The Weekend Vigilante January 26th, 2012

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Hello from beautiful Acapulco,

Last weekend I proudly stated that for the first time in memory I had not been sent to the back room at Canadian customs in Vancouver.  So much for that streak.

I actually did end up in a back room at the Vancouver airport, but it was as I attempted to egress through US customs a few days later with, unfortunately, a connecting flight through the western version of North Korea.

I was waved forward for my interview with a robot named "Gonzalez".  He spent about 10 minutes reading through all the things that have been written about me at prior interrogations and he then peered at me.

"You ever been arrested?" he prodded.

"No, have you?" I replied.

It was all but over after that.

"I'm the one asking questions here!" he snapped back.

"No, you're not," I replied, knowing I was already going to the back anyway, "I just asked one."

He steamed for a moment.

"Where are you going?" he prodded again.

"I'm just trying to go to Mexico to see my wife and kids," I said.

"You haven't been given permission to do that yet," he said, "I'm the one who decides if you can."

I bit my tongue.

He then tried to explain his actions in a warped, statist robot kind of way.  Perhaps he could see that I was submitting somewhat and felt like explaining himself a bit.

"You'd do the same thing if I came to your country," he said.

I stood perplexed for a moment.

"No, Gonzalez, I wouldn't.  And besides that, I don't have a country."

His brow furrowed and he spent another 10 minutes typing into what now is almost becoming a novel of my interactions with the state.

"We've got some more questions for you," he finally said.  He logged off his computer, took my passport and I then found myself in something that looked like a waiting room with a bunch of bank teller like people.  There was no one else there yet I sat for another 30 minutes as about 5 tellers just sat talking amongst themselves.

Finally one motioned me forward and told me, "We're just going through your bags right now."

"Oh, that's nice," I responded.

Finally a man I hadn't seen before came out of a room, gave me my passport and said I was free to go.

I walked out of the room and he exited behind me.

"Sank your boat, eh?" he chided.

I stopped in my tracks, turned around and said, "Did you just spend the last hour reading about me on the internet?"

"That's my job," he said with a smile and shut the door.

I then had to make a herculean sprint for my flight as my name was called over the intercom, "Last call, Jeff Berwick please report immediately to Gate C40 as you are delaying the flight."

"I'm delaying the flight?" I thought to myself.

SHIT JUST GOT REAL

I've been writing, generally, about the freedom-less world in the west since 2009 and have generally been acknowledged as someone who seems to see the writing on the wall before many others.  I write and speak in a humorous tone with a smile on my face, as I did in this interview I did in Vancouver which almost floored the interviewer (must see video.. especially when she heard my response to her comment that 'Canada has a lot of resources')

Click here or on thumbnail

But, as I read this story on the inflight wifi I realized just how close I came to Guantanamo Bay... or at least a permanent ban from the USSA - which would seriously hinder many travel plans (well, if I didn't have numerous passports) which still connect through the US in this part of the world.

The article details how a 66 year old psychotherapist (picture on right) got banned from ever entering the US again after trying to cross the border from Kanada into the USSA to pick up a friend at a nearby airport.

He got pulled aside for a "random search" and then spent hours in a holding cell while they Googled him.  They finally pulled up an article wherein he recounts how he tried LSD 33 years ago as part of his research and interest into the mind and how certain substances can be of help.

Forget for the moment that LSD was used regularly in experiments by psychiatrists in the US through the 1940s, ’50s and ’60s and that LSD is still, to this day, not considered an illegal narcotic in the US.  They then told him that he had just "admitted" drug use.

The article goes on to recount in typical thoughtless state fashion, ""Admitted drug use is admitted drug use," says Mike Milne, spokesman for U.S. border and protection, based in Seattle."

He was then banned from ever entering the US, for life.

Imagine if my interogator, Gonzalez, had spent even a few minutes reading the Dollar Vigilante blog where I regularly, proudly state that I have tried almost every plant on Earth in a quest for knowledge... or how I consider the government to be a criminal organization.  Or how I am helping USSA slaves defect from the land of the free.

Given my lengthy docket already in the USSA customs computer system I am almost certainly going to get pulled aside again in the future.  And all it would take is a few minutes of reading on the interweb before they find something they can kidnap me for.

So, I am now, even more than before, seriously considering never going to the USSA again for my own safety... and that also means, likely not going to Canada again as there are very few direct flights from Mexico or South America to Canada.

I had already half-made that decision, cancelling appearances at the Chicago Hard Assets show in the fall and even the PDAC conference in Toronto next month.  And, a look at my itinerary shows that most appearances are now in freer countries with a far less chance of being kidnapped like the Bahamas (Global Financial Summit - Feb 6-9) and Belize (Global Escape Hatch - March 6-10).

Sadly, for me, many of the best "freedom" related conferences such as FreedomFest, Porcfest and Libertopia are still held in the USSA.  Though, now, with what is going on, that makes about as much sense as holding them in North Korea given the current state of affairs in the US, where now everything is a crime.  They are even considering making cigarettes illegal in Oregon... another place where I will soon arbitrarily be deemed a criminal.

Heck, even after being in Kanada this week I am wondering whether I should ever return there.  Especially after a bar I was in at 3pm in the afternoon "cut me off" after four drinks.

"Why are you cutting me off, I'm not 'drunk'?" I said.

They responded, "You look a little too happy... and it's the law."

Being a private establishment I adhered to their request and walked outside and lit up a cigarette.  One of the managers ran out of the restaurant like I just shot someone.

"You can't smoke here!" he said.

I looked to my left... right.... up... and even down.  As far as I could tell I was outside.

"You have to smoke across the street," he said, pointing to a sign that said, "No smoking within 30 meters of this establishment."

I sighed and crossed the street where there were a few other restaurants and lit up another cigarette.

A man from inside a restaurant came out like I was raping children.

"You can't smoke out here!" he shouted.

"Why?" I said.

He pointed at his "No Smoking within 30 meters of this establishment" sign and said, "You have to smoke across the street, it's the law!"

I didn't even bother to say anything.  You can't talk to slaves.

UNTIL NEXT WEEK

I'm now safely back in Mexico where a cute young waitress just saw me fumbling for my lighter at the bar and rushed up to light my cigarette.  And I can guarantee you no matter how many drinks I have I will not get "cut off".

So many TDVers and fellow anarchists have now moved down here that it is becoming one big party.  I was unfortunately out of town when many of them went to this Deadmau5 concert:

Click here or on thumbnail

As you can see it is very poor and dangerous here in Mexico.  Ahem.

I seriously suggest you consider getting out of the USSA, Kanada, Europe (and get a foreign passport) and more and move somewhere much more fun and much more free.  We have condos on the beach in Acapulco for less than $70,000.  And are very close to starting pre-sales for Galt's Gulch in Chile.

As for the USSA and the other western countries, they are becoming far too dangerous to live... and even to visit.

Anarcho-Capitalist.  Libertarian.  Freedom fighter against mankind’s two biggest enemies, the State and the Central Banks.  Jeff Berwick is the founder of The Dollar Vigilante, CEO of TDV Media & Services and host of the popular video podcast, Anarchast.  Jeff is a prominent speaker at many of the world’s freedom, investment and gold conferences as well as regularly in the media including CNBC, CNN and Fox Business.