How To Restore the West: Axiom 1

Fascism is the system of government that cartelizes the private sector, centrally plans the economy to subsidize producers, exalts the police State as the source of order, denies fundamental rights and liberties to individuals, and makes the executive State the unlimited master of society…. This describes mainstream politics in America today. And not just in America. It’s true in Europe, too. It is so much part of the mainstream that it is hardly noticed any more. ~ Lew Rockwell

Historically much of the strength and vitality of the West was based on local communities, an intact family, cultural and religious structure and maybe some local specialty agricultural, natural resource or crafted products that were exported or traded for other nearby goods and services produced by other communities. Most taxes, military requirements or personal service that was rendered to the local, regional or distant central government were implemented during wartime or when the reigning political entity had revenue problems, which, of course, they often did. Governments and politics have always been about stealing wealth using coercion or false promises and nothing will ever change in this regard.

If you look at the world as it is today rather than as you wish it were, nothing is as it was, particularly in the "formerly" advanced West. We live in a financially and economically interconnected world where transportation and information travels at lightning speed when compared to 100-plus years ago. The modern centralized state began to form in the US in 1913 with the coup by financial elites creating the Federal Reserve and the income tax, and started somewhat earlier in Germany under Bismarck.

Now, to be honest, despite the wealthy and powerful banking interests involved, for many these "advancements" were a grand experiment designed to improve the lot of poor and impoverished citizens in addition to centralizing power and programs at the top. The world back then, as today, was far from perfect for the vast majority of citizens. Over these last 100 years there have been many similar political and economic models used to improve society, ranging from communism to fascism and national socialism and now back to the modern fascist model, without the anti-Semitism and violence so far, of the national socialist (Nazi) model.

Although now everyone blames the Germans for the horrendous results of National Socialism, at the time it was considered a new program to save Germany from the horrors of the First World War and the punitive destruction and massive theft of the Treaty of Versailles. World War Two and the rise of Hitler were created at Versailles by the greed and corruption of a few Western leaders and a power elite seeking to benefit financially from the German defeat. The consequences continue even today with the problems and violence in the Middle East.

My point in this short history lesson is we can’t go back to the world of the 19th century nor should we want to. Generally independent local communities, unique cultures and the impact of religion on society are dying in the West. These old values are being destroyed by a world of global commerce and massive corporate conglomerates controlled by a few.

In addition, the migration of peoples to relative wealthy countries for work together with the corresponding export of industrial and even service jobs to the lowest-cost foreign venues is wrecking the economy and employment opportunities. We are in the middle of a massive dislocation of people on a worldwide basis and it is only difficult to observe this because we are in the middle of it.

Together with these changes, power elites are conditioning society to accept these dramatic adjustments just as they did in the United States and Great Britain during the 19th and early 20th century when the mining industry would build communities and then leave for other resource locations. In another example, the textile industry abandoned mill towns in New England for lower cost production locations in the southern states.

This followed the War Between the States and the 100-year southern depression following the military defeat and Reconstruction (military rule) by the Union. Remember, unlike today, the two earlier centuries were a time of growing empires and expanding nation-states together with industrialization using economies of scale so I believe the South’s attempt at independence was doomed from the start.

Note, I haven’t mentioned the free market or individual and regional sovereignty because the 19th and 20th centuries were a period of centralization of power and the growth of the nation-state. Individuals became cogs in a wheel and little more unless they were very smart, hard working and entrepreneurial.

But the Internet Reformation is changing all of this. An open and alternative Internet media is rapidly replacing the earlier monopoly power of elite print and radio propaganda. Many alternate views and information is now provided to counter the falsehoods of government, the mainstream media and the financial establishment. In addition, the lies and cover-ups of history are being pushed aside now with more revisionist and non-victor versions of the past so we as a people are learning both the good and ugly aspects of each country’s true history.

All of this terrifies the power elite used to getting their way with a dumbed down populace and voters controlled by the former monopoly print, radio and cable media. The Internet Reformation is forcing them to make a quick, mad dash to solidify their elite and global governance rule before the Internet is utilized to inform, organize and fund a "critical mass" of opponents to thwart their global fascist rule.

Freedom advocates must use the power of the Internet to promote our version of free-market actions and personal and regional sovereignty instead of their one-world control. Future axiom articles will highlight different actions we can take to promote liberty and to restore the greatness and free-market thinking that was once the West.

Finally, politics has changed forever with new political parties and candidates like Ron Paul and secession/independence parties across Europe using the Internet to get their free-market and decentralization messages out. The opposition EU and Anglo-American elites only propose a modern day form of top-down control that is little more than a resurgent, slightly friendlier form of fascism.

The quote by Lew Rockwell at the beginning of this article best describes what they have in store for us and is the reason I’m writing "How To Restore the West" and "The 12 Axioms of Freedom Restoration."

Reprinted with permission from The Daily Bell.

Ron Holland [send him mail] lives in Canada and is a contributor to the Daily Bell and other websites.

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"Secession is a deeply American principle. This country was born through secession." ~ Ron Paul

On Sunday, pro-independence voters in Catalonia captured almost two-thirds of the regional parliament. While the establishment press attempts to hide the secession victory by mentioning that the largest pro-independence party lost parliamentary seats, this, too, was a major victory for independence forces.

There is a reason the global elites and politicians are terrified of secession. All "sanctioned" history lessons and political messages attempt to cover up the fact that most national and tax-jurisdictional boundaries are constantly changing, around the world. The elites want you to believe that all governments are permanent and hence, you, the citizen, have no alternatives. But take a look back at any map of Europe 25 years ago, 50 years ago and then each previous century and you’ll see the actual situation is far different.

Actually, during its long history Catalonia has been incorporated into or controlled by Greece, Carthage, Rome, the Visigoths, Moorish or Muslims, the Franks, the nation of Aragon, the Habsburgs and finally, Spain.

Read this typical Associated Press announcement on the vote: The headline reads "Independence Drive for Spain’s Catalonia Falters" and the first paragraph states: "The push for an independence referendum for Spain’s Catalonia region has been thrown into doubt after the referendum’s main supporter was punished at the polls and forced into the difficult position of having to seek alliances with other parties."

This is because Catalan President Artur Mas and his Convergence and Union Alliance Party, or CiU, lost seats to more radical secessionist parties, as they should have. Actually, Mas and the CiU are Johnny-come-lately independence supporters and previously actively supported EU and bank-mandated austerity measures which only hurt the economy, cut benefits and impoverish Catalonians through higher taxes.

The four independence parties still have to develop plans for a future referendum on secession that will likely be supported by a majority of the citizens of Catalonia. Although separatist movements are spreading across Europe, here at The Daily Bell first we question why restored nations should assume a burdensome share of illegitimate sovereign debt when they exit existing unions and nation-states.

Most of the debt was created by distant banking elites buying "encouraging" parliaments to increase national debt loads that can never be paid off. With economies collapsing due to the debt load from foreign-imposed debt never approved by the citizens, why should new nations shoulder this illegitimate and destructive sovereign load?

Second, of course, all tax-feeding central governments like Spain warn of a constitutional crisis and vow to block secession and independence efforts. But an excellent counter to this draconian argument and Lincoln-like threat is to say the following: "Either you allow us to leave voluntarily and we will take a percentage of your sovereign debt or use force and we will leave debt-free and bring down your government. The choice is yours!"

It looks like the productive, hard-working people of Catalonia are growing weary of funding the Spanish central government. I suggest that they will eventually gain their independence. The leaders of Spain would do well to consider their options of allowing a peaceful and friendly transition to independence lest they face the alternative, which could take down Spain and many other central governments across Europe.

Reprinted with permission from The Daily Bell.

Ron Holland [send him mail] lives in Canada and is a contributor to the Daily Bell and other websites.

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And the Lord spoke unto Moses, go unto Pharaoh, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord: "Let my people go … " ~ Exodus 8:1

Tens of thousands of Americans are now petitioning the White House wanting to withdraw from the union. Although peoples and regions around the world are in the process of withdrawing from debt laden, failed central governments including Scotland, Venice, Catalonia, Bavaria, Flanders and others, it won’t be as easy here in the USA. While the US petitions generate great PR for the legal right of secession, this is not the way a state or people legally withdraw from the US union.

First, to secede from the federal union on their own individuals must leave the US and renounce their citizenship, a very complicated and expensive process. Second, the legal way for states to withdraw is individually, state-by-state after conducting a state secession convention very much like a state constitutional convention on 10th Amendment issues.

Most of the individual states originally joined the union through this process and it is how individual states must lawfully leave the union. This is the same method followed by the individual Confederate States of America when they withdrew one by one following the election of Abraham Lincoln.

The right of democratic state-by-state secession did not die at the point of a bayonet at Appomattox Court House in 1865 after Lincoln’s invasion killed 600,000 Americans. The growing support for peaceful devolution of government powers and services to regions and local jurisdictions to allow citizens to control the power of politicians and government is a positive advancement for the 21st century. In addition, the right of devolution of states, geographic regions and groups around the world promotes government competition and freedom.

I believe legal state secession from the Washington Empire just might become the only way for American citizens to escape the disastrous consequences of the coming global run to liquidate holdings of Washington Treasury obligations and the dollar. Breaking free of the false chains that threaten our economic future from the likely Washington debt/dollar collapse might be our last chance to safeguard our financial security and liberty from the hyperinflation and crushing new tax increases to be forced on this and future generations from the bailouts and national debt.

Have you considered a confederation of states with no Washington income tax, no federal interference in the internal affairs of individual states, no involvement in perpetual wars around the world without a declaration of war, no Washington tax-feeding bureaucrats telling individual citizens, state legislatures or state agencies what to do?

Maybe it is time to consider the benefits of sovereign states voluntarily participating in a decentralized republic or confederation similar to America’s first central government, the Articles of Confederation, created by our patriot founding fathers. In such a decentralized nation issues such as marriage, religious practice, history, symbolism, culture, abortion, gay rights etc. are determined at the state level and citizens can live their lives with regulations and conduct governed by the norms of a state or locality rather than a distant federal government.

I can envision the result being a healthy economy, with minimal government debts, a rising standard of living and job growth guaranteed by low taxes, minimal regulations and currency competition – all of this without the Federal Reserve and Wall Street creating excessive bubbles followed by contraction and collapse and then demanding bailouts.

In summary, I applaud the educational and PR impact of these secession petitions and I urge all readers to sign these petitions. But remember, the right to withdraw from the union requires the same process most states followed to enter into this voluntary contract, state-based secession conventions.

In the end, outright secession may not even be necessary. The mere threat to the federal government created by the potential of legitimate state-by-state secession might well be enough to shake up the power elites in Washington and Wall Street so that they get their acts together.

In closing, I would remind you that the people of a tax jurisdiction or individual state are not really free unless they have the democratic, peaceful right to leave as did the American colonies under the British Empire. Also remember that while petitioning the White House may be a great PR campaign there’s no reason to get your hopes up that the Federal government will ever say "Yes" voluntarily; while we don’t need them, they certainly need us to continue to pay their bills.

I will leave you, dear readers, with this one last reminder: "When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another … "

Reprinted with permission from The Daily Bell.

Ron Holland [send him mail] is a contributor to the Mountain Vision Newsletter, the Daily Bell, and CEO of Biologix Hair Inc. based in Toronto, Canada.

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While regional independence is superior to both the failing European Union and the façade of special interest controlled democracy, one further action should taken by any jurisdictions that choose secession: Newly restored sovereign nations should repudiate their share of the illegitimate sovereign debt when they exit existing unions and nation-states. Created by distant banking elites buying national politicians and parliaments to load up on sovereign debts that can never be paid off, this massive national debt load is illegitimate and destructive to existing and new national economies.

Governments have three ways to deal with debt loads of this magnitude: The first is hyperinflation designed to destroy the payoff value of the debt, second is the official repudiation of the debt or third, a combination of both options.

Attempting to hold the bankers accountable is not an option. The investment banks like Goldman Sachs and a few others have already made their money packaging and selling the debt and derivatives so they are now out of the deal. At this point, the world waits for eventual sovereign debt repudiation.

The first nations to repudiate sovereign debt will have the advantage; this is why restored nations should repudiate these debts and not burden their new national economy and citizens with this junk debt. In addition, these nations should repudiate their existing politicians and representatives, controlled by the financial elites who supported the debt accumulation; because once independence is restored there is nothing to stop politicians on the take from doing the same thing again.

European Style Secession Fever

Now, there is no question that regional secession has a bad reputation, primarily due to the bloodbath that took place in the United States from 1861 to 1865. Today, most national governments strongly oppose independence and secession because this legal and legitimate action reduces tax revenues. However, few governments would consider the deplorable Lincoln alternative of military conquest that killed almost 600,000 Americans, North and South.

Although the establishment press issues many negative news accounts about secession fever sweeping Europe, I believe this is actually a positive political development and possibly the only solution to the sovereign debt crisis. For instance:

• The Return of the Venetian Republic?
• Catalonia Secession From Spain
• Bavaria Interested in Secession
• Europe’s Richer Regions Want Out
• Secessionist Wave Sweeps Belgium
• Flanders Wants Out of Belgium
• Scotland Seals Terms of Historic Independence Vote
• Some Want Out of the USA
• Vermont Independence

It is time for the restoration of formerly independent countries, each with their own unique cultural and ethnic heritage, that were forced at gunpoint into larger empire states. My recommendation is to leave most of the illegitimate sovereign debt behind when they go.

Venice wants out of Italy, Catalonia out of Spain, Bavaria out of Germany, Scotland and Wales want to leave the United Kingdom, the Flemish want out of Belgium. Even Vermont and some in the South want to regain their former status as sovereign republics separate from the most debt-ridden empire in world history, the United States.

Just as important, Greece, Italy, Ireland, Spain and Portugal – and there are even demands in Germany itself – want to leave the EU and euro witches’ brew created by their leaders. After all, the EU is a failure and these member nations may have to leave the European Union and restore their national currencies in order to grow their economies once again.

The Necessity of Sovereign Debt Repudiation

Once austerity measures and tax increases have bankrupted most of the private sector and the current sovereign debt crisis reaches critical mass, then every nation will repudiate most of its debts as well as renege on promised health and social benefits. Newly sovereign nations can act now to position themselves with a distinct advantage when this occurs. These nations will have been able to limit austerity measures, reduce confiscatory tax increases and safeguard their citizens’ private wealth by repudiating sovereign debt. If these steps are taken immediately upon independence, they should be able to avoid the majority of economic collapse caused by the coming Western sovereign debt repudiation.

Citizens are deservedly outraged at their politicians, bankers and governments and new governments, taxing jurisdictions or political lines drawn on a map may provide some nationalist, cultural or historical benefits. But independence without repudiation will do nothing to solve the collapsing standards of living and crippling austerity measures I see in our collective future.

Most of the countries in the West will eventually default on their sovereign debts using a war or financial crisis as the excuse. Like the Reichstag fire under Hitler, the excuse can be either a manufactured black-flag event or a policy readied in advance and implemented when the right excuse comes along.

This will not happen until most middle-class wealth and benefits, including retirement and health benefits, are stolen using the twin theft traps of austerity or hyperinflation caused by the sovereign debt crisis. For once, even most government employees will be raped and pillaged, as their promised benefits will evaporate because in the future their make-work jobs alone will be enough to guarantee their votes. It isn’t like most will or can work in the private sector after a lifetime of government employment.

History Shows All National Boundaries and Structures Change Over Time

All government boundaries and structures change over time. Comparing a map of early 20th century Europe, Asia or Africa with one outlining national boundaries or tax jurisdictions today makes that clear.

The same is true for governments, Russia being a case in point. It began the 20th century under a monarchy czarist government, became communist in 1917 and later returned to a similar centralized government under Putin, following the collapse of communism and the Soviet Union.

The United States fought for independence and was governed for over a decade under a confederation form of government like Switzerland until the Constitution was instituted. Then it was a decentralized republic until the Civil War when it shifted to an increasingly powerful Washington government until the early 20th century when it became an empire.

Early forms of governments began under tribal associations where chieftains led and the people followed. This was then often either supplanted or combined with religious institutional leadership to better control and manipulate the population and take their crops, wealth etc.

Later with the rise of the Roman republic and its transition under Caesar into a worldwide empire in the West, government ruled with some degree of benefit for the populations. Following the fall of the Roman Empire in the West, once again chieftains, who eventually became royalty and monarchs, ruled alongside the Church for centuries until the Protestant Reformation developed with help from the Gutenberg printing press. Then the Catholic and Protestant churches ruled in conjunction with monarchy and the divine right of kings. The Protestant movement split into many Churches and religious institutions, some in support of government and others in opposition.

At first, wealthy and educated people began to rightly clamor for a parliament and for a say in their government. This citizen input really improved government and for the first time made it accountable to the people – at least those educated and with property. This was probably a time of the best government in the West.

Parliamentary democracy grew in popularity along with the growth of money, trading and banking. Central banking actually began in Venice and broader forms of democracy were added so that wealthy banking families could rule behind the scenes under the cover of mob-rule styled democracy. As the power of monarchy and the Church weakened, democracy evolved into mob rule of the masses and politicians were forced to borrow and go into massive debt in order to stay in power by promising more than the government could provide. This in turn has led to the sovereign debt crisis the West is facing today.

This has now turned into an austerity and sovereign debt crisis, and people rightly long for a return to local accountability and leadership under their smaller and culturally distinct governments. The result is a growing secession movement toward regional, independent governments and away from the new but distant supranational governments like the European Union. This is good news for liberty and prosperity but bad news for the power elites wanting to control wealth and people across the Western world.

Following are a few thoughts on home rule, secession and the restoration of independent nations:

Follow the New Guard Rather Than the Old Elites

New nations today are usually the return to nation status of a country or region forced by previous military force or non-elective actions to join a union such as the EU. Supporters and advocates should follow the real independence leaders and parties rather than any "Johnny-come-lately," old-guard political hacks or existing parties who see their power and control challenged. Beware existing political elites who often will do anything to maintain their power base and financial incentives, even for a time becoming "patriots."

Repudiate Much of the Existing Sovereign Debt

Remember, all sovereign debt principal and interest/debt servicing accumulated over the last couple of decades are just a giant Ponzi scheme, run for the benefit of the banks selling the debt and the politicians using borrowed funds to buy votes and temporary political support. This is a most cruel and illegitimate type of generational theft and debt whereby politicians, banks and voters of one generation actually work together to better their situation at the expense of future generations.

Sadly, majorities in the West have chosen to steal from their children and grandchildren in order to live it up today. Instead of creating a legacy of wealth for their posterity, too many of this generation have stolen and squandered the economic future and prosperity of the next generations.

Create An Independent Currency

Why should a shadowy, central banking cartel have the sole, very lucrative franchise in each nation to create the fiat paper money supply out of nothing, thus enriching themselves and their backers at the expense of each nation and citizens? Central banks, if they exist at all, should be loyal and accountable to the nation in which they are domiciled and operate under close audit and supervision by the government and the people in each national jurisdiction. Of course, each nation should decide whether to offer fiat currency, a commodity-backed currency or currency competition including private alternatives.

Learn From Switzerland, the Only Successful Political Structure in the 20th Century

Each new and restored nation must, of course, meet the unique needs and demands of its population but why duplicate failure with the same politicians that earlier led that nation to ruin and bankruptcy? Although there are exceptions, the replacement of national government politicians with local or regional government politicians who formerly supported the federal structure – or in the case of the EU, supra-national government structure – accomplishes little of substance.

I consider Switzerland, with its decentralized confederation form of government held in check by its citizens through the political rights of referendum and initiative, to be the best government solution for prosperity and liberty. This is ultimately the reason Switzerland did not join the EU and why this nation with few natural resources is the economic success story of the world.

Therefore, to the coming restored nations of Europe, I wish you well in your attempt to break away from powerful interests and foreign central governments that have forced their control and authority over you. May you succeed in the restoration of a legitimate local and historical government that hopefully will avoid the mismanagement of your economy, exploitation of your resources and destruction of your heritage, culture and prosperity.

As you undertake this endeavor, keep this in mind: All government bureaucracies grow until contained, taxes rise until curtailed and politicians borrow and seek power until thrown out of office. A limited confederation style of government is the best way to ensure that power and authority remain with the citizens instead of the powerful interests that always seek to corrupt and take over government to benefit themselves over the citizenry.

Hopefully, all formerly independent nations and free people are able to peacefully withdraw from the larger nation-states with restored sovereignty, increased freedom and a limited, confederation form of government. They can thereby set a political and economic example for other nations in the EU and elsewhere that smaller, regionalized government is far superior to large, inefficient nation-states.

Remember, smaller is always better when talking about the size and extent of government.

Reprinted with permission from The Daily Bell.

Ron Holland [send him mail] is a contributor to the Mountain Vision Newsletter, the Daily Bell, and CEO of Biologix Hair Inc. based in Toronto, Canada.

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Mitt Romney and the GOP establishment desperately need a few million votes in order to beat Obama in the 2012 General Election. The GOP could have had most of the Ron Paul voter support if Romney had named either Ron Paul or Rand Paul as his VP running mate.

Had the Romney Campaign held in check the Republican Party leadership’s goon squad that made a mockery of the democratic process in the Republican Party primaries and caucuses as well as the national GOP convention, Romney might have captured 50 percent or more of Ron Paul voters and supporters, even without a Paul on the ticket. But he didn’t and actions always have consequences.

Certainly as the better of the two candidates, I did consider voting for Mitt Romney before watching the GOP convention and the establishment brownshirt tactics that sickened me regarding the Republican Party. While I certainly prefer Romney to Obama, the truth of the matter is both the GOP and Democrat Party are equally evil in their goals, their major policies and how they will carry out power elite directives and governance.

There is no lesser of two evils when considering the two major political parties in the United States today. I consider non-voting, voting third party or even voting for the opposition to be justified now, considering how the GOP leadership treated the Ron Paul Campaign, the liberty movement and our primary voters.

In the November election the "chickens are coming home to roost" to both the Republican Party and the Mitt Romney Campaign for their mistakes and bad deeds. Therefore, don’t cry for us to give Romney or the GOP candidates our support, as we sure will not cry for you.

We will cry for our nation. But what we have become is the result of 100 years of voting for the lesser of two evils, an option that certainly hasn’t worked well to date for our liberties, freedoms or wealth. This election is no different.

I think Jesus said it best: "And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity." ~ Matthew 7:23

Reprinted with permission from The Daily Bell.

Ron Holland [send him mail] is a contributor to the Mountain Vision Newsletter, the Daily Bell, and CEO of Biologix Hair Inc. based in Toronto, Canada.

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"A people should know when they are conquered." Maximus responds, "Would you, would I?" – From the movie, Gladiator

One hundred years ago the American republic was overthrown and captured by financial elites and money power during the Taft and Wilson administrations, the first Republican and the second Democrat. Both the Federal Reserve and federal income tax were born and you know the rest of the story consisting of two world wars, the Great Depression and stock market crash, the rise of communism and fascism and the Cold War. Since that time directed current events, history and financial markets have ruled at the expense of free markets and free people.

The minor policy differences with one agenda shared by two different parties and their presidents back during the Taft and Wilson presidencies are somewhat similar to Obama and Romney today, should the GOP win this election. The only real difference is in the political rhetoric preceding the election. The America and republic established by our founding fathers effectively died 100 years ago and real, productive Americans have been a conquered people since that time.

William H. Taft served as president of the US during the years 1909 to 1913. In 1904, President Theodore Roosevelt had appointed Taft, his close ally, to Secretary of War in order to promote Taft as his handpicked presidential successor. In this way the widespread support for Teddy Roosevelt helped propel Taft to the presidency in the 1908 campaign.

To some degree Taft continued the imperialist foreign policy of Roosevelt through his "Dollar Diplomacy" in Latin America and Asia, buying and supporting corrupt leaders who would advance American political, international and economic interests. In time, however, Taft’s differences with Roosevelt began to grow. He showed both decisiveness and restraint regarding a revolution in Mexico but to former Roosevelt interests and supporters, he appeared blind to the political considerations at home.

Taft began to alienate many of his former constituencies and elite supporters with his trust-busting aimed at powerful wealthy elites, the major reason he was defeated in his attempt to secure a second term as president. Along with Wilson, Taft will be forever hated and despised by productive American citizens for passage of the 16th Amendment that allowed Congress to levy an income tax without apportioning it based on Census results among the states. Second, the Federal Reserve Act was enacted under President Wilson on December 23, 1913, creating the hated Federal Reserve System and granting it the legal authority to issue Federal Reserve Notes.

It should be noted that the Federal Reserve Act and the establishment of the Federal Income Tax were criminally crafted and forced on the American people by both parties during the terms of Republican Howard Taft and Democrat Woodrow Wilson. Since these acts were passed Americans have increasingly lost control of their federal government, the value of the dollar has depreciated by more than 95 percent and now all Americans suffer under a two-party monopoly that can be neither controlled nor even impacted by productive Americans.

Our nation’s "mob rule" style democracy and closed political system guarantees that ultimate control and policies of the power elites will be enacted and carried forward regardless of public support or opposition. Thus, since 1913 it really has not mattered which party or presidential candidate has won the election because both are controlled and act for the interests of the power elite.

Therefore, in the 2012 election – as has been the case during the previous 100 years – voting is actually an exercise in futility and only used to convey false credibility to a controlled political system totally divorced from the people. Whether readers vote third party or for either of the two monopoly parties, little of substance will change despite the propaganda and political rhetoric offered up this year, just like every four years.

It is easy to say Americans should know they are a conquered people but do we really understand the situation? Like conquered peoples during Roman times believing they might still have power and influence over those who ruled over then, the answer is sadly no.

Reprinted with permission from The Daily Bell.

Ron Holland [send him mail] is a contributor to the Mountain Vision Newsletter, the Daily Bell, and CEO of Biologix Hair Inc. based in Toronto, Canada.

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"It is this Anglo-American axis (a ‘special relationship’) that has dominated the Western world for the past 150 years. It is a secretive and closely guarded group of families and individuals with enormous wealth derived from the implementation of mercantilist central banking. In recent years, America has provided the military power and to a large extent the corporate vehicles that have projected the ‘one world’ vision of the Anglo-American elite throughout the West, and even to Africa and Asia." ~ The Daily Bell, Glossary

Today in the 21st century as China again takes its rightful place as one of, if not the leading nation in the world we see many neoconservative "experts" warning of a clash of interests and civilizations between China and the West. Recent history shows us how the neocons took over traditional GOP foreign policy and they have never discovered a war or conflict they didn’t like. The Middle East, Asia and now Africa are experiencing wars and conflicts designed to advance their foreign policy at the point of a gun using American troops as cannon fodder for their global economic and political agenda.

In the Defense Planning Guidance document prepared by Paul Wolfowitz, this statement of neoconservative thought states the following for American foreign policy: "Our first objective is to prevent the re-emergence of a new rival, either on the territory of the former Soviet Union or elsewhere, that poses a threat on the order of that posed formerly by the Soviet Union. This is a dominant consideration underlying the new regional defense strategy and requires that we endeavor to prevent any hostile power from dominating a region whose resources would, under consolidated control, be sufficient to generate global power."

The neocons view the Chinese military budget, equal to maybe 10 percent of the American budget, as a direct threat to the interests of the United States. Second, they are now positioning US foreign policy and direct military action against a major Chinese ally, Iran, the number one supplier of oil to China.

The Western View of China is Wrong

If you ask most people in the West about China, they know it has the world’s largest population, owns more US dollar denominated Treasury debt than any other nation and invented fireworks, paper and maybe the printing press. It was historically a poor country, partially colonized by Great Britain and other western nations who brought Christianity, modern development and the best of civilization to a backward nation filled with starving people. China suffered badly during the Japanese invasion prior to World War Two and was an ally until Mao and the communists took over. Today it is a growing world power beginning to flex its military and economic muscles and this is a threat to western dominance.

The Chinese View and Real Situation is Somewhat Different

Actually, for most of world history, China was the wealthiest and most sophisticated nation or people on the planet. Read The Travels of Marco Polo back in 1295 to get an idea of the advances of the Chinese civilization. It produced more iron than all of Europe combined until the 20th century, and the people dressed in silk and lived in comfort hundreds of years ahead of Europe. From moveable type 400 years ahead of Gutenberg, suspension bridges, paper and printing, gunpowder, chess, the plow and many other innovations, China led the world.

Of course, China had its ups and downs and government mismanagement, all factors we are familiar with in the West today, and during a weak period Western interests gained a foothold in China. The British led the way and their mercantilism and trade with China, initially for tea, when combined with sugar from their Caribbean holdings basically addicted the entire British Empire to the modern-day stimulant of tea drinking.

The British Empire was Built upon Mercantilism and Addiction

"Mercantilism is the use of the state to fulfill one’s personal objectives and self-interest. The use of the state, conflating private with public, allows the individual or small group to obtain clout that would otherwise not be feasible…. Mercantilism, the realizing of private goals for individuals or small groups through public means, has a long and ancient history, doubtless as long as humankind itself." ~ The Daily Bell, Glossary

While some modern-day conspiracy theorists describe the US government as a narco-republic because of the participation of American foreign and domestic intelligence services as well as criminal and law enforcement elements in the drug trade, this is far from the truth. In actuality, American criminals and law enforcement working together with the prison lobby have helped to make America the prison capital of the world, dwarfing the per capita prison populations of all Third World countries combined, including China and Russia.

The dirty truth is the US, with less than 5 percent of the world’s population, has almost 25 percent of the global prison population and much of this is a direct result of drug offenses targeting mostly the poor and minority populations.

