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Economy

Economy is one of the main tools of control. Both individuals and countries are in trouble because of certain widely accepted economic policies. We need to look at what's not working and develop a better model that does not promote the concentration of resources in the hands of a few.

November 17, 2007

FBI Raids Liberty Dollar: Why Neocons Hate Complementary Currencies

Categories

Economy

On 15 November at eight in the morning, a dozen FBI and Secret Service Agents descended on the Liberty Dollar office in Evansville, Indiana. The agents sequestered all the gold, silver and platinum in the office, including some two tons of Ron Paul Dollars that had just arrived from the mint some days ago. They also took all records, files and computers and froze the bank accounts.

American Liberty Dollars - Image source: Wikipedia.

Liberty Dollars are a private or complementary currency, backed by the value of precious metals and expressed through coins, paper certificates and electronic digits for easy transfer.

Bernard von NotHaus, the man behind the currency, says in a note to currency holders and supporters:

We have no money. We have no products. We have no records to even know what was ordered or what you are owed. We have nothing but the will to push forward and overcome this massive assault on our liberty and our right to have real money as defined by the US Constitution. We should not to be defrauded by the fake government money.
But to make matters worse, all the gold and silver that backs up the paper certificates and digital currency held in the vault at Sunshine Mint has also been confiscated. Even the dies for mint the Gold and Silver Libertys have been taken.

This in spite of the fact that Edmond C. Moy, the Director of the Mint, acknowledged in a letter to a US Senator that the paper certificates did not violate Section 486 and were not illegal. But the FBI and Services took all the paper currency too.

The possibility of such action was the reason the Liberty Dollar was designed so that the vast majority of the money was in specie form and in the people's hands. Of the $20 million Liberty Dollars, only about a million is in paper or digital form.

I regret that if you are due an order. It may be some time until it will be filled... if ever... it now all depends on our actions.

Everyone who has an unfulfilled order or has digital or paper currency should band together for a class action suit and demand redemption. We cannot allow the government to steal our money! Please don't let this happen!!! Many of you read the articles quoting the government and Federal Reserve officials that the Liberty Dollar was legal. You did nothing wrong. You are legally entitled to your property. Let us use this terrible act to band together and further our goal – to return America to a value based currency.

A legal defense fund should be established soon.

Anyone holding Liberty Dollar paper certificates or having claim to some bits of the electronic currency can sign up to join the legal action to recover their property. Even if you do not own any Liberty Dollars but want to join in the fun, there is no problem. According to von NotHaus:

There is still $20 million Liberty Dollars in circulation. Simply get some paper Liberty Dollars and sign up for the Class Action Lawsuit.

Continue reading "FBI Raids Liberty Dollar: Why Neocons Hate Complementary Currencies"

posted by Sepp Hasslberger on Saturday November 17 2007

updated on Friday October 15 2010

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March 16, 2007

Empire: A Global Web of Corruption

Categories

Economy

A new book, A Game As Old As Empire: The Secret World of Economic Hit Men and the Web of Global Corruption, shines a spotlight on the subversion of countries around the globe by economic manipulations. The book by, edited by Steven Hiatt, but with contributions of a dozen other authors, continues where John Perkins' Confessions of an Economic Hit Man left off.

Amazon

A Game As Old As Empire uncovers the inner workings of the institutions behind these economic manipulations. The contributors detail concrete examples of how the “economic hit man game” is still being played: an officer of an offshore bank hiding hundreds of millions of dollars in stolen money, IMF advisers slashing Ghana’s education and health programs, a mercenary defending a European oil company in Nigeria, a consultant rewriting Iraqi oil law, and executives financing warlords to secure supplies of coltan ore in Congo.

John Perkins, author of the original "confessions", says in the book's introduction:

“If my Confessions could send such a strong message to the public, it made sense that multiple confessions—or the stories about people who need to confess—might reach even more people …The intrepid contributors to this book uncover events that have taken place across a wide range of countries, all Economic-Hit-Mens' game plans under a variety of guises. Each sheds more light on the building of an empire that is contrary to American principles of democracy and equality.”

With currency trading alone totaling $3 trillion a day, we don't have to wonder were people find funds to pressure the weaker economies to do the bidding of those behind the "Hit Men".

John Christensen, one of the contributors to the book and director of the Tax Justice Network, links the existence of tax havens that encourage and enable capital flight and tax evasion, to providing the means for this widespread economic subversion of developing countries.

Continue reading "Empire: A Global Web of Corruption"

posted by Sepp Hasslberger on Friday March 16 2007

updated on Monday April 12 2010

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March 02, 2007

New Hampshire: Beginnings of a Freedom Revolution?

Categories

Economy

Society

If there is a place in the US, where the original dream of a free country and freedom for citizens is alive and well, it may be New Hampshire, home of the Free State Project.

"The Free State Project is an effort to recruit 20,000 liberty-loving people to move to New Hampshire. We are looking for neighborly, productive, tolerant folks from all walks of life, of all ages, creeds, and colors who agree to the political philosophy expressed in our Statement of Intent, that government exists at most to protect people's rights, and should neither provide for people nor punish them for activities that interfere with no one else."

The project is seeking to concentrate within the borders of the State a sufficient number of freedom seeking people to actually make a difference and start changing things. Will they be successful? It is too early to answer that question, but the experiment sure is interesting.

Tom Kennedy, a Canadian activist for economic change was invited to the recent Liberty 2007 Fourm and Expo in Concord, New Hampshire and he is advocating that part of the project should be economic reforms, starting with local currencies, such as the BerkShares of Southern Berkshire in Massachusetts.

Here is Tom's report on what he found on his visit to the Granite State:
Continue reading "New Hampshire: Beginnings of a Freedom Revolution?"

posted by Sepp Hasslberger on Friday March 2 2007

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February 26, 2007

Local Currency: 'BerkShares' Encourage Commerce

Categories

Economy

BerkShares are a local currency used in Southern Berkshire, in the State of Massachusetts. Like the German UrstromTaler, which recently made BBC news, and the Ithaca Hours, arguably the granddaddy of local currencies in the U.S., the idea is to promote local commerce.

UrstromTaler Image: BBC

Globalization has Americans shopping at Walmart and similar huge retailers, buying Chinese or other foreign made goods, while local business languishes and many small shops are forced to close down.

Reversing that trend is the goal of local currencies around the world, and there are a growing number of them in many countries. The movement towards a currency that sustains local economy is not new, but with the BBC recently reporting on the German Urstromtaler and now ABC news doing a piece on BerkShares, it seems that some mainstream attention is finally focusing on the phenomenon.

BerkShares Image: ABC

ABC also has a video on line, which you can go see if you have the bandwidth. You just have to get past the publicity and then the fun starts...

Continue reading "Local Currency: 'BerkShares' Encourage Commerce"

posted by Sepp Hasslberger on Monday February 26 2007

updated on Monday May 26 2008

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