"Poke any saint deeply enough, and you will touch self
interest"
Irving Williams
Welcome to The Golden Sense! Today it seems like
everyone is talking about Government action or inaction. People often look to Government as the solution to their problems or societies problems. Then
there are others who hang on every action of the Government and try to stop it
from expanding or fight against it to persuade it to make different
choices. These types of people are often miserable because their fate hangs
upon other people’s actions.
Harry Brown wrote a book 39 years ago called How I found
Freedom in an Unfree World. Harry made a great point about individuals and
their relationship with Government. At this time in history it is important
that we all have a little perspective on Government.
"Most people seem to think of the Government as this all
powerful giant with unlimited resources, super powers of control and
surveillance, and the ability to keep every citizen in line. Such impressions
are reinforced by movies and TV dramas of agents calling upon vast powers and
resources to catch any criminals or dissenters. This is often reinforced by
news reports of Government crack downs on narcotic rings, tax fraud, and
smuggling.
The role of Government plays a big part in many people’s lives. It
takes one third of our income from us and enforces additional property taxes,
sales tax, import duties etc. The apparent importance of Government can be seen
by the sheer amount of media coverage it receives every day. It is no wonder
people look to Government whenever they are concerned about their freedom.
This can be very intimidating but this has little to do with your
relationship to the Government. For one thing, the Government has limited
resources- just as you or I do. If a large number of agents crack down on
marijuana smugglers, then that leaves fewer men to police the average marijuana
smoker. If they concentrate their resources to crack a million dollar tax
fraud that leaves less man power to look over the average tax return.
If the Government was as powerful as people think then the wars in
the Middle East would already have been won, crime would
not be an issue, and the Governments grandiose social reforms would be
successful. As it is, none of these are true because the Government CAN'T force
many people at once to act in ways they don't want to.
The Government is one big group trap. To be efficient it depends
upon millions of bureaucrats whose incomes and careers do not depend upon
efficient action.
The super agents and spies are just normal people with normal
lives. Each one of these individuals has family problems, health concerns,
office meetings, girl friends, car troubles, and interferences inherent in any
bureaucracy.
The Government is an inefficient
bureaucratic mess. It
isn't surprising that all of its programs turn out to cost more than expected, that
it never successfully completes a project, that bombers bomb the wrong cities
in Iraq, that it's usually rallying upon it's citizens to compensate for
the Governments mistakes.
In the book 1984, George Orwell pictured a
totalitarian society that has become the standard view of the total state of
the future. Everyone's life was controlled by a computer and there was a TV
camera in every room monitoring everyone's activity.
Fortunately, such dramas overlook the fundamentals of economics.
The larger the Government, the less efficient and productive the economy is.
Slaves don't produce with enthusiasm, incentive, and imagination that free
people do. Government programs never work as intended.
So while a totalitarian or communist state might include a TV
camera in every room, I doubt that the camera will even work" (Brown 1973).
I see three things that are important for an individual to do in
dealing with the Government.
The first is not be awed by government. Do what
is right for you. If you choose to deal with the Government then expect the
process to be slow and inefficient. Those that don't want to help the Government can go their own way without running into much trouble.
The second is don't confront the Government. A
sure way to make your life miserable is to attack the Government head on. Its
resources are limited and it can't waste time tracking down every possible
violator or every law. However, if you defy it publicly it will aim its powers
at you. So just do what is in your self interest.
The third is act as an individual to secure your
financial freedom. Find work outside the Government. If you have extra
money then I suggest you buy some gold. Why
should you work and be paid in a piece of paper that the Government
insists is money. You want to be paid with something that possesses value
outside the Government's pronouncement. Remember, gold always retains it
value. It is the dollars value that is constantly decreasing. Check
out Bullion Vault or Gold Money for possible places to buy and store your gold.
I also suggest you get a foreign bank account if you have extra money. Try and
get dual citizenship or residency in another country. This will help you be
financially free. The idea is to keep your money outside the reach of a
bankrupt U.S.
Every individual will know what they
need for their own life. Remember what David Seabury said...
"He who hesitates is bossed"
So take action.
Sincerely,
T. Norman
Kristen Stewart’s
fling with her “Snow White and the Huntsman” director, Rupert Sanders, is the
latest cheating scandal that has rocked Hollywood Los Feliz , Calif.
The
summer Olympics has started and I am looking forward to seeing who turns
out on top. The queen and James Bond gave the London Olympics a royal
entrance like no other in an opening ceremony that rolled to the rock of the
Beatles, the Stones and The Who.
Back to the U.S.
Our federal debt is exponentially increasing by $54,373 every
second.
"At this dangerous rate, our debt will be $18.6 trillion at
the end of the president's term, an unimaginable explosion of 75% above and
beyond the debts accumulated by all of his 43 predecessors combined. America USA
The following is courtesy of The Casey Daily Dispatch:
Suppose that every day, ten men go out for a beer and the bill for
all ten comes to $100.
If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go
something like this:
The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.
The fifth would pay $1.00
The sixth would pay $3.00
The seventh would pay $7.00
The eighth would pay $12.00
The ninth would pay $18.00
The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.00
So that's what they decided to do. The men drank in the bar every
day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until one day the owner threw
them a curve.
"Since you are all such good customers," he said,
"I'm going to reduce the cost of your daily beer by $20.00."
Drinks for the ten men now cost just $80.00.
The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes,
so the first four men were unaffected. They would still drink for free. But
what about the other six men - the paying customers? How could they divide the
$20 windfall so that everyone would get their "fair share?"
They realized that $20.00 divided by six is $3.33. But if they
subtracted that from every body's share, then the fifth man and the sixth man
would each end up being paid to drink his beer. So, the bar owner suggested
that it would be fair to reduce each man's bill by roughly the same amount, and
he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay.
And so:
The fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100%
savings).
The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33% savings).
The seventh now paid $5 instead of $7 (28% savings).
The eighth now paid $9 instead of 12 (25% savings).
The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 (22% savings).
The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings).
Each of the six was better off than before! And the first four
continued to drink for free. But once outside the restaurant, the men began to
compare their savings.
"I only got a dollar out of the $20" declared the sixth
man. He pointed to the tenth man, "But he got $10!"
"Yeah, that's right," shouted the seventh man. "Why
should he get $10 back when I got only two? The wealthy get all the breaks!"
"Wait a minute," yelled the first four men in unison.
"We didn't I get anything at all. The system exploits the poor!"
The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up.
The next night the tenth man didn't show up for drinks,
so the nine sat down and had beers without him. But when it came time to pay
the bill, they discovered something important. They didn't have
enough money between all of them for even half of the bill!
And that, boys and girls, journalists and college professors, is
how our tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the most
benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy,
and they just may not show up anymore. In fact, they might start drinking
overseas where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier.
For those who understand, no explanation is needed.
For those who do not understand, no explanation is possible.
References
Brown, Harry
(1973) How I Found Freedom in an Unfree World. Avon Books. New York , New York
