair. And that a wonderful world of peace and prosperity awaits us. But if and only if the human race organizes itself along the lines of voluntarism and peaceful cooperation after the coming debacle. If we insist on another paradigm of "limited government", an oxymoron if ever there was one, we will just go back along the same old road of tyranny once again.
I know you strongly encourage emigration outside the US. There are many good reasons for doing so. I do not deny their validity. For my part, I am determined to live and die here, in the place of my birth, my beloved South. I have a small farm in rural Elbert County, Georgia. I grew up in Georgia and my family and my heart are here. I do not expect to survive the coming hard times, but I do not expect to live forever, either. Our vaunted ancestors, those who purchased our Liberty at so costly a price, exclaimed "Liberty or death!" It was not empty rhetoric for them, but a realistic political agenda. Although the Liberty they bought at such a steep price lasted for only a very, very brief time before being betrayed by domestic interests, it served as a shining beacon of hope all over the world for over 200 years.
I share your enthusiasm for the glorious future should our species finally throw off the mantle of the violent organization of society. May my daughter and her children live to see the bright future of true self-government, natural rights, private property, and Liberty.
John S.
Jeff's Response:
We understand if you're determined to stay, John. While we wish that every single productive and aware person would just pull a "Galt's Gulch" and leave the country like in Atlas Shrugged so that the fascists and commies can eat each other…we understand that not all readers can leave or even want to leave. That's why we put together TDV Homegrown every month. We chock it full of tips for surviving and thriving in the USSA during the collapse. It's not a letter about huge, profit-making plays (tune into TDV Premium for that)…it's a letter about practical things like alternate ways to make a living and avoiding kidnapping and detention by the state while still enjoying your life as much as possible. As you'll see in the upcoming months…this advice will become more and more valuable as the USSA becomes more of a police state and economic basketcase.
OBAMA PHONE LADY
Hi Jeff,
I read your article at LRC dated 11/2/2012. About the “Obama phone lady”, it’s really terrible to see people behave this way. But after I thought about it a few moments, I realized the banksters aren’t much better than she is. In fact, they’ve been stealing without production for quite some time, only on a far larger scale. And yes, I totally agree, the Federal Reserve Act of 1913 was one of the worst mistakes in American history.
Not too much longer, the fiat system doesn’t have much time left.
Sincerely,
Mark P.
Jeff's Response:
You're not kidding, Mark…the fiat system doesn't have much time left at all. That's why we urge our readers to subscribe to our TDV Premium Weekly Dispatch. You simply won't find another newsletter with our kind of analysis…the kind that understands fully that political solutions and the state itself IS the problem…and this analysis is combined with actionable advice to take full advantage for the inevitable –and increasingly imminent– collapse of the Western World in particular and the fiat monetary system in general.
We really don't know how much time we have left to get everyone prepared. These things tend to go bad slowly…then collapse very suddenly. We won't know where we are on that trajectory till we can look back. Do what you can now to make sure you look back from a place of physical and financial comfort and security.
NO OPEN CONTAINERS
Thanks for the article, Jeff. I got turned away from a swanky bar last night here in Toronto because I just came from the liquor store with a few cans of beer in a package. I wanted to pop into a bar and have an evening unwinder on my way home. I told the doorman to go fuck himself, he was being a prick. He could have just as easily held my drinks for me until I was finished inside.
In 2006 I spent 5 incredible months living in Belgrade, Serbia, where one can enjoy a beer in the park (or anywhere), 24 hours a day, buy a bottle of vodka from corner kiosks throughout the city, 24 hours a day, and go clubbing until the sun rises. The only "rule" I encountered was no smoking on public busses (except for the driver, they are allowed to smoke!). I used to unwind with a beer after clubbing at 7-8am in one of my favorite cafe's, as the sun was coming up. It was great!
Back in Toronto, I still take occasional walks around the city with a beer but it's concealed in a capped water bottle. It's an enjoyable, relaxing habit that I'd encourage anyone to do… yet it's illegal.
The interesting thing about this is that in Belgrade (and much of Eastern Europe) public drunkeness is looked down upon and is a very rare occurrence, even if it's legal to drink any time any where. Here in North America, with iron laws in place, public drunkeness is the norm, beyond 12:00am.
Have a good one.
Jeff’s Response:
Let's not forget that Mexico is part of North America…and so is "Central America", the Caribbean, New Foundland and Greenland. But we understand that you meant Anglo-North America as opposed to Latin-North America. That's fine! The distinction is important to me, too, because I vastly prefer the Latin portion to the Anglo portion. I'd hate for anyone to lump Mexico in with awful places like the US and Canada.
As to your point, however, there is no drinking age here in Acapulco. Or if there is, no one seems to care about it at all. It is neither obeyed nor enforced. Often you'll meet 16-year-olds in a club…and rarely do they ever get drunk. That's mostly because they haven't been denied alcohol for years and thus have no artificially inflated desire to overindulge the way US teens do. Also, since there is no government-regulated closing time, there isn't the same frantic rush to start doing shots and get wasted before the government-mandated and absurdly early shutdown time.
Up in Anglo-North America, what you see are a race of unshophisticated and desperate amatuer drinkers who rush their drinking because they know they will be herded out onto the street like cattle at precisely at 1:35 am (the bars have to get everyone out by 2 am or the armed overseers will start fining them immediately). It's the government-created closing times that turns those poor souls up north into drinking machines when they go out.
Now that I think about it, this is the same dynamic at work when our US and Canadian readers come visit us at TDV headquarters in lovely Acapulco! They are usually so intoxicated by the instant freedom that some of them go a little crazy. It takes them a couple of days (or weeks!) to adjust. But it's okay because we're here to guid them through the adjustment. One of the regular topics of conversation around the table at our favorite bar is how it feels like a weight has been lifted off their shoulders here in Acapulco. All the stupid, little laws that stress them out are gone…at least for the length of their visit. It's not a bad way to live at all. If you can, you ought to come down to visit us and see what we mean. Just don't blame us if you decide to move to Mexico forever!
That's it for this week's Feedback Friday. Never forget that you ARE Feedback Friday. So keep those questions and comments coming. Till next time…
