What Kind Of Power Should Government Have Over Your Life?

Guest Post by Brandon Smith

The concept of government power is a strange and complex cipher. The existence of governments has always been predicated on assumptions of necessity, but few societies have ever truly considered what those necessities might be. What is government actually good for? What do they do that is so important? And, what happens when a government fails in the roles and duties that a culture deems vital? We tend to view government as an inevitability of life, but the fact is, government is NOT a force of nature, it is a creation of man, and it can be dismantled by men just as easily as it can be established.

In America, many people see government as an extension of the Republic, or even the source, and an animal that feeds at the behest of the common citizen. An often heard argument against the idea of drastic change or even rebellion within the establishment system is the assertion that the government “is us”. That it is made of Americans, by Americans, and for Americans. That there is no separation between the public, and the base of power. This is, of course, a childish and fantastical delusion drawn from a complete lack of understanding as to how our system really operates today. How many people out there who make this argument really believe at their very core that they have any legitimate influence over the actions of the state? I wager not many…

At bottom, to cling to the lie that the government as it stands is a construct of the people is an act of pure denial designed to help the lost masses cope with underlying feelings of utter powerlessness.

Unfortunately, the U.S. government has shown clearly through word and action that its concerns are not with the average American, and that its loyalties rest with decidedly smaller and more elite interest groups. When elections once meant to dissuade political abuse become a false paradigm tool for the maximization of tyranny, have we not lost our voice as a society? When any government decides it is no longer concerned with the freedom and prosperity of a nation, no matter how righteous that government claims to be, we MUST, as citizens, ask ourselves whether that government is still useful to us, and what kind of power it should be allowed to wield. It is a dereliction of our duty not just as Americans but as human beings to simply treat government as a realm outside of our control or concern. It is lazy. It is dangerous. It could very well be disastrous. Government should answer to us, now and forever.

As the new millennium stampedes forward, however, it appears that the intended roles of the American dynamic have been reversed. The progression of the past decade has seen a hailstorm of legislation and executive orders that impede personal liberties and erode Constitutional protections in place for centuries. So many trails towards totalitarianism have been blazed recently that it is becoming difficult to track them all, and yet, I do not think many in our country have asked themselves what this means to their future. What kind of rights are you ready to hand over to government? How many aspects of your life should the establishment be able to dictate? How much freedom are you willing to give away?

While pondering these questions, each man and woman should also take into account the powers that those in government THINK they deserve. What have they asked for lately? What have they taken without permission? Here is just a short list of the more detrimental declarations of authority attempted over the past decade along with the pieces of legislation and executives orders used to make them “all legal”…

The Power To Invade Your Privacy

The U.S. government has long held at least a private belief that it should be allowed access to every aspect of a citizens personal life. In the past, the excuse of criminal suspicion was a standard rationalization, but this expanded beyond the targeting of individuals to broader surveillance of the populace as a whole with the advent of the drug war. Financial records especially became subject to government perusal without warrant and generally without any criminal charges filed.

This trampling of the 4th Amendment over a fabrication of a “war” on substances that by all rights should be legal anyway was just a taste of what was to come. With the explosion of the war on terror (another fabricated conflict), the application of mass surveillance became standardized. The Patriot Acts and the FISA bill, both upheld by so called “Republican” and “Democratic” presidents, have opened the door for centralized electronic spying in the name of “national security”. Never before has the world seen such an unbridled assault on the private lives of common citizens. The big brother grids of the Soviet era are child’s play compared to the data mining of the 21st century, and this tyranny is made possible by the marriage of government and corporate interests, working in tandem to ensure an ever tightening net.

The usual ill conceived debate point for such surveillance is the claim that it is “for the greater good”, for our own safety, and that if we have nothing to hide, we have nothing to fear. It is not uncommon for slaves to embrace the loss of privacy in the name of safety, even if that feeling of safety is an illusion, but, in the end, whether we have something to hide is none of the government’s concern. In a true Republic, innocent until proven guilty is a paramount ideal, and this ideal cannot exist in a country where everyone is treated as a suspect at every moment of every day. No politician, no corporate body, no president, no alphabet agency in existence is exalted enough to play the all seeing all judging eye of god. This kind of power in the hands of an organization whose sole purpose is self preservation and expansion at any cost? Absolutely unacceptable!

The Power To Silence

From the DHS, to the private Federal Reserve, to Google and Facebook, the tides of opinion and social observation are being tracked, catalogued, and flagged for future intervention. With active programs now in place to identify and isolate negative online criticism of these institutions as well as to marginalize freelance web journalists and more mainstream media icons with a strong voice, the general public is finally beginning to see what we in the Liberty Movement have been warning about for years:

http://abcnews.go.com/US/dhs-creates-fake-accounts-monitor-social-networks/story?id=15247533#.T2mCinkkU3E

http://articles.latimes.com/2011/sep/29/business/la-fi-fed-facebook-20110929

The invasion of privacy is merely the first step in the process of silencing dissent. If the citizenry is put in a position in which they know they are constantly being watched, they may decide to censor themselves to avoid possible retribution. In fact, the destruction of free speech has always been accomplished in history first by the target population itself. Terrified of real and imagined consequences, people begin to filter their own views, until a single harmless and homogenized collective voice forms.

The near miss of SOPA legislation has proven as well that the government hopes to one day be able to summarily vaporize internet outlets based on whatever guidelines they see fit to apply. It also showed that the American public is not going to roll over while this occurs. I think it safe to say that the internet is the very last bastion of free speech in the world, free from filtration, bureaucratic meddling, and corporate vampirism. SOPA was a test case. New and more subversive methods will arise, and shutting down the web as we know it will be a number priority for our government for the foreseeable future.

“Free speech zones” aside, protest is becoming far more difficult in this country. Less-than-lethal devices like tasers, rubber bullets, tear gas, sound cannons, microwave guns, etc. have “humanized” the act of government violence against peaceful protest, but the effects of violating the 1st Amendment are the same. Add to this the use of Fusion Centers to coordinate armies of riot cops with the help of the DHS, the FBI, and even the military, and you have a high grade goon machine constructed to undermine the people’s right to redress grievances. It has become obvious that this government not only wants to stifle your ability to affect change through electoral means, but it is also determined to make sure you can’t openly complain about being muscled out of the political process either.

The Power To Financially Destroy

Of course, much of the economic distress that we suffer today was generated by the corrupt activities of the Federal Reserve (a privately controlled banking cartel) and global financing conglomerates like JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs, however, the government’s complicity in these activities cannot be denied. It was the Congressional repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act that gave international banks the ability to derivitize massive numbers of mortgages and create the ongoing implosion of the housing bubble. It was the SEC that turned the other cheek for years while credit fraud flooded markets and ratings agencies gave AAA status to toxic and basically worthless assets. It is the U.S. government to this day that defends the Federal Reserve’s nonstop quantitative easing, the destruction of the dollar, and increased deficit spending driving our nation even deeper into debt. The passage of the bailouts despite an 80% opposition from the public sent a stark message; the government does not care what you think about the economy, and will do what it pleases, even if it means destroying your means of fiscal survival.

The Power To Imprison Without Trial

The NDAA is truly a perfect representation of the kind of power the government would like to have over the people, no questions asked. The Obama Administration’s half hearted promises to not use the provisions of the legislation to detain American citizens indefinitely without trial are little comfort, especially when one considers that the man has not kept a single positive promise since taking office in 2008. Frankly, I would have slightly more respect for the president (which isn't much) if he had the guts to come out and admit what the language of the NDAA clearly states; that American citizens can and will be designated as enemy combatants under the rules of war, and that anyone, regardless of citizenship, can be labeled a “terrorist” for any reason by the executive branch.

