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 THE LIBERTARIAN ENTERPRISE Number 633, August 21, 2011 "Country folks are different than city folks."
Special to L. Neil Smith's The Libertarian Enterprise One of the greatest benefits that can come from secession is predictability. No one ever talks about this, and even I haven't mentioned it before. But predictability will be a welcome recompense to the state that secedes and designs its new government correctly. Eventually, the American government will collapse, either from (a) the rejection of the dollar as world reserve currency, or (b) the collapse of the world bond market, or (c) hyperinflation. Either of the first two would be sudden and catastrophic... the third would be drawn out and catastrophic. The time frame of the Federal Government collapse is not predictable, but the surety of the event is. The collapse will bring economic chaos, riots and burned cities, and rampant crime. Starvation and disease will kill millions across America... most severe in the places where populations are most dense. Shortly thereafter, pro-secession citizens, survivalists, and contrite politicians will finally begin to see the practicality and efficacy of secession. At that point it will be obvious to all that Washington has no answers, and that the regulation, taxation and overt fascism that emanated from DC actually caused the grand America experiment to end after only 230-plus years. But do not blame Washington entirely... DC is a mirror held up to show the reflection of a nation that wanted something for nothing. States will secede from the Union and become brand new nations. I predict that the first to secede will be Texas. After that, it's anyone's guess. Those responsible for the New Texas nation will likely call a constitutional convention and rewrite the Texas Constitution to better serve a sovereign nation in the early part of the 21st century. And those doing the rewriting should be made mindful of the importance of predictability in their new nation. The most crucial predictability will be found in the method of taxation chosen by the new nation and the type of money the new nation creates. Since 2008, when the Bush bailouts and Federal stimulus packages began occurring, the American economy has been in a severe recession. Washington has been writing laws and spending money wildly, writhing like a monster in a fire. America's business class has noticed, and they see a Federal Government that will enact a law or a tax today that may be repealed or superceded tomorrow. A business cannot afford to ignore the unpredictability of business regulation or the business tax code. They see Washington react, not act. And Washington's reactions are always wrong, because the reactions are founded in a philosophy that government is the answer. In a situation in which a business cannot reasonably plan for the future, the business will exhibit hesitancy and reticence in all it does. Think about it. If you own a business, and you don't know how the Obama Health Care law or a new EPA or OSHA regulation is going to affect your business, would you take a chance on hiring new people when there is so much unknown that could ruin your business? If you price your product competitively, but the inflation rate increases from 5% annually to 5% a month... how do you stay in business? How do you protect your profit margin? How do you make plans for a month from now, much less make plans for 12 months from now? It is no different for individuals. Unpredictability causes chaos. Wages have lagged behind inflation for 40 years. All of us that saved money for retirement have seen inflation eat out our substance, and have watched the markets tumble, drastically shrinking our retirement money. It is impossible for the average person to save and invest enough money in this present uncertain economy to have a comfortable retirement... with or without Social Security. But the same question about inflation affects the individual; how do you budget your income and expenses when inflation jumps from 5% annually to 5% a month... or 5% a week? The most profound source of future predictability will be found in a monetary system built around gold and silver. Why? Because gold/silver money prevents government from spending more then they take in. Period. "Hard currency" eliminates inflation. Do you understand what I'm saying here? All of us that are 80 years old and younger have lived our entire lives under a government monetary system that includes inflation. Inflation has been as familiar to us as oxygen. We have lived our lives hearing about the inflation rate... some years high, some years low... but never nonexistent. We have never experienced a money that does not lose value over time. When we consider a return on an investment, we always subtract the inflation rate from the gross return to find the net return. In a nation without inflation, the gross return IS the return on investment. What would you do if you knew that the money you saved this year would have the same value in 20, 30, or 40 years? Answer... the amount you had to save for retirement would be considerably less than in the American economy now. For the average citizen, that would mean more cash available today that is not being deferred until "tomorrow." More cash today means a higher standard of living. Anybody out there against a higher standard of living? Want to know the real reason the world stock markets are fluctuating wildly? There is one reason. The world reserve currency is the US Dollar, and its value is entirely unpredictable. The next big source of predictability is taxation. A state that becomes a new nation must stop thinking like the serf state it was, and begin to think thoughts of independence and sovereignty. I have written extensively about taxation, and I am promoting the national sales tax as the only source of tax revenue for the new nation. Set the tax rate in the constitution at 10% on all transactions. No more property taxes, ad valorem taxes, tariffs, excise taxes... no other taxes of any kind. No subsidies, no exemptions for anyone. The tax revenue will flow into the nation's treasury, and the new nation can pay for all government programs... city, county, township, police, fire, militia, courts, etc... the national treasury pays for it all. Of course, this would also require the new nation to drastically slash the services it provided in order to live within its means. Finally, as the new nation crafts new laws, it should keep the principle of predictability in mind. When individuals and businesses can plan for the future knowing that the money will not lose value, that taxation is not going to increase, or that regulations are not going to restrict their individual liberty and property rights, they will enjoy a predictability that none of us living have ever known or experienced. Don't ever underestimate the importance that predictability could have in your life. Secession is the Hope For Mankind. Who will be first? DumpDC. Six Letters That Can Change History.
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