British Empire Funded by Opium

Still, the real narco-republic in world history isn’t the United States, Mexico, Colombia or other transit points to the artificially created drug epidemic in the United States. This dubious honor actually goes to the British Empire, as their Bengal-to-China opium business during the time of Queen Victoria grew into the world’s largest commodity trade during the 19th century. Opium accounted for almost 20 percent of the Empire’s total revenue, yet opium was just the tip of the addictive trade.

In the United States and the British Empire addictive substances were the major business of British mercantilism. For example, the original British colonies like Jamestown and Virginia were economically unfeasible before the smoking of tobacco caught on in Europe and smoking and snuff created a cash crop from America.

Later, sugar from British Caribbean colonies was added to the British consumption of tea from China and the entire Empire became addicted to tea. But there was a problem. Unlike in the Americas where cotton and tobacco were traded for British manufactured goods, China simply said no to foreign imports.

Their leader, the Son of Heaven, wrote King George III in 1793: "We posses all things. I set no value on objects strange or ingenious, and have no use for your country’s manufactures." Great Britain had addicted their entire population to the stimulation of tea and sugar but China surprisingly demanded silver as payment for the tea. This created a permanent drain of gold and silver from the British Empire to China and a gigantic balance of payments deficit resulted that threatened the future solvency of the British Empire. This situation is very similar to China’s holdings of US Treasury debt today.

Opium Addiction

Since the Chinese wouldn’t import British manufactured goods, London needed something to export to China to reduce the deficit. First, the British Empire’s solution was to invest huge sums of money into opium farming and production and in the colony of India they created over a million registered opium farmers. Then, taking tobacco from other colonies they mixed opium with the tobacco and in due time addicted the majority of the Chinese population to opium, through intermediaries. Now Great Britain had their export to China with which to cover tea imports.

China subsequently lost more silver in the 30 years up through 1850 than Britain had paid for tea in the previous 125 years. The Chinese economy was destroyed but then the Son of Heaven finally moved to halt the opium trade by making it illegal and enforcing the prohibition. This again threatened the survival of the British Empire. Queen Victoria dispatched a British navy to force China to push their illegal drugs sales. This caused the two opium wars, one lasting from 1839 to 1842 and the other from 1856 to 1860. During these wars Britain occupied and took the port of Hong Kong to improve opium distribution to the Chinese.

"Almost every person…not connected with government is employed in the opium trade." ~ Sir John Francis Davis, governor of Hong Kong from 1844 to 1848

Thus, the Chinese addiction to opium and the opium wars were British government policy and it is doubtful many in the West understand what happened, while it is likely all Chinese are aware of this part of their history with the West.

Opium Trade was Big Business for Americans

Also, it wasn’t just England involved; many Americans in New England also made their fortunes in the opium trade after the slave trade was outlawed. For example, Franklin Roosevelt’s grandfather, Delano, made most of the family fortune in the Chinese opium trade.

He was not alone. Many of the wealthy New England families built their fortunes on slave and opium trading. In fact, most of the American Ivy League universities were funded to a great degree when dirty money from the slave and opium trade was washed and then use to build new reputations for these families.

For example, John Cleve Green donated much of his opium profits to Princeton University, Abiel Abbott Low used his opium fortune to finance the construction of Colombia University, John Murray Forbes financed the Bell Telephone Company, Joseph Coolidge’s son organized the United Fruit Company and his grandson was the founding executive officer of the Anglo-American Council on Foreign Relations. This is just the tip of the iceberg in showing how many among the power elite made their fortunes with the China opium trade.

The Roosevelt Family, Opium and China Legacy

Franklin Roosevelt was born into the elite lifestyle of a family of wealth and privilege in Hyde Park, New York, with major financial interests in railroads. Most of the real family wealth, however, had been made earlier by Roosevelt’s grandfather, Delano, in his involvement with the opium trade in China.

An interesting aside is the China trade and resources of another kind, oil, would in turn dominate the later President Roosevelt’s determination to create a war with Japan. The original Japanese aggression against China that helped lead up to World War Two was actually initially created by secret negotiations by another Roosevelt, President Teddy Roosevelt. He privately and unconstitutionally urged the Japanese to "civilize" both China and Korea by invading and creating a Japanese-style Monroe Doctrine for Asia. Eventually this culminated in the formation of the "Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere," which became the organization used by Japan to run its puppet governments in the occupied nations.

The Tea, Silver and Opium Connection

Americans generally do not understand their own history, much less past international economic and foreign military actions. As is always the case, politicians hire and control publishing houses and the news media in order to sanitize history, extoll their virtues and demonize the losing opposition. The British Empire as well as all major nations do the same.

As the United States is headed toward increased conflict and economic competition, it is important that we understand the history of China and their history of having been ravaged by the Anglo-American establishment during tough times similar to what we are facing as a nation today. The US is an over-indebted, declining world power, losing its manufacturing base and world reserve currency status against the rising power of China.

America should resist efforts by the neocon think tanks and lobbyists to pull us into a direct confrontation with China due to our misguided Middle East foreign policy. The costs of such an outcome would be heavy and burdensome to our nation and people. Remember, what goes around comes around, and in the case of China I would expect them to give what they earlier received from the West.

Reprinted with permission from The Daily Bell.

Ron Holland [send him mail] is a contributor to the Mountain Vision Newsletter, the Daily Bell, and CEO of Biologix Hair Inc. based in Toronto, Canada.

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John Quincy Adams introduced the Monroe Doctrine on December 2, 1823, when he served as Secretary of State under President Monroe. Basically, it warned European nations not to interfere with or attempt to colonize territories in North and South America or else the United States would intervene militarily.

At the time, almost all former European colonies had obtained their independence except for Cuba and Puerto Rico. Of particular interest, given subsequent American involvement in World Wars One and Two in Europe, the Doctrine also stated that the US would consequently stay out of internal concerns of European nations as well as their existing European colonies elsewhere in the world. Of course, we know from history and current events today that this never happened.

If you remember, the timing for this was less than a decade following the War of 1812 when the US did not have the military might to enforce the Doctrine. The Washington, DC capital had been burned by the British and the American attempt to invade Canada had failed following numerous battles including the US burning of Toronto in an invasion attempt.

While many European leaders laughed at the upstart United States, which did not have a strong navy or army during these early years, for proposing a doctrine they could not enforce, like most of history, the reality was somewhat different. The Doctrine was actually enforced through the American War Between the States period, mostly by British naval power defending their trade with South America that at the time was a far larger trading partner than the US.

The British approved of the Doctrine because of concern the Latin American states could again become Spanish colonies, thus cutting off their trade and exports. Therefore, the Monroe Doctrine was actually the first Anglo-American measure following the War for Independence and the War of 1812 and set the stage for 200 years of British and American elites working together to advance their unique interests and profits at the expense of the rest of the world.

The Monroe Doctrine has continued for almost 200 years and has at times served the Western hemisphere well in keeping out most European intrusions. This continued until at least the late 19th century when it became useful as a pretext for American expansion and colonialism in the Americas.

Theodore Roosevelt re-interpreted the Monroe Doctrine as a useful tool to take economic benefits by force when Latin nations failed to pay their debts to European and US banks and business interests. This was termed the Roosevelt Corollary to the Doctrine. This also asserted the right of the US to intervene militarily and otherwise in Central and South America when there was "flagrant and chronic wrongdoing by a Latin American Nation." Since all governments are involved in these kinds of actions, this was an open invitation to invade, occupy and send in troops whenever US business interests were supposedly threatened by domestic nationalism or outside business interests.

In addition, as the US became a world power it was used to describe the recognized sphere of influence that America controlled in the western hemisphere and elsewhere. Earlier, in 1842, the American government had used the Doctrine to begin the control and eventual annexation of Hawaii to the United States, although thousands of miles away in the Pacific Ocean.

Thus, what began as a moral opposition to colonialism in the western hemisphere was later turned into a justification of intervention, invasion and occupation against many peoples ranging from the occupation, control and annexation of Hawaii to the Spanish-American War, the incorporation of the Philippines, Puerto Rico and Cuba into a new American empire. More importantly, it was used as well for US military action to remove the province of Panama from Colombia in order to secure and rule the territory needed for the Panama Canal.

Many critics of the Monroe Doctrine today in both North and South America, regardless of the initial support and moral benefits, now see the Doctrine has degenerated into little more than a declaration of hegemony and military right for continued intervention and domination of smaller nations by the power elites of the United States. Here at The Daily Bell, we suggest that the time has come for a formal repeal of the Monroe Doctrine as it related to continued US intervention and control over smaller nations in Central and South America.

The simple fact is these nations have far more to fear from the United States to the north than any military threat from their former colonial masters in Europe. We believe that due to the total failure of the centralized European Union (EU) and European indebtedness the only likely European invasion of former colonies is by hundreds of thousands of entrepreneurs and productive workers. They are now taking their wealth and skills out of Europe and back toward their former colonies where they will make a major contribution to future prosperity and economic development of the region.

In the final analysis, a region exploited by European monarchs and powerful interests for its mineral wealth may in the next several decades see much of the former stolen wealth returned to the area in the form of investment and repatriation of wealth threatened by now-bankrupt European states and political mismanagement.

We would also be remiss if we do not warn the independent nation states of Central and South America that due to the desperate situation of the American economy and US debts, political risks exist for more military adventurism in the region. Although future actions may well be blamed on the US-manufactured drug problem and terrorism, the real motivation, as in the past, will be economic in nature.

Many nations in South America are self-sufficient in farmland and food production while having vast quantities of mineral wealth (gold and silver), oil, coal, timber and natural gas. We hope these nations will continue to welcome free-market investment and entrepreneurial benefits but remain wary of military cooperation and bases that have the potential to turn much of South and Central America into a humid and green version of the Middle East. The first step in protecting this region is the repudiation and repeal of the Monroe Doctrine designed to allow military intervention at any time.

Reprinted with permission from The Daily Bell.

Ron Holland [send him mail] is a contributor to the Mountain Vision Newsletter, the Daily Bell, and CEO of Biologix Hair Inc. based in Toronto, Canada.

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"Everybody’s going to war but we don’t know what we are fighting for." ~ Nerina Pallot, from "Everybody’s Gone to War"

Iran Wants War

Although a peaceful nation for hundreds of years, Iran was invaded and occupied by the Allies in both World War One and Two. Then in 1980, at the urging of the United States, Saddam Hussein invaded them and used poison gas against both Kurds and Iran. Over 500,000 civilians, Iranian and Iraqi soldiers died in the longest war of the 20th century, which lasted until 1988.

Iran wants war because they believe they can withstand an Israel and US air assault and that unless they are invaded and occupied they can claim victory. No Middle East nation has ever been victorious against either the US or Israel and to declare victory against both will make Iran the leading nation across the entire region, at least for the people in the street. An Israel/US assault would also solve growing domestic political problems against the regime.

Israel

Bibi Netanyahu obviously believes Iran threatens the survival of Israel, as no major domestic political reasons to go to war are evident. The majority of Israel’s population appears to be opposed to a military strike against Iranian nuclear facilities because of retaliation from Iran and Hezbollah. But as in the US, what the majority of the people want is of no consequence.

If the war plan leaked several days ago is real (see "Bibi’s Secret War Plan") it’s excellent but no war plan survives the first contact with the enemy. It appears to be an exact reverse of my fictional "The First American Dollar War Defeat" in which Electromagnetic Pulse weaponry is deployed.

So Netanyahu believes Israel can delay Iranian nuclear advances by bombing them back into the Stone Age with the help of America, who will surely be drawn into the conflict. Although most neocon experts believe the war will be short with a minimum of retaliation I fear the war could be a long one, pulling in many other nations in the Middle East. Again, Iran showed its resolve against Iraq in their long war and this same determination would rise to extreme levels against an Israeli strike.

USA

The old war against terror propaganda is losing ground to alternative news and opinion now available because of the Internet Reformation. Frankly, few people believe anything from either the American government or its establishment propaganda outlets and this is a frightening situation to the power elite that rules America.

Due to the growing economic crisis, the government needs to take strong actions that could be violently resisted by large segments of the US population unless a major financial or military crisis can be used as an excuse and cover for coming dictatorial actions. Simply stated, there are not enough police and military in the US to control the population should an insurrection take place. A major war in the Middle East can provide a casus belli for a direct assault against US private wealth, liberties, benefit programs and opposition by the power elite.

For example, the imposition of a military draft will dramatically cut unemployment rates as well as limit inner-city crime and outrage over cuts in domestic spending and welfare. Remember, austerity is needed and a draconian cut in Social Security and benefit programs must be engineered against the 50 percent of the population who receive some type of government benefits.

In addition, gold will need to be confiscated. Forced retirement investment into collapsing dollar denominated Treasury obligations must be required when foreign investors stop buying US debt. Stronger TSA authority, drones and harsh domestic controls will need to be implemented for the duration of the conflict in order to squelch domestic opposition. Taxes must be raised, penalties and fines must be doubled and tripled at the federal, state and municipal levels and finally, severe limitations on freedom of speech and freedom of assembly will be forced on the American people, along with gun control and limited access to Internet news and communications.

Finally, a major, long-term war in the Middle East will provide an excuse for the deferment and rescheduling of US debt obligations owed to nations and governments that oppose the US/Israel war in the Middle East. For the $1 trillion owed to China and many Middle East nations, this is effectively debt repudiation.

China

China wants to see the US weakened long-term as a world power and a major war in the Middle East will do this. They also need a reason to dump US Treasury debt and an excuse to avoid the blame of the coming broader repudiation of US debt. The Chinese people will be justifiably outraged that the Chinese government and central bank accumulated $1 trillion in US debt, although there were legitimate global trading reasons and domestic economic justification for this over-concentration in US debt and dollar obligations.

A Middle East war would avoid direct military action between the US and China while protecting both US and Chinese politicians from the coming Treasury debt repudiation, Chinese dump and global run on the dollar and Treasuries.

Conclusion

All sides in the coming conflict – except for the civilian populations and the soldiers maimed and killed – will win if everything goes according to plan. However, nothing ever goes according to plan in wars and this is the problem the world will face. Prolonged recession or depression, wealth and benefit confiscation throughout the EU, US and other Western democracies and the risk of a Middle East conflict spreading around the world is my fear.

Who is guaranteed to win regardless of the outcome of the war and whether it can be contained? The Anglo-American financial elites and the bankers always win every conflict regardless of the military outcome. This is the history of the 20th century and I see no reason that will change now.

Forty-plus years ago, when I was in basic training, we sang the patriotic and somewhat funny marching songs. But when our drill sergeants were out of range, we would shift into "1, 2, 3, what are we fighting for?"

Looks to me like nothing has changed. American soldiers are still fighting for the power elites and their favored industries. I wish it were different.

Ron Holland [send him mail] is a contributor to the Mountain Vision Newsletter, the Daily Bell, and CEO of Biologix Hair Inc. based in Toronto, Canada.

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This is a fictional story showing how the last vestiges of the republic, your personal wealth and gold could disappear in 24 hours.

"The illusion of freedom will continue as long as it’s profitable to continue the illusion. At the point where the illusion becomes too expensive to maintain, they will just take down the scenery, they will pull back the curtains, they will move the tables and chairs out of the way and you will see the brick wall at the back of the theater." ~ Frank Zappa

Several weeks ago, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano announced Obama’s sudden executive order favoring illegal aliens. This was just one of many presidential executive orders and actually not a big deal but this tool will likely be the legal mechanism used to financially lock down America similar to the way a warden limits privileges and movement in a prison complex. Executive orders, unless they are challenged, can allow a president to rule by decree. This is basically what our once great republic has been reduced to.

Presidential Executive Orders Are the Greatest Threat To Our Nation

Many presidents have used the power of presidential executive orders but among the most harmful were Franklin Roosevelt’s Executive Order 6102 signed on April 5, 1933 that authorized the confiscation of private gold and Executive Order 9066 imprisoning 110,000 Japanese Americans in "War Relocation Camps." Lincoln also issued countless executive orders authorizing arrest and imprisonment of opposition newspaper reporters and editors as well as suspending the writ of habeas corpus widely across the Union. Of course, you will not read much about this in the history books.

How A Financial Lockdown Could Happen

This is a fictional story written to illustrate how an executive order could be crafted in a real or contrived false-flag crisis in order to impose a total financial lockdown against productive America that could confiscate nearly 100% of your wealth and destroy any remaining liberties.

This would be an American version of the Reichstag fire event that allowed Hitler and the Nazis to rule Germany by emergency decree. The spark could be a European bank run, sovereign debt collapse or capital controls contagion crossing the Atlantic and reaching the already bankrupt United States. It could be a real military or oil crisis in the Middle East, terrorist attack, Israeli military attack or contrived false flag operation designed to provide the justification for a presidential executive order that could take the rest of your net worth over the course of a single night.

The few remnants of the original republic of our Founding Fathers along with our remaining wealth and liberties could easily be destroyed over 24 hours by a pre-planned presidential executive order during a future real or contrived crisis.

The Threat is the Same Under A GOP or Democrat President

Presidential elections today are meaningless reminders of an earlier time when it mattered which party or presidential candidate won an election. It could happen just as easily under Romney as Obama. Both are intelligent, family oriented individuals that make the best front men, crafted to put a human face in front of a mercantilist/fascist system of government controlled by a power elite that has ruled over the US since at least 1913.

Will an Executive Order Like This Actually Take Place?

It could happen. I’ve tried to show how this kind of crisis could be manufactured or promoted to create the public justification and support for these broad actions, although I believe the financial actions alone may be all that is really necessary. After all, a full-blown police state really isn’t a good way to run a country and would be counter productive when all they really want are your assets.

My goal is to explore the possible political, financial and economic consequences of the next crisis or attack and prepare a worst-case scenario Presidential Executive Order response. Remember, all governments with a couple of exceptions are already bankrupt thanks to the sovereign debt conspiracy.

The actual solution is sovereign debt repudiation but this would threaten the major banks, their central banking accomplices and their political partners-in-crime. Therefore, "austerity" is a pleasant term to frame dramatic tax increases and cuts in government services and programs and this is the near-term solution combined with unimaginable money creation by the central banks.

However, the time is coming soon when the fiat money creation must stop or else the world will erupt into severe hyperinflation again threatening those institutions and political structures that created the economic downturn "depression" now ravaging and destroying the world economy. They now require a dramatic excuse, an emergency so frightening as to motivate Americans into voluntarily giving up their wealth and remaining freedoms to maintain the system a little longer while the financial and political elites search for a way out to escape blame and the consequences of their actions.

I fear their solution will become known in a future history, assuming eventually liberty forces prevail, as "The Final Presidential Executive Order." On the other hand, should the tyranny prevail, none of this will make it into the history books.

The Final Presidential Executive Order

Recently we have been reading about how Spain is basically outlawing cash and the nation of Hungary forced private retirement funds into a government plan. Domestically we read how drones will be patrolling American skies, continued TSA outrages, proposed Internet controls, passports being confiscated for back taxes, the government war against gold, threats of public protests and the death of personal and financial privacy.

The march toward a police state controls at home continues but the American people need to be warned how this may not continue as a step-by-step process. A real or contrived crisis could create an overnight clampdown by Presidential Executive Order rendering all countermeasures by US citizens too late to protect their wealth, liberties, investment liquidity or gold investments dead in the water.

I suggest a real or contrived financial, military or terrorism emergency could quickly turn the United States into a presidential dictatorship overnight with little opportunity for recourse by private citizens or Congress. This is an extreme example of what could happen should the need arise. American citizens would quickly become wards and serfs of the federal government without recourse to protect their property, wealth or right to practice their religion, school their children or travel outside the country.

Read this short story and see how easy it would be for a presidential executive order to immediately wipe away all pretexts of civil liberties, financial security, property rights, the Bill of Rights and Constitutional protections all in the name of protecting the nation.

Frankly, I believe most presidential executive order conspiracy theories prior to 9/11 were mostly doomsday mongering and scare tactics by writers, editors and others marketing to Americans who were more fearful of big government than any real threat. But like everything else in the United States today, these formerly inflated concerns are now real threats to your liberty and wealth. With the power of Executive Orders, the president can basically rule the nation by executive decree in times of severe emergency – defined by the executive branch alone – with the full force of law.

These actions are difficult to prohibit legally because the powers of a president are quite broadly defined by the Constitution. According to our reading of the Constitution, it does not define or limit the power of the president to rule by executive order, except in the larger context of the Constitution in general.

The Terror Attack Scenario: September 11, 2014

At noon during a normal lunch hour, a number of relatively small conventional explosive blasts hit major metropolitan areas in the United States. In New York City, a large truck bomb went off across the street from the New York Stock Exchange, causing extensive damage to the floor of the NYSE, as well as computer and communications equipment. A telephone call prior to the blast announced solidarity with the original anarchist attack against the very same building back on September 16, 1920. The news was filled with experts blaming Iranian terrorists and modern-day anti-Washington anarcho-capitalist elements who hated the American government.

The Wall Street subway station was also bombed, resulting in a number of casualties. In Salt Lake City a briefcase filled with explosives was left in a skyscraper elevator housing the Goldman Sachs offices and detonated when the building was full of office workers preparing to go out for lunch. Although the death toll was minimal, this resulted in an outpouring of condolences and support for the firm and a visit from the President a couple of days later to show solidarity with the firm and its capitalistic activities.

Suburban malls in Minneapolis and San Francisco, as well as a casino in Las Vegas were also damaged by small bombs, leaving almost 100 people dead and wounded. Finally, a small explosion from within a safe deposit box in the vault of the Bank of America building in Charlotte went off. Although no one was injured in this instance, other deposit boxes and their private contents were consumed in the small explosion. Moreover, additional small bombs went off in safe deposit boxes in two other banks, in Atlanta and Seattle, creating a sense of panic and disarray for bank customers wondering if their bank would be next.

A broad sense of public terror was increasing by the minute, making the situation and financial costs much worse. The American stock and bond markets were closed as investors remembered what happened after the earlier 9/11 terrorist attacks. Subways, planes and high-rise building elevators were almost empty as the public feared additional attacks. Malls and shopping centers, casinos, banks and major hotels were strangely quiet as people stayed away. The American economy was shutting down and grinding to a halt.

By 6:00 PM, just in time for the 6:30 nightly new programs, Janet Napol, Secretary of the Homeland Security Agency together with President Barry O’Romney held a joint news conference announcing 30 suspects were already in custody. Most were young radical Islamists who had recently graduated from Madrasah style Islamic schools in the targeted cities and several were home schooled. There also appeared to be direct financial links between some domestic rightwing extremists, the terrorists, Hezbollah and, of course, Iran.

The President reported that a tip from Israeli intelligence had allowed the government to react quickly and forestall a planned second wave of attacks. He thanked them for their efforts. More news emerged as files found on the personal computers of the deceased and detained alleged terrorists clearly showed that the suspects had financed their operation with funds wired from outside the country and through large amounts of cash currency secretly kept in bank safe deposit boxes.

The President then appealed to the public for their support and highlighted the need for them to stay calm during the emergency. He announced that effective noon EST the next day, September 12, 2014, a Presidential Executive Order would be released in response to the attack that would safeguard the American public and protect our nation from another attack such as this. He affirmed that this kind of unwarranted attack against innocent civilians and our financial interests would never happen again. He insisted that all the perpetrators, both domestic and foreign, as well as any conspiring organizations or governments would be swiftly brought to justice.

Finally, he placed the US armed forces on high alert and ordered a carrier task force, which happened to be standing by off the coast of Iran near the Straits of Hormuz, to prepare for action. In addition, he called for unity among the American people and warned politicians and all facets of the media about their duty to understand that America was now in a state of war with the terrorists.

Any and all anti-American activities and other actions that might divide the American people, deny the seriousness of or question the coming emergency actions, especially the following day’s Presidential Executive Order, would be prohibited for the duration of the terrorism emergency. One reporter from an alternative Internet news site sitting in the audience loudly questioned whether the President would ask Congress to issue a Declaration of War. She was immediately escorted from the press conference by the Secret Service with most of the press core booing her suggestion.

"The two enemies of the people are criminals and government, so let us tie the second down with the chains of the Constitution so the second will not become the legalized version of the first." ~ Thomas Jefferson

The Executive Order

Office of the Press Secretary

September 12, 2014

Executive Order 16-666 on Domestic Terrorism And Response to the 9/11/2014 Attack Safeguarding the American public by blocking property and prohibiting money, cash and gold transfers; public and educational propaganda with persons who commit, threaten to commit or support terrorism.

By the authority vested in me as President in the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, and in order to strengthen the efforts of the Department of Homeland Security, as well as all Federal, State and local agencies, executive order 16-666 is hereby ordered as follows:

Section 1. Establishment. The Secretary of Homeland Security (Secretary) shall immediately establish within the Department of Homeland Security (Department) a Domestic Terrorism Response Team (Task Force) to be named the Board of Executive Action Stopping Terrorism (BEAST).

Section 2. Membership and Operation. (a) The Task Force shall be limited to the following members or employees, all of whom will be no lower than the level of Assistant Secretary or its equivalent:

(a) the Secretary of Homeland Security, who shall serve as Chair; the Secretary of State; the Secretary of the Treasury; the Secretary of Defense; the Attorney General; the Secretary of Agriculture; the Secretary of Commerce; the Secretary of Labor; the Secretary of Health and Human Services; the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development; the Secretary of Education; and) such other officers or employees of the Department of Homeland Security as the Secretary may from time to time designate; and such other officers of the United States as the Secretary may designate from time to time, with the concurrence of the respective heads of departments and agencies concerned.

Section 3. Functions. Consistent with applicable law, the Task Force shall:

(a) Provide direction to executive departments and agencies concerning the immediate emergency response required to protect and safeguard the nation and our financial infrastructure from internal and external terrorist attack. Due to prohibitions against ethnic and racial profiling, this emergency Presidential Executive Order will cover all Americans equally without regard to religious, ethnic, racial or political views and beliefs. To this end, we immediately implement the following temporary emergency actions, federal legislation, regulations and requirements to become effective at 12:00 Noon, tomorrow, on September 13, 2014.

(Seizure & Immediate Taxation of All Private Safe Deposit Box Contents)

(b) The Safe Banking Accountability Act – Every bank, including its personnel and customers, are threatened by the risk of future safe deposit box bombs. Therefore, all bank and private safe deposit boxes are hereby sealed and closed for 90 days or longer until a complete inventory of every box in the nation is completed by approved bank personnel and appropriate government agencies, to include but not limited to the Internal Revenue Service, the FBI and Homeland Security. All the contents are to be reviewed and an inventory prepared for the box owner of record and such approved bank or government personnel as the Department of Homeland Security deems as appropriate.

After the inventory is completed, all private records and legal documents may be retained and stored in the box, but the box holder may only utilize the same box in the future in conjunction with monitoring of contents by approved bank personnel. At the time of inventory, all currency, gold, precious metals or collectibles exceeding $1,000 in fair market value will become the temporary property of the US Treasury until such time as the box holder shall provide records and cost basis of the purchase. The difference between cost and fair-market value will be immediately declared as income and taxed accordingly. Failure to show adequate records will also result in the immediate taxation and requirement of payment of income taxes on the deemed fair market value with a cost basis of zero.

(Full Disclosure & Taxation of All Private Gold & Cash Hoarding Outlawed)

(c) The Gold and Currency Protection Act – In order to protect the American public from future terrorism incidents by limiting the potential terrorist ability to fund unlawful activities, the Gold and Currency Protection Act will prohibit the future ownership of gold, silver and currency in amounts exceeding $1,000 without the filing and completion of new Treasury Disclosure Forms. Effective immediately, all cash transactions in the United States exceeding $500 are prohibited and punishable by fines and jail time not to exceed $25,000 and five (5) years.

(Immediate Call-in of Existing Dollar Currency & Replacement With New Legal Tender Currency)

(d) The Terrorism Emergency Safe Currency and Debit Card Initiative – All existing United States currency now circulating in the United States and around the world will be withdrawn from circulation as legal tender within five (5) business days and replaced with a new currency with superior counterfeiting safeguards. All private holdings of cash are to be surrendered and exchanged at your local bank for a "Terrorism Emergency Debit Card" within the next five (5) business days.

Detailed records, receipts and a paper trail must accompany all transactions exceeding $1,000 to the source of funds. Any old currency held after the five (5) day period will not be redeemed and will not be considered legal tender by the United States. No currency deposits or withdrawals will be allowed in existing bank accounts exceeding $1,000 for the duration of the terrorism emergency.

Following the end of the emergency every American will be required to pay for all future financial transactions over $100 with their debit, credit or Terrorism Emergency Debit Card. Cash hoarding or structuring in order to avoid any cash limits will be punished to the fullest extent of the law.

(Immediate Passport & Drivers License Seizure For Any Unpaid Tax Obligations)

(e) The Secure Borders & Tax Liability Act – No American citizen or green card holder owing taxes to any federal, state or municipal authority or property taxes in excess of $1,000 shall be allowed the privilege of travel out of or into the United States. Our voluntary tax system requires full compliance and for this reason all tax records are required to be available and accessed by border control agents and/or the TSA at the border as well as all other forms of public transportation as well as at all periodic traffic checks.

If a tax liability is discovered passports as well as drivers licenses and other forms of ID shall be confiscated until such time as the taxes plus enforcement penalties not to exceed $10,000 per incidence shall be paid. All payments must be by debit or credit card and no cash payments will be permitted.