I suppose the one good side-effect of the passage of the NDAA is the level of awakening going on in the American public to the direction our country is taking. Not to mention, the scrambling that political representatives now have to do to cover themselves and explain away their support for the draconian measures.

For those who do not grasp the ultimate goal of this kind of legislation, the NDAA seems outlandish, or insane. But, in a certain light, it is perfectly logical. A government that seeks totalitarian control is REQUIRED to remove the protections that a jury trial affords, otherwise, it cannot function in the manner it desires. If a person is given the opportunity of a jury by his peers, this takes the ability to criminalize out of the hands of government and places it in the hands of a third party. Just as in the economy, the globalists who stand at the helm of our country would very much like to centralize law. This means removing all checks and balances from the equation. In the name of national security, Washington D.C. considers all things possible…

The Power To Kill Without Trial

Another program supported by both Republican and Democratic presidents, the ability to assassinate American citizens without trial based on mere accusations from the executive branch is a highly useful tool for tyranny. Over the past couple years the questions have always been; how far do they plan to take this policy, and, will they try to use it against American citizens on American soil? These questions have been indirectly answered by FBI head Robert Mueller when he tried to dodge them in a recent hearing:

Mueller’s claim that he is “not sure” if Americans can be assassinated on U.S. soil is the same as an admission that this is at the very least being considered. Given the legaleze wrangling that both Mueller and Eric “Fast and Furious” Holder have tried to implement in rationalizing the use of assassination, I find it hard to fathom that anyone would NOT expect they would use the policy for Americans on home turf. The power to kill or imprison without trial is expressly forbidden by Constitutional law and the Bill of Rights. Such abuses were the primary cause of the Revolutionary War, yet, here we are again, dealing with the same murderous reasoning with a slightly different face.

The Power To Militarize

Federal fusion centers and funding for local law enforcement has irreparably damaged state and county objectivity and opened the door to a steady diet of anti-liberty propaganda for police officials across the nation. Some eat it up, some don’t. However, the issue here is one of intention. Why does the federal government feel the need to arm divisions of local law enforcement with automatic weapons, predator drones, and even tanks? Why is Congress going out of its way to free up FAA regulations to allow police organizations unprecedented access to predator drones, up to 30,000 by 2020, for use in civilian airspace?

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/feb/7/coming-to-a-sky-near-you/?page=all

Why does the DHS suddenly need 450 million rounds of .40 cal ammunition from ATK?

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/atk-secures-40-caliber-ammunition-contract-with-department-of-homeland-security-us-immigration-and-customs-enforcement-dhs-ice-2012-03-12?reflink=MW_news_stmp

And why has Obama quickly and quietly signed the Executive Order for National Defense Resources Preparedness? Though many will claim the order only rehashes such continuity of government policies seen in older programs like Rex 84, I find it a bit disconcerting that our government suddenly feels the need to rehash Rex 84 powers at all!

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2012/03/16/executive-order-national-defense-resources-preparedness

The order is a claim to eminent domain, not just over land, but over every resource imaginable in the face of a “national emergency”. Using military force, all goods, services, and property, can be confiscated in the name of support for military and governmental logistics. In an article written in February titled “The DHS Defends Globalism, Not America”, I warned that Janet Napolitano’s language of supply chain protection and resource allocation could only be supported by the pilfering of goods from one place to feed another:

http://alt-market.com/articles/552-the-dhs-defends-globalism-not-america

Now we see that this was indeed the intention all along. Given that the John Warner Defense Authorization Act allows the president to declare a national emergency and martial law for almost any reason at any time without oversight from Congress for at least 6 months, the possibility of vast programs of resource confiscation becomes much more likely.

The power to militarize a culture at will, and to force that culture to work and produce in the name of the state and the benefit of the state is perhaps the most terrifying power of all. It is, for all intents and purposes, the power to enslave.

What Has Our Government Become?

Really, who needs terrorists when you have a government like ours? If it is the widespread destruction of the principles that founded our society that you fear, then the last enemy you need worry about is the Muslim boogie man. The greatest threat to our way of life is an institution that has always operated right under our noses and acted with impunity sheltered by the very borders it is tasked to defend. It is the only group in existence that has the resources, the military backing, and the proven intent to undermine liberty in America. It is the supreme threat to individual freedom in the world today. And, the worst irony of all is that it commits every one of its crimes in our name.

So, there comes a point when we have to decide what kind of respect this brand of monstrosity deserves? It would appear that the government, or at least root elements of it, see the American people as the enemy. And why not? We are, in the end, the only force on the planet in a position to deconstruct the machine, so it only follows that we find ourselves locked in its crosshairs. We have not been given much choice. The only decision left to make is one within each individual. How much do we really need the system, and how much pain and horror are we willing to endure to satisfy its insatiable hunger? Where will we finally draw the line…?

Original Article

7 Steps to Dissolve the Matrix and Stop World War Three

Guest Post By Julian Rose

Looming up in front of us like some ghoulish malevolent giant, is the prospect of mankind having to endure the devastation of a 'Third World War'.

An event, should it come to pass, would pit brother against brother, sister against sister, 'faith' against 'faith', ideology against ideology, nation against nation and all of it together against the continuation of life on Earth.

The forces covertly operating to bring this Third World War about will not be in the direct line of fire, but a long way off, comfortably ensconced in leather chairs in the plush offices of high-ranking officialdom. They made their plans many years ago and the Third World War is a keystone in bringing these plans to fruition.

These individuals come from countries well practiced in historical and modern empire building and share a 'special relationship' whose vision of the future completely excludes the great majority of us. We do not feature on the planet they see ahead of them, except as slaves to whatever activities they may wish to pursue. To them, we are essentially 'dispensable'.


Those who would perpetrate this plan have already prepared their underground bases to survive the destruction they propose to unleash upon this world. We will not be invited to join them there either, except a few carefully chosen minions to manage the technologies that keep this underworld functioning and those who serve their daily needs. It is a very exclusive 'club'.

The master plan involves certain nations being sacrificed to the cause. Those nations will have their populations wiped off the map and most of their history with them. The fact that they are nations situated in key geographical areas that hold extraordinary historical records of great importance to an evolving humanity – is not coincidental. The timing of this Third World War is not incidental either. Its perpetrators have long since noted the approaching changes at the universal macro-cosmic level which will directly affect Earth. They have noted that energies associated with these changes might work against them, especially if humanity were to embrace them unhindered.

So they set their clocks to ensure that this particular alarm will go off at a time designed to obscure the relevance of the simultaneously unfolding macro-cosmic event. And to draw the attention of mankind away from that which aids the evolution of its consciousness – and towards that which ensures its further victimization.

We are, according to the manipulators of this scenario, not supposed to know that we have a choice. We are not, of course, supposed to ever recognize what their game is, or what our real potentiality is. We are not supposed to know that we have the power to stop this Third World War from ever happening.

The procedures which have been put into effect to ensure that humankind remains in a state of non-awareness are many and varied. Many, which are quite deadly underneath, look innocuous enough on the surface and remain accepted by the majority as necessary aspects of the standard routines of daily life. Others are less easily received and even resisted; but few amongst us comprehend the fact that they all belong to one underlying plan of repression, control and domination.

The financial and material resources employed to keep the lid on humanity's awakening depend entirely upon the unconscious majority fulfilling their role as unstinting providers. Providers of both the energy and the money to keep in place all the elements of the control system. The 2012 London Olympic games are to provide a perfect smoke screen for the further imposition of this control system.

There are to be some 35,000 police and troops on hand to impose 'lock down London' and the lock down will not be relinquished when the event is over. It has its complementarity in the heart of Europe where plans for a totalitarian superstate are nearing completion. And since bankers and 'security agents' feature strongly in the mix which constitutes 'the club' standing behind these impositions, it is not too difficult to guess where the 'missing billions' of recent banking scandals ultimately lands up.

