Thieves Try To Rob Bank Depositors in Broad Daylight

Previously by Jacob Steelman: A World Currency for World Trade

European and international criminal gangs attempted to rob bank depositors in Cyprus earlier this week should have been the headlines of the failed bailout of Cyprus. Is there any doubt that governments are little more than criminal gangs engaged in theft and murder (e.g. world wars and regional wars)? Austrian economists and libertarians have been saying this for years. Eurozone leaders, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund all agreed to a bailout for Cyprus last St Patrick's Day weekend a large portion of which bailout was to be financed by an immediate imposition of a "stability levy" (tax or otherwise simply known as stealing) on all depositors in Cypriot banks. The political leaders of Cyprus put this to a vote of their parliament presumably on the premise that their agreement as "representatives of the people" would somehow be a vicarious sanctioning of this action by the victims – the bank depositors. Not surprisingly the Cypriot Parliament voted down the proposed bailout and its controversial "stability levy". Surely neither the Europeans nor the Cypriot political leaders thought this would be supported by the people of Cyprus. Thus it must be assumed that this was a trial balloon of the power elite

We now have insight into the extraordinary measures the international power elites are prepared to foist upon the citizens over whom they have power and control. This provides at least a partial explanation why United States government agencies have been purchasing large quantities of military grade weapons and ammunition. After the power elites run up incomprehensible amounts of debt for their malinvestments and misadventures in their various countries as well as for wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and other countries and for communications and housing bubbles from which they reap the monetary rewards they demand the citizens pay for these misadventures through taxes and depreciation of the currency through inflation (i.e. printing of money).

Under the "bailout plan" proposed by the criminal gangs of the European Union and the International Monetary Fund, as a contribution to its bailout the government of Cyprus would be required forcibly to immediately take (i.e. steal) 9.9% of all deposits in Cypriot banks over 100,000 euros and 6.75% of deposits under 100,000 euros. After "extensive negotiations" this was changed to 3% of deposits under 100,000 euros (and an exemption for deposits under 20,000 euros), 10% of deposits over 100,000 up to 500,000 euros and 15% of deposits over 500,000. This tax would apply to depositors who are citizens as well as non-citizens. It is hard to understand the rationale for non-citizens to bear the burden of a bailout of Cyprus other than the infamous rationale of the bank robber Willy Sutton when asked why he robbed banks – "because that is where the money is".

To prevent depositors from withdrawing all their money resulting in a run on all the banks the government of Cyprus declared a bank holiday Monday through Thursday thus preventing depositors from withdrawing their money. There has been an outcry from various governments and financial experts from around the world decrying the bailout package, not because stealing is wrong but because it could give rise to bank runs in other countries which may require bailouts. It would also raise a great deal of scepticism about international efforts towards a cashless economy and the safety of deposits in such a cashless system.

The power elite ministry of propaganda, The New York Times, provided the power elites' spin on why this should not be viewed with alarm by depositors in other countries by declaring Cyprus is unique. According to NYT the depositor friendly (less regulation) banking laws and regulations of Cyprus are to blame because it has attracted a lot of Russian mafia and oligarch money to Cypriot banks. How the NYT is able to differentiate what type of money is on deposit is beyond me. NYT says it is okay for the European and IMF criminal gangs to steal from the Russians as if they are the only depositors to be victims of this theft. But of course the "stability levy" targets not only Russians but applies to all depositors – citizens of Cyprus and non-citizens from whatever country. The criminal gang in the UK immediately came to the rescue of their citizens residing in Cyprus by withholding transfers of pension money to Cypriot banks thereby depriving UK citizens of their money. Lest we think Cyprus is an isolated case the New Zealand government is in the process of passing legislation requiring depositors to participate in funding bank bailouts. Expect to see more of this as this concept spreads around the world.

These are the kind of actions with which people in lesser developed countries are familiar. This is the reason they transact business in cash only and why they have no bank accounts. Depositors should be sceptical of putting their hard earned cash into banks after Cyprus. Mattresses should become the bank of choice for depositors. If cash is eliminated by the government then those preferring cash will require a medium of exchange such as Bitcoin, silver, gold or some other asset demanded by the market.