Italian Capital Controls and Hidden Secrets of Money Episode 5

Amidst the flagrant fiscal deterioration of the Euro-zone since its inception, the most recent insult is what is happening in Italy. The Italian government has commanded the Italian banks to impose a 20% tax on all inbound wire transfers, treating the transferred money as taxable income. This ruling is retroactive to all wire transfers beginning from February 1, 2014. It now becomes the incumbent duty of businesses or individuals receiving wire transfers to prove to the Italian banks and by extension the Italian government, that this currency is not income. Therefore all Italians are considered “money launderers” until proven innocent. A startling realization!

 

 

This is happening not so coincidentally, as we near the 1 year anniversary of the Cyprus “bail-in” wealth confiscation that occurred in April 2013. For those of you unaware of this historic event here is a brief summary. Cypriot depositors awoke on a Saturday morning to find their accounts were frozen, nothing allowed in or out. The Cypriot banks were on the verge of defaulting and asked the European Central Bank for a bailout. What resulted came to be known as a “bail-in”. For approximately 2 weeks all accounts were frozen as Cypriot government officials were deliberating as to how much currency to steal from its citizens in the form of a tax appropriation. During these deliberations Cypriot depositors were rioting and protesting in the streets for their money to be returned to them. Alas such actions have little effect once the process of wealth confiscation has begun. The final agreement dictated that accounts with 100,000 Euros or more would receive a 47.5% tax appropriation or “hair cut”. As it turned out, those with such large accounts were owned by Russian mafia members, although many of the larger notorious Russian oligarchs were tipped off before this entire debacle occurred and succeeded in removing their currency in time before the freezing began.

 

After this event other banks in the Eurozone, Canada, and in the United States subtly changed their banking policy to include this “bail-in” as a possible emergency measure to be taken in times of financial crisis. This event also made clear the notion that once a deposit is made in any bank that currency is no longer your own. You are now considered an “unsecured creditor” as you have just lent your currency to that financial institution and in the event of a financial crisis, as an unsecured creditor, you will be the last to be compensated if that financial institution were to fail or default. Keeping one’s wealth in a bank or credit union has scarcely been so dangerous as it is now and vulnerable to wealth confiscation schemes of a variety of sorts.

 

We all work hard for the currency we earn. The last thing we would like to see is our currency being used to fund bankrupt “countries”, murderous “politicians”, or criminal financial institutions. Our true wealth is our time and freedom. Money is simply a conduit to store that wealth. Currency is the imposter that has been given to us to fool us into believing we are earning things of value. Currency is simply pieces of paper with fancy ink that “government” has dictated through legal tender laws has value. In reality nothing can be given value by “government” that will not soon thereafter return to its intrinsic value of zero. Fiat currency is no exception. Historically fiat currencies have a life span of 30-40 years. We are just beginning our 43rd year of the fiat currency experiment known as the US Dollar, more aptly put the Federal Reserve Note. Were it not for our powerful military forcing all countries on Earth to use it as the world reserve currency and as the petro-dollar, the Federal Reserve Note would have collapsed years ago.

 

Put the fruits of your labor into things of real tangible value that will not depreciate and that bankers cannot counterfeit at a whim. Over the course of time such things that have proven themselves as having intrinsic value include diamonds, precious stones, real estate, farm land, crypto currency, and precious metals. Of all these substances gold and silver have, for at least 2000 years, risen above all the others for their superior qualities.  I am aware of only 2 methods by which gold and silver can be produced; from the collision of two neutron stars or as a result of a supernova explosion.  Therefore as long as “politicians” cannot engineer these events I do believe they will retain their premier stature.