In summary: unless we take conscious action to withdraw our support from the system, the Third World War will be sponsored by we the people, freely and at times grudgingly, donating our energy, our money and even our brain power to our own self destruction.

That is – so long as we continue our refusal of consciousness and avoid seeing what is staring us in the eye almost every day of our lives. And that state of refusal, of course, is exactly what 'the club' wants maintained.

As the Occupy Movement has discerned: it is the 1% who hold power over the 99%; and in all other circumstances 99% would certainly hold the whip hand over 1%. But while the majority of the 99% remain dumbed down, docile and divided, they remain easy prey to the 1%.

In a state of semi-sleep most can be hypnotically induced to accept the political lies and distortions that contrive to place in our minds an unimpeded acceptance of the 'inevitability' of a Third World War. A war which would constitute a big step down the road to the end of the human race.

Seven Steps to Defeat the Matrix and End War:

Now please take a deep breath. This is no idle threat dreamed up by an amateur prophet; it is a reality and one which is being revealed by more and more awaking individuals daily. We are getting a handle on the great lie being perpetrated against humanity and we have had enough. We are going to put an end to it. It is perfectly possible for us to make sure the Third World War never happens.

The first step in doing so involves breaking the spell that 'the club' employs the mass media to hold us under. Just on the other side of the television set and the Sunday newspaper lies the road that leads to the end of war and the beginning of freedom … if we want to take it. But 'freedom' is not achievable without an effort; a real effort. It is not achieved by prayer or by meditation, although both can support it. Neither is freedom simply the removal of a state of oppression. It is a direct and determined statement of intent to put in place a better world and to take the actions that give expression to this intent: physically, mentally and spiritually.

The second step is to use this intent to challenge, unmask and expose corrupted authority by refusing to go along with its life inhibiting demands and revealing its ideology to be fundamentally false. The accompanying action to this involves withdrawing support for the military-industrial complex which is the foundation of the war machine.

This means taking pragmatic, practical steps. Start by taking your money out of the mainstream banking system and putting it into ethically oriented banks that do not support the weapons industry and the war machine, but do support benign enterprises and human-scale creative initiatives.

The third step is to trace how the arteries of war are spread throughout the veins of our consumer society. How everyday acts of aggression, suppression and control are the elements that fuel corporate domination in today's globalized market place.

How today's (and yesterday's) education system encourages all the wrong instincts in young minds: the urge to be 'competitive', 'successful' and to achieve the exclusivity of status which guarantees the top positions and highest salaries in the matrix.

How deliberate human, animal and ecological exploitation are rife within the supermarket-dominated food chain.

How the same deliberate exploitation is equally rife within the money system, the medical profession, the pharmaceutical industry, the housing market, the political and legal system, the family, marriage and in the church.

Join the dots and see how the same underlying 'war' symptoms are at large in all these and more.

The fourth step is to seek out others who are also endeavoring to bring about positive change. Keep company with such individuals; mutual support, cooperation and encouragement is crucial in overcoming the war state which relies on divisions and incriminations to keep society weakened, fractious and self absorbed.

The fifth step involves moving out of the city and into the country. That's a big one isn't it? However, the only alternative is to be part of a major greening of the city and this may not be possible to achieve within the short time span available to us. The need is to transition away from the crass consumerist 'supermarket syndrome' and establish links with local food and farming operations that can provide fresh and nutritious foods grown in the proximity of your home.

It also means starting to grow your own chemical-free food, saving water and introducing renewable energy systems to heat your home and to cook with. Reasserting authority and self-reliance over your home is an excellent starting point from which wider fields of resistance can grow.

Step six is about re-educating yourself. Re-educating yourself to be able to recognize the behavior patterns and appearances of oppressors, posers and infiltrators, for they are many and often move with great guile and cunning.

Once one is true to oneself, one can spot those who disguise their intentions behind falsehood and flattery. The process of re-education also involves dedicating serious time to researching and exploring the phenomena which stand behind events often portrayed by the mainstream media as the precise opposite of what they really are.

Step seven: grow your own spiritual and creative powers! This is a very personal process because there are many different pathways leading to creative and spiritual awakening. Each individual needs to find his or her own right of passage and feel comfortable with it.

However, a prerequisite for becoming a conscious human being is the recognition that this state is not something external to ourselves which we try to draw down; rather it is a force which lies dormant within us and simply needs awakening. Much of the process of this awakening involves shedding the protective layers we have built around ourselves as a form of extra persona, deemed necessary to get along in this distorted modern world. Beneath the mask of this persona lies a great wealth of creative spiritual potential just longing to be allowed to shine forth.

This potential is the quality most feared by our oppressors. This is because it has the power to render their control system and war agenda completely powerless. It is the one force capable of freeing humanity from the state of funk which holds millions in hypnotic captivity to a consumerist indoctrination which lies at the heart of our present society's ills.

In order to renounce war we have to do far more than just come out onto the streets waving anti-war placards. We have to vibrate with an unswerving passion to defend Life to the very end. Once so empowered, nothing can stand in the way of a process of planetary transformation which will cut off the arteries of war at their base and render those who stand behind its grotesque atrocities powerless to pursue their dark agendas.

Addendum: I would like to state that I would not be making any of the above recommendations if I had not already put them into effect in my own life and drawn great benefit thereby.

Julian is a British pioneer organic farmer, writer and activist. He is currently president of the 'International Coalition to Protect the Polish Countryside' which is leading the fight against GMO in Poland. He is author of "Changing Course for Life - Local Solutions to Global Problems" www.changingcourseforlife.info

How To Become An American Extremist In Style!

Guest Post By Brandon Smith

For most of us in America today, childhood was a time of vast and unassailable dreams. What we could become, what the world could become, was limited only by the strength of spirit setting aloft our ideas, and this strength, as all young people instinctively know, is infinite. While the possibilities of the future seemed boundless, few of us, including myself, ever considered “political extremism” as a viable lifestyle decision. Astronaut? Maybe. Filmmaker? Sure. Enemy Belligerent? Not so much….

While each of us is ultimately a product of our own decisions and internal choices, even beyond the influences of our environment, the cultural atmosphere of our age certainly determines the manner in which we are able to express our individual character. The brilliant and talented are sometimes cast into roles of poverty and obscurity. The obscene and devious often ascend to positions of righteous reverence. Good men are often painted as villains for centuries, while evil men are regarded as saints for just as long. The point is, the times in which we live rarely express in an honest way who we really are, unless, of course, we take hold of them tight, and cut out a new path for history to travel….

Those men and women who drive forward without fear or doubt to assert control over their destinies, and force their era to reflect their principles, rather than their principles becoming a side-note to their era, whether honorable or dishonorable, are invariably considered “extreme”. Most human beings waft about with the tides of time as passengers; spectators watching events unfold from the sidelines. Those who swim against the currents, or who attempt to change their flow altogether, are usually rare and confounding to the masses. Therefore, that which the masses consider extremism is often merely that which they consider far outside what they have grown accustomed.


Frankly, history has proven over and over again that the majority is usually wrong about most things. Groups and collectives do not create, or discover, or advance humanity. Only individuals are capable of this. All great concepts begin as seeds within independent people, and then spread like wildfire as they educate others. A society that strives for artificial normality and collectivist harmonization is a society on the verge of chaos and death. Only free hearts and minds give man hope of survival.

In my view, that which is extreme is not that which violates the boundaries of “normal” society, but which violates the boundaries of inherent truth, and conscience. In an honest society, an extremist is someone who denies the universal foundations of existence, and tries to play demigod in a fantasy world of moral relativism and rationalized criminality. A disjointed freak of nature that seeks to impose his twisted will upon others. Unfortunately, the honest definition of extremism is not the most popular amongst the frothing elitists that reside over the functions of our political structure today.

