TDV Week in Review December 23rd, 2012

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You might have noticed that the world didn't end on December 21, 2012. I suppose this is as good a time as any to reveal that I am obsessed with cute cat pictures and absolutey adore "Tard" the Grumpy Cat. So here's a pic to sum up today's sentiments on the glaring lack of an apocalypse... 

Don't get me wrong, good reader. In my adulthood I learned to be a happy person despite a childhood full of indelible humiliations and a world full of governments. I do not crave the end of the world like some sullen teenager. I just long for the end of the world as we have known it.

Tomorrow is my favorite night of the year: Christmas Eve. I don't know about you, but for me Christmas Eve has always been ineffably joyous. The particular flavor of that joy has changed over the years. It was anticipatory when I cared about unwrapping boxes to get to the plastic molded into shapes of he-men or soldiers or war machines. The joy became holy during my lonely adolescent years when Jesus replaced Santa in my life. Ontological reductionism evicted Jesus over a decade ago and has held sway in my heart since. Christmas Eve hasn't felt quite the same. There is just the echo of past happiness and peace.

It's still the happiest night of the year...but it wins against some pretty weak competition. Any thinking anarchist of the capitalist bent can't help but constantly imagine how much better the world would be if it weren't for the state. The truly free world will be one of pristine environments and technological wonder...in which good and amazing things will have become so cheap that humanity will spend most of its time in leisurely pursuits, living scandalously long and happy lives. That world is very likely on its way...but it's still too far off to make out in the distance. All we can see from here is...more state! More violence, more coercion, more hinderance to the progress that the free market keeps trying to bring.

I've been tending to avoid the news of late. But while at the gym I caught a bit of mainstream news blather about the "fiscal cliff". The local news was interviewing a small business owner who wants DC to "do something soon" and come to an agreement to save the economy.

Ha! Asking politicians to save the economy is like asking Bernie Madoff to manage your household budget and John Wayne Gacy to entertain your young sons. Politicians by their very nature and their very presence distort/destroy/sodomize economic order. Politicians create law after law to alter human action and the resulting human interactions we label an "economy". Politicians also steal from the unborn and create economic distortions in the future, kind of like meddling time travelers. Then there is the power they grant to the central bank, literally the mother of all economic clusterlumps. 

And how could I forget: there is the outright theiving of taxation. And with all this talk of "fiscal cliffs", you can expect these goodfellows to ask politely that you give them more of your money. They will do this while their trained human canines point guns at you and as they gesture casually at the federal rape camps that await tax evaders. So happy new year. 

Your "fair share" is about to become a lot "fairer". If you want to prepare for things getting "fairer" and gird your loins against the state's violent shenanigans in the new year, be sure to sign up for our best advice in TDV's weekly dispatch. 

Regards,

Gary Gibson
Editor, The Dollar Vigilante

Only a few days here before Christmas, and if you were hoping the Mayans were right so that you didn’t have to deal with holiday shopping and mall madness, you’re probably reading this on your tablet or phone while hiding in an Old Navy change room. Not to worry, we’ve got your last minute Christmas gift solution: Why not a subscription to TDV? Check out our gifts here.

Here’s what we wrote about this week…

MONDAY, December 17

Video Games: The Government’s New Propaganda Tool

TDV Manager Michael Bach weighs in with a look at how governments are using video games to manipulate a generation.

“Why are video games such a perfect tool for governments and why are governments stepping up their usage of them? Because the Internet generation now have easy access to all information and points of view. Governments don't want kids using the Internet to learn about these things. So governments need to keep kids distracted and under constant brainwashing. A typical American kid might go to school all morning learning about how great America is and how dangerous the rest of the world is, then come home and play some video games like Strategy 2012.”

continue reading…

TUESDAY, December 18

Don’t Worry About Buying Local

TDV Editor Gary Gibson debunks the contrived myth of the “Buy Local” movement.

“The 'buy local' stuff is a fallacy born of short-sightedness and midwifed by a gullibility for trite phrases like 'buy American' and 'support our troops'. First let's look at the argument taken to the absurd levels. Why limit economic transactions to within a certain arbitrary perimeter, like the nation-state or the township? Imagine if your local car dealer only 'bought local', if he refused to buy a car whose materials weren't mined in town, whose parts weren't crafted and put together in the local factory. Same goes for your grocer. What if he only ever bought animal meat or milk or produce from farmers within 10 miles of his shop, even if buying from another 10 miles out allowed him to provide similar quality for lower prices? Or maybe the 'buy local' people and the politicians would be okay if the materials gathered where in the same county, or state, or country? Where does it stop? How many economic bad decisions have to be made to satisfy the arbitrary notion of local-ness? How much higher pricing do we put up with? And what counts as 'local', anyway? What the politicians or your dumb neighbors decide. Why not let the individual consumer decide where and with whom he should spend his money?”

continue reading…

WEDNESDAY, December 19

Gun Control & the Dark Corners of the Internet

Justin O’Connell discusses gun control in the wake of the Newtown tradgedy.

“It’s a broad base in the US now pushing for gun control laws. Not only Democrats, but also Republicans are proposing and supporting measures. California Democrats have already introduced legislation that would mandate background checks and one-year permits for anyone looking to buy ammunition. The one-year permit creates an amazing hassle for owners, but would not deter anyone looking to plan a quick hit from doing so. Clearly, the push for gun control has little to do with preventing tragedy. California is not the only state moving to control the sale of ammunition, as Illinois, Massachusetts, and New Jersey have done the same. The laws generally require a background check and an annual $50 permit to buy any ammunition whatsoever.”

continue reading…

THURSDAY, December 20

Vanishing Data on Tax MIgration

Wendy McElroy on the disappearance of important IRS data from the public eye.

“In 1991, the IRS began to offer statistics on the number of people who relocated from and to every county in America during the preceding fiscal year. When combined with the aggregate incomes of those who relocated, the information gave analysts a sense of how taxation was impacting demographics. In September of 2012, the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research published a report entitled 'The Great California Exodus: A Closer Look'. The report used 'data from the Census, the Internal Revenue Service...and other sources' to 'map in detail where in California the migrants come from, and where they go when they leave the state.' The report also attributed the migration to a series of 'cost drivers' with taxes topping the list.”

continue reading…

FRIDAY, December 21

Feedback Friday – December 21, 2012

Feedback Friday, your chance to ask TDV editors, contributors, and correspondents anything about our articles, our opinions, and the world in general. This week: Galt’s Gulch, US bonds, and “caving to the man”.

read more here...

SATURDAY, December 22

The Weekend Vigilante December 22nd, 2012

Jeff Berwick checks in from the San Marco district of Venice, Italy with his weekly address to TDVers. This week our Editor-in-Chief discusses his European tour, Sandy Hook, surviving the Mayan’s prediction, and more.

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TDV VIDEO

Have a look at our wide array of informative videos featuring interviews, opinions, and analysis on TDV’s media page.

TDV SERVICES

Don't forget, TDV is much more than a newsletter.  We also offer many of the solutions to the problems we identify in the letter to help people internationalize their self and wealth to protect themselves from The End Of The Monetary System As We Know It (TEOTMSAWKI). Check out all our services designed to help you gain more freedom in your life here:

• TDV Passports
• TDV Offshore
• TDV Self-Directed IRAs

I hope you and yours all have a happy holiday season, and be sure to check out TDV’s many last-minute gift offerings! Have a look here.

Thanks as always for reading or subscribing!

Managing Editor

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