Use the Dollar or Else

[AGgressive Metal]

Use the Dollar or Else

by Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr.


Look up the phrase "a unique form of domestic terrorism" on a search engine and you will turn up a story about a man whom the US government is trying to cage from now until the time of his death.

And his crime? His unique form of terrorism? He minted silver and copper coins and sold them. In other words, he did what innumerable entrepreneurs from the beginning of time have done. He attempted to provide consumers with a store of value. No one was forced to buy. He met a market demand, and that’s it.

Whom did he hurt? No one. Unlike illegal drugs, which the government bans on grounds that it doesn’t want us to hurt ourselves, these silver coins did not endanger their users. They only gave people an option on what to do with their money. Did the proprietor attempt to claim that these were legal tender for monetary exchange? No, he sold them for what they are.

Could people use them for money? Yes, but people can use anything for money: shoes, shells, flash drives, or books. Whether something is money or not depends on the intentions behind the exchange. Do you acquire something to consume it? It is not money. Do you acquire something in order to trade it for something else? In that case, it takes on money-like properties.

It is wholly understandable that people have doubts about the future of the paper dollar. Many people are seeking alternatives, in their own financial interest. What this proprietor did was provide something that turned out to be a possible alternative to the dollar. And for that, and that alone, he is being hounded and destroyed.

His name is Bernard von NotHaus and he is 67 years old. In the course of the proceedings, he was called every name imaginable. He was called a crook, a terrorist, a crank, and a crazy man. What he actually did, however, should be fully legal and encouraged in any nation, in all times and all places.

A nation that is confident about its money’s future would not fear currency competition. A nation with a dying money uses every possible means to crush the competition. That is precisely what is happening in the case of the so-called Liberty Dollar.

What’s striking here is that no one believes there is any reason to argue the point. It is obvious to his persecutors that he is a criminal. "He's playing on a core idea of the radical right, that evil bankers in the Federal Reserve are ripping you off by controlling the money supply," said Mark Potok of the Southern Poverty Law Center. "He very much exists in the world of the anti-government patriot movement, whatever he may say. That's who his customers are."

And what is the interest of the SLPC in this case? This is a group that claims to be about stopping hate and racism – and this has something to do with opposing poverty. And yet here they are intervening in a case in which a man is actually trying to prevent people from being impoverished. As for the Fed, it is not exactly an act of hate to point out that the Fed controls the money supply. Bernanke himself admits this!

The government has made no bones about the foundation of its case. Citing a Civil War-era law, prosecutors say that it is a crime to compete with the official dollar. Note that they are not citing the U.S. Constitution, which nowhere prevents such a thing. In fact, private coinage has a rich history in the U.S. It was essential when the West was being settled. Providing coinage services was as common as any other trade.

But since 1971, when the dollar became all paper, there has been a sense that its viability needs the backing of federal guns in order to thrive. This attitude is inconsistent with freedom. The right of private coinage is an essential part of free enterprise. Currency competition, especially in a digital age, is something that every country needs.

As Seth Lipsky wrote in the Wall Street Journal, "it's a loser's game to suppress private money that is sound in order to protect government-issued money that is unsound."

Precisely. As Lipsky points out, NotHaus operated very close to the line in terms of legality. He put the dollar sign on his coins, for example, and sold them with numbers. I can’t comment on his business dealings or the integrity of his operations. But this much is clear: the grounds on which he is being hounded are egregious and tyrannical.

Allowing for alternative currencies is not terrorism. It is a path to monetary reform, merely an application of the principle of free enterprise to a sector that should have never fallen so completely to government control. The people who are working to provide alternatives should not be jailed; they should be celebrated in every country that values freedom.

April 6, 2011

Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr

[timmus0382]

OHH how this makes my blood boil!!! I hope he gets off and doesnt have to do time. And why are they just going after this guy?

I found a couple of old Liberty rounds that could have possibly been made by this guy, I need to go back and pick them up.

Check out BerkShares, why arent these people being tried

http://www.berkshares.org/index.htm

[Know Common Cents]

Look at a place like Disney World. Their use of the so-called Disney Dollars in various denominations is pretty wide throughout the entirety of the theme park. I don't particularly like going there, but my family does, so I practice tolerance to having Mickey and Minnie put their arm around me for a photo op.

The theme park itself is bigger than many cities in the US and there are many private companies within its boundaries that also accept the DDs, too. What a great way to make real FRNs as most everyone saves a few of them as souvenirs to take home and remember their visit. Printing something that's accepted by thousands of people each day that circulates at parity with the US buck? I wish I had that ability.

Point is, there's a difference between this and the establishment of a medium of exchange that's rooted in intrinsic value, not paper. Give me gold, silver or other PMs and I'll accept them at their prevailing value at the time of exchange. Can a country justify jailing a person for coining recognizable trade units made of constitutional, lawful money? Sad commentary on our society.

The only barterable and universally accepted paper is the stuff that comes on a roll.

[Mossy]

His only mistake, IMO, was in making his product so much like regular US money. Not a "mistake" like he did something wrong. A mistake like, he left himself vulnerable to this type of charge. Should have called them "quatloos" or something.

"Ameri-marks"? "Duck-its"?

[AGgressive Metal]

Mossy, that is true, but I think he was intentionally pushing the envelope and was prepared all along to be a martyr. He wanted something that would be close enough to what people were used to that it would catch on in general society outside just the "patriot" and precious metals community. There was over $20 million in circulation and that would have probably been $100 million in a few more years. That is why they went after him, because it was good enough that it just might have worked. "Berkshares" aren't a threat because they are limited to one city and are backed 95% with FRNS, so they aren't a separate form of money in any real way.

[Mossy]

Could be, could be.

Maybe he is planning on getting the ruling overturned on appeal... Big risk. The feds are really over using that "terrorist" bit.

[crash]

I hope he gets off, too. I managed to pick up a 2005 1 oz silver Liberty Dollar for $2.00 over spot yesterday.