Life is a bummer like that….

So instead, why not embrace the label that the establishment is so keen to pigeonhole us with, and make it our own? I have found that the less I care about the critical eye of others, the more free I am to change things for the better. Certainly, by any standard of our current national leadership and by the throngs that support it, I am an extremist. Luckily, this does not concern me. It is not important to be accepted by the mainstream; it is only important to remain objectively correct in one’s position. In the grand scheme of the world, to be a thorn in the side of so-called “proper society” is a sure fire path to a life without regret. America was founded by undesirables, and built by non-conformists. We are a nation whose blood is thick with defiance and outright knock-out revolutionary badass anti-authoritarian hostility. We cut kings down to size.

At least, we used to….

In modern America, it’s not nice or pleasant or practical to approach political problems with the attitude of a radical. That puts people off. And there’s nothing worse than having people not like you, right? Better to play the game and hope that a better world will simply materialize out of the ether. Don’t rock the boat, especially when you’re in it….

For those of us in the Liberty Movement, this passive approach just doesn’t satiate our ravenous hunger for the bizarre. And by “bizarre”, I mean honest. Our time here is short, and usually ugly, and filled with people and circumstances and disasters and biases and abhorrences and painful moments and sometimes smells that we would much rather not deal with. The least we can ask for is a little truth. If I have to be confronted with crusted wheezing gas-bloated nightmare figures like John McCain or Joseph Lieberman -- men who would label me a terrorist if they could -- then I should be allowed the satisfaction of a concrete fact or two before I am shipped of to the nearest Halliburton-run military-sanctioned prison facility for re-education and naked dog-piling (which these men seem to particularly enjoy).

The truth is the first and greatest sin in the dark pestilent pit of any active tyranny. I recommend it highly. Seek the truth, and ye shall be fined…or jailed. This is the first step towards a glorious career as an American extremist, and living such a lifestyle can be fun and exciting, if one follows these simple guidelines:

1) Make A Ruckus

Identify the imperative issues of the day that most people don’t want to be confronted with . . . and then talk about them constantly. But don’t just talk about them; talk about them intelligently and with an informative stance. That really drives the willfully ignorant crazy. Make your position and the facts behind it visible in the mainstream, through writing, videos, protest, graffiti, bumper stickers, tatts, whatever…

The establishment’s first line of defense is not necessarily to suppress the truth, but to keep it on the fringe of society, out of sight of the average citizen. Your job is to shove the truth in people’s faces, so that they are forced to at least acknowledge that it exists, even if they don’t want to accept it.

2) Laugh At Petty Authority

Most authority in our modern world is, really, only petty authority. True authority is fostered by a sense of respect that is earned through leadership by example. The greatest authorities are those who teach, not those who command; and political governance is null and void if that governance was attained through subversion and lies.

Of course, this view is a proven fast track to the nearest solitary confinement cell, but, hey, living such a rock ‘n roll flavored "extreme" existence is not without risks….

Extremists recognize that a dishonest politician is only a conman in a nice suit, and nothing more. They recognize that a law enforcement official that has no regard for Constitutional liberties, or for human decency, is just a gun-toting goon in a badge and costume, and is not due any more respect than a common criminal. They see alphabet agencies as extensions of a system that no longer holds any principles beyond sustaining its own wretched existence, and rightly look down upon those who would sell out to such cancerous bureaucracies for a paycheck and some undeserved prestige. They laugh at such people, because in the grand scheme of things, these “great pillars” of our nation are, in fact, tragically ridiculous.

3) Refuse To Be Pegged With Arbitrary Labels

I once entered into a debate with a long-time Democrat over the painfully farcical presidency of Barack Obama. After discovering that I held the same exact views on George W. Bush, he became frustrated and nearly infuriated, because he could not place me into a preconceived political box. He complained that my stance could not be readily categorized, and this interfered with his ability to argue with me.

I replied…. “Good! That’s exactly the way it should be!”

Extremism itself is an arbitrary label, whose definition is shifted by those in power to fit any person or group that happens to get in their way at any particular time. However, to take this label and make it ours, we definitely can’t allow ourselves to be affiliated with hollow and meaningless political parties like the Democrats or the GOP, not to mention all the prefabricated and shallow philosophical platforms they engender. Every problem and situation should be approached as new, and should be dealt with using social and legal methods that work, as opposed to those that happen to follow a particular party line. There should be, at bottom, as many political viewpoints as there are individuals, not only two homogenized standards that we are forced to choose from in the hopes that one will be “less destructive” than the other.

4) Prepare For Life Without Window Shopping

A surefire way to become an extremist today is to suggest preparation for any kind of disaster. For the average American, there is no such thing as a tomorrow without Happy Meals and Nikes. To suggest the possibility is akin to dancing naked on the freeway with a Gadsden Flag. Despite the fact that in countries across the planet setting aside goods for survival is as common as mowing the lawn here in the United States; many in America can’t fathom adopting such habits. This is because many still believe that the system will protect them from harm no matter what happens. The “extremist” thinks differently.

He realizes that there have been too many instances in the past when government was not helpful to those in the midst of catastrophe, and, in some cases, was even the cause of greater harm. He seeks to remove his dependence on this system, and procure the insurance necessary to help himself if the need ever arises.

The Federal Government has seen fit to identify the mere act of prepping as a sign of possible extremism, so, let’s get “extreme”, shall we? I would rather be extreme and alive, than a non-threatening and law-abiding corpse.

5) Build A Terrifying Gun Collection

If the contents of your house doesn’t scare the living hell out of your yuppie next-door neighbor, then you aren’t an extremist yet. Time to pay off the layaway on that 50. Cal!

Firearms ownership is a widespread American pastime, and is growing by the month. However, there seems to be a misconception that this pastime is about our “sportsman’s heritage”, or self defense against local crime. Nope. That’s not why the extremist stockpiles an arsenal (an arsenal is defined as however many guns you happen to have when the ATF shows up at your doorstep). He owns scary guns to defend against rogue governments and the rise of the totalitarian dynamic. Freaky, I know….

Forget all this sportsman nonsense! We own weapons to dissuade oligarchy from getting comfortable on our couches! Our concern is not the wildlife….

6) Question The Accepted Reality Of Everything

You can’t be an extremist if you believe everything you hear from the TV. Actually, you can’t be an extremist if you believe anything you hear on the TV. An extremist takes absolutely no stock in what the mainstream media says without further investigation, and would rather be caught dead than caught parroting talking points from cable news broadcasts.

Is a certain philosophical or political position suddenly considered “common knowledge”? Be suspicious. Is a particular methodology or debate point appearing in every journalistic outlet at the same exact time with the same exact one-sided narrative? Time to pull out the B.S. detector. Is a politician opening his mouth and talking? Have a shovel handy….

The extremist’s job is not necessarily to be contradictory just for the sake of contrariness. It is, though, his job to be critical, discerning, and discriminating against that which doesn’t hold up to the light of candid examination. While there is always room for a certain amount of “interpretation”, ultimately if a circumstance rings false, it must be exposed. Period.

Even if that exposure is harmful to the state of our country or our culture in the short term, deceit left unchecked in the long term is the single greatest destroyer of entire civilizations, and is absolutely unacceptable, especially to the extremist….