(Airborne Drones Will Spy On Extremist Threats & Track & E-Ticket All Traffic Violations)

(f) Drone Surveillance Crime Reduction Act – In order to free up law enforcement for public safety, traffic checks and crowd control, many tasks formerly handled by county, municipal, state and federal police forces will be taken over by our Federal Freedom Drone Forces.

(Temporary Closure of All Financial Institutions, Markets & Financial Products)

(g) The Financial Services Defense Act – All American investment markets, mutual funds, annuities etc. are frozen for the duration of the stock market closure due to the damage experienced by the terrorist attack on the New York Stock Exchange. This is a temporary closure but all commercial banks will remain open during the emergency in order to fulfill the safe deposit box and exchange of currency requirement mandated by this Presidential Executive Order. All future bank withdrawals, deposits and debit and credit card purchases will be monitored and evaluated by the US Treasury for the protection of the citizens of the United States.

(All Funds Transfers For Private Individuals Out Of or Into the US Prohibited Without Prior Full Disclosure & Approval)

(h) The Funds Transfer Protection Act – All bank transfers exceeding $1,000 including bank wires, checks etc. going to or from outside the United States by private individuals are hereby prohibited without the completion of the new Treasury Disclosure Forms and approval by your local financial institution.

(All Public Demonstrations & Anti-American Alternative Media Propaganda Curtailed)

(i) The Terrorism Emergency Denial Act – The terrorism emergency denial regulations prohibit any and all anti-American activities and other actions that might divide the American people or deny the seriousness of the present situation. Moreover, the government prohibits any protests over coming emergency actions like this Presidential Executive Order. Also forbidden is the encouragement of our enemies during this terrorism emergency.

(j) Effective immediately, all press publishing, reporting and editorials – including print, electronic, television, radio, all Internet news and blog sites and personal and private websites are hereby prohibited from denying or questioning the emergency or the government response until this terrorist emergency is declared over by the Department of Homeland Defense. The failure to follow these voluntary requirements and regulations may result in closure, fines and/or imprisonment.

(Total Washington Control & Monitoring of All Private Schools & End To Homeschooling)

(k) The Private School Protection Act – All private schools (including Christian schools) are hereby required to register their curriculum and materials with the Department of Homeland Security. Further, all classes and schools are subject to monitoring and review by the Department and subject to unannounced visits at any time in order to stop the spread of Islamic propaganda and the radicalizing of the American Moslem population. The registration and review will be equally applied on all public and private schools at the high school and college level.

(l) The Homeschool Reorganization Act – All homeschooling is hereby prohibited, effective September 12, 2014, for the duration of this emergency. All children from the 1st to the 12th grade are required to immediately register and attend the public or private school of their choice.

(National ID & Transaction Card For Every American Adult)

(m) The Citizens Homeland Protection, Illegal Immigration and Transaction Defense Act – Effective immediately all citizens of the United States, 18 years old or older, are required to register to vote in their local precinct and requested to also register for the new voluntary "Lawful Citizen Transaction Card" which will be scanned at the entrance to every place of business, meeting event and at such shopping areas and other citizen protection spot checks as the Department of Homeland Defense deems appropriate for the protection of the citizens of the United States. No financial transactions, purchases or sales will be allowed without a valid "Lawful Citizen Transaction Card" in order to monitor immigration and the terrorist threat to the United States.

To further protect our nation, starting in 60 days the public will be allowed to voluntarily request a safe and secure microchip placement in the forehead in lieu of the card, which can then be monitored at each required location by new equipment that will scan each citizen at point of purchase. These chips will include important blood type and vital statistics information and will allow law enforcement to track at will the location of every lawful citizen in the United States in order to protect this nation. This action will curtail illegal immigration and discourage illegals and potential terrorists from being able to transact business in the United States.

(Religious Freedom Curtailed For the Duration of the Emergency)

(n) The Religious Tolerance & Defense Act – All religious symbols, clothing, jewelry etc. as well as the dissemination of religious tracts and public missionary activity are hereby prohibited outside of churches and other religious institutions. All services, ordinances and private ceremonies at religious institutions are subject to review and monitoring by appropriate Homeland Defense Department personnel.

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, and in order to strengthen the efforts of the Department of Homeland Security and all Federal, State and local agencies to help defend our nation it is hereby ordered as follows:

(o) This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.

THE WHITE HOUSE, September 13, 2014

Epilogue

And so on 9/13/2014, in a burst of patriotism and outrage at the death and carnage from the attack, the Senate voted 100 to 1 and Congress voted 434 to 3 in favor in a non-binding endorsement of the Presidential Executive Order. The people cheered and waved American flags, the opposition fell silent and our young men and women waited for the day when their Registration Acknowledgments were replaced with the draft cards and notices for the ongoing war in the Middle East.

Rand Paul, the lone dissenting Senator from Kentucky, and three Congressmen, the new representative Tom Davis from South Carolina, Lee in Utah and one other patriot, packed up their desks, resigned from the Congress and went home to their home states where they were, of course, barred from writing and commenting publicly by the Board Executive Action Stopping Terrorism Act (BEAST).

Accordingly, a long night of darkness fell over this former Republic and our remaining liberties. The Board of Executive Action Stopping Terrorism, which became known by its initials, BEAST, was enforced for the duration of the terrorist emergency which lasted for a number of years until the terrorism emergency and the BEAST were declared unconstitutional and The Final Presidential Executive Order 16-666 was cancelled.

This extreme scenario is meant to illustrate what could happen here in the United States. Still, the PC prohibitions on ethnic profiling could result in these types of government actions in the event of a real or contrived Islamic extremist terrorist attack on the United States. Unlike 9/11/01, there is nothing high tech about any of this. Although we use a combination name of Obama and Romney in the example simply because we don’t know who will be President at the time should this work of fiction happen, I foresee few real differences in the foreign or domestic policy of either party.

May the Final Presidential Executive Order never take place and may the American people restore their control over an out-of-control government. I fear the alternative of an Executive Order creating a financial lockdown over all of us that will continue until our private wealth is confiscated.

Quoting George Washington, "Government is not reason, it is not eloquence, it is force; like fire, a troublesome servant and a fearful master. Never for a moment should it be left to irresponsible action."

Ron Holland [send him mail] is a contributor to the Mountain Vision Newsletter, the Daily Bell, and CEO of Biologix Hair Inc. based in Toronto, Canada.

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Daily Bell: We lasted interviewed you in July of 2011 and you were getting ready for retirement living on the beach in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. Since then you have picked up and moved to Toronto, Canada.

Exactly what happened in your life to cause such an abrupt change in your lifestyle? Frankly, we haven't met many people who move from a sub-tropical beach to cold and snowy Toronto, Canada.

Did you leave the US because of all the regulatory threats to wealth, life and prosperity that so many writers are warning about in the alternative media?

Ron Holland: No. I left the US for an exciting business opportunity based in Canada but the increasing authoritarianism in the United States combined with the TSA assaults at airports do make America a threatening jurisdiction to live in or to conduct business in. Add in the threats of a real or contrived future crisis with exchange controls, a run on the dollar and an out-of-control sovereign debt situation makes me very happy to be on the outside of the American financial iron curtain and barbed wire, looking in instead of the other way around.

Today I would never want to raise a family or manage a new company inside the US. There is too much terrorist and foreign policy risk, political risk, dollar risk, regulatory risk, crime and out-of-control federal agencies. What's left of the Constitution and Bill of Rights could die overnight by presidential executive order in a Washington response to a future crisis or incident.

Actually, I discovered a unique business situation that just might become the private equity opportunity of my lifetime for myself and accredited investors. The Biologix Hair Therapy System™ is a revolutionary way to regrow your natural hair and we plan to take this solution to hair loss sufferers around the entire world.

Daily Bell: So Ron, how do you like Canada so far? What are the negatives and the positives?

Ron Holland: It's been an easy transition and the major change for me is moving from a relatively small American mountain and later beach community to a city of almost five million people. I walk everywhere and the range of excellent restaurants within a few blocks of our house is simply amazing, not to mention numerous pubs and music venues.

The only negative is slightly higher taxes and prices than in the US but even this is a positive. You see, as an American citizen, I get a credit for my Canadian taxes against what I owe the Washington Empire down south so I pay more taxes but should never have to pay a dime to Washington. Up here, crime rates are very low, services tend to work and even the bureaucrats are usually pleasant and friendly. I love paying taxes to a government that has never threatened or harassed me, didn't force me into the army during a foreign war for special interests and that generally is a pretty good government as far as governments go.

An interesting note — Yahoo recently published the 15 best cities in the world for lifestyle. Three cities in Switzerland made the list along with Munich, Vienna and a few other European locations as well as three cities in Canada. No city in the US even made the list.

Canada has a pretty decentralized confederation style government somewhat like the Swiss Confederation (Switzerland) and it works. The main threat up here, in addition to our stumbling giant to the south, is the low risk of eventual Quebec secession. But even if this were the case, and I believe distinct peoples and regions everywhere in the world should have this right, no one can imagine a war and invasion to destroy the province and force them back into the Canadian Confederation like what happened under Lincoln 150 years ago in the US.

Two things I've learned since moving to Canada: First, the enormous numbers of Americans who supported the crown during the American Revolution but had all of their property confiscated and then moved to the loyalist regions of Canada. Most of this is blocked from US history books. Second, that large cities and exorbitant crime rates do not necessarily go hand in hand.

When I first moved up here during the winter, every night about 11PM I would take my Golden Retriever Sophie for a nightly walk and here I had to go several blocks to a large park with few lights. Now, I'm 6ft 2in but during the first few weeks walking in the park was sort of like snorkeling in the Caribbean and concerned about sharks. Every couple of minutes I would turn completely around to see if a thug was following me because you see relatively few police here.

This continued until I noticed one night that there were plenty of people walking their dogs around midnight in the dark park. Upon closer examination I realized most were women and they didn't have the least concern about assault or robbery. The bottom line is there is still civilization here, a government that generally works and a lifestyle not seen in the US since the 1950's.

I miss my country, grown daughters and grandchildren and enjoy visiting them often but I do not miss the police state mentality and what has happened to the nation of my birth because I will always be an American.

The problem is what a few powerful interests have done to our country and I fear we haven't seen anything yet. As drone patrols become commonplace in the US, our foreign wars expand and the TSA moves to include all public transportation, I fear armed thugs everywhere will turn our nation into more of a latter-day Third Reich than the patriot vision of our founding fathers.

Daily Bell: Are you worried about the future and growing authoritarianism in the US? Ron Holland: No because worry should be about the future and action should be about the present. The United States is now an authoritarian police state if you do not submit to the whims of whatever bureaucrat you're dealing with. I don't think there is any debate here. I'm not worried about the future; rather, I'm determined to take action because of the present condition of my country that threatens my wealth, the remaining liberties of my family and the future prosperity of my children.

Johnny Paycheck had a country song titled, "You Can Take This Job and Shove It." Well, this is how I feel about Congress, both political parties and both candidates for president.

Daily Bell: Do you consider yourself a libertarian?

Ron Holland: Yes, in general but I don't like the term. I believe that a free people can best achieve freedom and prosperity in a free-market environment but 99% of the world is not free. The entire concept of Libertarian voting I believe falsely assumes liberty forces can somehow get 51% of the voting public to support limited government employment, benefits and programs. Sadly I think this is a false paradigm.

The same goes for education on free-market principles. The Ron Paul Campaign has been one of the greatest philosophical and educational successes in recorded history but after eight years of campaigning we can pull maybe 14% of the vote in Republican primaries. This is certainly not the percentage needed to effect real political change were we even allowed to do so, which we are not because of establishment press and GOP elite dirty tricks, but it is a giant step forward compared to the past.

Daily Bell: Is there a power elite that wants to take over the world and what is your opinion of history as it is taught to our young people?

Ron Holland: No, there is not a power elite that wants to take over the world because they already control most Western nations including the US. They control the central banks, the major political parties, the establishment press, education and the world economy and print all the money out of thin air.

Their concern is losing this dictatorial, monopoly control because of the Internet Reformation and they will do anything — crash the economy, kill tens of millions in world wars, anything to remain in power behind the scenes of controlled operatives i.e., the politicians.

As for establishment history, it's all lies. There is little truth in history or politics and this has been tragic for the human condition.

What I learned several decades ago in Europe and my real life experiences to date convinces me that 85 percent of people are living in denial about the real world around them. I don't really view this as negative because in almost the entire history of recorded civilization the winners in war, politics and power have paid court (government-financed) historians to write propaganda history glorifying the winners and, of course, trashing the losers. Actually, the only real truth in history is that everything except for the dates are falsified or colored by the victors to show them in the best light possible.

Succinctly, all power elites spin our current political and financial events as well as history into a simple a fairy tale written for feeble minds in order to keep them under control. The elites only view us as mere sheep to be sheared and slaughtered for the interests fronting for and hiding behind the state.

We are a source of wealth, innovation and cannon fodder when needed by our leaders and otherwise. Except at election time we are totally expendable.

Daily Bell: What do you think is the greatest threat to private wealth in the US?

Ron Holland: Well, I think we can forget the extreme rhetoric of convoluted conspiracies, martial law, etc. because the greatest threat to private wealth is the plain old vanilla Presidential Executive Order that has been around since the birth of the republic.

This was the tool used by Roosevelt to illegally steal all the gold from private citizens back in 1933. Lincoln issued countless presidential executive orders arresting and imprisoning opposition newspaper reporters and editors as well as the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus widely across Union territory in the Northern States.

Just one week ago, Homeland Security Secretary, Janet Reno — (oops Napolitano) … I get them confused for some reason — announced Obama's overnight executive order. Ruling by decree, without debate or warning to make 800,000 more illegal aliens safe from deportation, eligible for work permits and destined to become future Democrat voters. This was at a time when American unemployment rates are near historic highs and obviously just a ploy to get more Latino votes in November.

Of course, Romney weaseled out of a statesman-like response, as usual on all vital issues to the future of our nation. Other than a few alternative news sites, there was little outrage by the GOP out of fear of alienating their Latino supporters. Romney repeatedly declined to answer whether, if elected, he would overturn the executive order, as all major party candidates and elected officials are just clones of one another on all important issues. This sell-out response is to be expected from presidential candidates from either major party.

Executive orders, unless they are challenged — which they can be by Congress, which is constitutionally required to review every one of them every six months, actually — can allow a president to rule by decree. This is basically what a once great republic has been reduced to. Still, this illegal immigrant executive order is a minor issue compared to how an executive order could be used in a real or contrived crisis.

Any president could easily impose a total financial lock-down against productive America that would confiscate nearly 100 percent of their wealth and destroy any remaining liberties. I fear the reaction by opposition politicians would be just as cowardly as Romney's.

Your first response might be, "Ron, this rhetoric is just too extreme for me. This will never happen." Well, who would have thought back in 2006 that the average net worth per family would fall by 40 percent from 2007 to 2010 but these statistics were just verified by the Washington Post last week. I fear what I've described will happen and soon!

The spark could be a European bank run, sovereign debt collapse or capital controls contagion crossing the Atlantic and reaching the already bankrupt United States. It could be a real military or oil crisis in the Middle East, terrorist attack or contrived black flag operation designed to provide the justification for a presidential executive order that could take the rest of your net worth over a single night.

The few remnants of the original republic of our Founding Fathers, plus our remaining wealth and liberties, will be destroyed overnight by a pre-planned presidential executive order during a future real or contrived crisis. Forget the two-party propaganda of how either establishment presidential candidate or party will save or destroy our nation as there is no real difference between Romney and Obama.

Daily Bell: Are you optimistic or pessimistic about the future of freedom in America?

Ron Holland: Obviously, I'm very concerned because I don't see where the American people have the will to resist and stand up to tyranny any more. Although the Internet now gives any American the opportunity to get an unbiased free-market view of politics, history and what is really happening to our nation, the will to resist appears to be dying before our very eyes.

I don't mean to sound sexist here but any nation or people made up of fathers, husbands or lovers who are willing to stand aside and allow thugs and perverts to grope, feel up and intimidate their children, spouses or elderly parents without wholesale rebellion and resort to outrage and defense does not deserve to live free any longer.

Jerry Sandusky has been justly convicted of child sexual abuse while tens of thousands of unemployable, make-work federal government employees do the same every day to our children, wives and the elderly and only a few people voice their outrage while most just submit.

Now, there is reason for proper security procedures even if most of the "so-called" terrorism and the threat have been fabricated, faked or instigated for funding and control reasons. It can be done professionally and without intimidation like in Europe or here in Canada but in the US, all of this is just conditioning for the future.

I fear George Orwell saw the future of the US when he wrote, "If you want a vision of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face — forever." This is what America has become, in my humble opinion.

I'm a Christian and a believer, although probably a little unconventional. But I truly believe if there is a God in heaven and a hereafter that our forefathers are looking down on us today as Americans and shedding tears not of fear but of sadness and revulsion for what spineless wimps we have become. Men like Washington and Jefferson, Lee and Jackson, who fought against impossible odds and resisted tyranny, invasion and occupation just because they thought they were right must wonder whether it was worth the effort.

They fought for freedom, liberty and prosperity for their families and future unborn generations of Americans and millions have given their lives for this nation. And all for what? So we could let the helpless be molested and frightened of their own government officials at our airports? So our young people could fight and die in foreign wars of aggression and occupation to make profits for a few big conglomerates and a wealthy power elite? Or so the geeks among us can play video games outside Las Vegas and fly drones and kill mostly innocent civilians in the Islamic world sitting safely behind video screens?

The boot stamping on human faces around the world is sadly mostly American and you are seeing just the beginning of what we have done to the cities, towns and rural areas in far-off lands come full circle back to America. So yes, I'm very pessimistic about the long-term future of our nation unless free people stand up and say, "No more!", and follow through with not just words but actions.

America has become a nation of eunuchs, getting fat and lazy, existing only to do the bidding of the state and begging for crumbs in return for our servitude. Not a pretty picture. So man up, America. Stop the empty rhetoric and start taking individual human action to again become free, prosperous and independent of those who rule over us.

Ron Holland [send him mail] is a contributor to the Mountain Vision Newsletter, the Daily Bell, and CEO of Biologix Hair Inc. based in Toronto, Canada.

The Best of Ron Holland

"The Euro Titanic has now hit the iceberg and sadly there simply aren't enough lifeboats." ~ Nigel Farage, United Kingdom Independence Party

American investors should study their history and get ready for a fast replay of an Internet style version of European history during 1919, 1931 and 1933 that could transpire quickly over the next year.

Back on June 28, 1919 the Treaty of Versailles was signed burdening Germany with an unmanageable debt load that was not officially paid off until September 30, 2010. Depression, hyperinflation and institutional collapse followed, culminating in the rise to power of Hitler in 1933. Currently many nations in the EU, nominally headquartered out of Brussels but fronting for the German banks and Merkel in Berlin, are now in a similar debt position.

Versailles, France and Brussels, Belgium are only 173 miles apart but even the controlled press cannot hide the parallels of a desperate political and financial establishment or the fear running through most of Europe. History is getting ready to repeat itself and peoples and nations will once again be devastated by a depression born out of hidden excesses by banking elites and an unbearable level of sovereign debt created by "bought off" politicians.

Whether the effects of a worldwide depression will again be countered by another world war is the only real question facing the world today. I believe the failed European Union is going down and this will be only a precursor to an identical economic collapse by the American Union. Of course the power elites will attempt to use the real or manufactured crisis as a pretext to expand the EU but I don't believe they will succeed. The speed of events and flow of alternative news renders their old style propaganda powerless to keep up with and control public opinion today.

The financial world is watching with disbelief and shock as the European banking and political elites do the daily shuffle in a veiled attempt to hold together a forced, non-elected European Union. While it continues to come apart at the seams due to excessive sovereign debt and failing austerity measures rendered meaningless by an explosion in fiat currency creation not seen since the days of the German Weimer Republic.

We are indeed seeing a latter-day replay of the infamous Treaty of Versailles debt load forced on a defeated German nation in 1919 now levied on the entire European Union and this time Germany will be the winner. Maybe turnabout is fair play but I fear the long-term consequences could be as tragic as what the victorious allies did to a prostrate German nation that led to the rise of National Socialism and Adolf Hitler back in the 1930's.

Germany's Revenge

As was the case in 1919, 93 years ago, the banks and the power elite are seeking profits, gold and wealth at the expense of bankrupt and defeated nations but this time Germany is getting it's revenge. In 1919, the victorious and "righteous" allied politicians that had earlier forced the United States to enter the war in 1917 in order to forestall a German victory so the American banks and arms industry could get their loans repaid and avoid bankruptcy are this time on the receiving end. I believe Germany will bailout the EU nations, at the last minute, but at the price of their gold reserves, control over economic policies and veto threat even over elections in the individual nations.

Fear of A Repeat Credit-Anstalt Event

In May of 1931, the historic Credit-Anstalt Bank in Vienna, founded by the Rothschild family in 1855, collapsed. This in turn caused banks and companies across Europe to go under in a domino inspired panic. This collapse destabilized Europe far more than the Wall Street Crash of 1929 and over time destroyed European confidence and belief in political and financial institutions. The result was the rise in nationalism, fascism and ultimately World War II.

Americans don't really know European history but the people of Europe do and this is why the elites are so determined to avoid another banking panic and collapse at any price. The problem for them is the expensive bank bailouts may well bring an even more destructive threat to Europe — hyperinflation. Again, we know what happened in Germany.

Will Fascism Come To America?

The EU and the banking elites may well succeed in their efforts but the losers will ultimately be the sovereignty of individual nations and the wealth, freedom and prosperity of Europe. This problem will likely jump the Atlantic and an inefficient fascism like what took place in Italy combined with a nationalistic foreign policy like the German Reich does not bode well for the United States.

Following the Bush and Obama administrations the Constitution is left hanging by a thread only waiting for a real or contrived crisis to slam the door shut. The result could be an American financial lockdown of historic proportions by presidential executive order.

Don't believe for a moment the threatened European bank and stock exchange closures, private gold confiscation, limitations on ATM and bank account withdrawals and international wire transfers will not also happen here in the United States.

A Course of Action

Just as the people of Europe will likely lose much of their wealth, so will Americans who trust conventional managers and exchange traded investment markets so impacted by market, central bank and political manipulation as well as flash and electronic trading and short selling. Wealth security and preservation of purchasing power will likely only prevail in alternative markets like special situation real estate, precious metals and none exchange traded private equity opportunities that provide unique market opportunities.

Take action today for I fear this will not end well for Europe or the United States.

Ron Holland [send him mail] is a contributor to the Mountain Vision Newsletter, the Daily Bell, and CEO of Biologix Hair Inc. based in Toronto, Canada.

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"Attempts to form a government in Greece collapsed on Tuesday, jolting financial markets at the prospect leftists opposed to the terms of an EU bailout could sweep to victory in a June election and nudge the euro zone crisis into a dangerous new phase." ~ CNBC

Why should the Greek people be financially destroyed and rendered destitute by forced German & Brussels EU austerity measures & more loans designed only to pay the interest on the debt to the big banks? What if the banking and media establishment are dead wrong about nations withdrawing from the Euro like they have from the beginning of the crisis? I suggest a strong economic recovery is the likely result rather than depression as forecast by experts working for the banks that have enslaved Greece.

What Would You Do?

Let's assume you were very unsophisticated regarding real estate and you lived off a $30,000 annual income. Then assume you purchased a home in the US during the Federal Reserve created housing bubble for $500,000 with 2% down. Your real estate agent and mortgage broker said "don't worry we will take care of the details". Later you discover your signature was forged and they showed your annual income as $300,000 annually.

Now you find out the real value is only $50,000 and there are numerous liens, defects and you don't even have clear title to the asset. The bank and credit providers are threatening to take everything you have saved in your lifetime because you are behind on your loan payments.

What would you do? Given this situation most rational people would stop making payments, withdraw from the fraudulent contact and sue those who misrepresented the entire deal for fraud. This is a very simplistic version of what has happened to most nations inside the EU. The citizens never voted on or understand the contract giving away national sovereignty. The entire deal including the sovereign debt was fraudulent and sold so banks and politicians could benefit.

Recovery Is Only Possible Outside the Euro & After Sovereign Debt Repudiation

Many EU member states should simply withdraw from and repudiate the failed monetary and political experiment that the European Union has become. In addition Greece should repudiate the excessive sovereign debts owed primarily to German banks and restore an independent Greek currency, the Drachma at a lower and more favorable exchange rate to stimulate tourism and foreign investment. Yes there will be a short-term drop in the Greek economy but this would quickly be over in contrast to the EU created death spiral Greece has been forced to endure over the last few years and in the future.

Despite all the warnings by the establishment I urge the Greek people as well as the suffering populations of Spain, Italy, Ireland and other nations to dump their politicians chained to the EU and march to a different tune on the right and left.

The world knows Greek politicians are corrupt and owned by major financial interests.

Like most politicians in the West, they will tend to choose the near-term course of action that provides them the most graft and payoffs. You can't sue politicians but nations can stop paying fraudulent sovereign debts if the people press hard enough. History shows us that politicians can actually on occasion even become patriots if their political future is at risk and their financial gravy train is about to leave the station.

I believe EU siren call for Greek austerity and bailout is just a political disguise for more fleecing the populace through fears of government bankruptcy in order to steal more wealth and cut more benefits. While the real solution for most nations is to tax and steal less and reduce bloated programs and benefits. The way out for Greece and most other European nations is to withdraw from both the Euro and EU and do the above after repudiating the sovereign debt and becoming debt free nations.

Even Germany Will Leave the Euro

In the final analysis I agree with my friend John Browne's forecast Friday on CNBC. He currently serves as Senior Market Strategist for Euro Pacific Capital, Inc. and also as our Chairman of the Board for Biologix Hair Inc. in Toronto.

He warned that not only would Greece and other nations withdraw from the Euro but in the end Germany is also likely to pullout and restore the D-Mark before the EU crisis has run its course. The alternative is to risk a return to the 1930's and the Germans have not forgotten that mistake.

The ultimate solution for all government debt is always payoff, repudiate or hyperinflation hence the impasse in EU Land. No nation has ever paid off their national debt, the citizens generally benefit from repudiation over hyperinflation but central banks always use inflation as the solution. Due to rather recent German history the German people will never allow any government to sanction high rates of inflation.

The EU was a vehicle designed to control all of Europe but the German people will not stand for the massive money creation and ultimate inflation necessary to preserve the failed European Union and inflate away the massive sovereign debts of nations in the EU.

Maybe History Will Repeat Itself In Reverse

Almost 100 years ago, the victorious allies and their banking elites used the Treaty of Versailles to plunder the wealth of Germany and it's citizens who were no more guilty of this terrible war than were the allies. It has not been long enough for them to forget the drift towards extremism, anger at those who plundered their nation and finally the rise of Hitler and National Socialism. The Germany people will surely demand withdrawal from the Euro and a return to the currency credibility of a restored D-Mark (Deutsche Mark) backed in someway by gold. The alternative is to risk a return to the 1930's and the Germans have not forgotten that mistake.

I would suggest that at the next federal election in Germany in the fall of 2013 that Chancellor Merkel will likely be repudiated at the polls because of the EU problems. She and her party alliance will be forced from power as her dream for a German led Europe through the European Union crumbles like so many grandiose plans of earlier empires. Remember, 70 years earlier in 1933 another Chancellor was swept into power because of government debts, hyperinflation and outside meddling. It did not end well for Germany.

Get Out of the EU Now While You Still Can Peacefully

I know many citizens across the European Union are wondering how did we get here? They think it can't get any worse so maybe they should remain in the EU because the establishment experts warn of bankruptcy, currency crisis and the usual doom and gloom should Euro be dumped.

As an American, I know from our history that the determination of a power elite to maintain control over taxpayer territory at any cost in terms of lives, economic destruction and violence is always far stronger than the public realizes. We are now celebrating the 150th anniversary of our Civil War that destroyed the Southern economy for a century and killed 600,000 Americans north and south.

No, it wasn't really a civil war and the media establishment never mentions the death toll of the war. Also the major causes of the war that had more to do with the establishment of a central bank, railroad profits and government revenue have been hidden from view.

But, the winners always write the history and unless the individual European nations get out of the European Union modeled on the American Union quickly, your nations may never leave without a war you are likely to lose. So get out of the Euro and EU now while you still can.

Ron Holland [send him mail] is a contributor to the Mountain Vision Newsletter, the Daily Bell, and CEO of Biologix Hair Inc. based in Toronto, Canada.

The Best of Ron Holland

"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."

~ Albert Einstein

Recently, Justin Raimondo wrote a thoughtful editorial Ron Don't Let Your Heroic Effort End In Tampa.

I agree with Justin about how the GOP is actually a greater threat to our remaining liberties, wealth and the continuance of perpetual war than even the socialist Democrats.

Also I think he is right about the Paul's young supporter demographics as this is the least likely group to vote in the conservative Republican primaries indicating his overall political support is substantially greater than the smaller vote totals might indicate in the closed primary process. He also asks Ron Paul where the movement he inspired and created should go following the GOP Tampa convention ending on August 30th.

Justin and many of my libertarian and freedom movement friends sincerely believe that Ron Paul should go the third party route following the convention but I have come to a totally different conclusion although I highly respect their opinions, views and intellect.

Any Movement Future Discussion Is For After the GOP Convention

While "where we go from here" is certainly a legitimate question, the Ron Paul campaign cannot answer this question or even publically explore the possibilities until after the convention. The political power of the Ron Paul delegates and campaign through the convention are totally dependent upon keeping the GOP establishment and Romney forces guessing on the future of the Ron Paul movement. Otherwise we will make ourselves irrelevant to the GOP sooner rather than later. Now they have to consider:

Will Paul endorse Romney or sit out the fall campaign and general election?

