Dear Ed, First of all, I'm not a tax accountant or a lawyer, and therefore cannot offer a learned opinion on your situation. But, I suspect that if you carefully examine the actual laws governing tax obligations in the United States, as Bob Schulz and numerous others have done, you'll find that you quite possibly don't owe any. On Thursday 14 November 2002, Bob met a crowd of enthusiasts in Washington, DC with the slogan, "No answers = no taxes." I think he has made a very good case that nobody actually owes the taxes that are being extorted, in which case what you say about the Silver Liberty is certainly true of all money.
However, what gave you the idea that Liberty currency isn't taxable? I believe the documentation is quite bold face, on the web site and in the redemption center kit, that the Liberty currency is not a tool for evading taxes. You must acknowledge that you were informed on this matter, I think, as it is more sporting that way. <grin> Taxes at all levels are around 50%, I think, if one counts all import duties, all levels of government, including homeowner association busy bodies, and the many hidden taxes such as gasoline tax and inflation. But, when you consider the economic multiplier effect of taxes, imagine what would happen if taxes were to be eliminated. Prices would drop dramatically, since each shopkeeper and merchant has to charge enough on his goods and services to make his profit, plus that of the government. You pay your taxes, and so does he, so your prices to him are higher and his to you. In the case of government, we can certainly ask James Turk's question: what is the value added? If they have no actual law obligating the paying of taxes, and if they come and take money from your wages or levy your bank account or seize your property, are they not simply thieves? And what is the correct individual property owner's proper response to a thief? Redemption centers are not market makers exactly. They provide local redemption opportunities, and often are also Liberty merchants, accepting the Silver Liberty for products and services. The process of becoming a redemption center is easy, though. You send $250 to NORFED.org, put my name in as your sponsor. NORFED sends me a sponsor fee of $100, and you e-mail me so I can send you $50. (We are using the FRN dollar accounting unit throughout, but I'm happy to pay in dollar's worth of e-gold or in Liberty Dollars if you would prefer; out of respect for James I won't offer GoldMoney; also please understand that my redemption center is my personal business.) As far as "Bernard makes lots" I don't think so. He's a pretty modest guy, with simple needs. He travels around a lot, has a home somewhere on Treasure Island in Florida, and works very long hours. What is vital to know is that Bernard would hang it up tomorrow and walk away happy if the Federal Reserve Act were repealed and the IRS were eliminated. That's what NORFED stands for: the National Organization for the Repeal of the Federal Reserve Act and the IRS. Who here believes that either of those events are going to happen without widespread public education throughout the United States, beginning with a movement to deny the issue power over money to government? I think the number one issue in America today, all of the Hemisphere in fact, is the abuse of monetary power. This abuse is felt in the behavior of the IMF in countries like Ecuador and Bolivia, it is felt most powerfully today in Argentina, and it is experienced in the United States, although few realize what is being done. A very great many Americans, and certainly a huge number of Texans, understand that there is something wrong about the Federal Reserve. The redemption centers certainly stand to make a good return on their investment. Sponsor a few others to be redemption centers, move your monetary behavior into the monetary alternatives, and you'll reap significant rewards. But, so do the people who use metal money (of all kinds) and step away from the precipice of hyperinflation and the destructive power of the authoritarians controlling the currency. If we could pay Bernard enough money and he had the power to wave a magic wand once that amount were paid him, and by that wave of the hand he could make the Federal Reserve Act be repealed and the IRS brought low, how much do you suppose it would be worth to have that happen? What would be the economic implications of that sort of event on the engines of free enterprise? What if he could pay us, instead, to make it happen for him? How much would it be worth, if you were paid to make it happen? The issue of critical mass is actually quite vital. How many people does it take? I do not know. But, I'll tell you this much: who else have we got? If we won't do it, if we won't take control of our monetary power, who will? Put it another way, who already has? Can we afford to leave the issue power of money in the hands of the central bankers and their cronies in government? At that fundamental level, all the online currency operators, all the digital gold people, all the warehouse receipt fans seem to be in agreement. Doug Jackson says as much in his interview with Julian Dibbell for Wired magazine. James Turk has said it here and elsewhere. Jim and Pam Fayed have made clear their personal commitments to individual liberty. Bernard von NotHaus has stood up for freedom. Zeno Dahinden of the e-dinar is also a friend of the Minaret of Freedom. Every week, I get half a dozen messages from Sean Trainor or Terry Neill on the subject of individual liberty as it relates to gold. I've met these people, I've talked with them, I fill my days communicating with them by e-mail, often using PGP because we all know what it is we are attempting to do. At a fundamental level, we are the economic and philosophical heirs of the malcontents who were kicked out of Europe two hundred years ago and "transported" to the colonies. Outcasts and revolutionaries, they chose to create a free enterprise system where, to use the language of James Otis, "A man can stand up and not be afraid of another man's gaze." We can differ all we want about strategy, about patents, about intellectual property and how best to defend it, about whether one monetary instrument is better than another. But, fundamentally, each of the people who are committed to this industry are here because we believe in private property, we believe in free enterprise, and we understand that it matters vitally what we choose to use for money. I know, because I've met these people, I've talked with them, and I know who they are. They identify themselves with their principles. I have found honor and integrity in this industry, in a world beset with corruption and viciousness. The very issues over which the people in this industry are most passionate relate to integrity, certainty, and the long-term viability of their monetary alternatives. It has been my pleasure to travel around the country to meet the leaders of this industry, and in the near future I intend to travel around the world to meet the exchange providers and new leaders like Simon Davis of Pecunix, as well as my friends with the gold dinar project. It has been a pleasure to shake hands with the men and women of this industry because these are self-responsible people who know the meaning of honor. As Thanksgiving Day comes to a close here in Texas, I am thankful that I have had the opportunity to work among such shining examples of humanity. God bless you all. Regards, Jim http://cambist.net/ --- You are currently subscribed to e-gold-list as: archive@jab.org To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Use e-gold's Secure Randomized Keyboard (SRK) when accessing your e-gold account(s) via the web and shopping cart interfaces to help thwart keystroke loggers and common viruses.