I think it is clear that extremists in an environment of despotism are in most cases people who refuse to abandon that which makes humanity whole. We are, indeed, dangerous, but only to those who would do liberty harm. A life of conformity is a life wasted; and a life of slavery is no life at all. Whatever we may be called today, what we leave behind is ultimately what defines us. Labels are irrelevant. If I am an “extremist” because I refuse to participate in the delusion that is America in the new millennium, then so be it. I am more than happy to join the long list of insurrectionaries who inhabit this nation today and who have been the legitimate makers of the world for generations. Everything in history revolves not around governments, but rule-breakers. They alone decide whether humanity will live tight in the fist of the authoritarian machine, or live free in the wilds of unbridled independence.

One man with courage is a majority. -- Thomas Jefferson

Original Article

How our Understanding of History is Manipulated

Guest Post by Andrew J. Fell

It’s becoming increasingly apparent that in order for us, the general population, to understand the deeper issues of the current geopolitical situation, it is imperative for us to understand the relevant history.


This may sound somewhat obvious, but I would argue that this is a fundamental sticking-point when discussing such matters, as it is difficult to link individuals to the antisocial and unethical actions they perpetrate [1:2] without a historically accurate point of reference.


For example, when discussing matters such as the proposal that 9/11 may have been initiated by our ‘leaders’ [3], I find that people quite often respond with the simple question 'why?', as it seems absurd to think that our 'leaders' would do something quite so inhuman and immoral for some sort of political gain. I will not attempt here to go into what their motives were, but rather into why it is that we, the general public, rarely remember the lessons of the past and continue to be misled about the circumstances leading to each and every conflict.


At this juncture I would suggest that the reader check out an article by John Pilger entitled 'Our children are learning lies' in which he clearly sets out several examples of how we are taught about an historic event at school and how this information will in turn have a direct effect on the formation of our future perceptions of the world [4]


Unfortunately, this information can all too often bear little or no relation to the actual event (Pilger uses Vietnam as a prime illustration of this), because the language and information used to teach us essentially pre-programs our comprehension of future warfare, automatically predisposing us to whichever side has been identified as the 'goodies' while creating a vested dislike or even hatred of the 'baddies'.



Perhaps ‘baddie’ should be rephrased in Orwellian terms as 'a figure of hate'. From what I remember of my own learning on Vietnam, I recall thinking that the Americans became involved in order to help protect the ‘Democratic South’ against the ‘Communist North' -- this is probably what most people believe. According to Pilger, this analysis of the Vietnam conflict is far from the truth; in fact, almost completely contrary to the reality of the situation. The excerpt below comes from his article referring to a school textbook written on the subject:

It says that under the 1954 Geneva Accord: 'Vietnam was partitioned into communist north and democratic south.' In one sentence, truth is dispatched. The final declaration of the Geneva conference divided Vietnam 'temporarily' until free national elections were held on 26 July 1956. There was little doubt that Ho Chi Minh would win and form Vietnam's first democratically elected government. Certainly, President Eisenhower was in no doubt of this. 'I have never talked with a person knowledgeable in Indo-Chinese affairs,' he wrote, 'who did not agree that . . . 80 per cent of the population would have voted for the communist Ho Chi Minh as their leader.'

Not only did the United States refuse to allow the UN to administer the agreed elections two years later, but the 'democratic' regime in the south was an invention. One of the inventors, the CIA official Ralph McGehee, describes in his masterly book Deadly Deceits how a brutal expatriate mandarin, Ngo Dinh Diem, was imported from New Jersey to be 'president' and a fake government was put in place. 'The CIA,' he wrote, 'was ordered to sustain that illusion through propaganda [placed in the media].'

Phony elections were arranged, hailed in the west as 'free and fair', with American officials fabricating 'an 83 per cent turnout despite Vietcong terror'. The GCSE guide alludes to none of this, nor that 'the terrorists', whom the Americans called the Vietcong, were also southern Vietnamese defending their homeland against the American invasion and whose resistance was popular. For Vietnam, read Iraq. -- Extract from 'Our children are learning lies' by John Pilger [5]

What this essentially tells us is that, for all the democratic ideals that America and the West claims to espouse, as soon as someone who does not agree with their viewpoint is voted in they will do anything in their power to subvert and undermine them. This is rephrased and then becomes the 'official' history of events, finding its way into everything from textbooks to documentaries – George Orwell and 1984, eat your heart out!


You don’t have to look far to find similar examples of this subversive reinvention of recent history – simply look at how Hamas has been marginalized despite winning a clear majority in the Palestinian legislative election of 2006. [6]


Hamas was not 'permitted' to govern, despite winning the overall support of the Palestinian people, due to their not having the same agenda as the policy makers in Washington. That is not to say that we should agree with all Hamas policies (or anyone else’s, for that matter), but that we should at least respect the fact that the Palestinian people, through seemingly fair elections, have chosen their own government. The Americans evidently did not: they swiftly imposed sanctions and withheld aid from the Palestinian Authority in protest at the audacity of the Palestinians voting for an anti-American party [7]. The power sharing deal between Hamas and Fatah hammered out afterward under American influence is the equivalent of the Conservative Party in Britain winning over 50% of the seats in a general election and then being forced to govern in coalition with the previous losing Labour Administration -- a ridiculous prospect but arguably a comparable scenario. [8]


According to the words of former Republican Presidential hopeful, Newt Gingrich, the Palestinians are an "invented people" and are merely part of the larger Arab community, despite the fact that each Middle Eastern country has its own form of Arabic language and customs [9].


It could be argued that these types of statement serve to de-legitimize any section of society. Looking at history, this stratagem has been used as an excuse for ethnic cleansing, whether it be the United States in their treatment of Native Americans in the 19^th Century; or 1930s Germany rounding up of the mentally ill, homosexuals, Jews and any other so-called undesirables; or the genocides in Bosnia or Rwanda in the 1990s – all the way through to Australia's expunging of aboriginal culture during the first half of the 20th Century.


To say that Palestinians are not a people is evidently to completely ignore the reality of their current political situation. Very few countries have the same boundaries as they did 200 years ago, so it can be reasonably argued that the Palestinians who reside in the “occupied territories” are on the land of their forefathers and have every right to be there. Claiming that they are part of the larger Arab community and not a people is to imply that no Arab country is sovereign unto itself; something that would certainly be disputed on talking to most Moroccans, Saudis or Jordanians.


Let us not forget that although the Israeli nation is intrinsically a modern construct, this doesn't mean that the Israeli people don't have a sense of nationhood or national culture; they evidently do. Are Walloon-Belgians to be considered as ‘French’ simply because they have the same language as France? Is Scotland, Wales or the United States to be classified as ‘English’ simply because they share similar customs? Unfortunately, this type of rhetoric is all too often put forward; and even if the effect is not immediate, it is likely to influence the thinking of a significant number of people over time as the corporate media repeatedly relays these words to the wider population.


For further examples of this duplicity, we could briefly consider the undermining of Daniel Ortega as leader of Nicaragua, and the deposition of Mohammad Mosaddegh as Prime Minister of Iran. Ortega led a movement to oust the previous brutal U.S.-backed regime under Somoza and had put in place massive public programs to increase the living standards of his countrymen [10: 11]. Despite being lauded as the most free elections ever conducted in Nicaragua's history, the Western establishment media was falling over itself to imply they were in fact rigged. [12]. The illegal methods used by the U.S. and its agencies included the funding of an armed insurgency, later became known as the Iran-Contra affair – a huge topic in itself, well worth reading about as an illustration of the extent to which those in power will go in order to destabilize governments that do not agree with their policies. [13]


Democratically elected Mosaddegh had instituted changes to transfer control of Iranian oil from Anglo-American interests to Iran. This resulted in a U.S.-sponsored regime change which saw the brutal Shah being imposed on Iran for the next 25 years, until his overthrow by the Islamic revolution of 1979 [14]. This fact is little known or cared about by Western observers, but it is widely known and taught throughout Iran. As Robert Fisk mentioned in a recent article in The Independent, 'It is a weird irony that Iranians know the history of Anglo-Persian relations better than the Brits' [15] This is something worth thinking about when looking at current Western-Iranian relations.