 

 

Gold and silver are essentially indestructible, which means all the gold and silver that has been mined from the time of the Ancient Egyptians is still around in some form. Their value has never gone to zero. They are the world’s first global monetary system and they are here to stay! Do not insult nature and the collective monetary choice of free and peaceful individuals. Gold and silver are the Free Market choice for wealth preservation and the foundation on which a truly prosperous society can grow. Once they become adulterated and diluted by mendacious “politicians” acting on behalf of cancerous “governments” nothing can halt the ensuing Wealth Transfer until the cycle is complete.

 

 

All we can expect is that the people will have learned their history lesson and stop trusting that “governments”, “politicians”, and financial institutions will protect their wealth and ensure their future prosperity. The only wealth these entities and “politicians” protect is their own. The only prosperity they ensure is their own. We must take fiscal, economic, and personal responsibility for our own freedoms. These things cannot be entrusted to anyone, regardless of sophomoric rhetoric or ostentatious garb. You own yourself! You are captain of your own destiny! Start acting like it!

 

“I am more concerned about the return of my money than the return on my money.” Mark Twain

 

Record Bank Heist in Cyprus Spells an Endgame For Your Wealth

 

Second JP Morgan Banker Jumps to his Death: Said to be 33 year old Hong Kong FX Trader

 

“Money Launderer until Proven Innocent”-Italy Imposes 20% Tax Withholding On All Inbound Money Transfers

 

Following a Wave of Banker Suicides, 3 Former Barclays Bankers Now Charged in LIBOR Scandal

 

 

Just do good things

 

Danilo

http://peacefulanarchism.com/feed/podcast

The Truth About The Olympics – Sochi 2014 Winter Games

The Winter Olympics is being held from February 7 – February 23 in Sochi, Russia. What lies in the background that is not being reported upon when you see these brawny men and women compete for the ultimate coveted gold medal, which is in fact composed of 92.5% silver and plated with 6 grams of gold? Let us examine this nationalistic tribal event known as the Olympics.

Stefan Molyneux delivers an insightful look into the world of the Olympics. In many ways it is not too dissimilar from the world of the NFL Super Bowl. They are both products of the Crony Capitalism we have all grown accustomed to and have taken for granted as normal. Let me assure you they are not normal. They are the product of a severely diseased predatory economic system that artificially props them up through “government’ subsidies and generous grants at the taxpayer’s expense. How is it possible that $51 billion can be spared to pay for the Sochi Winter Olympics in a post 2008 housing crisis recession filled world where many are unemployed, homeless, and living well below the poverty level? Truly this must be one of prime examples of “bread and circuses” in the midst of a crumbling empire as such State supported games can only cater to the ultra rich and well connected.

Olympic Moment

Another tragedy is that amidst all of this stolen wealth that is thrown around, the Olympic athletes that trained their entire lives for moments to compete such as this are barely compensated for their strenuous efforts. The rigorous training they endure from early childhood can be compared to the genuine inhumanity of child prostitution and human trafficking. This is not even including the obscure reports that have surfaced of male/female childhood sexual molestation perpetrated by the coaches. This child abuse is facilitated by the fact that the parents are typically barred from attending the grueling training sessions of the young athletes.

Most of the stolen currency used to fund the fabulous Olympic projects is generously given to the construction companies, Olympic committee members, judges, and any other entity that directly benefits from the exploitation of these tortured souls. One reason why all of this waste is accepted by the financially hurting masses is due to the issue of nationalism. When supporting such a magnificently wasteful activity can be attributed to being patriotic to one’s country it not only pardons the waste but celebrates it. The more such massively extravagance is allowed to persist the more we are, in effect, glorifying the acceleration of our own societal Wealth Transfer.

Similar to the ever accelerating expansion of the universe, our society is not slowing down on its path towards the Wealth Transfer; rather it is significantly speeding up. This may provide us some consolation amidst this mess that the deterioration may soon come to an end so that we may begin the process of reconstruction, as masochistic as that may seem.

Haha here is hilarious new line of action figures in perfect harmony with the Crony Capitalism of the day! A perfect gift for your Statist friends. They’re Konnected!

Just do good things.