Will Ron Paul supporters vote for Romney even with an official Paul Campaign endorsement? Although the answer is certainly doubtful for millions of supporters but we still need to keep them guessing?

What would the Romney campaign need to offer the Ron Paul Revolution forces to get a majority of our support? Speaking only for myself, naming Rand Paul as his VP running mate and a promise of a Ron Paul cabinet appointment would get my attention. This would need to be followed by campaign pledges for real action on the Fed audit and a required declaration of war for future neocon inspired foreign military actions.

Will Ron Paul leave the convention and run on a third-party ticket thus insuring the defeat of Romney and the GOP but alienating much of the GOP against future action by our freedom forces within the Republican Party? I'm sure the GOP neocon elites prefer this option, as they are willing to lose an election in order to guarantee we are run out of the party but I don't think this is in the best interest of our movement or the future of the United States.

Third Party Political Action Is An Establishment Trap

I believe third party action whether with the Libertarian Party or another 3rd or 4th party is political insanity and would constitute an establishment promoted death trap for millions of Ron Paul supporters and liberty advocates. It's a trap folks for the Liberty movement advocated and crafted primarily by the enemies of freedom and the same GOP establishment that has already treated Ron Paul and we his supporters so badly.

Libertarian Party Results in U.S. presidential elections

Year

Pres. Candidate / VP

Popular Votes

Percentage

1972

John Hospers / Toni Nathan

3,674

<0.1%

1976

Roger MacBride / David Bergland

172,553

0.21%

1980

Ed Clark / David Koch

921,128

1.1%

1984

David Bergland / Jim Lewis

228,111

0.3%

1988

Ron Paul / Andre Marrou

431,750

0.5%

1992

Andre Marrou / Nancy Lord

290,087

0.3%

1996

Harry Browne / Jo Jorgensen

485,759

0.5%

2000

Harry Browne / Art Olivier

384,431

0.4%

2004

Michael Badnarik / Richard Campagna

397,265

0.32%

2008

Bob Barr / Wayne Allyn Root

523,686

0.4%

The above graph from Wikipedia shows the utter and complete political failure the Libertarian Party has been since inception. I was involved in the 1970's with the South Carolina LP but after a few years realized our minimal educational success, few converts and limited growth hampered by an almost complete news blackout and the instilled prejudice against third party voting was a poor use of limited time, resources and funding compared to non-political educational efforts.

I am not questioning the integrity or leadership of LP activists and supporters but only the difficult mandated structure and ballot access requirements designed by the two-party monopoly to limit the growth of third parties. In fact the Republicans and Democrats have worked together since the 1860's to make sure they are the only real political game in town by increasing the difficulty of third party efforts and this is why none have risen to prominence and electoral victory since that time.

Today with the mandated ballot access petitioning and costs, a required organizational structure designed to promote continual infighting and the total lack of real election victories, the LP and other third parties are actually little more than a controlled and totally ineffective political opposition. Third parties exist and were tolerated by the two parties to keep libertarians and other small government advocates out of the controlled monopoly system. This worked well until the Ron Paul 2008 campaign.

The best I can tell, so far in the primary season. Ron Paul has received over a million votes not counting caucus states and if he stays in until the convention, the total will exceed two million. Not bad considering much of his constituency and support is outside the GOP. My guess is his supporter base and or protest vote is probably around 5–10 million.

During the last nine presidential elections over the last 36 years from 1976 through the 2008 elections the LP presidential candidates have received over the entire period less than 4 million votes. Although the LP has cycled many thousands of liberty supporters through the party including myself in the early years and provided an education forum for our ideas, historically news coverage at the national presidential campaign level has been miniscule at best.

The Ron Paul Revolution Is Transforming the GOP

I would suggest that the two Ron Paul GOP presidential nomination campaigns in 2008 and 2012 have brought more to the American ranks of the liberty movement than all the presidential campaigns of the LP and all the funding of free-market think tanks during the entire period.

All of this changed with Ron Paul's 2008 GOP presidential campaign when hundreds of thousands of young people flooded into the Republican Party. The establishment ignored his candidacy, made fun of his freedom message and utilized the usual bag of dirty tricks in order to limit his support all to no avail. Again in 2011 and 2012, his vote totals more than doubled and freedom advocates are beginning to take over local party organizations.

With Paul running as a Republican, the party neocon leadership have been unable to stop the momentum of the Ron Paul Revolution especially involving young people. We have outraged the establishment by using their very party institutions, the debates etc. designed to marginalize us and other threats to their continued control and party domination as liberty vehicles to promote our movement and the Paul campaign.

Both Political Party Leaderships Are Controlled By Special Interests

If the young Paul supporters continue to participate in the GOP, then the establishment will be powerless to stop our eventual takeover at the county, state and potentially the national level as the older propagandized sheep-like, voters die off. The Internet reformation has made the old "lesser of two evils" strategy used by both political parties to motivate voting blocks is thankfully dying.

Today with alternative news sites and free market alternatives open for discovery, anyone willing to search the net will quickly realize the "lessor of two evils" is just propaganda. Both parties regardless of propaganda and rhetoric at election time have similar agendas and governance plans based on powerful special interests. Neither represents the people only special interests.

How ironic that my generation which had some faith and allegiance to the party leadership and yet believed in our constitutional and free-market principles stood by and did nothing to halt the growth of government and our loss of liberties by the GOP elites when they knew better. In every election they blindly cheered the election year rhetoric, voted as they were told and then were somehow surprised after each election that despite the same old campaign promises their candidates were little different from the Democrats. Government and foreign neocon style military actions increased while our personal and financial freedoms were decimated as surely by the GOP as the Democrats.

Remember both Alan Greenspan, the architect of the boom and 2008 meltdown and Ben Bernanke whose policies prolonged and deepened the recession/depression were appointed Chairman of the Federal Reserve by GOP presidents. Nixon gave us the Nixon Shock in 1971 unilaterally cancelling the direct convertibility of the US dollar to gold, George H.W. Bush pledged “no new taxes” in his 1988 campaign and then raised taxes and spending and his son, George W. started two major wars that continue even today.

Say No To Third Party Efforts Doomed To Failure

• The party hacks and establishment media have consistently floated trial balloons and repeatedly questioned Ron Paul about will he make a third party run if he fails to secure the GOP nomination. They want him to run third party.
• This is because a third party effort and likely vote total will be small like all previous third party presidential candidates because Americans historically do not vote for third party candidates. Polling percentages usually start high and continually drop until election day.
• Second, this would validate their claim and propaganda message that Ron Paul supporters are not real Republicans and add credibility to their goal to push us out of the party as we are in fact rapidly taking over precinct by precinct and county by county. Over the next four years they fear our liberty forces may well take over some states and then the establishment leaders are out of their powerful influence peddling positions.
• A third party run is a trap promoted by the GOP neocon elites and their buddies in the establishment news to destroy the growing power of our movement and our threat to their neocon controlled Republican Party. The rules third parties are required to operate under were designed by the democrats and republicans to ensure their control over the one party state operating as a two party monopoly.
• Their rules require third parties to spend millions on ballot access and set up third parties as fertile ground for black flag operations, attractive to extremist views and rules are designed to cripple our credibility, fritter away our financial resources and support on useless repeated ballot access drives each election year and divide our movement. Right now the Libertarian Party is only on the ballot access in 27 states so you can see the difficulties they face.

They want Ron Paul and us out of the Republican Party. He has created hundreds of times more support, education success and made our views more prominent in the press than has the LP since inception. A third party action is a recipe for disaster and failure designed and crafted by the GOP to get us out of their party. We should stay and fight for our liberties inside the GOP as only here using their institutions designed to control us do we have the chance to be free once again.

So What Is the Future For Liberty In the Political Process?

Lets take over the GOP from the inside rather than fight them in a rigged election process where third party candidates are hidden by a news blackout enforced by both parties and the main street news media. For example, how many times have the national LP candidates been in a debate with the candidates of the GOP and Democrats? Contrast this with Paul's repeated debate inclusion during the 2012 primary season.

Americans historically do not for third party presidential candidates in the general election. At the end of this election will we be remembered and feared as a 15% voting block that is taking over the GOP one county at a time from the good ole boy establishment or do we fall for the third party attraction and receive a meaningless one time few percent of the national vote on November?

Our one chance for ultimate victory is to in fact take advantage of the GOP party rules used for years to rally conservative and free-market voters at election time. Of course, they then dismiss us after election day until the next siren call for voters to support a GOP with less government rhetoric but in fact almost a mirror image of the socialist Democrats. Like the unions and liberal voting blocks of the Democrats, we are considered little more than voting cannon fodder to be used at election time.

In my opinion, a rush to the Libertarian Party or another third party if Ron Paul doesn't win the presidential nomination is a big mistake that could dramatically weaken the power and cripple the future viability of his liberty movement. I personally will not even consider voting for Romney unless he picks Ron or Rand Paul as his VP candidate and if it is Rand, Ron is offered a top cabinet position as Secretary of the Treasury etc.

Note, I'm certainly not urging Paul supporters to support a Romney/Paul ticket rather I'm keeping my options open in order to provide the maximum leverage to Paul forces at the convention by categorically stating "No Paul = No Vote For the Republican Ticket in November".

Second, no meaningless gestures like a prime convention-speaking slot or influence over the party platform will buy my support. I suggest you do the same until after the GOP convention, and then let your conscience be your guide.

A Wing & A Prayer

Our goal should be to build a permanent, expanding Paulian or liberty wing of the Republican Party over the next four years. I don't believe we have a prayer of impacting policies or relevance in the political process if we go down the road of good intentions but unintended negative consequences of third party political action.

We should remain active in the GOP and work to gain majority control over local precincts, county organizations and play by the rules unlike many of the present party hacks and leaders. Second, we should run for office and support candidates especially at the legislature level that share our views. Third, run or support candidates running for Congress over the next four years that will advance our freedom oriented objectives concerning the Federal Reserve, rolling back the police state, sound money and an intelligent foreign policy.

Romney Has the Nomination But Will Lose In November Unless

The controlled and manipulated GOP nomination process is over except for the coronation convention and media circus. Its all fake just like the Hunger Games extravaganza and Mitt Romney will be the GOP presidential candidate but his victory march may well end where it begins in Tampa.

First in November he'll automatically get the GOP moderates and the usual "status quo" Republican country club types who have no philosophy but just want to be on the winning team for contracts, graft and power. He will get endorsements and votes from social conservative supporters of Gingrich and Santorum and the earlier presidential candidates. But he will likely lose two key constituencies required for him to win against Obama and the Democratic machine and this is Ron Paul supporters and conservative evangelicals.

The GOP political establishment view is even supporters of Ron Paul will in the end vote Republican for Romney because his rhetoric is more free-market and capitalist than Obama. Well maybe but we only have to look at the failed George Bush regime to see how little that really means when we consider two failed wars, the market and real estate crash, the falling dollar and the bank and Wall Street bailouts. I suggest that very few of us Ron Paul supporters will vote for Romney because we agree with Justin Raimondo, the GOP establishment needs to be taught a lesson.

They do need to be taught a lesson but if we leave the GOP and go the third party route and Romney and the Republican candidates lose, then we will forgo any chance to takeover the GOP or for longer-term political action within the party thus wasting much of our internal organization success to date. This will validate the GOP leadership smear that we aren't real Republicans and the growing power of freedom forces inside the party will be eliminated.

Will Ron Paulers Vote For Romney?

A young woman made the best case for Ron Paul supporters I've seen or read on Facebook several days ago. Quoting her from the Youtube video below made me realize how much the Ron Paul Campaign has accomplished so far in this election cycle. I urge you to watch and listen to her reply to a neocon friend who suggested, "a vote not cast for Romney is a vote for Obama." Therefore we should vote for Romney.

I urge you to watch her and listen to her passionate words on Youtube.

"I would also say of Ron Paul — he doesn’t need to win. In his view he is winning already. This is an ideological point he is making. But here’s why it’s electorally significant — a lot of people, I mean 41 percent in Virginia, only two people on the ballot, still a lot of people voted for Ron Paul. A lot of those voters are portable. They’re not Republican — they’re not dedicated Republican voters." ~ Tucker Carlson, Editor, The Daily Caller

It is time for a groundswell of Ron Paul supporters to quietly, respectfully but firmly make their position clear to the mainstream media and the GOP establishment. Simply put, "No Paul on the ticket means no vote for the GOP in November".

The Ron Paul Campaign has the GOP establishment stuck between a rock and a hard place even though they have not won a single state in the primaries to date. Every Paul supporter knows the underhanded tactics used by the Republican leadership at the state and national level as well as the organized smear and news blackout campaign carried out by the mainstream media.

Making Nice For the November Election

As we move into the last months of the GOP presidential nomination campaign, most of the establishment media are now "making nice" with Ron Paul and his supporters. He actually gets questions during the debates, some press coverage and the other candidates seem friendly. The reason is simple. The Republican Party desperately needs the votes of Ron Paul supporters in order to win in November against Obama.

Obviously Virginia Heffernan didn't get the memo in her typical anti-Paul elitists drivel titled Ron Paul's Pointless Internet Presidency posted on Yahoo earlier in the week but now this is the exception rather than standard procedure for the press. The word has gone out to be nice and respectful to Ron Paul so they can get our votes in November.

Too Little To Late

The Republican establishment has obviously done its homework with focus groups, polling etc. and here is their situation. Although they have successfully held back the Ron Paul campaign to date from threatening to win the GOP presidential nomination, in the dirty tricks process they have ostracized the substantial Paul voting constituency even more from the GOP than before.

Paul supporters are far more than portable as suggested by Tucker Carlson, rather they are toxic toward the GOP elites and very few will now support any of the establishment candidates after the abusive treatment given to Ron Paul as well as the crude attacks against Paul supporters. I well understand these feelings of resentment, as I am a Ron Paul supporter. There is no way I will vote for either Romney, Santorum or Gingrich although I certainly prefer their fake rhetoric to the Obama propaganda. If Ron Paul isn't the Republican nominee for president, then the establishment nominee desperately needs the votes of his supporters in order to beat Obama in the fall general election.

The establishment knows the Gingrich and Santorum voters in the GOP Presidential primary will eventually vote for Mitt Romney in November if he wins the Republican presidential nomination at the GOP convention beginning on August 27th, 2012. They also know and fear that most Ron Paul supporters will not vote for the nominee and will likely stay away from the polls in droves thus hurting the other Republican candidates for the House and Senate as well for state and local elections. Basically 15% of the GOP primary voters will sit out the 2012 November election and this almost guarantees the re-election of Barack Obama.

I Don't Really Care If the Democrats or Republicans Win in November?

My answer is regardless of whether Romney or Obama wins the general election despite all the anti-Obama rhetoric by the Republican establishment, little will change on major issues. Romney's campaign promises are identical to all other presidential campaign promises, much to do about nothing. Neither Bush nor Obama kept their campaign promises and neither will Romney.

Course of Action

First, we redouble our efforts in voting and funding the Ron Paul Campaign up through the final primary and caucus.

Second, in editorials, articles or discussions with the press or GOP leadership always stress and emphasize your plans to stay at home on election day, if a Ron or Rand Paul is not on the ticket.

Third, at the Republican National Convention when the presidential nomination is handed to Romney assuming he wins, we continue to stress "NO PAUL = NO VOTE IN NOVEMBER".

Finally, then we wait at the convention for the personal phone call from Mitt Romney following private preliminary discussions where Rand Paul is asked to be the Vice Presidential candidate on a Romney/Paul ticket after assurances Ron Paul will be nominated for an appropriate cabinet level appointment such as Secretary of the Treasury or Defense.

Ron Paul deserves some family time off following the years of campaigning and educating the American people about liberty. He has done more to advance the cause of limited government, liberty and free-markets than any American since the time of the American Revolution.

Mitt Romney has spent the last 7 years running for President of the United States so obviously he really wants to win. Romney and his advisors must know without the 15% plus of GOP voters supporting Ron Paul who unlike Gingrich and Santorum will sit the election out, that he cannot defeat Barack Obama without our support. His only option is to put a "Paul" on the ticket.

Although a Vice President Rand Paul is a great tactical victory, this is only a battle in a long war for the restoration of liberty and legitimate Constitutional government to the United States.

When I was a young man in the military during the 1970's, I well remember the antiwar crowds shouting "Hell no, we won't go" in opposition to the Vietnam War. Today, 40 plus years later, I'm a grandfather and maybe older and wiser but still willing to more respectfully tell the same power elites running this country and both political parties, "Hell no, I won't go" again but this time it is to the polls in November unless there is a Paul on the ticket.

Will you join me?

Ron Holland [send him mail] is a contributor to the Mountain Vision Newsletter, the Daily Bell and CEO of Biologix Hair Inc. based in Toronto, Canada.

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“See this room? Two-thirds of us laid off when Ron Paul is president.” ~ A hot microphone picked up a reporter attacking Ron Paul before a Pentagon briefing began

We are currently in the middle of the long war of the Internet Reformation although the press will never mention this. Effectively there has been an ongoing war between the non-controlled alternative media and the establishment media starting with LewRockwell.com back in 1999.

Since then many quality alternative media websites have been added to the competition while the elite media's credibility, reach and ability to manipulate debate and public opinion has been declining. The Internet Reformation is slowly winning and this has been most clearly shown to date with the 2012 Ron Paul Campaign.

The GOP Neocon puppet masters are terrified especially when Republican crowds at televised debates cheer the Ron Paul non-interventionist foreign policy remarks because this threatens their control over US foreign policy in what was formerly their secure home turf. Try as they might the media has not been able to destroy the Ron Paul Campaign.

Is The Great Establishment Media Purge Beginning?

“They can’t be afraid of me…I'm not going to be President of the United States. They are afraid of the ideas we express because they’re afraid of the people.” ~ Pat Buchanan

Back in the old Soviet Union, Joseph Stalin created the "Great Purge" of political repression and persecution during 1936 to 1938. Stalin was paranoid and very fearful of individuals he considered enemies of the people and counter-revolutionary because these dissenters threatened his dictatorial control and authority over the nation.

It appears the mainstream media elites in the US may also worry about their future ability to control public opinion and elections in America. In the last week we have seen MSNBC on the left purge Pat Buchanan from the network and Fox News on the right eliminate Judge Andrew Napolitano and Freedom Watch for expressing opinions and views that threaten the political institutions, control and goals of the power elite. The first question asked must be why now rather than later as after all both men have expressed their anti-establishment views for years without repercussions?

I believe the answer is the growing power of alternative media and the successful educational effort of the Ron Paul Campaign both of which use the internet to get their freedom message out. The establishment media primarily exists to defend the establishment and the growing readership of alternative news and opinion sites are making their job increasingly difficult. When you add in the growing numbers of Paul campaign supporters that appear to now be effectively immune to the power elite propaganda, the media elites have a real problem.

Today's Media Establishment Is An Anachronism & Relic of the Past

The job of the press was to manipulate and control public opinion as well as voting blocks during the heyday of print media, radio and recently even cable news. The elites bought and controlled most media outlets, developed and promoted a controlled political opposition on the left and the right that allowed them to set the parameters for discussion and debate. America has effectively been a one party state for 100 years with power elites controlling the major political parties using the American style democracy both as their cover and to convey legitimacy on their behind the scenes manipulation.

The real battle today is not the ongoing GOP presidential primary but rather the media elites against the Ron Paul Campaign and the alternative internet based media where growing numbers of Americans are getting news and forming their opinions.

If you watch the run of the mill campaigns by all of the GOP presidential candidates except for Ron Paul and listen to the rhetoric it is the same old story and false paradigm waged every four years for almost 100 years. Our legitimate government and rule by the people was actually overthrown in 1913 by banking interests who created the Federal Reserve and the graduated income tax.

Ron Paul Has Brilliantly Turned the Tables On the Political Establishment

His campaign is using the closed two-party control structure and their media gatekeepers previously utilized to control public opinion and elections against them. For example the state presidential primary and caucus system, televised debates and related campaign news coverage formerly was a GOP establishment monopoly. Today thanks to the Internet, it has become the Trojan horse used by Paul's campaign and liberty supporters to get inside the closed walls of the GOP to educate millions of Americans about freedom and free-market ideas.

The establishment news media has been powerless to stop this infiltration so the real battle in 2012, isn't the visible political campaign but rather the hidden impotence of the media elites to protect the establishment control. This is why the media so hates and fears Ron Paul. His campaign is the new road map for how pro-liberty candidates and forces together with the alternative media can and will eventually defeat the power elites main protectors and gatekeepers, which is the media establishment.

The Wednesday night GOP Presidential debate could well be the last in this campaign cycle. In fact, it could be the last GOP presidential debate in your lifetime if future freedom candidates follow the Ron Paul model of turning a major campaign into an educational effort against the GOP establishment.

The existing closed political system will not survive another GOP presidential nomination campaign in which the truths and views of a major candidate like Ron Paul

are repeated in numerous debates night after night to a voting public armed with Google search and the alternative media. Traditional campaigns and managed elections with predetermined outcomes are over as the media establishment can no longer control the debate, limit information flow and defend the political establishment.

This 2012 GOP presidential nomination campaign ritual that actually began in early 2011 is coming to a close. Historically presidential campaigns and the pre-approved chosen ones battle in the arena of democracy and candidate finally chosen by the false holy sacrament of democracy through a controlled electoral process is designed to convey a measure of legitimacy on those who rule over us and nothing more. It is pure entertainment just like the old Roman circuses, coliseum diversions and free bread during the latter-days of the Roman Empire to calm the public while their empire fell and their wealth and liberties were destroyed.

Contrary to the lies from rightwing radio, leftwing experts and most political party hacks and leaders most elections are fraudulent and a waste of time for voters. I suggest you research campaign promises from Wilson and Roosevelt on keeping us out of war to modern-day presidents like Bush II, Obama etc. and you'll see their campaign promises are literally never kept. Yet after each election, the press almost never mentions this fact of modern-day political life. It is an inside establishment joke and the job of the establishment press is to protect, defend and advance the interests of the establishment.

Voting & Campaigns Have Been An Exercise In Futility Since 1913

What has passed, as majority rule is nothing more than a deception forced on manipulated voters, fraud filled voting, caucuses and primaries and run by insider party elites. This deception has worked historically because the media establishment has always controlled, commented on and manufactured public opinion so the power elite candidates backed financially by big banks, Wall Street and a few extremely wealthy families could maintain the false illusion of government by the people.

Yes the front men and political parties will change places from time to time so we the people can direct our support or disgust in the following elections but policies change little and the real power elite and special interests who determine foreign and domestic polices, bailout their banking friends continue as before.

This is just an every four year ritual and false deception designed to convince the citizens that they somehow govern themselves and their nation. The truth about representative democracy is this form of government at a national level when compared to decentralized confederation government and or direct democracy is the easiest way for elites to fool voters. This allows politicians to act and legislate always in their best interests rather than for the good of the nation or the people.

The 2012 Election Really Is Different

This is not because the defeat of Barack Obama or the election of a Romney, Santorum or Gingrich will change the direction of the nation. The banks will still get bailed out, the federal budget will not be balanced and our national debt will continue to grow. Also the neocons will still determine foreign policy and the Federal Reserve will continue to create money out of nothing for a few special interests and industries.

I believe the 2012 presidential election will be the final death rattle for the American political, financial and media establishment and their ability to control the voting public or the news and opinions used to create public opinion. This is what really makes the 2012 election different.

The growth in alternative media readership as well as independent political and economic thought from the Ron Paul Campaign educational effort have almost reached the tipping point thus making the past public control function of the media establishment a lost cause. Adding up the alternative media readership numbers and Paul's GOP vote percentages primarily from younger voters spells disaster for the establishment.

They may hold back the freedom forces for one more national election but in four more years of Obama or GOP establishment leadership I forecast the flood gates of political and economic change will burst open and the liberty revolution will advance on Washington, Wall Street and the central bank cartel.

The outcome of the 2012 election is difficult to forecast but it is clear eventually the media establishment will lose the war! Not withstanding the results of the 2012 election and how many free-market commentators are repressed, banned, blacklisted or fired, the media elites will lose because of the internet.

Even if those who rule over us use a false flag operation like in the past to create a war or national emergency to control the internet, curtail opposition viewpoints and end our liberties and access to alternative views and news — this will only work for a very short time.

The internet has become a necessity for business and commerce and today's global market means real history and the truth about financial manipulation, central banking cartels, free market solutions and political controls will get through their restraints and continue to challenge the establishment propaganda outlets.

They cannot kill the Internet without destroying the American economy in a very competitive world. The US is the most important economic host to these power elite parasites as they benefit from both confiscating our wealth and enslaving our children as cannon fodder for their wars.

The truth about our history, political system and our own enslavement has been best shown by Judge Andrew Napolitano in his questions every American should demand answers to in his recent editorial What If Democracy Is Bunk?

The search for answers to his 33 questions about American style democracy may well set the stage for the restoration of legitimate government and a free society in the United States. He has given us the questions to ask and all we need to do is to research, discover and publicize the answers.

Yes the establishment will counter-attack and use any means to remain in power and control but their days are numbered. Like Goebbels and the Berlin propaganda in early 1945, they can still issue proclamations, enact decrees and frighten the citizens but soon a large enough percentage of the electorate will know the truth. The emperor has no clothes and the rulers as well as the power elites hiding behind the scenes are frightened.

In 2013, the United States will have been occupied, ruled and looted by an elite that claimed to know what was best for them, the nation and the American people. They weren't evil like the Nazis or violent like the Stalin and the communists but in the end they destroyed our liberties and have looted most of our property and wealth. Personally I think one hundred years is long enough. What do you think?

When a plurality of Americans can understand Judge Napolitano's 33 questions and the answers, then the game is up and the truth just might yet set us free.

Ron Holland [send him mail] is a contributor to the Mountain Vision Newsletter, the Daily Bell and CEO of Biologix Hair Inc. based in Toronto, Canada.

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While I enjoyed Jesse Ventura's "Government's Island of Horror" about Plum Island over the weekend on LRC, I know from a close friend that Jesse only covered part of the treachery and conspiracy that is the Plum Island cover-up regarding Lyme disease.

My friend Les Roberts wrote The Poison Plum back in 2007 after partially recovering from a ten-year battle with Lyme disease determined to tell the truth about the disease and what he had discovered in research. He wrote the book in novel form because the truth and potential liabilities as he saw them were so dangerous and threatening to the government, big pharma and the medical establishment that he dared not write the book as a factual expose.

The book isn't about what could happen in America but rather what is happening in our nation today. One heroine in the story is Susan Collins who is trying to save her son from dying of a special form of deadly Lyme disease which started in Lyme, CT, just across from the government laboratories at Plum Island. Shades of both 1984 and Atlas Shrugged are shown in this post 9/11 America are shown true to form with jackbooted government thugs raiding homes, kidnapping physicians and the horrors of trial without jury or due process and incarceration at secret prisons in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

The other hero is Congressman Harry McDonald who appears as a modern-day Ron Paul with the courage, strength of character and beliefs in the Constitution, the Bill of Rights and individual liberty. Every libertarian, true conservative and constitutionalist should read The Poison Plum by Les Roberts.

In full disclosure, Les Roberts was a close friend and business associate more than 25 years ago and I remember when he got sick and we drifted apart. We talked several times over the period and he mentioned that if he survived the disease he would write a book about his experience and this is what he did.

There is nothing in this for me. This is for my old friend, Les who was sick for so long and for our children and grandchildren that they might have the opportunity to enjoy the blessings of freedom and liberty in a free and just society.

If the premise of the book is correct 100's of billions in government liability are involved as well as the Center for Disease Control as well as the drug, insurance and government special interests that control the top echelons of the medical establishment.

This political and medical thriller had to be written as a novel instead of an indictment against government misdeeds, conspiracy and corruption because of the Patriot Act, our corrupt legal and judicial system, vengeful bureaucrats and powerful government interests which would commit any act of intimidation or violence to hide the mistakes which may have led to the unintentional release of engineered viruses from government cold war research laboratories.

The novel begins in Alabama with the infamous Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment where poor African Americans were part of a federally sponsored syphilis study that allowed them to suffer the later stages of this disease without receiving the known treatment an cure possible from penicillin. They were part of a government research project and this allowed even their wives and unborn children to become infected all in the name of national security.

Read his novel; heed his warning both personally with your health and with renewed dedication to turning this nation around before it is too late.

Note Les is not a writer by profession but rather spent his entire career before retirement in the gold business where he wisely only provided low markup bullion instead of expensive numismatics to clients. He knew more about gold than any individual I've ever met. Also since Les is now terminally ill with cancer, I would like to disclose to readers that he was the secret source of my original No Gold At Fort Knox editorial written for LRC back in October of 2010.

Also, my friend Les is not going out with a whimper. With almost 40 years experience in the gold business and a decade of illness to research gold and Lyme disease he hints of a another manuscript set on the 100th anniversary of the founding of the FED. Tentatively named The Gold Quake Memorandum it describes the secret history of gold, central banking and money from ancient times until today. From our discussions, readers will never look at gold, wars, politics, history or central banking the same ever again. I hope he finishes this for all of us.

It has been months since I talked to Les so I called him today. He told me today how many chronic Lyme disease suffers are also finding a dramatic increase in cancer among themselves. The growing spread of Lyme through the US and now Canada may well be just the forerunner for a compromised immune system for millions paying the way for a much higher incidence of cancer in our future.