My point here is that these three events (and there are many more), although in the public domain are not widely known about or understood by the general population. Moreover, I would argue that discussion of these events is actively suppressed by the Western-controlled media, as this in itself would show the collusion of Western agencies in these events.


However, it is my belief that the situation is more dangerous than this, as noted at the start of this article. It is precisely this lack of information that prevents the general public from making informed decisions on a whole range of current areas of controversy -- be it Iran, Syria, Libya or Sudan. We are presented with dubious information from a young age through to adulthood via the public-education system and the corporate-owned media, and it is hard to filter it out and be objective. Grant Allen may have been onto something when he wrote that "No schooling was allowed to interfere with my education.” [16]


There is much that could be said on this topic, but my main point is that it is absolutely vital for those who have an interest in these matters to critically appreciate and understand the history of how public opinion has been manipulated, how perceptions have been altered, and how half-truths have been purposely put forward by the media. It can be argued that in this way the media support the "Military Industrial Complex's" agenda [17].


George Santayana wrote 'Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it' [18]. If it is true that we are being deliberately misinformed and poorly educated about still-relevant historical events, shouldn't we begin to at least question why this is the case? Might there be something more sinister at work in the world today?



All the information is still freely available and out there on the Web or in books for anyone who cares to know. It's up to each one of us to find out everything we can so that we can understand the realities behind global and national policy making, thus enabling us to make informed and rational commentary and contributions to society.


This is where a revolution in thinking should start. This is where the morally “repugnant" elite control structure should end. [19]


End-notes and further reading:

1 - http://www.ponerology.com/

2 - http://www.waking-you-up.com/articles-on-psychopaths-articles-on-cluster-B-Personalities-Articles-from-authors-on-psychopathy.html

3 http://www.911truth.org/article.php?story=20041221155307646


4 - http://www.johnpilger.com/archive-december/page0e77.html?partid=374

5 - http://www.johnpilger.com/archive-december/page0e77.html?partid=374

6 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palestinian_legislative_election,_2006

7 - http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2007-02-09/news/0702090099_1_hamas-led-administration-mecca-agreement-rival-palestinian-groups-fatah


8 - http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2007-02-09/news/0702090099_1_hamas-led-administration-mecca-agreement-rival-palestinian-groups-fatah

9 - http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2011/12/newt-gingrich-ignorant-racist-say-palestinians

10 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandinista_National_Liberation_Front


11 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicaragua

12 - http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=2479

13- http://www.corbettreport.com/episode-102-know-your-history-iran-contra/

14 - https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Mohammad_Mosaddegh


15 - http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/fisk/robert-fisk-sanctions-are-only-a-small-part-of-the-history-that-makes-iranians-hate-the-uk-6269812.html

16 - Rosalba: the Story of Her Development by Olive Pratt Rayner /Grant Allen, published by Putnam's, 1899, pg 101 - http://www.archive.org/stream/rosalbastoryher00allegoog#page/n114/mode/2up/search/interfere


Note: this quote (or variation of) is also sometimes attributed to Mark Twain [http://quoteinvestigator.com/2010/09/25/schooling-vs-education/]


17 - http://www.h-net.org/~hst306/documents/indust.html

18 - The Life of Reason: Reason in Common Sense by George Santayana. Scribner’s, 1905: 284

19 - Excerpt from President John F. Kennedy Secret Society Speech - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhZk8ronces

Andrew Fell lives in the Czech Republic and is a lecturer of English at a Social Work College in Prague. He has a keen interest in geo-politics, ethics, history, cooking and playing music. He can usually be found armed with a smile, sipping a cup of tea at a čajovna in Prague.

Original Article

Americans Will Need “Black Markets” To Survive

Guest Post By Brandon Smith

As Americans, we live in two worlds; the world of mainstream fantasy, and the world of day-to-day reality right outside our front doors. One disappears the moment we shut off our television. The other, does not…

When dealing with the economy, it is the foundation blocks that remain when the proverbial house of cards flutters away in the wind, and these basic roots are what we should be most concerned about. While much of what we see in terms of economic news is awash in a sticky gray cloud of disinformation and uneducated opinion, there are still certain constants that we can always rely on to give us a sense of our general financial environment. Two of these constants are supply and demand. Central banks like the private Federal Reserve may have the ability to flood markets with fiat liquidity to skew indexes and stocks, and our government certainly has the ability to interpret employment numbers in such a way as to paint the rosiest picture possible, but ultimately, these entities cannot artificially manipulate the public into a state of demand when they are, for all intents and purposes, dead broke.

In contrast, the establishment does have the ability to make specific demands or necessities illegal to possess, and can even attempt to restrict their supply. Though, in most cases this leads not to the control they seek, but a sudden and sharp loss of regulation through the growth of covert trade. The people need what the people need, and no government, no matter how titanic, can stop them from getting these commodities when demand is strong enough.

This process of removing necessary or desirable items from a trade environment leads inevitably to counter-prohibition often in the form of strict cash transactions, barter markets, or “black markets” as they are normally derided by those in power. The problem for economic totalitarians is that the harder they squeeze the masses, the more intricate the rebellion becomes, especially when all they want is to participate in free markets the way our forefathers intended.

The so called “drug war” is proof positive of the impossibility of locking down a product, especially one that has no moral bearing on the people who are involved in its use. Only when a considerable majority of a populace can be convinced of the inherent immoral nature of an illicit item can its trade finally be squelched. During any attempt to outlaw a form of commerce, a steady stream of informants convinced of their service to the “greater good” is required for success. Dishonorable governments, therefore, do not usually engage in direct confrontation with black markets. Instead, they seek to encourage the public to view trade outside mainstream legal standards as “taboo”. They must condition us to react with guilt or misplaced righteousness in the face of black market activity, and associate its conduct as dangerous and destructive to the community, turning citizens into an appendage of the bureaucratic eye.

But, what happens when black markets, due to calamity, become a pillar of survival for a society? What happens when the mainstream economy no longer meets the available demand? What happens when this condition has been deliberately engineered by the power structure to hasten cultural desperation and dependence?

In this event, black markets not only sustain a nation through times of weakness, but they also become a form of revolution; a method for fighting back against the centralization of oppressive oligarchies and diminishing their ability to bottleneck important resources. Black markets are a means of fighting back, and are as important as any weapon in the battle for liberty. Here are just a few reasons why such organizational actions may be required in the near future…

The Mainstream Economy Is Slowly Killing Us

There are, unfortunately, some Americans out there who have not caught on yet to the grave circumstances in which we live. Obviously, the stock market seems to have nearly recovered from its epic collapse in 2008 and 2009, and employment, according to the Labor Department, is on the mend. The numbers say it all, right? Wrong! The numbers say very little, especially when they are a product of “creative mathematics”.

Despite the extreme spike in the Dow Jones since 2010, and all the talk of recovery, what the mainstream rarely mentions are the details surrounding this miraculous return from the dead for stocks.

One of the most important factors to consider when gauging the health of the markets is “volume”; the amount of shares being traded and the amount of investors active on any given business day. Since the very beginning of the Dow’s meteoric rise, the markets have been stricken with undeniably low volume interspersed with all too brief moments of activity. In fact, this past January recorded the lowest NYSE volume since 1999:

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-01-23/stock-trading-is-lowest-in-u-s-since-2008.html

Market volume has tumbled over 20% since last year, and is down over 50% from 2008 when the debt implosion began:

http://blogs.wsj.com/marketbeat/2012/02/24/trading-volume-anemic-this-year/

So then, if trade is sinking, why has the Dow jumped to nearly 13,000? Low volume is the key. In a low volume market, less individual investors are present to counteract the buying and selling of larger players, like international banks. When this happens, the big boys are able to trigger market spikes, or market drops, literally at will. Add to this the high probability that much of the stimulus that the Federal Reserve has regurgitated into the ether probably ended up in the coffers of corporate banks which then used the funny money to snap up equities, and presto! Instant market rally! But, a rally that is illusory and unstable.