Danilo

http://peacefulanarchism.com/feed/podcast

The Truth About Addiction – RIP Philip Seymour Hoffman

Here Stefan Molyneux delivers a brilliant examination, in response to the recent tragic death of Philip Seymour Hoffman, in the area of understanding self destructive human vices, such as “illegal” drug addiction, as a direct result of early childhood trauma. Many people seem to forget that we all were children once and that a thorough examination of one’s childhood can reveal some disturbing truths as to the nature of one’s actions in later adult life. If a person becomes an “addictive personality” as an adult we must ask the question, what tragic circumstances brought about this situation? To punish and cage such an unfortunate individual is to harm someone in genuine need of therapy and compassion.

The “War on Drugs” should be more accurately named a “War on Addicted People”. It serves no one but the increase in prison revenue and the expansion of the State to persecute the victims of childhood physical, verbal, emotional, and sexual abuse. These poor souls search for harmful mind-altering substances as a form of self-soothing treatment with the intent of filling the vacuum created by childhood dereliction, abuse, and neglect. We must stop this vicious cycle of violent punishment as a societal response to a violent childhood. Ostensibly this only accentuates the problems and morphs into a self-perpetuating need for the increase in State power as a direct response to the increase in “illegal” drug use.

The massive failure of the “War on Drugs” and the subsequent black market that was created is testament to the destruction that any “State” imposed substance ban has on society and individuals that are affected by it. The supreme hypocrisy that all Statists face is that while they support the State’s action of aggressively seeking to punish those who are caught with the particular “illegal” plant, leaf, or flower on their person, afterwards they sit back to enjoy the work of musicians that was created from its mind altering properties and drink a beer, which only a century ago was just as viciously attacked in the Alcohol Prohibition of the 1920s.

Another issue we must mention is that of viciously punishing individuals for engaging in “victimless crimes”. Approximately 80% of the victims of the prison-industrial complex are there as a result of “victimless crimes”. These are crimes in which there is no victim. A murder involves a murderer and a victim. A rape involves a rapist and a victim. A theft involves a thief and a victim. Where is the victim in a person smoking marijuana or a person eating a pot brownie?

From early childhood we were all taught to not hit, steal, and kill other people. We do not need “State” laws to tell us these things. If someone does not care about committing murder, do you think a “law” will prevent them from doing anything else? Such needless “laws” function only to expand “State” power and hamper the freedom of peaceful individuals. Genuinely good people will act ethically without “laws” and genuinely evil people will act unethically regardless of any State “law”. Therefore the effectiveness of any State “law” is null and void for its intended purposes.

The only things that a State prohibition creates are violence, the formation of gangs, and an increase in crime. This is because a ban does nothing to quell a natural human desire; on the contrary it increases it. Plunging anything into the realm of the black market immediately makes that thing an enormously lucrative business venture for all the risk that must be taken by the enterprising entrepreneurs. In the case of substances such as mind altering plants and alcohol it also renders it much more potent and dangerous, this being the most cost effective method for transporting a powerful dose in a minimum quantity.

The issue of vaccines is a quasi-related topic. Here is an amusing short clip of Snoop Dogg speaking about the dangers of the flu vaccine. Do not allow yourself to be poisoned with substances masquerading as medicine. The difference is clear. The immune system is a sophisticated mechanism that has taken thousands of years to develop and evolve. It is there for a reason and must only be supported by natural herbs and health giving foods for it to function optimally. This line of reasoning applies to all vaccines regardless of their stated goal. What man can create in his puny laboratory will always be inferior to what Nature has created in her grand laboratory. Do not insult the harmony of your biology.

Vices are those acts by which a man harms himself or his property. Crimes are those acts by which one man harms the person or property of another. Vices are simply the errors which a man makes in his search after his own happiness. Unlike crimes, they imply no malice toward others, and no interference with their persons or property. In vices, the very essence of crime — that is, the design to injure the person or property of another — is wanting.

