The SovereignLife Blog

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The Green Police

While I have the utmost respect for Ron Paul, and all those who are gathering together in the “Tea Parties”, I can’t help but think – “been there, done that”. Sure their heart is in the right place, but their strategy is doomed.

What I’m referring to is the very idea that political action will change anything. I was caught up in this belief for 20 years – as a political activist, bent on bringing change via the political process.

But what I’ve learnt, over the years, is that freedom will never arrive via the ballot box. There is simply no way to convince enough people of the validity of the “freedom” proposition to win in any political horse race.

The end result is that millions of man/woman-hours are wasted in this idealistic endeavour.

Politics is the art of compromise. If you intend to go into politics then you will never go far unless you are prepared to compromise – compromise on the very ideals that set you on that path in the first place.

To reach the pinnacle – the seat of power – requires the greatest compromise of all. And it’s dead certain that if you were to reach such a position, then your ideals would have abandoned you long ago. And without your ideals, you would be like any other politician in a position of power. You’d be corrupted by the process, and end up being worse than all your previous totalitarian nightmares put together.

What is needed is not political activism – but a political strike. Just as the heroes of Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged went on strike, this is the only way to bring the system down. By refusing to participate you withdraw your sanction of the political process – and stop the narcissistic, psycho power-lusters in their tracks.

The whole political charade depends on creating an aura of legitimacy. That’s the reason the power-lusters are always clamouring for us to vote, for without our vote they are cast aside as irrelevant.

Take it from me. Give up your dreams of change via the ballot box. It ain’t gonna happen!

Instead, take your freedom dreams and apply them via direct action – on your own life. Don’t waste a precious moment of your life on trying to convince others. Simply discover practical ways to increase your own freedom and do it. Your self-directed energy will be well-rewarded.

It’s to be expected. When the going gets rough (for governments), they turn around and start turning the screws.

One of the inevitable consequences for a prolonged recession/depression is that as jobs are lost, so is tax revenue. And just when the government needs heaps of additional cash to fund its increased borrowings, the tax base is eroded by the decline in economic activity.

These  news stories are typical of what is to come:

German Minister to Tax Cheats: Be Wise and Confess

European States Keep Swiss Bank Secrecy Under Seige

Why Germany is Paying Millions in Ransom For Stolen Bank Data

Notice the use of the term “tax cheats” in the first headline. The news is “massaged” to contain a moral element – that those who don’t pay taxes are ‘cheats’. But is that so? Taxation is the forced removal of money from your pocket for various social, economic and political ends that you have no control over and may morally disagree with. Tax is theft of your property. A tax “cheat” is the same as a homeowner defending his house against the government who is determined to demolish it. Go figure.

Here’s an insightful YouTube video which puts things in perspective regarding China and the USA’s symbiotic relationship as creditor and debtor.

Or how about this speculation: Gold: China’s End Game?

While most of the world watches the news on TV – being fed news as non-interconnected events without analysis – more observant viewers will see a pattern emerging. The first signs were at the Copenhagen conference on climate change – where China was unexpectedly forceful.

Now, with the US announcement that is selling armaments to Taiwan, China has responded aggressively, so much so, that it’s response is already being commented on and analysed for clues as to China’s intentions.

I think it’s pretty clear. China is finding its feet and starting to see itself as an actor on the world stage. This, naturally enough is causing alarm bells to go off in Washington and European capitals – as westerners have never had to face this situation before.

All I can really say is, “get used to it!”. This is all par for the course in the dramatic power shift underway. We are witnessing the turning of the tide in human affairs as Asia, lead by China, rises to economic preeminence.

Naturally, the “old order” doesn’t like it. But we’ll have to get used to it – even if it means being dragged kicking and screaming into this new “reality”.

And don’t expect this change to happen without a fight.

Lew Rockwell hits the nail on head with his essay How to Fix The Jobs Problem.

Many years ago I had a small business employing just three people. After a few years of that, dealing with taxes, insurances, and the inevitable state bureaucracy, I swore never to employ anyone ever again. And so it has been.

Ron Paul makes an excellent point in his bill which seeks to allow competing currencies. In essence he is saying that if we can’t “control” or audit the Fed, then the very least the US Congress can do is abolish the law that makes Fed Notes the only legal tender.

Instead, allow people to choose their own currency – which in Ron Paul’s view should be gold and/or silver.

Actually, while it may seem like a rather mundane thing to simply repeal legal tender laws, such a change could be profound. It could open the door to a raft of innovative currencies which, if based on gold and/or silver, would go a long way to helping people protect themselves from the constant erosion in value of the Fed Dollar.

I can easily imagine digital gold banking, where you have an account at a gold depository. They provide you with a debit card which can be used to spend your gold, and merchants throughout the land are enlisted to accept such cards (much the same way merchants were enlisted when credit cards first made their appearance all those years ago).

It’s all about acceptance. If you and I could easily spend our gold in ways that we want, then the barrier to using gold as money would be overcome. And I’m convinced this would happen quite naturally – if only the state gave up on its monopoly over money.

France is apparently moving closer to banning the burka – the veil that some Muslim women wear over their faces. Reading the readers’ comments on the BBC’s “have your say” section shows a remarkable range of opinion – for and against.

Actually, this provides an interesting test for the concept of freedom – a sort of barometer if you will.

On a personal level I find face veils (either leaving eyes visible or not) to be a very anti-social stance to take. What I mean is, when you can’t see someone’s face then you are very unlikely to strike up a conversation with them, unless you already know them.

I’ve been to a few Islamic countries – Turkey, Dubai and Malaysia. Turkey is secular and you don’t see many veils, or even head scarfs. Dubai is a mixture. Malaysia is multicultural and only the Malay women wear head scarfs, but not face coverings. However, in Malaysia there are a good number of Arabic tourists (not sure where from) and these women invariably wear the burka. And what I’ve noticed is this: while their behaviour in public, with their husbands and children, is quite normal – there is a definite barrier caused by such a code of dress which prevents you from showing any “normal” friendship. You feel locked out.

However, this proposed ban is not about that, but whether the government should be able to dictate clothing.

I think the answer is simple: uphold property rights. I think Moslem women should be free to wear the burka if they so choose – in public. However, when it comes to holding down a job or being able to go enter certain premises, then the decision is entirely (or should be) up to the property owners themselves.

Example: if an airline deems it an issue to allow face-covered women on its planes, then it should be free to ban them – in the same way many retail and banking outlets prohibit the entrance of men with any form of face covering.

A property owner may have valid or even invalid reasons for either admitting or not admitting a veil-wearing woman, but that is his or her prerogative.

So how to apply the principle of property ownership to the proposed burka ban by France? Simple, any employer (private or even government) has the right to stipulate the dress code, so has the right to either ban or not ban burkas.

In such a case, it would logically follow that the French government’s powers should only extend to their own employment situations – in government departments. And this is indeed what they may intend doing.

An excellent essay by Paul Craig Roberts asks the question “What is the greatest human achievement”. Then after listing a number of possible and commonly assumed answers, he states his own: The greatest human achievement is the subordination of government to law.

He then goes on to illustrate how far the USA has fallen from this pinnacle of achievement – in making government totally unaccountable, and therefore an imminent threat to individual freedom.

Read his essay HERE.

There is a rising consensus that gold is headed for around $1,500 an ounce this year – maybe more – as governments around the world debase their money by flooding the marketing with more – to ostensibly fight deflation.

This article adds more weight to that argument.

Which goes to show, even though gold is currently over $1,100 as I write this, if you consider it “too expensive to be buying gold now” you are likely to be proven very wrong.