There is talk of The Poison Plum being made into a movie and I hope this happens and subsequently the full blame and responsibility for this deadly disease falls where it should. In history, governments and politicians have seldom taken the blame for their actions because they and the elites they worked for controlled the press, educational facilities and history. Today with the Internet reformation their ability to be the gatekeepers for information and thereby controlling public opinion is dying. I say this can't happen soon enough and good riddance!

Ron Holland [send him mail] is a contributor to the Mountain Vision Newsletter, the Daily Bell and CEO of Biologix Hair Inc. based in Toronto, Canada.

The Best of Ron Holland

I’ll bet you don’t know that I may be the first person in recorded history to move voluntarily from the warm beach and golf resort of Hilton Head Island, South Carolina to cold and snowy Toronto, Canada. But Steve Wynn and many other entrepreneurs forced to deal with the multitude of regulatory agencies at the federal, state and local level would likely agree. America's growing number of bureaucrats — all with their hand out to exchange fees for paperwork — can make it impossible to compete in the global economy from the US.

“The climate for business is frightening here,” he says, and that’s why he’s moving half his operation to Macau. — Steve Wynn, the entrepreneur who led the rebirth and explosive expansion of the Las Vegas Strip in the early 1990′s.

I've been retired for some time from the investment business after years working as the president of a broker/dealer licensed in 47 states. And up until a few weeks ago, I lived just a few steps from a warm-water beach; when not writing on financial and freedom topics, I enjoyed everything the Hilton Head resort lifestyle had to offer. Now I'm in the process of moving to cold Toronto, where I will walk my dog in zero-degree weather instead of on a sunny beach. You might think I'm crazy to have made the move, but read on.

Peace of Mind Rather Than Tax Savings — Although Americans who live and work offshore do receive substantial tax exclusion if they meet certain requirements this isn't why I'm moving offshore. In addition, offshore working American's get to take a credit against US taxes for foreign taxes paid in most major nations. This helps to offset the big disadvantage of being an American citizen as the US is the only major nation in the world that taxes its citizens on their worldwide income

Frankly I'm excited to pay equal or higher taxes to a new nation that never attempted to draft me to fight in Vietnam, doesn't harass me or my wife when getting on a plane or crossing a border and has never made my life miserable. Also Canada is sort of like Switzerland as the nation isn't exactly the terrorist magnet of the world like the US and their economy is booming and its sovereign debt level is reasonable.

Hair Or the Lack Of It Never Bothered Me — This move to Canada began with a chance meeting in a plane with my friend Ian. Back in September of last year, I was heading down the isle of a plane far from where either of us lived, and I heard a "Hi Ron." I wasn’t expecting to meet anyone I knew on the flight, but just to my left sat Ian and his wife — except it didn't quite look like Ian, and I wasn't sure why. We exchanged the usual pleasantries, and I made my way back to my seat. I sat there for a few minutes trying to figure out what was different about him. Then I realized what it was … he used to be bald on top, but now he had a new crop of natural hair on the top of his head.

Take a look for yourself at my 66-year-old friend and his before and after photos. And he’s only half way through the therapy!

8 months into the 2-year therapy process, these are the impressive results:

So I'm swapping Hilton Head for Toronto because I saw the opportunity of a lifetime with a company that has developed a medical therapy for restoring natural hair growth. It produces what millions of people long for — live, growing hair. And the therapy has been demonstrated to be effective for 85% of men and more than 92% of women based on thousands of treatments.

They want to turn the hair treatment system into a business and plan to dominate the world market for hair restoration and hair loss prevention. I guess I should say "we" because I've been named the company's CEO. You'll still get my regular editorials on freedom, liberty and free-market alternatives on LewRockwell.com, theDailyBell.com and other free-market websites, but I couldn't pass this opportunity up.

How I Lost the Argument To Locate the Company Headquarters in the US

After all, I've been to Canada many times and it does get really cold up there and not a palm tree anywhere. I gave it my best and they countered with CNBC's "The World's Best Places to Live in 2011" showing me where Toronto was 15th in the world.

I knew I had them, responding "only 15th, well what American cities rank higher than Toronto in the ratings." They responded with "no American cities even made it in the top 15" even though CNBC sponsored the slide presentation.

I followed up with ease of air travel to and from the US as I know our airfares are often less expensive than Europe and Canada and this will be an international business. That was a mistake as many of the company partners and associates are from outside America. They responded with "try flying into the US without an American passport as they often treat us like criminals." Well I had to agree with them here as I fly in and out often and it is a different story for those in the long lines for non-American passport holders.

Anyway, we continued to argue bureaucracy, tax-rates, crime, friendly law enforcement, victimless crimes, the Patriot Act and how the American sovereign debt, the dollar and how the nightmare of our political institutions — except for the Ron Paul Campaign — threatens every American citizen and business. I lost the argument so I'm now moving to Canada to become CEO of a new start-up company with a viable solution for people suffering from the effects of unwanted hair loss and baldness — both males and females.

Some Thoughts On Start-up Companies

"Start-ups can be like porn in a way: they can be fun and interesting, but most of the time pretty disappointing… another analogy is a lottery ticket." — Lorien Gabel, chief of start-up Pingg

Normally I would agree with Gabel (quoted above). Although investing in start-ups can buy you a lot of excitement, most of them end up doing absolutely nothing that’s profitable. They’re like buying a lottery ticket. Having won over $4,500 many years ago playing quarter slots while waiting for my wife to dress for dinner, I know you can win, but it doesn’t happen often.

But on the other hand, as Apple, Amazon and other winners have shown, if you have a unique product or service that people really want and are way ahead of the competition, your odds of winning big go way up, especially if you get in early. I believe our hair therapy system is certainly unique, I’ve seen it work, and it totally out-delivers against the competition.

The global hair restoration market is huge. Although most men and women want a full head of hair, by age 35, two-thirds of American men suffer some degree of hair loss, and by age 50 nearly 85% have thinning hair (male pattern baldness). Half of all women suffer from thinning hair, usually beginning after age 50.

How many readers wish they had invested early in a ground-floor opportunity with Apple? Or consider Peter Thiel, the co-founder of PayPal, and his $500,000 angel investment in Mark Zuckerberg's Facebook in 2005. It is now worth better than $2 billion.

A 2012 Opportunity — I see a real cure for baldness as potentially a very profitable opportunity for early investors like myself. Of course there are risks. Delay in regulatory approval is the first one I think of. But the biggest one is something you can’t measure — the unforeseeable. That’s why I took the CEO job as I I want to be in a position to deal with any problems that might get in the way.

I wish I had bought gold at $400 an ounce or silver at $5.00 or bought Apple in the early years. Life is full of profitable trades if one has the foresight, opportunity and ability to act. How about oil futures at $15 a barrel, or if I had seen where the Internet or cell phones were headed? Still, timing and control are everything in investing, and as part of top management here I can use my energy and experience to make things happen. And as for timing, this is about as early as an accredited investor can get involved.

Actually the United States will lose all the way around with this venture, at least for now. No American will be able to access the treatment in the US before we receive FDA approval, which will probably take years unless they travel outside the country. This delayed business in America will result in lost tax revenue for a federal government that is desperate for revenue.

Second, many hair-loss suffers will wish to seek immediate treatment rather than waiting on regulatory approval in their home countries. Fortunately, some countries, including popular international travel destinations, have positioned themselves as centers for innovation by avoiding paralyzing regulations.

So we are planning to open our first clinic in Panama by May of this year, to be followed by Mexico, Grand Cayman and the Bahamas. Then we will replicate the model in other regional markets around the world until regulatory approval is received in the U.S., Canada and Europe.

As for our corporate structure, well there is some irony in the whole thing. See it turns out that America is still a great place to incorporate a PRIVATE company, as long as you have a team of quality international tax advisors with truly international experience. There are plenty of legally compliant tax treaties that can dramatically reduce their corporate tax burden for any company with the wherewithal — financially and otherwise — to avail itself of those benefits.

But back to the central point of I am trying to make here … the fact is that as an American company you can build a large company without crossing the regulatory lines that bring you into the public company sphere. This makes America still a favorable place to be for people seeking to build value and who need to bring in an expanding base of value-added financial partners (investors) to help make the vision a reality.

My partners have convinced me that the great American Dream experienced and praised by our fathers and grandfathers is still alive today. Simply put, it is OK to build around an American private equity base, but you have to go outside America to really maximize the opportunity from an after-tax perspective. It is somewhat complicated, as anyone who fills taxes with the IRS surely knows, but suffice it to say that when you are dealing with Intellectual Property (IP) that has in no way ever been developed in the US, it is imperative not to bring the IP into the US if you wish to retain offshore tax status.

And since we believe the market for the millions of people that will embrace a REAL solution to their hair loss problem is extremely profitable, it makes sense to maintain the incorporation only in the US and all other operations outside — other than US domestic-based operating clinics once the FDA approves the core drug, assuming they do approve it.

In summary, I believe a cure for baldness combined with our tax-advantageously-designed business plan positions our little company to be one of the greatest businesses opportunities of my lifetime. And I, along with a quality team of self-starters are prepared to make the journey a long, enjoyable and fruitful experience for all.

If you are losing hair and want to learn more or an accredited investor wanting to know more, feel free to contact me for more information at the e-mail in my bio below.

Until my next editorial, I'll probably be freezing but feeling free and prosperous in Canada. And by the way, vote for Ron Paul as if he becomes president this just might be my ticket home. In the meantime, I'm going to find out just what a cure for hair loss might be worth.

Ron Holland [send him mail] is a contributor to the Mountain Vision Newsletter and Chairman of the Advisory Board of the Foundation for the Advancement of Free-Market Thinking (FAFMT) in Vaduz, Liechtenstein.

The Best of Ron Holland

Today was like every other day in the United States during the last few decades. Washington taxed more private wealth to generate government revenue. Congress added more national debt to future generations so they could pay benefits and buy votes today. The Federal Reserve created more fiat paper money out of nothing to cover the difference between government revenue and expenses.

The Mob Still Votes

"A democracy is nothing more than mob rule, where fifty-one percent of the people may take away the rights of the other forty-nine." ~ Thomas Jefferson

Recently we took our 14-year-old daughter and a friend to the Coastal Georgia Fair in Savannah. It was a small fair with the usual tasty but deadly food and all the rides you wanted for a set price. The girls had fun and I had plenty of time to stand around and watch the crowd to protect my girls from all the thugs and hoodlums in the crowd.

I hate generalizations but it was apparent that most of the attendees lived off the government either in terms of outright support or make-work jobs but for once I was glad there were a lot of law enforcement officials around. Second, except for the police presence there paid by tax dollars I doubt few of the people made enough to ever pay federal income tax and most with children probably received the annual income tax credit.

Then it dawned on me that "everyone there had the right to vote for more benefits and tax receipts from the government". Therefore it is wishful thinking to believe a mob democracy such as ours can ever restore the once great American republic of our founding fathers because a majority of parasites benefit from the productive work of a minority of Americans.

The Bankers Still Rule

“History records that the money changers have used every form of abuse, intrigue, deceit, and violent means possible to maintain their control over governments by controlling money and it’s issuance.” ~ James Madison

This is why most governments in Europe and here in America at all levels appear to working productive citizens as so incompetent. Governments and politicians are only incompetent if you value your freedom and want to keep your hard earned wealth. Governments and politicians do an excellent job for private and central bankers witness the bank bailout in the US and another banking bailout is happening right now in the European Union.

Governments work well for the very wealthy out to scam and accumulate more wealth and power for themselves and use power of the state to do this. It also is a friend of the 50% plus of Americans who pay no income tax and who exist and live off our productive labor.

Unless you are super rich or part of the rapidly growing American under class, most politicians and government entities are your enemy. The federal government is under the direct control of Wall Street and a few other wealthy elites. Although they provide enough bread and circuses to guarantee a voting majority from those who only subsist off the government, few have the incentive or opportunity to be more than a voting mob ruled by the wealthy and monetary elites.

Actually Austrian economists, libertarians and Tea Party supporters on the right are just as correct as the Occupy Wall Street crowd on the left. The government does not work for the people any longer and both political parties are equally corrupt and controlled by special interests. Public outrage is exploding while the Democrats, Soros and ACORN on the left attempt to use the anger through the OWS to rally voter support for Obama and the Democrats. This is an identical covert mission to the earlier GOP establishment takeover and marginalization of the Tea Party activists.

The Sheep Still Sleep, Trust & Obey

“A society of sheep must in time beget a government of wolves.” ~ Bertrand de Jouvenel

Recently I walked down the beach to "mourn" at the 150-year anniversary of the 1861 American invasion and military occupation of Port Royal on Hilton Head Island, SC. At the time this was the largest amphibious assault ever attempted by the American military but they so out numbered and out gunned the Confederates that the issue was never in doubt.

The flags of the victors and defeated Confederates were all flying in the wind, the cannons blasted and troops of Confederates and Yankee invaders marched around showing us how Washington invaded sovereign nation states without a declaration of war 150 years ago.

The hundreds in attendance stood and (except one person that I know of) pledged their allegiance to the flag and conquering empire. Freedom, God and military defense were mentioned a lot and I support all three but I saw little evidence today that the views of our founding fathers or my Confederate forefathers were much in evidence.

The bravery of both sides was appropriately celebrated but I wondered why there was no mention of what really happened back in 1861. Citizens of the southern states were willing to democratically vote for secession and then fight and die against a military invasion and fight for the original republic against a wealthy banking and manufacturing elite that took over our nation.

With the election of Lincoln and following the defeat of the Confederacy in 1865 these interests with the political power of the southern states destroyed and under military occupation laid the foundations for both the creation of the Federal Reserve and federal income tax, thus changing America forever for the worse.

Today Tea Party Americans on the right, libertarians, constitutionalists and even some Occupy Wall Street people on the left all understand something is seriously wrong with our nation. But I see little sign of any leadership or a movement other than Ron Paul willing to pledge everything to stand up against Washington today.

One day there will be a new day in the USA. But for now the mob continues to vote, the bankers still rule and the sheep remain docile and asleep but for how long? It is time to wake up America!

Ron Holland [send him mail] is a contributor to the Mountain Vision Newsletter and Chairman of the Advisory Board of the Foundation for the Advancement of Free-Market Thinking (FAFMT) in Vaduz, Liechtenstein.

The Best of Ron Holland

At the end of this article is a copy of the proposed state sovereignty amendment that Ron and Donnie Kennedy are promoting as the final solution to Federal abuse.  They believe that anything less will only continue the course of Federal supremacy and the ultimate destruction of real American liberty. I sadly agree with them.

Just following Congress, the 2012 presidential campaign and the inability of citizens to influence government policy makes it clear to every American how broken the US political system has become. A few powerful interests run the entire show and the American people are being forced down a dark road to economic destruction. History shows us that Washington is immune to conventional national political action under the present system. Therefore what can freedom loving Americans do?

• We can't change Washington because Congress is owned and controlled by special interests.
• Neither can we take over the establishment control of either political party as the media elites can break, sideline or ignore any candidate that threatens the elite interests.
• Third party efforts at the national level are doomed to failure and an ineffective tool for promoting freedom principles when compared to the successful Ron Paul campaign effort inside the GOP.
• Finally education although important is not a fast enough solution to save our nation when more than 50% of the electorate lives off the looting of taxpayers through government benefits or make work jobs.

So do freedom advocates just give up or wait for the eventual collapse of the economy and the US political system? While this is a prevalent view in freedom circles, hyperinflation and economic collapse even if you are invested to financially benefit from this outcome is certainly not a recipe for restoring limited government and liberty to our country. Fascism and wealth confiscation are the probable result, just look at what followed the failed German Weimar Republic in the 1930's.

There is only one effective, democratic and peaceful tool left for Americans to defend their liberties and restore the original republic of our founding fathers. It is the right of state sovereignty and nullification so effectively explained by Tom Woods in his book Nullification: How To Resist Federal Tyranny in the 21st Century.

Many other freedom advocates have proposed nullification and state sovereignty including the Kennedy Brothers who have developed a State Sovereignty Amendment strategy that should be launched in all 50 states. Although the elites ruling our nation have total control over the federal government and the two-party system nationally they have neglected to extend this top down control to the state level. This is because over the last 50 years states have become mere powerless appendages of Washington without influence and this is an opportunity for the Freedom movement.

Americans can continue feeling important and wasting time, money and efforts on establishment candidates for congress and presidential campaigns claiming to represent our free-market views but we are just playing a rigged game to keep real productive Americans busy at doing nothing that matters or threatens those in charge.

A decentralized national movement focused state-by-state at the legislature level is the only game left for us to play. When a state or states vote to nullify a Congressional bank bailout, the sovereign debt of Washington or the Fed's dollar policy this will attract media attention especially uncontrolled foreign and the alternative freedom media. Media coverage attracts investor and market attention and as we see today in the European sovereign debt crisis originally born on Wall Street with Goldman Sachs, markets move politicians and governments.

This is our last and final solution available to restore freedom and limited government to these United States. Following the 2012 elections regardless of whether Romney or Obama win or which corrupt political party controls congress, this is the only real game left in town that matters.

What do you think?

After reviewing the sample sovereignty amendment below, you can reach Ron and Donnie Kennedy on their website but remember a return to state sovereignty and nullification is our last chance.

Feel free to improve on the proposed amendment and make it more appropriate for the unique needs and situation of your state, but do something now before it is too late!

THE STATE SOVEREIGNTY AMENDMENT (Sample)

These United States of America are a Republic of Republics deriving its authority from the consent of the governed residing within their Sovereign State. Each Sovereign State is the agent of the people thereof. The federal government formed by the compact of the United States Constitution is the agent of the Sovereign States. Federal authority shall be supreme in all areas specifically delegated to it by the Constitution. All acts or legislation enacted pursuant to the Constitution shall be the supreme law of the land. The Sovereign State reserves an equal right to judge for itself as to the constitutionality of any act of the federal government.

Section I. The Sovereign State specifically reserves the right to interpose its sovereign authority between acts of the federal government and the liberties, property, and interests of the citizens of the state, thereby nullifying federal acts judged by the state to be an unwarranted infringement upon the reserved rights of the state and the people thereof.

1. State nullification of a federal act must be approved by a convention of the state.
2. Upon passage of an act of nullification, all federal authority for the enumerated and nullified act(s) shall be suspended.
3. Upon formal acceptance of nullification by three-fourths of the conventions of the states, including the original nullifying state, the enumerated federal act(s) shall be prohibited in the United States of America or its territories.
4. Upon formal rejection of nullification by three-fourths of the conventions of the states, the enumerated federal act(s) shall be presumed to be constitutional, notwithstanding any judgment of any federal or state court.
5. Until or unless there is a formal approval or rejection by the conventions of the states, the nullified federal act(s) shall remain non-operative as to the original and any additional nullifying states. A state that in its convention ratifies a particular act of nullification shall be construed to have nullified the same act as enumerated in the initiating state's nullification.
6. No federal elected official, agent, or any individual working within or associated with any branch of the federal government may harass or attempt to harass, intimidate, or threaten a Sovereign State or the people thereof for exercising their rights under this amendment. No federal elected official, agent, or any individual working within or associated with any branch of the federal government shall attempt to influence or use their office to attempt to influence the deliberations of the people regarding the nullification of a federal act(s) or the acceptance or rejection of a nullified federal act(s).
7. Any United States military officer, noncommissioned officer or federal official or agent who carries out or attempts to carry out any order by a federal official, officer or agent to deny or hinder the people of a Sovereign State from exercising their rights under this amendment shall be subject to the offended state's laws and may be tried accordingly. Jurisdiction in such cases is specifically denied to all federal courts, military courts, or any other court other than the courts of the offended state.

Section II. The government and people of these United States approve the principle that any people have a right to abolish the existing government and form a new one that suits them better. This principle illustrates the American idea that government rests on the consent of the governed and that it is the right of a people to alter or abolish it at will whenever it becomes destructive of the ends for which it was established. Therefore, the right of a Sovereign State to secede peacefully from the union voluntarily created by the compact of the Constitution is hereby specifically reserved to each state.

1. An act of secession shall be executed by a convention of the people of the state.
2. The seceded state shall appoint representatives to negotiate settlement of all debts owed the federal government, the purchase of federal properties within the Sovereign State, and the removal of federal military installations and personnel.
3. Upon acceptable arrangement for the payment of sums owed the federal government, the representatives may negotiate treaties of friendship, common defense, and commercial relations. Said treaties are subject to the same constitutional ratification as other treaties.
4. Readmission of a seceded state shall follow the same constitutional requirements as for any new state.
5. No federal elected official, agent, or any individual working within or associated with any branch of the federal government shall attempt to influence the people of the Sovereign State regarding their decision to secede from, remain with, or join this union.
6. Any United States military officer, noncommissioned officer, or federal official or agent who carries out or attempts to carry out any order by a federal official, officer, or agent to deny or hinder the people of a Sovereign State from exercising their rights under this amendment shall be subject to the offended state's laws and may be tried accordingly. Jurisdiction in such cases is specifically denied to all federal courts, military courts, or any other court other than the courts of the offended state.
7. The inalienable right of the people of each Sovereign State to govern themselves is a right that existed before this formation of the federal government, and therefore nothing in this amendment shall be interpreted in such a manner as to deem the federal government to be the donor of the rights enumerated herein.

Reprinted with permission from The Daily Bell.

Ron Holland [send him mail] is a contributing editor to the Swiss Mountain Vision Newsletter and Chairman of the Advisory Board of the Foundation for the Advancement of Free-Market Thinking (FAFMT) in Vaduz, Liechtenstein.

The Best of Ron Holland

"How much pain have cost us the evils that have never happened." ~ Thomas Jefferson

Worrying about the many economic threats in the news today really is a waste of time. So many people come up to me depressed, concerned and frozen into a total inaction and paralysis about domestic politics, foreign affairs, the dollar and the debt saying what are we going to do?

My answer is to quit worrying, take sound preparations and then get on with your life. Every generation and nation have had their trials and tribulations, success and failures and although today looks eerily like the 1930's, this too will pass.

Although I've been retired from individual consulting for some time (still work with corporate clients) I receive a large number of inquiries from readers and former clients as well as current conferences attendees and they all ask what is going to happen? Will the dollar and US sovereign debt crash, what about the European Union and their problems, gold, oil and the scary situation in the Middle East?

They never ask whether congress or the US political system will get their act together "they know the answer" and except for the Ron Paul campaign everyone has basically given up on government solutions to the threats facing us today. The real underlying question from everyone is simply "Is everything going to be all right?"

A simple answer is despite positive assurances from Wall Street, Washington and the EU or the negative forecasts from doomsday prophets, no one really knows. While all the experts have opinions, as this is what experts are paid to do, the western world is dealing with such a complex series of problems now all at once, we really are in uncharted territory.

First of all, I really don't know what will likely happen over the next 12 months and neither does anyone else. Most investors and advisors have made good money betting against the dollar buying gold, mining stocks, oil futures and investing outside the dollar over the last few years. Although I really like gold stored outside the US in programs like Global Gold I urge investors to be careful in the short term adding dramatically to these positions right now. The serious EU sovereign debt crisis could in the near term strengthen the dollar because US bonds are still perceived by many as a safe haven reserve if the euro really tumbles.

As a contrarian I believe if the PIIGS return to their national currencies, this could actually benefit both them and those northern European nations remaining in the euro. While a win/win situation for individual nations this would be catastrophic for the banking elites and they seldom lose and why I believe the banks and EU politicians will do their best to keep every nation in the EU. This would create the worst possible outcome for the sovereign debt crisis.

But just because some advisor was right about the fall in the dollar or rise in gold or oil doesn't mean they will be right the next time. In fact, back when I was in the investment business I often discovered that the worst decisions were to pick investment groups, advisors or funds that had done the best the previous year and the best choice was to pick the worst performers.

My advice is to legally diversify much of your wealth outside your home country, currency and the political leeches running everything and then live your life. It is apparent in Greece, Italy, Germany, and America as well as throughout the West that individual citizens have lost control of their governments and establishment politicians.

If you want to know what will happen in the US, just watch the mega-bank bailouts in Europe and the forced austerity measures on the already bankrupt PIIGS and their citizens, this is our future. Forget what the politicians promise, the financial experts say or the establishment news propaganda as the tide of wealth confiscation will also sweep the United States. The Federal Reserve and central bank cartels have created too much fiat money and the politicians have borrowed too much sovereign debt to buy votes and they will steal your wealth to prop up the governments, banking elites and political establish.

But Every Thing Is Gonna Be All Right

Yes both Europe and America are facing some hard times but it is time to quit worrying and take action if you haven't diversified your portfolio and wealth in true safe haven jurisdictions. If you've already done this properly and I believe most of you have then hold to your current strategies and get on with your life. Living is far more than fake politics, stock markets, gold and worrying about movements in your portfolio. If you have prepared properly for what is coming, then relax, watch world affairs but don't despair. Listen to a little Bob Marley and know that every thing is gonna be all right.

I really like Bob Marley and his song, Three Little Birds, "Don’t worry about a thing, Cause every little thing gonna be all right.

Now our politicians, the Federal Reserve, EU experts and the financial media have been telling Americans to spend and not to worry that everything is in fact going to be all right since 2006. To date they do have a 100% track record of being wrong on every pronouncement so far but eventually they'll get something right because even a dead clock is right about the time twice a day.

The American economy even after multiple trillions of "pump priming" and new debt on future generations is still limping along at a fabricated growth rate of around 1% annually. If they are going to lie, Washington should at least "man up" enough to falsify the numbers far more to really make the economy look good to the idiots around because intelligent Americans never believe government statistics and propaganda anyway. Everyone knows the financial establishment is in business to defend and protect Wall Street and the banks so everything from them is suspect. Frankly, the only reason there is some negative factual information on CNBC and Fox Business is because people can read alternative opinions and views on alternative media on the internet.

Yes, the doomsday promoters are daily ranting about economic and dollar Armageddon and how you must act today to avoid the total loss of your wealth and liberties. While the establishment propaganda provides a relentless contrary opinion suggesting now is the stock and bond market buying opportunity of a lifetime. As an investor should you follow the latter-day "The End Is Nigh" crowd or the "Happy Days Are Here Again" refrain?

Here Is What I'm Watching Very Closely Right Now

• Will the Super Committee Failure Cause Another US Debt Downgrade?

  They were supposed to come up with $1 trillion plus in cuts for the US budget. Actually the cuts would have been faked anyway as they were cutting planned budget increases not actual cuts but they can't even accomplish this. My concern is rating agencies may again reduce the debt safety rating of the Washington sovereign debt and this could dramatically cut stock market values and in the long run raise US interest rates and borrowing costs. On the bright side, no one really expected them to act and this will result in automatic cuts over the next 9 years but this will not begin until after the election in 2013. Basically nothing will happen in reducing the budget and our debt will be continually downgraded.
• Will Israel Attack Iranian Nuclear Sites & Create $200 Oil & Economic Crash?

What are the chances of a new Middle East war, oil disruption and prices rise to $200 a barrel causing another world economic crash? Today Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said "The time has come to deal with Iran" and he refused to rule out military action against Iran.

• Is Egypt's Second Revolution Beginning Now?

  Over the weekend, anti government protests began to increase in scope and intensity. While the protesters rightly fear the army will not allow a civilian government to have real power as much of the army leadership are just holdovers from the Mubarak regime, this could provide a real opening for radical groups. The people of Egypt certainly deserve better than what they have but this could really destabilize the region especially if Israel attacks Iran.

• Tear Gas Politics

  Much of Europe, the Middle East and even in America, citizens are getting more radicalized on the right and left due to the collapsing economy and deep recession created by the monetary elites, politicians and central banking cartel. The EU and coming American austerity measures and government wealth confiscation actions could cause the people to rebel against existing political institutions and structure.

  The people are angry as they should be but look at the consequences of a similar period in the 1930's. All governments will crack down on demonstrations and rebellions against those in power and government institutions that failed the people. Police especially in Egypt and the US appear to be over reacting. This is not good because when the people grow to oppose law enforcement even when justified, law and order can break down.

• European Debt Contagion Is Infecting Even the Strong Nations of Europe

Now we see a growing number of European banks dramatically increasing their rate of de-leveraging and interest rates even in France and Belgium are starting to rise. If the firewall around the sovereign debt of Italy fails then the entire continent will likely be thrown into a prolonged recession and debt crisis as rising interest rates and falling bond prices jump the Atlantic to the final western redoubt of stable government bonds, the United States. This is what everyone fears most, no place of safety in the West.

• The Aftermath of the MF Global Collapse

  I have many friends and business associates that utilized the services of MF Global for commodity hedging and investing. This was the largest commodity broker in America before their collapse and investors have been unable to even get an accounting much less any of their money out of the firm so far.

  Many are asking if I can't put my money here and it be safe due to the supposed regulatory oversight of the US, then where will it be safe? Second some very respected financial journalists are beginning to seriously question if this bankruptcy was a deliberate attack against those making money speculating against the dollar and favoring gold? I don't know but read this essay today on LRC, "MFG Global: Was It A Hit?" and decide for yourself.

As we approach this Thanksgiving holiday in the United States I am going to give thanks for being born in America and redouble my efforts to restore my nation to the position of respect, freedom and limited government for which it once led the world. Part of this means safeguarding my wealth from the many threats growing around the world today as my children aren't going to have the opportunity I had during my working career.