Lysander Spooner

 Just do good things.

 Danilo

http://peacefulanarchism.com/feed/podcast

Minimum Wage Laws Create More Unemployment

Hey guys,

As of December 31, 2013 the NY minimum wage was increased to $8. On December 31, 2014 it will be raised to $8.75 and December 31, 2015 it will be raised to $9. On the surface this sounds like a wonderful thing. After all, how can it be wrong to forcefully prevent employers from paying their employees less than a certain amount? A cursory glance at the situation would conclude one to unconditionally support such legislation, however leading one’s life by making cursory assessments of situations would imperil one’s well being indeed. Taking a moment to examine the situation in a little more detail would quickly reveal the minimum wage laws to not only injure those at the bottom of the income pyramid, incidentally those it is intended to help, but it is also shown to be inherently racist, nefarious, and impoverishing.

Here is a stunning 5-minute animated cartoon explaining quite clearly what happens when government steps in and interferes with natural economic law of supply and demand, in this case the connection between the artificial establishment of a minimum wage and rising unemployment. The existence of the minimum wage is real proof of the Hegelian Dialectic that permeates the State in its mission towards self-preservation and self-justification. Simply put, the Hegelian Dialectic, as proposed by German philosopher Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, consists of thesis, anti-thesis, and synthesis, also known as problem, reaction, and solution. The “government” manufactures the problem through the rising cost of commodities due to inflation as a direct result of Central Banking currency creation and “government” borrowing of currency. The people then clamor and plead with their “politicians” for help resolving their dilemma of rising commodity prices. The “politicians” arrive on the white horse with their proposed solution of wage controls or minimum wage institution. The naïve public is completely unaware that they have jumped from the frying pan into the fire.

One’s labor has value based on the skills that one contributes to a company. These skills vary widely. Why does Brad Pitt get paid in the millions per movie whereas Joe six-pack only gets minimum wage at McDonald’s? (I am not insulting or downgrading the value that McDonald’s has had in allowing unskilled workers to easily enter the job market in order to compete with others.) Is this coincidence? Does Brad Pitt simply have better attorneys to force them to pay him in the millions? No, every job is 100% voluntary and based on mutual consent between employer and employee. If this were not the case that implies that there is an element of forced labor which implies slavery. To be characterized as a job one must always have the option to resign or quit. The reason Brad Pitt is paid in the millions is because of his superior acting skills, the high value he adds to any movie he participates in, and because his face is widely recognizable and desirable. To some people these attributes are worth millions. This is the main reason why Brad Pitt will always make millions over Joe six-pack with his forgettable face and lack of skills.

Minimum Wage

If one’s skills have a value of $7.25 then passing a law mandating the minimum salary to be $10, or $100 or $1000 would not change this economic reality. The main reason businesses exist is to make profits as this funds expansion, the purchasing of equipment, and the hiring of more employees. (As a side note, profits, when they are fairly made without “government” subsidies, grants, bailouts, tax breaks etc, are the notifications to business owners that their goods/services are satisfying some fundamental need or desire in society. They are not to be demonized in any respect, as often occurs in our crony capitalistic/socialistic society.) It stands to reason that if an employer would pay an employee more than the value his labor is worth, that employer is fundamentally losing money and will soon be facing the economic reality of bankruptcy. Given that inevitability, if an employer must obey such a “law”, he will fire the least needed and lowest skilled of all his workers and consolidate his company so as to continue his operations without losing money. 