Improving employment numbers are yet another financial hologram. As most of us in the Liberty Movement are well aware, the Labor Department does not calculate true unemployment in the U.S. Instead, it merely calculates those people who currently receive unemployment benefits. Once a person hits the extension limit (99 weeks in many states) on his benefits, he is removed from the rolls, and is no longer counted in the “official” unemployment percentage. While Barack Obama and MSM pundits are quick to point out the drop in jobless to 8.3%, what they conveniently fail to mention is that MILLIONS of Americans have been unemployed for so long that they have been removed from the statistics entirely, and this condition is what has caused the primary fall in jobless percentages, not burgeoning business growth.

Roughly 11 million Americans who are jobless have nonetheless been excluded from the statistical government tally because of a loss of benefits:

http://dailycaller.com/2012/02/17/white-house-economic-report-hides-sharp-drop-in-number-of-working-americans/

According to the Congressional Budget Office, over 40% of the currently unemployed have been so for over 6 months. It also points out that America is suffering the worst case of long term unemployment since the Great Depression:

http://www.cbo.gov/sites/default/files/cbofiles/attachments/02-16-Unemployment.pdf

More than 10.5 million people in the U.S. also receive disability payments, which automatically removes them from the unemployment count, making it seem as though jobs are being created, rather than lost:

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/02/19/report-millions-jobless-file-for-disability-when-unemployment-benefits-run-out/

Around 8.2 million Americans only work part time, meaning they work less hours than are generally considered to be necessary for self-support. These people are still counted as “employed” even if they work a few hours a week.

True unemployment, according to John Williams of Shadowstats, is hovering near 23%:

http://www.shadowstats.com/alternate_data/unemployment-charts

Combine these circumstances with the ever weakening dollar, price inflation in foods and other commodities, and rocketing energy costs, and you have an economy that is strangling the life out of the middle-class and the poor in this country. It is only a matter of time before the populace begins searching for alternative means of subsistence, even if that entails “illegal” activities.

Government Cracking Down On Freedom Of Trade

I was recently walking through the parking lot of a grocery store and ran into a group of women huddled intently around the back of a mini-van. One of the women was reaching into a cooler and handing out glass containers filled with milk. I approached to ask if she was selling raw milk, and if so, how much was she charging. Of course, they turned startled and wide eyed as if I had just stumbled upon their secret opium ring. Somehow it had slipped my mind how ferocious the FDA has become when tracking down raw milk producers. The fact that these women were absolutely terrified of being caught with something as innocuous as MILK was disturbing to me. How could we as a society allow this insanity on the part of our government to continue?

That moment reminded me of the utter irrelevance of petty law, as well as the determination of human beings to defy such law.

The Orwellian hammer has been thrust in the face of those who trade in raw milk, organic produce, and herbal supplements, while small businesses are annihilated by government dues and red tape. In the meantime, law enforcement officials have been sent strapped to shut down children’s lemonade stands (no, seriously):

http://www.cbsnews.com/2100-500164_162-20079838.html

Government legislation which would give the FDA jurisdiction over personal gardens has been fielded. Retail gold and silver purchases of over $600 are now tracked and taxed. The IRS even believes it has the right to tax barter exchanges, even though they do not explain how bartered goods could be legally qualified as “income”, or how they can conceive of ever being able to trace such private trade:

http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=205581,00.html

Want to choose what kind of currency you would like to use to protect your buying power? Not if the Department Of Justice’s Anne Tompkins has anything to say about it. After the railroading of Liberty Dollar founder Bernard von NotHaus, she stated:

“Attempts to undermine the legitimate currency of this country are simply a unique form of domestic terrorism…”

“While these forms of anti-government activities do not involve violence, they are every bit as insidious and represent a clear and present danger to the economic stability of this country,” she added. “We are determined to meet these threats through infiltration, disruption, and dismantling of organizations which seek to challenge the legitimacy of our democratic form of government.”

http://www.fbi.gov/charlotte/press-releases/2011/defendant-convicted-of-minting-his-own-currency

As our economic situation grows increasingly precarious in this country, more and more people will turn towards localized non-corporate, non-mainstream business methods and products. And, the government will no doubt attempt to greatly restrict or tax these alternatives. This mentality is driven in part by their insatiable appetite for money, but mostly, it’s about domination. They do what they do because they fear decentralized markets, and the ability of the citizenry to conceive of choices outside the system. Slaves are not supposed to choose the economy they will participate in…

A “black market” is only a trade dynamic that the government disapproves of, and the government disapproves of most things these days. Frankly, its time to stop worrying about what Washington D.C. consents to. They have unfailingly demonstrated through rhetoric and action that they are not interested in the fiscal or social health of this nation, and so, we must take matters into our own hands.

Black Market Advantages

If the events in EU nations such as Greece, Spain, and Italy are any indication, the U.S., with its massive debt to GDP ratio (real debt includes entitlement programs), is looking at one of two possible scenarios: default, austerity measures, and high taxes, or, hyperinflation, and then default, austerity measures, and high taxes. In the past we have mentioned barter networking and alternative market programs springing up in countries like Greece and Spain allowing the people to cope with the faltering economy. Much of this trade is done away from the watchful eyes of government, simply because they cannot afford the gnashing buffalo-sized bites that bureaucrats would take from their savings in the process. When a government goes rogue, and causes the people harm, the people are in no way obligated to continue supporting that government.

Black markets give the citizenry a means to protest the taxation of a government that no longer represents them. In a country stricken with austerity, these networks allow the public to thrive without having to pay for the mistakes or misdeeds of political officials and corporate swindlers. In a hyperinflationary environment, black markets (or barter markets that have been deemed unlawful), can be used to supplant the imploding fiat currency altogether, and energize community markets that would otherwise be unable to function. Ultimately, black markets feed and clothe the grassroots movement towards economic responsibility, and every man and woman with any sense of independence should rally around this resource with the intention to fight should it ever be threatened.

“Legality” is arbitrary in the face of inherent conscience, or what some call “natural law”. Without arbitrary legality, and unjust and unwarranted regulation, many federal alphabet agencies would not exist, including the FDA, the IRS, the EPA, the BLM, etc. These institutions do not matter. What they say has no meaning. What matters is what is honorable, what is factual, and what is right. Our loyalty, as Americans, is to our principles and our heritage. Beyond that, we don’t owe anyone anything. A black market in one place and time is a legitimate market in another. For now, private localized trade is able to flow with only minor interference, but there will come a day when even the most practical and harmless personal transactions will be visited with administrative reproach and vitriol. Alternative market champions will be accused of “extremism”, and undermining the mainstream economy. We will be vilified as separatists, isolationists, terrorists, and traitors. I believe it will be far more surreal than what we can possibly imagine now.