I'm also going to watch and continue to write about the threats, opportunities and solutions as I see them but I refuse to allow the difficult times we face today to get me down. Like many of you, I've structured an appropriate amount of my investments outside the dollar and the US financial system. I believe that the important gifts of life including family, faith and personal liberty will continue regardless of how destructive our adversaries are and what they have done to the world economy.

I will remain watchful and vigilant and continue to defend my liberties from those out to destroy everything I hold dear. But I've prepared as you have and believe "Every Thing Is Gonna Be All Right" because I've prepared instead wasting my time worrying about the future. On this at least I agree 100% with Bob Marley and this is my message to you.

"Three Little Birds"

“Don’t worry about a thing, ‘Cause every little thing gonna be all right. Singin’: “Don’t worry about a thing, ‘Cause every little thing gonna be all right!” Rise up this mornin’, Smiled with the risin’ sun, Three little birds Pitch by my doorstep Singin’ sweet songs Of melodies pure and true, Sayin’, (“This is my message to you-ou-ou:”) Singin’: “Don’t worry ’bout a thing, ‘Cause every little thing gonna be all right.” Singin’: “Don’t worry (don’t worry) ’bout a thing, ‘Cause every little thing gonna be all right!”

"Consider that the entire Western world is outraged that the Greek prime minister announced that he is going to permit the Greek people to decide their own fate instead of having it decided for them by a handful of banksters, politicians, and bureaucrats".

~ Paul Craig Roberts

Roberts is right, the monetary and political elites only like democracy when they know they can game the system and control the outcome of the election. German Chancellor Merkel, should support giving the Greek people the right to vote on the imposition of crippling austerity measures. In fact, given the EU problems today, every member nation should have a referendum on whether to stay or leave the EU since most countries never allowed their citizens to vote yea or nay on joining in the first place. My question is what kind of union is against democracy and voters having their say on important issues or where politicians bypass voters and suddenly announce new leaders without elections?

Even Reich Chancellor Hitler supported plebiscites and this is far more than we can say for Merkel or the European Union. We all know how earlier referendums on EU membership were curtailed when the elites discovered citizens in most countries would intelligently vote to oppose joining the European Union. This is why the British people have been prohibited from voting on EU membership. The banking and political elites demand each nation march to the tune of the International Monetary Fund, the European Central Bank and Berlin regardless of what is in the best interest of individual EU nations.

Bypassing the Voters Yet Again

Now the Greek and Italian prime ministers have been replaced by an EU coup d'etat with suitable EU candidates approved by Germany and the banks to make sure there is no question that the over taxed citizens of these nations as well as the other PIGGS will surely be taken to the EU slaughter house and gutted without delay. The Greek parliament appointed Lucas Papademos (former European Central Bank VP) and the Italians appointed (former European Commissioner) Mario Monti to replace Silvio Berlusconi. Mario is an advisor to Goldman Sachs which helped create the worldwide sovereign debt crisis and he is a leading member of the Bilderberg Group and the Trilateral Commission. Therefore we know where the loyalties of this EU Quisling puppet are and they certainly aren't with the people of Italy.

EU style democracy requires that national leaders should always be loyal first to the European Union and the banks invested in government debt rather than to the citizens of the former sovereign nations. They must agree to continue to borrow more so the new sovereign debt loans can be used to pay interest to the banking oligarchs. Only a miniscule amount of the new borrowing is for the nation or the future generations that will be impoverished by the debt load. Finally, a necessary amount of graft is built in for the leading political interests and the rest is earmarked for payment back to the foreign banks so they will receive their interest payments.

Saving the Union & the Banks What Ever the Cost

"As currently constituted, a single currency may serve the One Europe designs of France and Germany, but make Greece and the other Mediterranean states nothing more than the victims of a northern conquest." — Peter Morici, professor at the Smith School of Business, University of Maryland

This all happened before in the United States 150 years ago. I wonder if Merkel's goal is to become the Abraham Lincoln of the European Union. After all if she "saves the union" then the loss of individual state sovereignty, the destruction and theft of private wealth and decades of resulting poverty and tax revenues used to bailout the leading European banks can all be covered up by news media and historians supported by the EU.

Formerly sovereign states in the United States wanted out of the American union and they voted to withdraw. Washington's response was an invasion and the Confederate States were totally destroyed and in the process over 600,000 Americans were slaughtered in the war. It took over a century for the southern states to recover economically from the war and reconstruction aftermath. Of course, all of this was hidden and covered up following the war because the Union won. This is the intent of Merkel and the EU to survive at any cost.

Any rational observer can see how the supposed national bailouts are actually banking bailouts funded by both the northern European taxpayers and those in the south who will be impoverished and economically crippled by the EU enforced austerity measures. When current political leaders in the PIIGS countries are unable or unwilling to sellout their nations in exchange for more loans to benefit the German and French banks, they are replaced by new politicians who will follow orders. This is quite an easy process because the EU proponents have already used graft, blackmail and funding to buy the parliaments earlier to force the nations into the EU against the wishes of the citizens.

The Warnings of Economic Chaos Are Correct

Well of course the bankers and eurocrats warn of chaos but this will happen whether the countries remain inside the EU or escape. But the chaos will be far worse for the banks that bribed corrupt politicians and voting blocks in the individual nations of Europe to accept the EU, if the major guilty banks fail.

How could there not be chaos when nations following the Goldman Sachs model at the urging of the banks borrowed money they could never pay back and then the banks leveraged this sovereign debt 26 to 1. Note bank average leverage is 9 to 1 and this can only works in the best of times. In other words, just a 5% fall in asset prices can destroy the entire equity position of a bank. Sovereign debt values will likely fall many multiples of 5% so you can see what is down the road.

EU Nations Should Leave Sooner Rather Than Later

The only question is should the countries face chaos now before the individual nations and citizens are impoverished by the EU or later when the nations are destitute. Over indebted EU nations like Greece, Italy, Spain, Portugal and Ireland should repudiate their national debts, leave the EU and return to their own sovereign currencies with a haircut in value now so their economics can grow and export again. The alternative is to wait too long like Greece probably has after EU enforced austerity; confiscatory tax levels and loss of national sovereignty have destroyed the country.

I believe the individual EU nations and their economies would do far better to return to national sovereignty and currencies under a political leadership at least somewhat loyal to the citizens and nation. Continuing with the false premise that a distant all-powerful cabal of European Union, central bankers and monetary elites buying off domestic politicians that have destroyed the economy can somehow solve the problems they created in the first place is the wrong solution.

Europe suffered tens of millions killed during two world wars and massive destruction and dislocation twice because of a few wealthy families and banking elites. It is time for both Europe and America to learn from our past mistakes.

If your parents and grandparents enjoyed the Great Depression, the rise of fascism, the two world wars and the cold war where all of Eastern Europe was under the boots of Soviet occupation then follow the establishment false hope and promises of a stronger more centralized EU. I fear our new 21st century with sovereign debt and currency collapse along with endless wars will become a carbon copy of the 20th century.

Leave the EU Casino Now

Quote of the Day: Joseph Sobran on Democracy

The banks will be bailed out and the EU will survive regardless of the cost as long as there are citizens to rob and wealth to confiscate to support the banks. The casino is rigged and taxpayers will lose. So get ready for what could be the biggest bank run and sovereign debt collapse in world history. It will begin in Greece, Italy and Spain but the panic will quickly run through most of Europe ending where the banking scam all began on Wall Street and inside the boardrooms of Goldman Sachs. Remember both the leaders of the European and American Unions and the banking elites consider themselves a cut above the rest of us. They will not protect us but rather loot our remaining wealth and liberties so they can survive the economic crisis they created.

Reprinted with permission from The Daily Bell.

Ron Holland [send him mail] is a contributing editor to the Swiss Mountain Vision Newsletter and Chairman of the Advisory Board of the Foundation for the Advancement of Free-Market Thinking (FAFMT) in Vaduz, Liechtenstein.

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"America is more communist than China is right now." ~ Jim Rogers

The approval ratings for both the US House and Senate are currently in dramatic free-fall. A September 2011 Gallup Poll warns that 81% of Americans are dissatisfied with how the United States is being governed.

Other findings include a near record criticism of Congress, elected officials, government handling of domestic problems, government power and waste of tax dollars. The most important finding is 49% of Americans now believe the federal government has become so powerful that it threatens the rights and freedoms of American citizens.

Failing governments throughout history have used wars as an excuse to rally citizen support for the political establishment to win elections or hold off revolutions. But with America currently involved in numerous military conflicts with falling popular support and no victories in sight, the Democrats and Republicans have decided on a contrived trade war instead.

In preparation for the 2012 elections both Democratic Senator Harry Reid and Mitt Romney, the perceived leading candidate for the GOP presidential nomination, are engaging in rampant demagoguery and brinkmanship for political gain. Still, we find it difficult to believe both parties are so desperate that they would initiate a trade war against China, America’s banker that owns over one trillion of Washington treasury debt.

Reid seeks to punish China for their alleged currency manipulation, while Romney promises if elected president he will immediately issue a Presidential Executive Order to sanction China for its trade practices and currency manipulation. Yes, this may well be just more political propaganda as usual but will China see it this way?

The Real Currency Manipulator Is the USA Not China

Mitt Romney and both political parties have continually charged China with the evil activity of "currency manipulation" and keeping their currency artificially low compared to the dollar. This charge is based on the fact that China exports more to the US than the US exports to China.

Actually, Chinese exports to America are about four times as much as we import from them and therefore we run a major trade deficit with China. But no one mentions how China takes much of the extra dollars and then buys US Treasury securities (US sovereign debt) thus allowing American politicians to continue to expand our national debt and buy votes with more giveaway programs.

While our politicians claim China keeps its currency pegged to the dollar at an artificially low rate to increase their exports, this is not the real issue. The political and media elites conveniently forget to discuss how the collapsing dollar actually allows China to also increase exports to other nations as their currency falls with the US dollar. The long dollar downtrend has made Chinese exports to most other nations even lower in price.

China is simply following the policies of most major exporting nations and attempting to encourage industrial growth and exports by managing their currency differential with major trading partners. Every country does this.

Washington is the real currency manipulator, harming both the United States and the rest of the world by its policy of dollar depreciation and destruction. Their long-term goal is to destroy the dollar so America can pay back pennies on the dollar for our $14 trillion dollar national debt. These actions will impoverish the US and destroy trillions in foreign reserves and private wealth investment in US Treasury securities. Thus the real currency crime here is the US policy of currency manipulation and destruction rather than the Chinese monetary policy.

Senator Harry Reid and the Senate Democrats, big labor and a few establishment Republicans are about to hand the Chinese a wonderful PR victory over the United States. The China response is likely to be a public rebuke, which will be a dramatic defeat for the US further indicating how weak the US is economically and financially because of our growing sovereign or national debt.

In any case, I hope neither Romney nor any other US President are actually dumb enough to sanction China for their currency policy or start a tariff war with massive new import duties on Chinese goods. The simple response by China only needs to be a public declaration that they will refrain from buying more depreciating, dollar denominated Treasury securities or will delay rolling over existing debt at maturity and the US threat will immediately end, as the impact on Treasuries and interest rates would be catastrophic. This action would cause a worldwide run and panic with US Treasuries. No one knows where this could end.

The entire world knows that the "American emperor has no clothes" where the dollar or the debt is concerned, thus threats to China on currency valuations or tariffs are only more election-year propaganda for the uninformed voting public and union voters. But the threat to the US is real should China respond.

For Americans, the real currency crimes and criminals against the United States can be found closer to home, in the US Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve. Again quoting Mitt Romney, "The real problem is China’s refusal, largely for political reasons, to liberalize its financial system and allow the free flow of capital. In particular, China and other countries sterilize inflows of dollars from abroad to prevent prices from rising as the country’s productivity increases. This is the practice that has led to the accumulation of more than $3.2 trillion in foreign reserves by the central bank."

I have only one question for Romney if he becomes president. Are you willing to destroy the US Treasury market and the dollar and threaten the entire world economy by forcing the Chinese central bank to reconsider actions with the 1 trillion dollars in US debt and possibly create a run on sovereign debt around the world? I think this would be a high price for the world to pay for election-year demagoguery and why I prefer Ron Paul, who understands markets and economics.

Remember, the Chinese central bank, unlike the Federal Reserve and the rest of the controlled central banking cartel, appears to work in the best interest of China and it’s economy. Looking around at the Federal Reserve in the US and the European Central Bank (ECB), this is certainly not the case in most other nations.

When I hear Harry Reid talking tough for the American labor union vote, I think of the 1971 Clint Eastwood Dirty Harry movie when he said, "Go ahead. Make my day." Well, "Dirty Harry Reid," go ahead if you dare and make China’s day with such a stupid move but the loser will be the Washington political establishment and our Treasury bond market.

I’m sure following a China response the present congressional 19% approval rate will be the good old days. You will have totally destroyed American confidence in the political establishment and the sovereign debt few Americans ever wanted in the first place.

So Romney and Reid, go ahead start a trade war if you dare for political gain. This might become the incident that will galvanize public support and just maybe the American people will again decide they’ve finally had enough. Remember, this happened once before over a tiny little tax on tea.

So go ahead, Mitt and Harry – make my day!

Reprinted with permission from The Daily Bell.

Ron Holland [send him mail] is a contributing editor to the Swiss Mountain Vision Newsletter and Chairman of the Advisory Board of the Foundation for the Advancement of Free-Market Thinking (FAFMT) in Vaduz, Liechtenstein.

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Reporting from Greece – There is an eerie disconnect involved with analyzing the frightening financial and economic consequences of the ongoing 2011 Sovereign Debt and Equity Market Crash while sailing around the Greek Islands. But taking a look at Greek history clearly shows some parallels and solutions to what the nations of the West are facing today. For the last couple of days we’ve been in Spetses, the first Greek island to have raised the flag of insurrection and secession from an already crumbling Ottoman Empire on April 3, 1821.

Some economists and political experts believe the only way out of the deepening recession is for Greece to now withdraw from another empire, the European Union, and to repudiate the EU and sovereign debts, primarily to German banks. This would require the restoration of the independent Greek currency, the Drachma, and would likely create another short-term drop in the Greek economy as was previously created by the earlier EU austerity demands.

Looking back, Greece was one of the first European nations in the faltering Ottoman Empire to withdraw from the failing, bureaucratic and bankrupt regime. Although independence was a long and difficult process, this action served Greece well then, just as pulling out of the EU now could create a new long-term positive economic environment for the nation.

Although the German-led and majority German-financed EU is a relatively new political entity or economic union of nations, this dream of powerful German leaders from Bismarck to Hitler is now a reality. However, it was mistakenly modeled within the EU on the now failing US system of debt democracy and is now sinking like the earlier Ottoman Empire. I respectfully suggest Greece should follow their earlier historical parallel with Ottoman rule and seek to get out of the EU sooner rather than later.

The costs of remaining inside the European Union and paying crushing debts owed to German banks is too great when the option of restored national independence and a Greek currency together with limited taxes and free markets tailored to Greek needs is an alternative solution, one that worked before and can work again for the country. Why totally impoverish a nation to support a few banking elites with the euro and sovereign debts when debt repudiation now is the answer?

Yes, establishment experts have argued, in defense of the euro and the EU, that Greece has an economy based only on tourism, with very limited industrial and agricultural assets; therefore the nation has no way to support an independent Greek currency.

I agree with the establishment defenders that the Greek economy is based primarily on tourism and most tourism is island centered. Certain EU economists have also suggested that Greece should sell selected islands, which are the only valuable assets really available to be mortgaged or sold, to guarantee their unpayable sovereign debts to the banks. Rather than ceding this national territory to the German banks to be sold with big profits going to the banks, however, I suggest a course of action to benefit Greece rather than the EU and banking elites.

Greece needs to repudiate the existing sovereign debts and develop a new currency, should it withdraw from the EU. I suggest many of the Greek islands could be leased or pledged to back a new Greek drachma rather than given to the banks to postpone the day of reckoning on the sovereign debt. The banks could go under without the wealth of Greece or ownership of island assets but giving these profits to them would guarantee Greek poverty; using the islands to back a new currency could restore Greek prosperity, jobs and economic growth.

Historical Parallels of a European Union

The goal of European union under Germany has had a long and conflict laden history. Many wars, starting with the French and German late 19th century conflicts and the arms race leading up to the First World War, were instigated by powerful banking dynasties and their favored arms industries for financing and war industry profits. There was little regard as to the severity of any conflicts or the question of winners and losers.

But for the British and French politicians their war goals were somewhat different and designed to ultimately prevent the German economic domination of Europe. They were willing to use even military means if necessary to achieve their political and economic goals.

These wars, shifting alliances and brinkmanship diplomacy continued back and forth until the Second World War. Here, Hitler used military actions similar to the British and French attempting to undo the harsh results of World War One and the infamous Treaty of Versailles. Thankfully, his short-term military success was followed ultimately by defeat.

Now, once again, Germany the economic powerhouse of Europe is attempting to build a European union and succeeding this time using economic and political rather than military means. Few talk about it but the European Union today is predominantly controlled from Berlin and financed by Germany but lead by a Brussels bureaucracy fronting for the German banks.

The EU was established with the full support of London and Washington to serve first as an economic power but with the eventual goal of an all-powerful political union and full ally of Anglo-American interests in Europe. This earlier dream of German leaders now endorsed by Washington and London was mistakenly modeled after the powerful American union born out of Washington’s victory in the American Civil War. Therefore, it deliberately does not have a mechanism for nation withdrawal.

Consequently, both flawed unions seek to maintain monopoly control over formerly sovereign nations in Europe and sovereign states in the US by powerful special interests that often conflict with the will and best interests of member countries and their citizens.

The real problem for Greece and other EU captive nations is that Wall Street, the Federal Reserve and the Bank of England developed a sovereign debt model to fund the EU takeover of independent nations. They supported using political bribes and unsustainable benefits designed to build an EU base of voter support inside each new controlled nation.

This was combined with central bank created fiat currencies to allow future hyperinflation to inflate away these unsustainable debt loads once permanent control was achieved. Of course, no mechanism for national withdrawal was planned to prohibit competition or an easy way out for either nations or peoples. While a voluntary confederation modeled on the Swiss confederation or Canada and even an economic trade agreement might have worked for the benefit of all, the created EU monster only benefits powerful politicians and banking elites.

But now the sovereign debt crisis is here and the German banking system as well as related London and Wall Street banks can only survive if the status quo is maintained. Individual and national wealth in member countries must be drained off and stolen to pay the sovereign debts and keep the EU monetary and banking elites in business.

The Establishment View

I enjoyed an “off-the-record” private dinner several days ago with an ambassador representing one of Greece’s closest allies. His experienced view on the Greek situation today probably parallels the opinion of most governments and the EU establishment, something to the effect that the Greek political leadership will continue to protest but eventually agree to all EU austerity, privatization demands and new revenue generating tax efforts necessary to get more EU money and better terms on Greek debt. The primary debt holders are German and some French banks and they will continue to pretend to accept the Greek promises and guarantees because to question the situation or to make more demands on the hundreds of billions in sovereign debt would likely turn into first a German, then European and finally a global banking crisis.

While the game of “European economic chicken” continues, both sides believe the real outcome will be the usual scenario – “nothing will change with Greece.” All parties to the negotiations understand that Greek politicians have no plans to live up to their agreements and neither do the German banks or EU have any intention to make them do so because they fear the resulting banking crisis. Maintaining the status quo is the best outcome possible until the sovereign debt crisis passes.

A Free-Market Alternative to Continued EU Domination

Greece and other EU members should accept the fact that top-down rule from unelected Brussels bureaucrats and related sovereign debt financing has failed. Nations which continue to buy time through more debt deferment and increased taxes and austerity measures are only playing a rigged game for the banks. The debt PONZI scheme has played out in both America and the EU and only those nations getting out of the scheme early will have an opportunity to preserve their wealth and sovereignty.

First, national and state movements to repudiate the sovereign debts made by bought-off government leaders, congress and parliaments must be formed. There is no such thing as a free lunch unless you leave before the meal is over and the check is paid.

Second, Greece and other EU member nations should consider withdrawal from the European Union now before it is too late. These nations and ultimately even individual US states should democratically decide their future through referendums and polling.

Educational efforts are needed to show the economic advantages of sovereign debt repudiation now over more debt and ultimately government bankruptcy. Rather than postponing the day of reckoning for the banks and politicians that got us all into this mess, it is time to get out.

I hope one day soon, the people of Greece will begin a similar process to their actions of April 3, 1821 in Spetses. They will become a beacon to the world by showing how individual citizens can rectify the problems created by the politicians and banking elites. I believe the solution will never begin in a capital city, a parliament or in congress but rather by free people away from the seats of power and special interest control.

Greeks, Europeans and the citizens of “these united States,” now is the time to raise the flags of peaceful insurrection, debt repudiation and democratic withdrawal from a corrupt and broken system of debt financed democracy and supra-national dominance from Brussels, Berlin, London, Wall Street and Washington.

These political and banking elites have destroyed the economy and prosperity of the West. They have burdened our children and future generations with a debt load so great as to insure poverty and depression rather than our preferred birthright of prosperity and opportunity – all to enhance their power, control and wealth without regard to the consequences for the rest of us.

Freedom and free markets are the answer, not more top-down political, monetary rules and controls. It is time to restart the world economy through entrepreneurial actions and restore political power to productive citizens through democratic and localized government actions.

A working democracy was first born in Greece back in 508 BC. They began working for independence from the Ottoman Empire around 1821. As I get ready to leave the beautiful Greek islands, I hope these people will once again take the lead now in the 21st century and show the rest of us how to achieve freedom again in a very un-free and economically depressed world.

Reprinted with permission from The Daily Bell.

Ron Holland [send him mail] is a contributing editor to the Swiss Mountain Vision Newsletter and Chairman of the Advisory Board of the Foundation for the Advancement of Free-Market Thinking (FAFMT) in Vaduz, Liechtenstein.

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Washington claims the federal debt limit extension and the threat of default is postponed. This is just more political theatre as the Treasury debt downgrade will happen and eventually a bankrupt America will attempt to inflate the debt away and default. It is the same across the Atlantic where the sovereign debt crisis still stalks the politicians in the EU.

The political and economic reality of the sordid situation cannot be covered up by the establishment news hacks or by more lies or the blame game by either party. The Washington experiment of borrowing trillions to buy elections today to be paid for by future generations has failed in the US and across Europe.

America’s Ability To Service Our Sovereign Debt Is Ending

The real dollar and debt crisis is being obscured here in the US by the political theatre in Washington. Of course the debt limit increase was passed yesterday by a vote of 269-161 and now we can look forward to the first of many downgrades and any purported balanced budget amendment will not be worth the paper it is printed on.

All the false conventional media propaganda and Congressional actions were designed only to help the politicians and institutions responsible for the coming debt debacle avoid the blame. They are now attempting to transfer their responsibility to the only innocent Washington politicians, the Tea Party caucus. They will succeed and at the same time build the case for dramatic future revenue (tax increases).

The Dollar Death Throes Are Hidden From Most Americans

The fiat dollar is collapsing and as a writer and editor paid monthly in Swiss francs, looking at the last year of exchange rates will show the real situation not apparent to Americans living inside the Washington dollar iron curtain.

About 12 months ago, a thousand Swiss francs equaled about USD$870.00. Today, the same CHF 1,000 equals USD$1,270.00. This means the dollar has fallen nearly 46% compared to the rising value of the Swiss franc and conversely my monthly retainer has increased almost 50 percent in dollars per thousand of CHF. Unless you are being paid in dollars and reside outside the US or are paid in a foreign currency and live in America, the bloodbath in the dollar is not apparent in the near term – but it is real and ongoing.

Yes, to my knowledge, the Swiss franc is the best example of the performance of a major currency versus the United States dollar but many other currencies have done very well when compared to the dying dollar as well. Going back to 2001, CHF 1,000 equaled USD$550.00 so here you can see the short and long-term trend of the Swiss franc versus the dollar.

Debt Democracy Has Also Failed!

Today, on the democracy front, Greece, the historic birthplace of democracy around 508 BC and America – the witch’s caldron which spawned the failed debt-financed regulatory democracy experiment – are now competing to see whether it’ll be Athens’ or Washington’s politicians who will be more despised. I believe the US will win the race to the bottom only because Greek politicians have only subjected Greece and several wealthy EU countries like Germany to their wealth thievery, while the failed American example of democracy financed by sovereign debt is bankrupting the US and all of EU Europe.

My Bet & Ten Year Dollar Forecast

The goal of Washington and the FED is to create high inflation and eventually default during a future foreign policy or financial crisis so the blame for the dollar’s demise and debt problems can be transferred elsewhere. Although I doubt they can pull off this PONZI scheme, the only real solutions to the American debt crisis are either repudiation, which would benefit the people, or hyperinflation designed to benefit the bankers and political class.

Thanks to the fake debt deal, in the meantime the government will pass legislation and end deductions in order to increase government revenue. Americans will certainly lose beneficial capital gains treatment and any tax benefits on home profits. The coming hyperinflation will likely cause real estate values in depreciating dollars to go up. We could see housing prices rebound and maybe double back to 2007 pre-bubble levels, which will be touted by the political establishment as good economic news at last. The problem will be the inflated dollars will have lost substantial purchasing power.

You’ll be taxed at high rates on the false inflationary gains of your home, as the accompanying salary increases – due to inflation – will force you into the highest income tax levels with no deductions. The average American will finally realize how badly they will have been scammed when they decide to sell their real estate and – after paying taxes with inflated dollars – decide to purchase the least expensive new Kia or Corolla and the import car is priced at $120,000. This is an example of how countries subjected to hyperinflation are eventually priced out of buying most foreign imports from cars, electronics and beer to name just a few important products of interest to me.

The Fiat Dollar Problem Will Eventually Be Solved By Currency Competition

The profit opportunities for smart international investors from a dollar collapse will likely be enormous due to a paradigm shift in political, economic and monetary theory away from sovereign debt-financed democracy and fiat currency. The monetary elites will attempt to create a fake gold and commodity resource standard to back formerly fiat currencies in order to build "currency confidence" in the US and Europe.

Initially, this may well translate into gold and resource backed currencies and, after the fake elite money standard fails, maybe to the Austrian economc ideal of public and private currency competition. Gold and silver, as well as mining and natural resource equities in certain mineral and oil rich countries, will benefit from the fake gold and resource standard as well as the future ultimate solution of currency competition.

I will have more on this in a future report and in a new editorial on "The Failure of Greece." We live in an interesting time of transition from debt-democracy and fiat-currency. Take action to avoid the downside in dollars and benefit from rising gold and natural resource prices.

$50.00 Imported Beer?

In the meantime, I hope I’m wrong regarding my expectations for the dollar and debt democracy. But if I’m right, sometime over the next ten years, I’ll buy the first 10 of you who remind me of this editorial and my dollar forecast the foreign beer of your choice at my expense. After all, what is $50 per beer among friends?

Reprinted with permission from The Daily Bell.

Ron Holland [send him mail] is a contributing editor to the Swiss Mountain Vision Newsletter and Chairman of the Advisory Board of the Foundation for the Advancement of Free-Market Thinking (FAFMT) in Vaduz, Liechtenstein.

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A short story showing how powerful elite interests and central bankers could manipulate American foreign policy using a black flag event in order to guarantee the American dollar remains the world's reserve currency. This is of course just a work of fiction and hypothetical case study and the characters have no relation to actual people, government officials or events.

“Generals always prepare to fight the last war.” ~ a proverb

Part One — The following is a short case study about a potential war and financial crisis starting in the Middle East.

The White House Situation Room

The preparation for operation “Protect Arab Spring & Democracy”

The Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) called the meeting to order. "Mr. President, Vice President, selected members of the Cabinet, the Joint Chiefs and Senate and House Committee chairmen, it is a pleasure to be here today along with the Treasury Secretary and the Chairman of the Federal Reserve."

"Due to the sensitive nature of this information, everyone here is to treat the information we present today as top-secret in nature and any leaks will be dealt with by the harshest measures available including enhanced interrogation and even imprisonment in secure facilities ranging from Diego Garcia to Guantanamo. Any public knowledge of this meeting will present a clear and present danger to the government of the United States and will be treated accordingly. Is there anyone here that does not understand what I have just communicated? Then we will proceed.

Because of the heightened tensions with the Islamic Republic of Iran, our highest intelligence estimates indicate an immediate threat of Iranian sponsored terrorist attacks against oil pipelines, infrastructure, wells and drilling platforms, civilian oil workers as well as thousands of US military contractors within the next two weeks. It is the stated goal of the United States to protect and defend our allies in the Gulf region and their oil resources therefore we are now activating Operation "Protect Arab Spring & Democracy."

Note: Iran hasn’t actually invaded another nation for hundreds of years although their foreign policy today is very much about expanding their national influence and prestige as a regional power in the area.

To this end, a broad coalition of western nations will comply with official but private requests for allied troops to protect and defend the oil resources and infrastructure of the following nations: Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, the U.A.E. and Oman. In addition the rebel forces fighting Gaddafi as well as the governments of Tunisia, Algeria and Nigeria have requested French, German and Italian military defense forces to safeguard their oil regions and resources from terrorist threats.

The United Kingdom will safeguard Kuwait and their coastline while adjacent oil producing regions south to the Yemen border will be protected by American troops recently withdrawn from Afghanistan as well as additional units airlifted from Germany and the continental United States.

Note: Establishment history has somehow forgotten that the United Kingdom previously invaded and occupied both Kuwait and Iraq on June 22, 1941, on the same day that Germany invaded the Soviet Union.