An unemployed man not receiving unemployment benefits is making $0/hour. (Unemployment benefits is another “government” contrived Ponzi scheme in which the hard working productive middle class is forced to pay into and support the idle and slothful. This system only engenders dependency and a genuine loss of ambition to further oneself.) It stands to reason that if he is willing to work for someone who is willing to pay him $1/hour, where is the crime? Indeed there is no crime, since in order to prove a crime has taken place one must demonstrate who the victim is. If both parties willingly and consensually come to an agreement then there has been no victim and therefore no crime. A separate argument may be made as to whether he is paid a “living wage” but this is irrelevant since the fact still remains that making $1/hour is better than making $0/hour, economically speaking. The main reason that an employer may not pay someone $1/hour “on the books” is the minimum wage law so therefore the existence of such a “law” immediately presupposes the creation of more poverty and unemployment. Denying a major section of the population access to the labor market because they lack the necessary skills to overcome the obstacle of minimum wage is condemning them to a life “government” dependency.

The real minimum wage is zero.”

Thomas Sowell

As sinister as we may characterize “politicians”, I don’t think we can characterize them as stupid. They know the exact effects their “laws” have on the chattel of the “country” over which they rule. For the 53 years that the federal minimum wage has been in effect that is 53 years of increasing poverty and unemployment. That is 53 years of robbing the less skilled of possible job opportunities. That is 53 years of worsening inner city ghettos and gang violence. Who are typically the less skilled in our society? Not the whites of course. Typically the less skilled are Hispanics and blacks who are subsequently kept down and impoverished as a result of such specious legislation. Therefore the minimum wage “laws” are one of many racist “laws” that exist.

Political language is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind.”

George Orwell

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iyf2wBKQScw

Let it be plainly stated that I have more respect and less contempt for common thieves and murderers than for “politicians”. The reason for this startling assertion is that common thieves and murderers, although they have clearly violated the non-aggression principle, at least have the courage to do the shameful deed themselves and thereupon endure the associated consequences. They can blame no one but themselves for their wretched actions. The same cannot be said for “politicians”, who disgracefully delegate to others the condemnable duty to steal, torture, imprison, and murder everyday citizens. This is especially evident when they deploy troops overseas to “protect our country”, “spread democracy”, or whatever other drivel they conjure up as an excuse to murder foreigners, decimate their countries infrastructure, and take control of their natural resources. “Politicians” should be held accountable for the sundry atrocities they commit as genocidal megalomaniacs and should be prosecuted as sternly as society would a serial killer or serial rapist.

Kill one man and you are a murderer. Kill millions and you are a conqueror. Kill all and you are a God.”

Jean Rostand

A suitable allegory for understanding the dynamics of employment, unemployment, and how minimum wage laws adversely affect them both is imagining a basement with steps leading out the basement into the house. The basement symbolizes joblessness and unemployment. The house signifies employment and the bettering of oneself through work experience. The steps signify the ability to elevate oneself from unemployment to employment through the freedom of employers to pay their employees whatever they agree is a suitable payment through their mutual consent. When employers are freely able to pay their employees any amount based upon their skills and labor value this provides abundant opportunity to the low skilled worker to contribute meaningfully in the labor market while at the same time building up one’s resume in order to later apply for higher paying jobs when his improved skills deem it necessary.

No “law” can ever produce wealth or prosperity by mere dictate. This is the hope of deluded persons who believe “government” is some wizard capable of conjuring wealth and prosperity at will. Alas the real world is thankfully more pragmatic. Wealth and prosperity is only created through the labor that the productive middle class injects into raw materials thereby turning them into useful goods and services.

The problem with Socialism is that you eventually run out of other people’s money.”

Margaret Thatcher

Working as an employee is definitely helpful to those will low skills trying to get a foot in the door and build work experience for their résumé. It should not therefore be considered as a career. If you have the drive and perseverance to be self-employed in your own business you should definitely do that. Besides the advantages of being able to keep all of your income and only declare what you want, you are following your own dreams rather than fulfilling someone else’s.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2Il1tu4Zfg

This is also why “sweatshops” and “off the books” work helps to alleviate the unemployment and poverty that minimum wage laws, licensure laws, and certification laws directly produce. They give gainful employment opportunities to those who don’t have the resources or means to endure the rigorous and expensive “education” necessary to obtain a license, certification, or permit.

