Read This Or Die of Poverty What happens when black markets, due to calamity, become a pillar of survival for a society? What happens when the mainstream economy no longer meets the available demand? What happens when this condition has been deliberately engineered by the power structure to hasten cultural desperation and dependence? In this event, black markets not only sustain a nation through times of weakness, but they also become a form of revolution; a method for fighting back against the centralization of oppressive oligarchies and diminishing their ability to bottleneck important resources. Black markets are a means of fighting back, and are as important as any weapon in the battle for liberty. Here are just a few reasons why such organizational actions may be required in the near future… The Mainstream Economy Is Slowly Killing Us There are, unfortunately, some Americans out there who have not caught on yet to the grave circumstances in which we live. Obviously, the stock market seems to have nearly recovered from its epic collapse in 2008 and 2009, and employment, according to the Labor Department, is on the mend. The numbers say it all, right? Wrong! The numbers say very little, especially when they are a product of “creative mathematics”. Despite the extreme spike in the Dow Jones since 2010, and all the talk of recovery, what the mainstream rarely mentions are the details surrounding this miraculous return from the dead for stocks. One of the most important factors to consider when gauging the health of the markets is “volume”; the amount of shares being traded and the amount of investors active on any given business day. Since the very beginning of the Dow’s meteoric rise, the markets have been stricken with undeniably low volume interspersed with all too brief moments of activity. In fact, this past January recorded the lowest NYSE volume since 1999: bloomberg/news/2012-01-23/stock-trading-is-lowest-in-u-s-since-2008.html Market volume has tumbled over 20% since last year, and is down over 50% from 2008 when the debt implosion began: blogs.wsj/marketbeat/2012/02/24/trading-volume-anemic-this-year/ So then, if trade is sinking, why has the Dow jumped to nearly 13,000? Low volume is the key. In a low volume market, less individual investors are present to counteract the buying and selling of larger players, like international banks. When this happens, the big boys are able to trigger market spikes, or market drops, literally at will. Add to this the high probability that much of the stimulus that the Federal Reserve has regurgitated into the ether probably ended up in the coffers of corporate banks which then used the funny money to snap up equities, and presto! Instant market rally! But, a rally that is illusory and unstable. Improving employment numbers are yet another financial hologram. As most of us in the Liberty Movement are well aware, the Labor Department does not calculate true unemployment in the U.S. Instead, it merely calculates those people who currently receive unemployment benefits. Once a person hits the extension limit (99 weeks in many states) on his benefits, he is removed from the rolls, and is no longer counted in the “official” unemployment percentage. While Barack Obama and MSM pundits are quick to point out the drop in jobless to 8.3%, what they conveniently fail to mention is that MILLIONS of Americans have been unemployed for so long that they have been removed from the statistics entirely, and this condition is what has caused the primary fall in jobless percentages, not burgeoning business growth. Roughly 11 million Americans who are jobless have nonetheless been excluded from the statistical government tally because of a loss of benefits: dailycaller/2012/02/17/white-house-economic-report-hides-sharp-drop-in-number-of-working-americans/ According to the Congressional Budget Office, over 40% of the currently unemployed have been so for over 6 months. It also points out that America is suffering the worst case of long term unemployment since the Great Depression: cbo.gov/sites/default/files/cbofiles/attachments/02-16-Unemployment.pdf More than 10.5 million people in the U.S. also receive disability payments, which automatically removes them from the unemployment count, making it seem as though jobs are being created, rather than lost: foxnews/politics/2012/02/19/report-millions-jobless-file-for-disability-when-unemployment-benefits-run-out/ Around 8.2 million Americans only work part time, meaning they work less hours than are generally considered to be necessary for self-support. These people are still counted as “employed” even if they work a few hours a week. True unemployment, according to John Williams of Shadowstats, is hovering near 23%: shadowstats/alternate_data/unemployment-charts Combine these circumstances with the ever weakening dollar, price inflation in foods and other commodities, and rocketing energy costs, and you have an economy that is strangling the life out of the middle-class and the poor in this country. It is only a matter of time before the populace begins searching for alternative means of subsistence, even if that entails “illegal” activities. Government Cracking Down On Freedom Of Trade I was recently walking through the parking lot of a grocery store and ran into a group of women huddled intently around the back of a mini-van. One of the women was reaching into a cooler and handing out glass containers filled with milk. I approached to ask if she was selling raw milk, and if so, how much was she charging. Of course, they turned startled and wide eyed as if I had just stumbled upon their secret opium ring. Somehow it had slipped my mind how ferocious the FDA has become when tracking down raw milk producers. The fact that these women were absolutely terrified of being caught with something as innocuous as MILK was disturbing to me. How could we as a society allow this insanity on the part of our government to continue? That moment reminded me of the utter irrelevance of petty law, as well as the determination of human beings to defy such law. The Orwellian hammer has been thrust in the face of those who trade in raw milk, organic produce, and herbal supplements, while small businesses are annihilated by government dues and red tape. In the meantime, law enforcement officials have been sent strapped to shut down children’s lemonade stands (no, seriously): cbsnews/2100-500164_162-20079838.html Government legislation which would give the FDA jurisdiction over personal gardens has been fielded. Retail gold and silver purchases of over $600 are now tracked and taxed. The IRS even believes it has the right to tax barter exchanges, even though they do not explain how bartered goods could be legally qualified as “income”, or how they can conceive of ever being able to trace such private trade: irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=205581,00.html Want to choose what kind of currency you would like to use to protect your buying power? Not if the Department Of Justice’s Anne Tompkins has anything to say about it. After the railroading of Liberty Dollar founder Bernard von NotHaus, she stated: “Attempts to undermine the legitimate currency of this country are simply a unique form of domestic terrorism…” “While these forms of anti-government activities do not involve violence, they are every bit as insidious and represent a clear and present danger to the economic stability of this country,” she added. “We are determined to meet these threats through infiltration, disruption, and dismantling of organizations which seek to challenge the legitimacy of our democratic form of government.” fbi.gov/charlotte/press-releases/2011/defendant-convicted-of-minting-his-own-currency As our economic situation grows increasingly precarious in this country, more and more people will turn towards localized non-corporate, non-mainstream business methods and products. And, the government will no doubt attempt to greatly restrict or tax these alternatives. This mentality is driven in part by their insatiable appetite for money, but mostly, it’s about domination. They do what they do because they fear decentralized markets, and the ability of the citizenry to conceive of choices outside the system. Slaves are not supposed to choose the economy they will participate in… A “black market” is only a trade dynamic that the government disapproves of, and the government disapproves of most things these days. Frankly, its time to stop worrying about what Washington D.C. consents to. They have unfailingly demonstrated through rhetoric and action that they are not interested in the fiscal or social health of this nation, and so, we must take matters into our own hands.
Posted on: Mon, 17 Jun 2013 19:07:26 +0000
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