In addition, due to a short-term shortage of American armor and ground troops, the Israel Defense Force (IDF) has been asked to temporarily protect a land supply route across southern Jordan south of the capital of Amman (permission has been granted by Jordan) to the Arab Gulf in Saudi Arabia to just north of the Bahrain causeway up to the Kuwait border which will be under their temporary defensive control. This will guarantee Israel oil and gas resources they have lost following the close of the Egyptian pipeline to Israel during 2011.

We expect a peaceful repositioning of troops to protect and defend the people of the Arabian Gulf region from the threat of Iranian terrorist attacks and outright invasion and nothing more. We are acting at the specific requests of the governments involved.

Please note that due to the sensitive nature of this action, official notification to Congress and the American people will be done as soon as the peaceful military repositioning has been completed. These actions have already been ordered by Presidential Decision Directive (PDD) and are like Presidential Executive Orders except these do not have to be published in the Federal Register and are not a matter of public record. This was required due to the urgency of the impending crisis and concern American national security.

This concludes the briefing so please remember everything you have heard here today is top-secret in nature. Please do not jeopardize yourselves, your government position or your families' security by any talk outside this room. Now the President, Vice President, Joint Chiefs, Treasury Secretary and Chairman of the Federal Reserve will remain for another meeting on an unrelated topic.

As the advisors and committee chairman left the situation room, the Treasury Secretary and Fed Chairman moved to the head of the long conference table as the CIA Director took a back seat.

The President spoke first, "Gentlemen we are now convening a meeting of the National Security Council (NSC) and I've invited the Joint Chiefs of each military branch to participate as they will be charged with carrying out the secret Presidential Decision Directive. I believe the people around this table will understand the gravity of the situation after we hear from the Chairman of the Federal Reserve and the Treasury Secretary. Mr. Treasury Secretary you may make your presentation and gentlemen feel free to ask questions at any time."

For the purposes of discussion, despite claims to the contrary, the room was filled with the usual handpicked power-elite, career climbing sycophants which make up the top echelons of power in Washington and in the military. Each had brown-nosed and back-stabbed their way to the top of their own bureaucracies and each had learned to survive and prosper in the world of Anglo-American elite politics, government and military service. Every individual had followed the path laid out by their sponsoring interests who had put them on the fast-track to career success.

That is all but one. Army Chief of Staff Thomas Jonathan Hudson was somehow different from all the rest at the table. After graduating from West Point, he had actually been promoted to this Army Chief of Staff position following a long and distinguished military career without playing the game of power elite politics. He had somehow arrived at the pinnacle of his army career because of his memory, leadership qualities and the fact that he always did his job and followed orders.

In addition, Thomas J. as his friends called him loved to read and study military history and he guessed his awakening started with his initial purchase of the Tom Wood's book The Politically Incorrect Guide To American History back in 2004. This transformed his reading into new areas of political history and economics about the Civil War and both world wars.

Later following the 2008 financial crash he delved even into finance and politics with Wood's Meltdown book and then Ron Paul's End the Fed. Although he didn't vote for Ron Paul in 2008 because he thought it improper to mix politics with military service, he had begun to get a thorough education in what had happened to the Constitution and his country he had sworn an allegiance to defend.

He privately attended several Mises Institute events and when at home logged on to read The Mises Blog, LewRockwell.com and The Daily Bell almost every day. He read Hayek and Ludwig von Mises including even Human Action.

Now at retirement age, Hudson was ready to leave the Army and had already typed his resignation letter when this Iran and oil crisis seemed to develop almost out of the blue. As always, the general was ready to serve his country again and do his best to protect our nation and national interests from the crazy Iranians. He remembered his oath:

I, (Thomas Jonathan Hudson), do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God.

And this is why we know what happened at this National Security Council meeting because Thomas Jefferson Hudson was a true patriot who loved his country and he just happened to be blessed with a photographic memory. If it was spoken or written down, he could recall the information.

The Secretary of the Treasury stood and made ready to begin his presentation. Thomas wondered why the Treasury Secretary was even at the NSC meeting much less presiding but he kept quiet out of respect for the office. At least the Treasury Department was constitutional and that was more than he could say for the Federal Reserve.

"Gentleman, our best intelligence estimates suggest the Iranian terrorists will hit major oil infrastructure targets across the Arabian Gulf exactly 2 weeks from today. Your job is to be pro-active and coordinate with the British, Israeli and of course our Army, Naval and Marine and Air assets to be positioned in the oil producing regions fully by that date. Our troops in Iraq will of course protect oil assets there as well as resist any Iranian army incursion should this happen. In addition, they will deal with any trouble from the Muqdata al-Sadr’s Mahdi Army in Iraq and the IDF will screen the Saudi Arabian border fronting Iraq.

Thomas J. spoke up, "Sir, I assume when you said the Arabian Gulf you meant the Persian Gulf as we all describe the region." The Treasury Secretary really hated to be interrupted, "General, we never refer to the gulf as the "Persian Gulf" as this waterway is vital to American interests and filled with our oil reserves." In the future you will always describe it correctly as the "Arabian Gulf." Using the wrong term could convey Persian or Iranian dominance or right to the waterway and natural resources and this would be a big career killing mistake for you, do you understand?” Thomas J. answered quietly, "Yes Sir" and looked down at his notes.

Another general asked, "So this is a simple repositioning of military forces and we do not expect resistance as these governments have officially asked for the protection?" The Secretary replied, "we will probably be met with flowers except in the Shia areas of Saudi Arabia and Bahrain but resistance will be limited as the governments are all our official allies.”

Again, Thomas asked a question to the Secretary. "Sir, isn't most of the oil region of Saudi Arabia in Shiite areas which are a minority controlled by the Sunni majority? Shouldn't we be prepared for combat and what about all these color or Arab Spring revolutions now threatening these oil producing nations? I've even read where many of the movement leaders are urging their oil be priced in Euros rather than the falling dollar?”

Note, most of the oil fields and reserves of Saudi Arabia are in the eastern area near the gulf which is majority Shiite like Iran. Bahrain is majority Shiite but controlled by a small Sunni minority backed and supported by the Saudi Monarchy. Two thirds of the world’s oil reserves and 45% of the world’s natural gas reserves are located around the Arabian Gulf. Is it a coincidence that Iraq, Iran and Libya have previously voiced plans to price their oil outside the dollar?

The Treasury Secretary suddenly stiffened and his face turned a crimson red. “General, the policy of your government and the Treasury Department is a strong dollar policy. Of course, there will be short-term fluctuations up and down but this is nothing to be alarmed at. Our Arab allies will never price oil in any currency but the American dollar which will remain the world reserve currency for the foreseeable future.”

Thomas J again questioned, “But what about the news reports which suggest when the current governments are overthrown by the Arab Spring revolutions that the role of the dollar as the world reserve currency is finished?” The Treasury Secretary responded angrily, “our military defending these nations will make sure neither the extremist revolutions nor Iranian threats impact the oil resources or halt the pricing of the oil in dollars.”

Note: remember when oil is priced in dollars, America has a singular advantage over every other nation on the planet. For our imported oil, the Federal Reserve can just create more fiat dollars out of nothing. All other countries are forced to exchange their currencies for dollars and then buy oil. This translates into significant dollar balances which need to be converted into US Treasuries by all nations needing to purchase Arab oil as well as the oil producing nations which have to again park these dollars in Treasuries.

The Chairman of the Federal Reserve spoke up, “remember everyone especially you general that everything said in this meeting is top-secret. There would likely be a worldwide run on the dollar and a collapse of our currency and Treasury obligations should the United States be unable to continue the free purchase of oil and distribution of dollars provided by the Federal Reserve.

The cost of creating new currency and reserves is basically a free service provided by the FED to the federal government and as long as billions of dollars in oil are purchased each month, then the world will need our dollars and buy our Treasury obligations.

This is the real benefit of the US maintaining the dollar world reserve currency status at any cost and frankly the real reason we are occupying most of the oil fields and reserves. The world only gets “our” oil if they pay us – rather I mean our Arab oil producing allies in dollars and the dollars they must get from us.”

Thomas, “well gentlemen, what about the recent news reports from that Chinese credit rating service suggesting America has already defaulted because of the severe drop in the dollar verses other major currencies? The FED chairman replied, “General, if you know what is good for you, I suggest you stop reading those Australian hm., I mean Austrian economics articles on your “hate America” alternative media sites like “Lew Rockwell” or “The Daily Bell” and stay away from that freedom gadfly Ron Paul. We know you visit those reprehensible sites almost every day.”

Looking directly at Thomas, “Did you really think for a second we would not monitor your internet viewing habits from your home computer? You’ve asked your wacko questions, wasted our time and now we have to quickly finish this meeting. I order you to just listen and ask no more questions at this meeting.”

Thomas J. thought to himself, “Damn, these banksters monitor my email, telephone communications and my internet viewing habits. What the Hell has happened to my country? Then he wondered to himself, I guess what they say about the Patriot Act and the TSA may be right after all.

These guys aren’t protecting our Arab friends from Iran or the Islamic fundamentalists they claim are increasingly leading the revolutions. They are basically seizing the Middle East oil resources for the oil to use as a bargaining chip with Europe and specifically China.

Now China is both the major foreign holder of our Treasury obligations as well as the largest oil consuming nation in the world and they want to make sure these Arab governments continue to sell oil for dollars in order to delay the coming dollar and Treasury debt crash.

This is simply an invasion to prop up the dollar and steal their oil and nothing more. They claim this will be a simple military repositioning but I don't remember the flowers and cheering crowds welcoming us as promised by the Bush and Cheney in the Iraq War. Damn, this is just another central banker and resource war, kind of a modern day version of the Civil War. Instead of Fort Sumter or the faked Gulf of Tonkin attack this time they're blaming Iranian terrorism. Could these interests be planning the oil infrastructure attacks to provide the excuse for our troops to move in? Sounds like the fake Polish army invasion of Germany in 1939.

He thought back to growing up in Lexington, VA, playing on the grounds of Virginia Military Academy around the statues of Thomas Jackson who he was named after and Robert E. Lee. Remembering his four years at VMI he remembered the famed VMI cadet charge against the Union invaders while defending the Confederate States of America against another army out for financial and economic gains. Thinking to himself he guessed history and banking elites don't change very much.

Thomas J. stood up at attention and looked directly in the cowering eyes of the FED Chairman and the Treasury Secretary. Iit took all of his self-control to maintain his military bearing instead showing his total disgust for both men. “Sirs, you are committing my nation and my troops to a military operation which could result in massive casualties and a prolonged mission just to support the dollar which your past monetary policies have destroyed. Your goal is obviously to make your banking and Wall Street friends more blood money. I will not be part of a military invasion and occupation or a war decided in secret instead properly declared by Congress."

Then turning toward the Treasury Secretary, “I don’t care how many secret directives, hidden combinations or presidential dictatorial decrees you’ve scared or forced the President to sign. This is just like your bank bailout scheme except this time you are sacrificing the lives of my soldiers instead of the future prosperity of my country."

"Gentlemen and I use the term in derision rather than respect, I hereby immediately resign my military commission. All of you in this room are traitors to our nation and the republic if you are going to sit here and say nothing.”

Then thinking back to the forced suicide by Rommel demanded by the Nazi leadership, “and what are you going to do about it? Give me a choice of suicide by cyanide or do I get to use a pistol?"

Everyone held their breath and everything in the meeting room began to move in slow motion as each turned from the general and began nervously looking down at the conference room table. Even these men who had no shame were embarrassed and caught off-guard by the evident truth of his remarks.

After what seemed like minutes but actually only a few seconds, the CIA Director stood and replied. “General, we know you are tired and overworked and maybe you’ve seen too many World War Two movies. You need a rest therefore we will place you on temporary medical leave until you feel better and this operation is successfully concluded. Guards, escort the general to our private health facility here at Langley, make sure he has no recording devices and remind him how this attitude could jeopardize his pension as well as the security of his family. Also handcuff him as he might somehow injure himself.

"Gentlemen this meeting is adjourned, you know your objectives and timetables."

The meeting was over and exactly two weeks later to the day, while the armed forces of America, the UK and Israel were making final plans for the troop movements, without warning, a string of terrorist attacks against oil instillations, drilling sites and pipelines hit the Arab Gulf region from Iraq to Kuwait and Saudi Arabia and down through Dubai, the U.A.E, and Oman.

Within minutes US and Israeli intelligence services were reporting Iran as being behind the attacks and public requests for Western troops to defend the oil fields and pipelines were coming in from each of the nations attacked. In addition, military and police actions against the so called Freedom Revolutions which according to the State Department had been infiltrated and taken over by Islamic extremists were begun across the region.

The world was amazed at how fast American troops, armor and air assets were transferred into the Arabian Gulf to defend our friends from whatever Iran might do next. The President requested temporary military help from Israel and their armor and motorized and helicopter troops quickly and professionally secured the long land corridor from Israel through Jordan to Saudi Arabia and the Arabian Gulf just north of Bahrain causeway up to the Kuwait border.

Notice was given that no western or Israel troops would venture near Riyadh or the holy cities of Saudi Arabia and that we were there to protect the freedom revolutions and defend democracy in the region. The fact there was no democracy in the region except for Israel did not become one of the talking points for discussion on the mainstream media.

Immediately after the public announcement of operation “Protect Arab Spring & Democracy”; US and UK cruise missiles began bombarding Iranian military installations, army, air and rocket batteries. Within 48 hours, the coalition troop repositioning had met their objectives, and faced Iran from Afghanistan in the north, across the border from Iraq, Kuwait and through the Saudi oil fields along the eastern coast to Qatar, the UAE and Dubai including Oman.

Iran had of course denied knowledge of or involvement with the destruction and terrorist attacks across the oil rich peninsula but all was quiet on the Eastern Front.

Iran threatened retaliation but their military forces except for the rocket battalions were all designed for an expected defensive action. Any military advancement anywhere along the line would be an open invitation for Allied air, naval and military superiority to crush the Iranian forces totally and completely.

Washington hoped and prayed for a military response but assumed that other than inaccurate rocket attacks by Iran, maybe Hezbollah and scattered Shiite attacks in the oil fields that they would do nothing. Iran was too smart to commit national suicide and take on the combined military forces of Israel, UK and the United States. Still, hoping for maybe an Iranian naval response against the 5th Fleet that would allow the US an easy victory, Iran naval assets and naval based were exempted from the assault.

The President of course spoke to the nation and Congress with some opposition by Ron and Rand Paul and a few non-interventionists on the extreme left and right but they quickly approved the new troop movements as requested by the Arab governments. Over the next few days, there were scattered terrorist attacks and demonstrations against the troop deployments but nothing but rhetoric came from Iran.

The Islamic Republic of Iran

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had certainly been caught off guard personally by the terrorist attacks on the Saudi and other oil installations and at first he assumed the Revolutionary Guards were to blame trying to start a war between Iran and their Sunni neighbors. But then when the cruise missile attacks began immediately along with the massive troop movements by the western forces he had to admit the truth. The Americans had moved first. No matter, his long planned response to a future Israel attack on Iran would simply change targets.

First he ordered as many small fishing boats and pleasure craft as possible to the main Iranian naval base at Bandar Abbas just opposite the Strait of Hormuz. Then pulling out an Iranian military contingency plan designed to destroy as much of the Arabian Peninsula oil production as possible if Iran ever completed the planned number of nuclear devices, he tossed the booklet in the waste basket and reached for his favorite English book, One Second After, dog-eared from so much bedtime reading.

He waited for the general in charge of the rocket forces to arrive. Ahmadinejad remained in his office but while waiting he discarded his usual casual attire and put on a military uniform.

As General Mohammad Ali Jafari, the IRGC commander-in-chief entered the President’s office, Ahmadinejad was unusually to the point. “General you can forget our earlier theoretical discussions about Israel. You have stated on many occasions that ‘Our missiles are ready to be fired at anytime and anywhere. We were able to reduce the weight of our missiles, and this provides them with great precision.’ Is this correct?”

Jafari was very nervous as he never had really expected to fire his missiles and rockets at American forces but he managed a very loud and confident, “yes Mr. President if Allah wills it.” “Very well then follow through with your planned attack as has been approved by the Iran Revolutionary Council – but one of your rockets, one of the Shibab-3′s is to be retargeted to the following coordinates and I now have our best rocket scientists and nuclear experts calculating what is necessary for it to detonate exactly 30 miles above the desert.”

Jafari was concerned, had the president lost his mind? The location was 500 miles from anything. Iran with so much effort, international opposition and at a high financial cost had managed to build one crude nuclear device. Now he wants to waste our only real deterrent against a possible American invasion with an insane demonstration for Saudi Arabia in the middle of Rub al Khali (the Empty Quarter) of the uninhabited Saudi Arabian desert. A land larger than France, Belgium and the Netherlands combined with sand dunes that reach 1,000 feet high.

He had to speak up. “Mr. President, if we detonate our nuclear weapon there or even high above the desert, no one will even know we did it.” He waited for a response from Ahmadinejad but nothing came but sort of a whisper as the President seemed deep in thought, mumbling something like “but yes they will” and the President added, “thank you for the visit and dedication to our nation – you may go now.”

US Central Command, Bahrain

To have apparently been behind the attacks on Arab Gulf oil installations, the Iranians were very slow to respond to the situation. American naval assets had remained near the US naval base in Bahrain where the Fifth Fleet and Central Command were headquartered. The navy would welcome any sneak attacks by the Iran or their Revolutionary Guard Corps by submarine, speedboat or rocket forces.

The world expected a military response probably a rocket attack and on the 5th day, hundreds of Iranian missiles and rockets flew toward US military bases In Iraq and toward ports and oil facilities primarily in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Major cities were also targeted as the guidance systems were often obsolete and most rockets came down miles from their intended targets.

There were a large number of various types of Iranian rockets along with a few of the more modern Shibab-3 versions. During the height of the rocket attack which occurred at midnight, radar and a few troops on the ground might have seen a brief high level explosion far larger than the many missile explosions downed by western anti-missile defense systems but the high altitude made the nuclear explosion almost invisible. The explosion was a bright green and as quickly as it appeared, it was over.

Some of the rockets had obviously hit major power generating facilities and electrical transmission lines as within a 400 mile radius of a point southeast of the Saudi Capital, the entire electrical grid and all communications were out. This included most of the Saudi oilfields in the eastern part of the nation, down to and including the United Arab Emirates to just past Dubai plus the oil region of Oman in the south and up to and including Qatar and the small island nation of Bahrain in the north where the US fleet was based.

Our military forces in Bahrain south to Oman were in position but now everything was dark and communications were out cold. It was late at night but there were no vehicle lights on the highways, cell phone, radio and internet communications were out and nothing moved. It seemed as if everything of an electronic nature in the entire region was knocked out.

Flash lights worked but night vision didn’t. Hand held automatic weapons were still operational but tanks, radar, trucks and military vehicles wouldn’t start and neither aircraft nor ships would work. American nuclear powered aircraft carriers sat still in the water buffeted by the wind and waves and the reactors began to overheat but no one knew about this yet because all electronics were out.

No one knew what had happened except for a few of the top leadership and scientists in Iran. One of the hundreds of rockets fired west over American military forces had been fitted with Iran’s primitive but first nuclear warhead. It had exploded as planned 30 miles above the Saudi desert harmlessly killing only a few buzzards directly under the explosion. The explosion had been the first EMP attack in history.

After the EMP Attack

The next morning, American troops positioned near the coast and beaches of the Arab Gulf including Bahrain were all up early watching the eastern sky for sunrise as communications were out, command and control were non-existent and everyone was tired of stumbling around all night in the dark. As the sun began to rise over the eastern horizon they first noticed pelicans floating way out to sea but upon closer inspection the birds appeared to be small boats and later some of the boats were larger and filled with troops and military vehicles.

Suddenly the sky was filled with Iranian missiles targeting the troop concentrations, followed by the Iranian air force using old obsolete aircraft but aircraft with electronics not destroyed by the EMP wave because they were based out of the weapon range. Then came helicopter gunships etc., the Americans had no way to contact the chain of command, they began firing at the boats with machine guns and rifle fire but there was no anti-aircraft defense systems working. The hummers and armor wouldn’t start and the world’s most technologically advanced fighting force had no radar, command and control or communications.

Everyone was on foot in one of the hottest places on the earth and there was no water, the water pumps didn’t work, no power or air-conditioning. The American army had been reduced to a World War One level fighting force without phone, transportation or even vintage biplanes to observe the enemy. Against them now hitting the beaches with armor, command and control and air resources was the elite Iranian Revolutionary Guards, mad as hell and ready for revenge.

By the end of the second day, without water, knowledge or communications with the outside world, little food and no way to retreat other than walk across 500 miles of desert, the largest American army to surrender since Bataan, after a brave and determined defense surrendered to the Islamic Republic of Iran armed forces.

At the same time the American fleet including 3 aircraft carriers and support ships as well as all of the aircraft now totally inoperable surrendered to the small Iranian navy. The aircraft carriers were scuttled and sent to the bottom much like the German fleet at Scapa Flow following the German surrender after World War One.

The American sailors were determined not to allow the carriers to fall into Iranian hands. This was probably best for both sides as the aircraft electronics were totally destroyed and the nuclear reactors powering the carriers would soon reach critical mass like the Japanese reactors following the recent earthquake and tidal wave.

The brief war was over and although a historical defeat for the United States, additional American military assets in Iraq and around the world were not impacted by the single EMP blast. Washington could still nuke Iran, destroy the Iranian invasion force and win the war given a few months but there was another problem. Following the EMP attack, the most optimistic American projections were at least a year before oil production and exports could be resumed from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UAE and Oman even after the Iranian troops were forced out.

The only two major oil producing nations left in the region were Iraq and Iran and within a couple of days, oil had reached over $350 dollars a barrel up from $100. More importantly the Arab politicians and governments which had asked for US troops were blamed along with the US for the brief war and revolutions quickly toppled each regime.

China promised to immediately send the technical expertise, oil rigs and pipeline equipment required to fix the fried electronics in the oil fields and pipelines. They guaranteed oil production and exports would be restored within 90 days rather than 12 months at no cost to the nations involved.

The only requirement was all Arab reserves in dollars were to be transferred into a special basket of Asian and European currencies including the euro, the Swiss franc and gold within the next year. Of course the Chinese said no oil would be allowed to be priced in dollars until the financial crisis ended but this really wasn’t a real issue for debate or discussion.

In the first 30 days following the end of the dollar pricing of oil and the end of American dollar world reserve currency status, the dollar lost 80% of its value in relation to European currencies and gold was trading at $5,000 an ounce.

Were the Chinese bluffing on their rebuilding time, no one really cared as the US military returned first to Iraq and later to other bases at home and around the world but no troops or military remained inside the region now known by all the world as the “Persian Gulf."

When The Dollar Dies (Part Two) will discuss what happened to the US and European economies and the Treasury bond market following the death of the dollar, the American national debt collapse and how the Anglo-American banking elites attempted to survive and prosper from the revenue actions which followed the First Dollar War in the Middle East. We will also discuss the necessary steps Americans need to take today in order to avoid the future impact of a collapse whether it develops from foreign policy, war or a domestic political or global financial crisis.

The Electromagnetic Pulse threat is real and I have actually dramatically toned down the threat and coverage area in order to work this new kind of nuclear weapons system into the story. What happened within a 400 mile radius from the blast zone could cover most of the continental United States if the height of the blast was far higher.

Ahmadinejad’s favorite English book, One Second After by William R. Forstchen is the best book and novel on the subject and horrifying aftermath which I have read to date. I strongly urge readers to consider buying the book and more information can be found online.

Quoting from Forstchen: “MP is a real threat, I believe the most underestimated threat in the history of our country. In the late 1930s we completely underestimated the Japanese and the potentials of a new technology. . .carrier based aviation. I've written two novels with Newt on this subject. No one took the threat seriously and on December 7, 1941 close to three thousand Americans died. The war that ensued would claim close to half a million American lives. Pearl Harbor was a blow we could recover from and go on to eventual victory. An EMP strike? I believe it would be the death of America, the death of our children. . .it would be the end of the America we cherish and love. . .and plunge the few who survive into a new dark age.”

The Commission to Access the threat to the United States from an EMP attack website provides an in-depth analysis of the threat and conditions following the use of the weapon. Please review the website at www.EMPcommission.org.

A final note from Ron Holland: I am not convinced whether the EMP threat is real or another fear based meme out of Washington created by neocon interests to frighten the American people into more Middle East invasions and occupations. Still, the EMP threat is an easy way to quickly finish a war scenario for this case study. I fear the threat of a US led invasion of the Persian Gulf oil producing nations is real but the aftermath of defeat following a quick initial success is more likely to have ominous parallels with Iraq and Afghanistan than the quick victory and following short-term US defeat as shown in this fictional story.

Ron Holland [send him mail] is a contributing editor to the Swiss Mountain Vision Newsletter and Chairman of the Advisory Board of the Foundation for the Advancement of Free-Market Thinking (FAFMT) in Vaduz, Liechtenstein.

The Best of Ron Holland

“People never believe in volcanoes until the lava actually overtakes them.” ~ George Santayana

Last fall, while on an investment cruise, I had the opportunity to visit a “dormant” volcano in Chile. There was even a ski area with lift, restaurants etc. near the top on the lava and cinders. I thought at the time how I would ski the volcano but never risk my funds on a real estate investment there for obvious reasons.

Today we find the United States and most of Europe in a similar situation. We risk an eruption and collapse of the mountain of unsustainable sovereign debt built up over the last two decades. Frankly, the US dollar and national debt situation is so dire and our means to contain a sovereign debt crisis so limited by multiple wars, Washington’s debt and political incompetence at home, that anything could happen — almost overnight. Even a minor foreign policy or economic event like a Greek default or Middle East crisis could reap havoc with the precarious interlocking sovereign debt pyramid in the West.

Of course, no nation wants a collapse — especially China — because a western debt collapse and write down is certainly uncharted financial waters and the contagion risks are global. Still, America and most European governments and the central banking elites, which created the criminal sovereign debt fiasco, are only trying to buy more time and delay the inevitable. This inaction means the threat of an immediate US debt and dollar collapse cannot be ruled out. Therefore, readers who have not protected themselves certainly have cause to worry because now could be too late.

It Is Exit Time For Your Gold, Wealth & Family

Although you may have some time, nothing else has to happen before a big collapse could take place, even within days. Consequently, after 30 years of watching, writing and creating protective retirement planning and financial strategies, today I’m finally going to yell “FIRE” inside the closed ‘financial iron curtain” which is America.

If you have failed to store your precious metals outside the US, diversify out of the dollar or reduce or terminate your private retirement plan, there is now a clear danger of a Washington dollar and sovereign debt crisis which could sweep away most of your remaining wealth and financial security.

I do not have a crystal ball or inside political information on a specific imminent threat, only the observation that the sovereign debt crisis from Europe, a debt ceiling misstep from the clowns in Washington or a Middle East event could suddenly trigger the collapse. Actually any major political or economic shock could bring the Madoff style Ponzi scheme, which Greenspan and Bernanke have created, down almost overnight on top of us.

This will likely happen over a weekend and the following Monday morning you could wake up to Presidential Executive Orders “means testing” you out of Social Security benefits if you still have substantial retirement benefits or personal savings. You’ll likely discover an end to your home interest deductions, new confiscatory taxes and restrictions on US gold and silver, controls on moving private wealth and funds to safety offshore and dramatic hikes in taxes and cuts in government programs. In addition, spiking inflation rates, violence and massive protests will immediately follow these confiscatory actions and cutbacks. You can also expect severe banking and stock market liquidity restrictions, or closures, and this will only be the beginning. In short your wealth will be trapped in dollars and locked up for the duration of the emergency inside the American jurisdiction.

Therefore if you haven’t already prepared for this type of crisis contingency ahead of time, I’m telling you there will be little you can do after the fact. Washington will simply take and throw your wealth and promised benefits at the problem thus buying them more time with your wealth.

The Central Banks, City of London & Wall Street Have Looted America and the World

Back in 2007, did the Federal Reserve or your politicians or financial experts predict a collapse in housing prices of 30 to 50 percent? Remember, Bernanke, George Bush and Barack Obama all promised this was a temporary blip in the long-term upward trend in housing values. All advised you to “stay the course.”

Today, Tim Geithner claims we have a “strong dollar policy” but have you observed the 35% plus appreciation in the currencies of Brazil and Switzerland to the dollar in the last year? The EU establishment has repeatedly claimed over the last few months that the Greek problems are solved but these fake solutions usually only last a few days at best.

Back here in the US, there is talk about deficit reduction, cutting programs and tax increases but nothing really happens because solving the problem is political suicide. The American and European elites are buying time knowing that only a crash or war will give them the opportunity to act as they did in the 2008 meltdown. They only wait for a cataclysmic event to provide the fear, excuse and public support for government action needed to grab our private wealth and to delay their problems.

The mainstream American press doesn’t cover it, however the rest of the world knows that Wall Street banks and their central banking buddies in London and New York created the sovereign debt crisis. They then sold their profitable template, or imposed it on the end of a gun, for debt democracy to politicians around the world as a means to buy votes and maintain political control. The scam is now over and no one has a solution to the tens of trillions in debt already spent.

While many millions of poor people overseas are going hungry because of our exported inflation on food costs, now the foreign middle classes are being impoverished just to pay interest on the sovereign debts to our banking elites. Although, much of the world correctly blames their thieving politicians who’ve been bought off by our banking elites as the problem, our nation is also a target for their outrage.