If you think the problems government creates are bad, just wait until you see their solutions.”

Anonymous

In the business and economic world all things have a price. Other than sunshine, air, and rainwater (well that is changing as an Oregon man painfully discovered who was imprisoned for 30 days in 2012 for collecting illicit rainwater on his own property) nothing in life is free. There is no such thing as a free lunch. This is what sociopathic politicians base their rhetoric on when they appeal to the gullible mass of voters in the State worshipping event known as elections. The promise of allocating “free” money and goods stolen from the productive hard working middle class is the fundamental kernel on which all ‘government” models base their prosperity.

 

Outlawing Jobs: The Minimum Wage

Minimum Wage Madness

The Minimum Wage and Unemployment in Australia

Minimum Wage, Maximum Nonsense

Should Minimum Wage Be A Crime?

Government Policies Hurt Low-Wage Workers

Let’s Make 2014 the Year Of Freedom For Low-Wage Workers/

Why So Many Americans Are Leaving the US – in 1 Big Chart

Politics and Minimum Wage

The Minimum Wage Law

US Debates Raising Minimum Wage To Detriment Of Labor Force

 

Just do good things

Danilo

http://peacefulanarchism.com/feed/podcast

El Gobierno No Existe (Government Doesn’t Exist)

 

Si me gusta mandar esto dibujos porque nos hace reconocer todos los maldades que están ocurriendo en nuestro mundo pero de una manera chistosa. Hay muchas cosas graves pasando en el mundo que es fácil volverse deprimido y triste. Estas emociones ayuda nadie. Debemos mantener nuestro sentido de humor y así mantenemos nuestra humanidad.

Politician Speech

La realidad es que el “gobierno” no existe. Claro que los políticos, la policía y el militar existen pero ellos no son el “gobierno”, ellos representan el “gobierno”. Los políticos hacen y pasen los “leyes”. La policía y militar aplican los “leyes” pero la esencia del “gobierno” es la creencia de los plebeyos que alguna gente tiene la autoridad y el derecho moral de “gobernar” y que los plebeyos tienen el deber de obedecer. Esto es el raíz de uno de las supersticiones más peligrosas del mundo, porque de esta creencia equivocado viene la mayoría de los prejuicios, violencia, tortura, encarcelamiento, sufrimiento, y guerras que vemos en el periódico y en la noticias. De la misma manera que dejamos de creer en Santa Claus porque maduramos, debemos dejar de creer en el “gobierno”. Una revolución violente no es necesario, solo abandonar esta creencia equivocado y vivir nuestra vida libre.

 

Que piensas que pasara sin estos ladrones, mentirosos, y asesinos en nuestro vida? Crees que estaríamos en caos, desorden, y conflicto incesante? No creo que eso pasara. Creo que la mayoría de la gente como tu están más preocupados en obtener un buen trabajo y ganar suficiente dinero para comprar comida para su familia y asegurar que sus hijos tengan lo mejor educación posible. Estos son las metas de gente cuerda y juicioso. Metas de sociópatas es buscar poder sobre otra gente, explotarlos, y robar dinero de ellos. La diferencia es grande como la diferencia de día y noche.

 

Hay tres maneras de obtener dinero. La primera es tu intercambias tus productos y servicios para dinero. Esto es la manera económica. La segunda es alguien te da dinero voluntariamente. Esto es la manera de herencia. La tercer es tu lo robas de alguien. Esto es la manera de la mafia. Cual manera piensas el “gobierno” y los “políticos” obtengan dinero?

 

Esto es otro perspectivo. Hay dos maneras de vivir.  La primera es trabajar duro para vivir. La segunda manera es vivir por el trabajo de otros, como un parasito chupe la sangre de un animal. Cual manera piensas el “gobierno” y los “políticos” viven?

 

Cuestiona todo! Cada día que no aprendemos algo nuevo es un día perdido.

 

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