They are welcome to call us whatever they like. Honestly……who cares? Let the paper pushers do their angry little dance. The goal is freedom; in life, in politics, and in trade. If we do not change how this country does business ourselves, the results will be far more frightening than any government agent at our doorstep, and the costs will be absolute…

Original Article

Potentially Massive Threats To The U.S. Economy Over The Next 12 Months

Guest Post by Michael Snyder

We live in a world that is becoming increasingly unstable, and the potential for an event that could cause "sudden change" to the U.S. economy is greater than ever. There are dozens of potentially massive threats that could easily push the U.S. economy over the edge during the next 12 months. A war in the Middle East, a financial collapse in Europe, a major derivatives crisis or a horrific natural disaster could all change our economic situation very rapidly. Most of the time I write about the long-term economic trends that are slowly but surely ripping the U.S. economy to pieces, but the truth is that just a single really bad "black swan event" over the next 12 months could accelerate our economic problems dramatically. If oil was cut off from the Middle East or a really bad natural disaster suddenly destroyed a major U.S. city, the U.S. economy would be thrown into a state of chaos. Considering how bad the U.S. economy is currently performing, it would be easy to see how a major "shock to the system" could push us into the "next Great Depression" very easily. Let us hope that none of these things actually happen over the next 12 months, but let us also understand that we live in a world that has become extremely chaotic and extremely unstable.

In the list below, you will find some "sudden change" events that are somewhat likely and some that are quite unlikely. I have tried to include a broad range of potential "black swan events", but there are certainly dozens more massive threats that could potentially be listed.

The following are 15 potentially massive threats to the U.S. economy over the next 12 months....

#1 War With Syria - U.S. Senator John McCain is now publicly calling for U.S. airstrikes against Syria. A military conflict with Syria becomes more likely with each passing day.

#2 War With Iran - A war in the Middle East involving Iran could literally erupt at any time. The following is from a Reuters news report that was issued on Monday....

President Barack Obama appealed to Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday to give sanctions time to curb Iran's nuclear ambitions, but the Israeli prime minister offered no sign of backing away from possible military action, saying his country must be the "master of its fate."

#3 A Disorderly Greek Debt Default - Many reporters in Europe seem to think that this is becoming increasingly likely. So what would a disorderly Greek debt default mean for the global financial system? A leaked report that was authored by the Institute of International Finance says that a disorderly Greek debt default would have some very serious consequences. You can read the full text of that leaked report right here.

#4 An Economic Collapse In Spain - Spain has one of the largest economies in Europe and it is rapidly becoming a basket case. As I have written about previously, the unemployment rate in Spain has hit 19.9 percent, and the unemployment rate for workers under the age of 25 is up to 49.9 percent. Unfortunately, the situation in Spain continues to deteriorate. The following is from a recent article by Marc Chandler....

However, the devolution in Spain is particularly troubling. The new fiscal compact had just been signed last week, which includes somewhat more rigorous fiscal rule and enforcement, when Spain's PM Rajoy revealed that this year's deficit would come in around 5.8 percent of GDP rather the 4.4 percent target. This of course follows last year's 8.5 percent overshoot of the 6 percent target.

The problem that for Spain is that the 4.4 percent target was based on forecasts for more than 2 percent growth this year. However, in late February, the EU cuts its forecast to a 1 percent contraction. This still seems optimistic. The IMF forecasts a 1.7 percent contraction, which the Spanish government now accepts.

#5 The Price Of Gasoline - The average price of a gallon of gasoline in the United States has risen for 27 days in a row and is now up to $3.77. Virtually all forms of economic activity are affected by the price of gasoline, and if the price of gas keeps going up it is eventually going to have dramatic consequences for the U.S. economy.

#6 The Student Loan Debt Bubble - Just like we saw with the housing bubble, the student loan debt bubble just continues to grow and grow and grow. At some point the nearly 1 trillion dollar bubble is going to burst. What effect will it have on our financial system when that finally happens?

#7 State And Local Government Debt Crisis - It is being reported that California is running out of cash again and there are cities all over the country that are on the verge of bankruptcy. Could we see a significant municipal bond crisis in the next 12 months?

#8 The Collapse Of A Major U.S. Bank - A number of top U.S. banks are looking increasingly shaky. In a recent article, David Trainer explained why he has such serious concerns about Bank of America right now....

In my opinion, there are four actions taken by financial services that signal the company is headed to serious trouble.

1. Management shake-up and major layoffs - lots of layoffs over the past year

2. Exploiting accounting rules to boost earnings - SFAS 159

3. Drawing down reserves to boost earnings: to the tune of $13.3 billion in 2011 and 2012

4. Bilking customers with new fees: tried it before and trying it again

Bank of America has taken all four steps.

#9 A Derivatives Crisis - The International Swaps and Derivatives Association recently ruled that the Greek debt deal will not trigger payouts on credit default swaps. This is seriously shaking confidence in the global market for derivatives. But the global financial system simply cannot afford a major derivatives crisis.

Estimates of the notional value of the worldwide derivatives market range from $600 trillion all the way up to $1.5 quadrillion. The notional value of all derivatives held by Bank of America is approximately $75 trillion. JPMorgan Chase is holding derivatives with a notional value of approximately $79 trillion.

When the derivatives bubble finally bursts it is going to be a financial horror show unlike anything we have ever seen.

#10 The Fall Of The Japanese Economy - The Japanese economy shrank at a 2.3 percent rate during the fourth quarter of 2011. Japan has a debt to GDP ratio of over 200 percent and a major debt crisis involving Japan could erupt at any time.

#11 A "Solar Megastorm" - Scientists tell us that there is a "1 in 8 chance" that a "solar megastorm" will hit the earth by 2014. A recent Daily Mail article detailed what some of the consequences of such an event would be....

'We live in a cyber cocoon enveloping the Earth. Imagine what the consequences might be,' Daniel Baker, of the University of Colorado's Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics told National Geographic when asked about a potential 'megastorm'.

'Every time you purchase a gallon of gas with your credit card, that's a satellite transaction.

'Imagine large cities without power for a week, a month, or a year. The losses could be $1 to $2 trillion, and the effects could be felt for years.

#12 A Major West Coast Earthquake Or Volcanic Eruption - On Monday, there was a 4.0 earthquake in San Francisco and a 6.1 earthquake in Argentina. Is the "Ring of Fire" waking up again?

#13 Tornado Damage To Major U.S. Cities - Last year, the U.S. experienced one of the worst tornado seasons of all time. This year, we have already seen the worst tornado outbreak ever recorded in the United States in the month of March. A couple of towns in Indiana were completely wiped out by that outbreak. So what should we expect when we get to the heart of tornado season this year?

#14 Severe Drought In The United States - Last summer was one of the driest summers on record in the United States, and in many areas there is simply not enough water available for farmers this year. Some are even projecting that we could see "dust bowl conditions" return to some areas of the country eventually.

#15 An Asteroid Strike In 2013 - Although scientists tell us that the probability is extremely low, the truth is that there is a slight chance that a sizeable asteroid could hit the earth in February 2013. The asteroid is estimated to be between 60 and 100 meters wide, and it is projected to pass by our planet "at a distance of under 27,000 km". If it did hit us (and scientists say that the odds of that happening are very low) it would potentially be as serious an event as the Tunguska Event in Siberia in 1908. Mac Slavo of shtfplan.com recently described how awesome the Tunguska Event really was....

On June 30, 1908 an incoming meteor exploded approximately 5 miles above Siberia. The force of the air burst explosion, estimated at between 15 and 30 megatons, or about 1000 times bigger than the atomic bomb that destroyed Hiroshima, was so powerful that it annihilated everything in an 830 square mile area, and reports suggest that that explosion was heard up to 1000 miles away. Because of the remoteness of the impact zone, the Tunguska Event over Siberia had very little effect on the human population in the region, but the destruction of some 80 million trees in the area shows just how powerful a blast was created.

Of course there are so many other "sudden change" events that could potentially happen - a terror event in a major U.S. city, a deadly pandemic, an EMP attack, cyberterrorism or a major political scandal could all possibly cause a stock market crash and an economic collapse in the United States.

In the world that we are living in today, you just never know what is going to happen.

So what are all of you concerned about over the next 12 months?

Do you see the potential for some "black swan events" to happen?

Please feel free to post a comment with your thoughts below....

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