Foreign politicians will attempt to shift the blame to America and this will speed the end of our American free ride from the fiat dollar and our reserve currency status. The world is just waiting for the spark to start the run out of the dollar and our Treasury debt. No nation will really help us when the collapse comes.

What If You Have More Time?

Maybe we have months instead of weeks — or at most a couple of years before the event takes place. Allow our politicians “buying time” to work for your benefit instead of theirs:

1. Educate Yourself With Free Subscriptions: First, to protect yourself, you must assume the balance of establishment news coverage and opinion is all disinformation designed to delay panic and create actions which will benefit the establishment probably to the detriment of your best interests. Therefore I suggest you subscribe to the following free e-mail publications:

• Follow what the elites are planning ahead of time with The Daily Bell — Subscribe.
• Keep up with the real freedom news and philosophy by subscribing to LewRockwell.com — Subscribe.
• Get an Austrian economics view on the markets and gold with Mountain Vision — Subscribe.

2. Maintain Liquidity & Reduce Political Risk: Legally and following all reporting requirements, move your private wealth outside the US into safe secure investments which will remain liquid and trading should US markets close as they did following 9/11.

3. Create A Domestic Safe-Haven Location: The potential for violence, theft and property destruction in the US dwarfs what could happen in Greece. If you can afford a safe-haven second home away from major cities and high crime locations, then do so. Consider taking advantage of the real estate collapse and buying something you can enjoy in good times and have as insurance for bad times.

4. You Will Likely Be Safer Outside the US: In a serious crisis, most of the criminals out to steal your property and do harm to you will come with official government sanction and not from traditional criminal elements. Consider a more secure safe-haven jurisdiction where the rule of law might still prevail with a condo, second citizenship or residency in a nation outside the United States for the duration of the domestic disorder and economic collapse. Remember, currency and government debt collapse is common throughout the world and history shows the difficulties don’t last forever. My fear is we haven’t seen a world reserve currency collapse before and the aftermath is uncharted waters. I would expect a scenario several magnitudes worse than the 1991 Russian collapse.

5. Secure Your Gold: Finally move most of your gold or silver offshore where it will remain secure rather than become a tempting target for confiscation from parasitical groups and individuals. Washington will need your gold as I doubt there has been substantial gold at Fort Knox since Nixon closed the gold window. The eventual outcome of the crisis may well be some fake gold backing for the dollar. Why else would anyone use a collapsed currency?

6. Don’t Trust Washington With Your Retirement Benefits: Consider closing and taking a withdrawal from your retirement plans to avoid new taxes and penalties at withdrawal, the means testing and loss of your Social Security benefits or the forced investment into collapsing Treasury obligations.

You can read all about the gold and retirement threats in my Lew Rockwell archive. Pay specific attention to the following essays:

• The Greek Tragedy
• There’s Gold In Fort Knox?
• Retire In Poverty-Retirement Plan Nationalization
• The Obama Retirement Trap

The debt crisis is here and I promise you only that you will not hear the truth on cable financial news or from your establishment investment firm or professional. To avoid a panic, neither the government, the Federal Reserve or Wall Street will be honest with you about the risks we face, just like they all lied and covered-up before the market meltdown in 2008.

If you are an American, the last place you should keep most of your wealth now is in the dollar or your home country. You might personally get out but your wealth will be trapped for the duration and probably lost during the disruption.

Reprinted with permission from The Daily Bell.

Ron Holland [send him mail] is a contributing editor to the Swiss Mountain Vision Newsletter and Chairman of the Advisory Board of the Foundation for the Advancement of Free-Market Thinking (FAFMT) in Vaduz, Liechtenstein.

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Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the Director of the International Monetary Fund, an elite supra-national organization which rapes and pillages small, defenseless countries and their citizens, allegedly has a history of doing the same to defenseless women. Today he was arrested at the New York John F. Kennedy Airport for assaulting a maid at one of the top hotels in New York City according to CNBC, IMF Head Charged With Sex Crime in New York.

Strauss-Kahn has been mentioned as the next president of France and we've found that many people with powerful presidential ambitions like Al Gore and Bill Clinton are often serial perpetrators of these kinds of activities. This is understandable as when the power elites spend their careers raping nations and economies with impunity and no punishment or consequences, this behavior can carry over into their troubled private lives.

This is great news for Marine Le Pen, of the French Front National Party which is an anti-globalist and anti-EU, pro-France political party. Should she become president of France, this could help lead European nations away from the EU and toward the restoration of national sovereignty in Europe. To date, Strauss-Kahn and Le Pen have led in the French presidential polls and this embarrassment could kill his candidacy.

The Rape of the IMF

The IMF and the World Bank have worked together to advance the monetary and political interests of the power elite for decades. They use a good cop and bad cop strategy. Basically the World Bank loans money to corrupt governments and politicians that loot and squander the funds. Then this is followed by the IMF to the rescue by insisting on an "austerity program" of higher taxes and lower government spending to ensure the loans are paid.

While the IMF is willing to provide either loans or an outright funding stream to the country in question, there are inevitably provisions to be followed. The IMF will likely insist on higher taxes, cuts in services and often privatization of industries. The IMF has received a bad reputation with developing countries because its solutions often eviscerate the middle class while the privatizations end up involving fire-sales bid out to Anglo-American corporations.

If you would like to see how this business model works between the major banking elites, the IMF and the World Bank, just research what has happened to Greece. You can learn more about Strauss-Kahn HERE.

The Power Elites Operate Above the Law

A comparison of news coverage from the establishment media outlet CNBC owned by General Electric, the link at the beginning of the article to the more balanced Examiner editorial clearly shows how their control of the media and legal system will could result in Strauss-Kahn avoiding justice once again.

In France in 1999, he was forced to resign from a government position after a corruption scandal but a French court later cleared him of all wrongdoing. Again in 2008, his involvement with a female executive at the IMF resulted in her having to resign while he was only required to "apologize for a serious error of judgment".

The odds do not favor him being cleared this time for wrongdoing as the negative news coverage is too great and this could give Le Pen an outside opportunity to become the next president of France. This would be a great victory for those in Europe who oppose the EU and the tragic mistakes in his personal life just might cause the establishment to wash their dirty hands of Strauss-Kahn as his personal excesses could have dealt a major blow to elite interests and the IMF.

Just maybe, justice will be served for once in this regard. A history of the Anglo-American establishment clearly shows how those who embarrass or bring bad publicity to elite organizations, seldom survive politically, monetarily or personally. Time will tell what happens to Mr. Strauss-Kahn but the possible election of Le Pen to the presidency would be a Europe changing defeat for the EU power elites. For this defeat, Strauss-Kahn is sure to pay a heavy price for his personal failures. This would be good news for Europe and freedom advocates everywhere and disastrous for the IMF.

We hope the alleged serial predator days of Strauss-Kahn are finished but a more important issue is when will similar economic activities by the IMF and World Bank against entire nations also be restrained?

Ron Holland [send him mail] is a contributing editor to the Swiss Mountain Vision Newsletter and Chairman of the Advisory Board of the Foundation for the Advancement of Free-Market Thinking (FAFMT) in Vaduz, Liechtenstein.

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Get ready as secession is coming soon to a failed union near you. Over the weekend, the news has been full of reports about Scotland getting ready to vote on independence from the United Kingdom after the election victory by the Scottish National Party. The UK has stated it will abide by the coming referendum but we fear the Bank of England, their central bank will not be so agreeable.

Also we hear with the usual denials, that Greece is considering withdrawing from the Eurozone due to their sovereign debt problems. The Greek leadership believes dumping the Euro and creating their own currency will allow them to inflate their sovereign debts away as well as getting the country out of recession and forced austerity from Brussels. These same Greek politicians should have thought of this when earlier receiving their big payoffs and incentives to force the nation into the EU. They will claim the motive now is patriotism to save the nation as sometimes even politicians will become patriots when necessary but we expect they see another graft opportunity.

The European Central Bank (ECB) will not be pleased with Greece because its Greek bond portfolio will suffer. Also these individual political actions where citizens decide their future rather than distant central banking cartels and eurocrats threatens the entire European Union. The EU and ECB were just a sham and power grab from the beginning for power hungry European elites not content with just pillaging their own citizens.

Why This Political Action Can Solve the Sovereign Debt Crisis

Secession is the right for an area to leave a government tax jurisdiction (national boundaries) based on the will of a majority of the voters in the geographic area wishing to peacefully withdraw by democratic means and create a government more in tune and controlled by the citizens in the region. Often just the threat to withdraw from a larger union is enough to cause the central government politicians and central banking cartel to better follow the needs and dictates of the people. But when all other political remedies fail, secession is often the final solution to an elite political and central banking tyranny which steals from the people for the benefit of the controlling Anglo-American monetary elites in many Western nations.

The establishment media avoids like the plague the only real solution to the sovereign debt crisis around the world because they are totally controlled and exist only to protect the elites which created the sovereign debt crisis in the first place. Today democratic secession is starting to happen in Scotland and Greece and this peaceful political tool is a real alternative to forced unions like the American and European Union as well as national politicians on the take that pillage their own individual nations.

Today, when most forced, arbitrary unions of nation states are ended today, the action is by negotiation, democratic voting by the regional citizens involved and then a friendly and cooperative relationship with the former state. Scotland which was annexed into the British Empire by terrible wars and force of arms over hundreds of years will likely soon depart peacefully as did the old nation of Czechoslovakia split into the Czech and Slovakia Republics back in 1993.

Independence Would Allow New Nations to Repudiate the Sovereign Debt of Former Governments and Create a New Currency

I fear, here in the US, if we fail to take the necessary political actions to protect our wealth now at a time of our choosing, then foreign creditors and markets will decide when the American debt and the dollar are finished. Secession is one alternative and I hope others will come up with additional solutions. But citizens of every overly indebted state need to ask themselves and their political representatives a few questions.

Are the benefits of powerful central banking and political elite controls worth the economic costs, debts on future generations and the loss of personal and financial liberties?

Would we not be better off as new independent sovereign states or nations with the opportunity to create our own currencies after repudiating all or part of the illegitimate sovereign debt created to benefit the central bankers and monetary elites?

Are federal taxes, controls, welfare/warfare expenses and government debts which threaten to impoverish the individual states and citizens worth the costs of control, economic rape and financial pillage from central government politicians and central bank thugs out only to make more money and profits at the expense of normal productive citizens?

Would you rather as an individual or a nation become debt free and prosperous with your own currency or allow the central banks to continue their actions which have brought most western nations to the brink of ruin and bankruptcy?

If you answered yes to these four questions, then it is time to begin organizing and taking peaceful democratic actions to save our liberties and remaining wealth before the coming Treasury debt and dollar crisis happens in the United States as it has in Greece.

The time of large nation states began to end when they realized they could borrow from our posterity to buy votes and control today. The new internet reformation makes it impossible for media and political elites to hide the truth about our economic situation from the voters or world investors. This new transparency creates both danger and opportunity and we can either seize the opportunity for freedom or wait for the danger of economic collapse.

From the United States to a Debt-Free These United States

Secession does not have to mean the end of your nation but rather a democratic change from an incompetent structure representing elite interests into a decentralized limited government which serves the interest of the citizens rather than the central bankers and political establishment would be a positive change. For example, the individual American states could secede and withdraw from the existing Washington federal government and come together again through a debt-free, limited federal system like the Articles of Confederation.

For example in Europe, a confederation of independent sovereign nations with the right to voluntarily enter and leave a European Confederation might be the solution to the top-down failures of the European Union.

In the US, now with easy communication and travel a simple return to our decentralized Articles of Confederation would allow the individual states to compete with currency alternatives along with private competitors as well as repudiate the illegitimate sovereign debt of the former federal government. This national debt was created primarily to fund money making opportunities for a few favored elite controlled global corporations, banks and oil conglomerates but paid for by our taxes and with sovereign debts on future generations.

It Must Be Both a Political and Monetary Secession!

Just withdrawing from a former political entity if the new nation retains the same central banking cartel and fiat currency without a new replacement alternative really accomplishes nothing. At best, you would have a new generation of tax feeding politicians and bureaucrats at the public trough and no more. The solution for most regions is to leave the political elites, their sovereign debt and the central bank controls behind when declaring independence.

Starting Now

After all, fiat currencies and the central banking monopoly can only survive if there are no alternatives. One day soon. A nation or nations and maybe even private entities will take the concept of the Central Fund of Canada which is made up of gold and silver bullion and traded like a stock on several exchanges and create a new store of value for the 21st Century. They might use controlled and owned gold and unmined gold reserves, oil and oil reserves with maybe timber or another finite resource and create the ultimate store of value for world investors.

This private store of value and competing alternatives using the free-market could then transcend into a real alternative to central bank fiat currencies and thus end the hundred year reign of the Anglo-American central bank monopoly cartel on currency creation, sovereign debts and inflation wealth destruction. Until this happens, individuals, organizations and businesses can take advantage of gold storage mechanisms like the Central Fund of Canada and Global Gold of Switzerland until new more diversified alternatives are available.

It is now time to prepare a secure future for ourselves and future generations. It is time to leave the governments behind who oppress us and the central bankers which plan to finish us off in the coming US dollar and sovereign debt crisis.

Scotland's William Wallace Was Right!

In the 13th Century,William Wallace gained recognition when he led the Scottish people in their fight against English occupation in the First War of Scottish Independence. Who can forget the last scene in the 1995 film epic, Braveheart, as the English were torturing Wallace and his last words were "FREEDOM."

I believe the cry of William Wallace for "Freedom" and Scottish Independence should be carried forth across the WEST today.

• It is time to demand freedom from national sovereign debts we did not approve.
• Freedom from central banks we never wanted which are destroying our economies and our currency.
• Free us from far off bureaucrats and Anglo-American elites which increasingly seize our wealth for their purposes.
• End the enticement of our children and grandchildren into serving their interests in foreign wars for wealth and resources rather than defending our nation.

Few citizens in Europe have had the opportunity to vote on EU membership and when they did the answer was usually a resounding "NO."

In America, no living citizens have had an opportunity to democratically vote on remaining in the arbitrary American union since 1860 when 11 states were allowed to vote at the state level.Here the democratic majority in the Southern states was overturned by Lincoln's War which killed over 600,000 Americans.

It is time to put the killing and war on citizens and regions wanting to leave forced inclusion behind us as is the case of the United Kingdom allowing the citizens of Scotland to decide and choose whether to remain in the UK or leave and remain allies of equal position. The days of tyrants like Saddam Hussein, Gadhafi and Lincoln making war on their own citizens who simply want to leave and be left alone should be over.

It took Scotland almost a thousand years but soon this proud people under the St. Andrews Cross will be rid of English and Anglo-American rule and Scotland will once again take its rightful place among the nations of the world.

This year marks the 150 anniversary of another nation which also fought under the sacred banner of the St. Andrews Cross. General Robert E. Lee prayed: “While we see the course of the final abolition of human slavery is still onward, and give it the aid of our prayers, let us leave the progress as well as the results in the hands of Him who, chooses to work by slow influences, and with whom a thousand years are but as a single day.” 

Although chattel slavery ended a few years after Lee's prayer, today most of the Europe and the Americas are increasingly slaves today. The war that ended chattel slavery paved the way for the destruction of the Southern economy and political power to allow a new kind of slavery, central bank slavery which began with the creation of the Federal Reserve in 1913.

Today we are all slaves to fiat currencies which decimate our wealth, central banks and governments which create and burden future generation with sovereign debt and controls which are destroying our remaining freedoms and liberties.

It is time for the West to follow the halting steps of Scotland and Greece and begin the cry for Freedom from those financial institutions and political elites who oppress us and consider us as mere slaves to be manipulated, wealth creators to be fleeced and cannon fodder for their global wealth and resources plunder expeditions.

What do you think?

Ron Holland [send him mail] is a contributing editor to the Swiss Mountain Vision Newsletter and Chairman of the Advisory Board of the Foundation for the Advancement of Free-Market Thinking (FAFMT) in Vaduz, Liechtenstein.

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Oil at $200 plus a barrel will be the least of America's problems when the Saudi Monarchy falls.

“If something happens in Saudi Arabia it (oil) will go to $200 to $300 (a barrel). I don’t expect this for the time being, but who would have expected Tunisia?” ~ Former Saudi oil minister Sheikh Zaki Yamani 4/5/11

The most important question facing the United States today is whether the freedom revolutions sweeping the Middle East will impact the authoritarian regime of Saudi Arabia and the major oil producers surrounding this nation of major oil reserves? The second question is if the government is overthrown, will the new government continue the practice of pricing oil in depreciating dollars rather than consider new options?

The future value of the dollar and the dollar status as the world's reserve currency depend heavily on the outcome of these two questions. This is why the price of gold could soar and the dollar move dramatically lower when the Saudi Monarchy is overthrown. I fear, the probable American military reaction to this scenario threatens what remains of our republic and may be compared by future historians as comparable in scope to Caesar’s march across the Rubicon in Roman history.

“I don’t think that what the King is doing now is sufficient to prevent an uprising. Saudi Arabia is a time bomb, but one that is constantly being reset,” ~ Jaafar Al Taie, managing director of Manaar Energy Consulting

Today, I'm warning about the risk of a dollar and Treasury bond threat which could make the real estate collapse or 2008 market meltdown mere footnotes in comparison. Today in the Middle East, either by stupidity or design, the Federal Reserve's perpetuation of the dollar and treasury debt Ponzi schemes is now dependent on the survival of a few dictatorial regimes staying in power in the Persian Gulf while surrounded by spreading freedom revolutions.

This is the most dangerous region in the world and the focal point for conflict between Iran and America, the freedom revolution and authoritarian regimes, Sunni and Shiite, Israel and the Arab world, vast oil resources and the oil needs of the West and China, and where the decision will be made to price oil in depreciating dollars or in other currency alternatives. Of all the conflicts and threats in the region, I believe the question as to whether oil continues to be priced in dollars and the dollar remains the world's reserve currency for now and the risk of a US dollar and debt collapse are the greatest threats facing America and the West.

The real estate bubble and financial meltdown as well as the new stock market bubble are misdemeanors in criminality compared to the Federal Reserve mistake of allowing our currency and debt to be dependent and held hostage based on the survival of a few corrupt authoritarian leaders in fake nations created by London politicians many years ago.

The Saudi Monarchy Will Fall Sooner Rather Than Later

The democracy index published by the Economist Intelligence Unit for 2010 places Libya 158th out of 167 and Saudi Arabia 160th of all nations in terms of an authoritarian government verses a democracy. I fear the oil producing nations of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq, Qatar and the U.A.E. could eventually fall to freedom revolutions which have mutated into movements outside the control of the United States. Whether the current radical elements in the revolutionary movements will move to the forefront and possibly take control depends a lot on the current authoritarian regimes reaction to the freedom revolutions in each nation as well as future United States actions to safeguard the future of oil reserves and the dollar.

The fear of these movements sweeping the region is why the Obama Administration postponed actions which could have toppled Gaddafi weeks ago because another perceived victory there would have dramatically increased the growth and blitzkrieg effect of the revolutionary movements thus making them unstoppable and a real threat to first Bahrain and then Saudi Arabia etc. I previously discussed how the Libyan civil war is just a sideshow and deception to buy time and slow down what had been a cake walk by revolutionaries across the Middle East. The real action is in the Persian Gulf and the region is called the Persian Gulf because historically most of the region was under Persian (Iranian) influence.

Washington has successfully in the past chosen stability and tyranny in the region over the Arab people in the streets and now we are going to pay the price through the unintended consequences of our foreign policy in the region. This foreign policy failure when combined with Washington and Federal Reserve economic policies could be a lethal combination for the United States as well as the future of our children and grandchildren.

Our nation may well suffer severe economic consequences, a dollar and debt mini-collapse as well as the risk of a major war in the Persian Gulf region requiring an increasing degree of police state controls at home, the possible return of the draft and even a more authoritarian government in Washington. This is the dark future engineered by the Anglo-American monetary elites, some Washington politicians and the Federal Reserve which have put our currency at such risk.

The United States cannot allow new revolutionary governments outside our control to replace current regimes with political leaders which could threaten the dollar, our national debt and the US economy. If this becomes a risk, I fear the US military could be ordered to intervene and do whatever is necessary to either prop up or install new governments that will still continue to price oil in dollars. Frankly speaking should this situation develop, this may actually be the only way to defend a collapsing fiat dollar regardless of my personal views against military intervention.

The daily news reports continue to show the spread of revolutionary activity across the Middle East now directly impacting Syria, Jordan, Yemen and other nations around the periphery of Saudi Arabia. It appears the new social media driven freedom movements attack both US backed authoritarian regimes and enemies like Libya and Syria. What is often not recognized but apparent is the initial foreign intelligence involvement in the early birth of these revolutionary movements.

Regardless of their initial birth as engineered opposition movements by foreign intelligence, as has often been the case since the early 20th century, today these freedom movements have taken on a life of their own. They now threaten not only out of favor authoritarian leaders and enemy regimes but in the case of the United States, the modern day empire which covertly spawned the initial birth of the revolutions today.

Don Tapscott below certainly explains the situation in the region far better than I can and this is what we now face in the Middle East.

The real situation is "Revolution is not happening because of the current systems in place, it is happening despite them,” he said. “In the Middle East the old thinking has been support tyrants because they provide stability and keep the oil flowing; the young people are revolting against this very kind of thinking….Technology is enabling revolutions across the Middle East. Young people do not want to be subjects anymore. Until now revolutions have had a leader, technology has changed that," ~ Don Tapscott, the co-author of “Macrowikinomics: Rebooting Business and the World.”

The Law of Unintended Consequences

The US should have learned from Iraq and Afghanistan how the law of unintended consequences from aggressive military, political or covert actions in a complex system like the Middle East can often create undesirable outcomes far different from what was hoped. Just as our invasion of Iraq destroyed the major bulwark against Shiite Iran and actually created another Iranian ally. Also our Afghanistan venture destabilized Pakistan, and today the freedom revolutions are slowly surrounding the House of Saud and the major Persian Gulf oil producing and US debt holding nations. We should also remember how our blind backing of the Shah of Iran and his excesses helped bring about the Iranian Revolution of 1979 and the Khomeini led Islamic state and the problems we are dealing with today.

An excellent analogy of the unintended consequences is the long-term result of Germany introducing Lenin and communism to Czarist Russia during World War One. This was successful in the near term to take Russia out of the war and end Germany's two front war. But the long-term result was a 70 year battle between the communist system and the West which created both the Cold War and contributed to the rise of Hitler in Germany as an alternative against a communist takeover in the 1930's. Even now, most of the fabricated nations in the Middle East were actually created in London and Paris following the Treaty of Versailles and our oil and dollar controlled foreign policies there are a direct result of fake countries and boundaries created following the First World War almost a century ago.

America's Weakest Point is the Persian Gulf

"The importance of maneuvering so your enemy is hit in his weakest points." ~ Sun Tzu's, The Art of War

Although the United States is unassailable from a military standpoint in the region, the Washington dollar and Treasury debt are our weakest points and the entire world knows this.

If you have noticed, whenever Saudi Arabia is mentioned, the establishment news coverage is always followed by a comforting statement stressing how the House of Saud will somehow escape the political change in the region. The fall of the Saudi monarchy or serious unrest in the Shiite oil producing region of Saudi Arabia is the "elephant in the room" that no one wants to discuss or write about and why the threat is being ignored and going unaddressed.

The reason is all of the oil produced in the Persian Gulf region outside of Iran is currently priced in US dollars thus allowing the United States and the Federal Reserve to create more dollars at will. 87% of the oil exported out of the Persian Gulf is priced in US dollars and as I explained last week in The Great Anglo-American Gaddafi Deception, the pricing of oil in dollars is a major contributor to maintaining the dollar's role as the world's reserve currency.

I believe the Washington Treasury debt and US dollar Ponzi scheme would risk collapse if these five nations mentioned above should threaten or seriously consider pricing oil in gold, Euros, SDR's or any other currency other than dollars. In addition, Israel wouldn't survive even with its feared Samson option for more than a few months if the US should lose in the region. Therefore the existence of Israel and the economic survival of the United States, our fiat dollar and the continued rollover of our Treasury debt are very dependent on friendly governments controlled and protected by Washington maintaining power at any price in the Persian Gulf. Thus our economic future is only guaranteed by fake monarchs and Washington backed puppet regimes staying in power in the region. These are authoritarian regimes and dictatorships because the countries are artificial nations with questionable national boundaries. These nation states only began when needed by the British colonial office almost a century ago in London. In fact, the actual delineation of national borders only started with the first oil concessions in the 1930's as the United Kingdom needed to map the different oil deposits and this was when the European modern nation state concept was first forced on the region by European powers.

Washington's Greatest Fear Are the Color Revolutions Sweeping the Middle East

In Libya, the rebels are called the Interim National Council (INC) and apparently run by a former Libyan colonel Khalifa Hifter, who broke with Gaddafi over 20 years ago and has lived a quiet life with no visible means of support only a few miles from CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia.

Remember, the rebel forces were initially at the gates of Tripoli, when any kind of military or even diplomatic action would have overthrown Gaddafi but now once again they have been pushed back and cornered in Benghazi for the second time in several weeks after the use of air power.

Certainly the rebels have sadly been reduced to "dogs of war" and held on a leash by the US and allied elites in order to continue the sideshow action for entertainment and nightly news coverage as the new freedom revolutionaries are taught that victory can only be achieved by working within the confines of the Anglo-American paradigm.

What Will China Do? China can manipulate the foreign policy of the United States in the same way the United States forced the United Kingdom to withdraw its forces back during the Suez crisis. This was in 1956 when the UK, France and Israel invaded Egypt to take control over the Suez Canal. Washington threatened to dump the US Government’s Sterling Bond holdings if Great Britain didn't withdraw troops and the invasion ended.

What Will Iran Do? — They are masters at thinking long-term and I do not believe they will take any action to provoke a wounded beast like the Washington Empire. Iran has not invaded another nation in hundreds of years while you well know America's sordid track record of aggression, drone attacks, aerial bombing and military occupation. Why should they? Their intelligence services were behind the fake weapons of mass destruction evidence in Iraq and they provoked the Bush Administration into invading Iran and toppling their major opponent in the Middle East. They will just sit back and let us do ourselves in.

What Should Americans Do?

• First, we need to audit and eliminate the Federal Reserve which is the vehicle the monetary elites use to enslave our nation and most of the rest of the world.
• Second, follow the real news on the Middle East with alternative news sites and email letters like LewRockwell.com, The Daily Bell and the Swiss Mountain Vision newsletter for which I'm also a contributing editor.
• Third, get as much of your wealth as possible legally and following all of the new reporting requirements out of the threatened fiat dollar currently being destroyed by Washington and the Federal Reserve. Consider other investments, currencies and real estate denominated in the Euro, Swiss franc etc. as well as gold and natural resource stocks. None of your wealth will be safe inside the United States if the dollar status as the reserve currency is compromised by the fall of Saudi Arabia and other friendly governments selling oil for dollars in the region.
• Store large amounts of gold outside the US in protected and safe jurisdictions in Europe, Australia and Switzerland in secure storage programs like Global Gold located in Switzerland.
• Finally oppose all future military activities in the Middle East as the unintended long-term consequences of US control in the region have historically far outweighed any near-term military gain advocated by the Neocons or profits for a few elite controlled financial institutions and international corporations.

If the Saudi Monarchy and other Persian Gulf dictators are overthrown by the current revolutionary movements, the debate will be shifted from should we go to war and occupy the region and restore stability (which actually means they continue to rollover treasury debt and price oil in dollars) to like the trial runs of 9/11 and the Fed induced meltdown, do we choose military action or risk economic and dollar collapse. Both Congress and the American people showed their preference for stability at any price including war and loss of liberties. Therefore I fear our conditioned response is already assured.

In the final analysis, the monetary elites are probably correct that their continued survival and parasitic control over much of the West can only be assured by full occupation of the oil resources of the region rather than depending on the former strategy of authoritarian regimes now shown to be weak and subject to powerful freedom movements.

Although all efforts will be made to stay outside the Moslem Holy cities of Mecca and Medina, a new foreign occupation of the Middle East although cloaked in some UN, NATO or Arab organization agreement will still be seen by the people in the street as another crusade for oil and against the Moslem world. This will be magnified if the US and their former colonial masters also utilize the forces of Israel in this repeat version of the 1956 Suez Crisis and takeover of the Suez Canal.

This kind of action although maybe necessary for the survival of the dollar and oil supplies could begin the end of the West as we know it. But then again, maybe that is the goal of the Anglo-American elites moving toward global governance and control by a few wealthy and powerful families? Maybe they can only succeed in their goals of one world government if they world they govern has become so desperate, poverty stricken and tired of permanent war that we will accept any limitation on our wealth and liberties to just survive.

After all, in the end, most people will sacrifice freedom and liberty for stability. It worked for the Soviet Union, Nazi Germany and since the end of World War Two in the Middle East. Why would this not work in Europe and America?

I guess Benjamin Franklin was right."They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety." We did this after the 9/11 attack, and we again allowed this to happen after the Federal Reserve created bubble and financial meltdown in 2008. I fear if history is any guide, America and the West will follow the same course of action again in the Middle East but this time straight to the slaughter house of perpetual war and the risk of economic poverty at home.

Ron Holland [send him mail] is a contributing editor to the Swiss Mountain Vision Newsletter and Chairman of the Advisory Board of the Foundation for the Advancement of Free-Market Thinking (FAFMT) in Vaduz, Liechtenstein.

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