Who Kidnapped Who?
Friday, September 9, 2011 at 6:36PM I write to you today again from the back seat of my rental car on my way back to the beautiful city of Guadalajara and then Cabo.
After a long night at the police station and spending the morning at the lawyers (the below photo was taken from my hotel at the crack of dawn this morning in Tepic) we have successfully bailed out my driver. The total bail is actually much less than all the other costs in this fiasco. I don’t know if that makes me happy or angrier. Bail was the equivalent of $250.
;)
Tepic Centro at Dawn
It turned out the guy who he supposedly kidnapped died years ago… from alcoholism. How ironic is that. He had charged my driver with kidnapping for taking him, on request of his family, to a detox center. Then he later dies from alcoholism. Meanwhile, years later, my driver sits in a jail cell in Tepic and I end up going on an irritating journey just to retrieve my car.
Total cost?
- 3 round-trip air tickets (the car is in my fiancés name so she had to go as well) from Cabo to Guadalajara $800
- 1 night - 2 hotel rooms $200
- Rental car $70
- Bail $250
- Lawyer $900
Notice the lawyer cost more than any of it… for maybe 7 or 8 hours of total work (and that was after I talked him down from $1,800!).
As usual, all of this was caused by the government, centralized, non-free market “police system”. In a free market policing system there is no way this 6 year old “kidnapping” charge would have lasted in the system this long. Nor would it have likely even been accepted by the contract enforcers as they would see he is a drunk who had no real case.
The real kidnapping occurred in Tepic when the police kidnapped my driver and placed him in a cage and stole his (my) car… a car which we are still trying to get out. The lawyer tells us, “it’s easier to get people out than cars”. I actually wanted my car more than I wanted to get him out, so that one went against me.
Speaking of the lawyer, what a ridiculous system it is that we have government kidnappers (cops) and people have to go to school for eight years and spend a lot of money just to be able to deal with them (lawyers). Then they can charge people large sums just because they have the capability to actually deal with the system.
The whole thing is criminal… from the kidnapping of my driver, theft of my car and then the entire system that has grown up around it, including the lawyers, judges and prison systems.
Senorita DelgaditaAs I sat in the police station last night waiting for the one woman who was on duty (picture to the right) I watched the incredibly heavily armed police come in and out from “searching for narcos”. I made sure to say just loud enough each time as they walked by, “Este Guerra de drogas esta ridiculo” (this war on drugs is ridiculous).
I even made sure to say this to the lawyer we hired… how the war on drugs is a complete abomination and crime against humanity. He just lowered his head and shrugged. To him, you see, the war on drugs is good. Lots of clients. He’s got blood all over his hands but he just lies to himself and whores himself out for money in a sick system. Actually, I shouldn’t use the word whore to describe him. Whores provide an incredibly valuable free-market service for a reasonable, negotiated price.
At least in this particular case, my driver was actually charged with a crime that had a victim (the supposed kidnappee). Most crimes nowadays don’t have a victim. Of course, there is no such thing as a “victimless crime”. Except in the eyes of the criminal state.
For those interested, this is a good example of how criminal acts would be handled in a free-market system. See Part I: Principles here. And in Part II: Conflict Resolution it discusses how disputes can be handled without government.
Anyway, once again, the state has wasted my time and stolen a fair amount of my money...
I played this song on my iPhone most of the trip back to burn off some of my anger at my time and money wasted. For those who don't understand Spanish, it is a Mexican rap group that is incredibly anti-government and anti-police. It's a great track as well, even if you don't understand the words.
You can check it out here: "Molotov - Gimme Tha Power"
I just arrived back in Cabo now. I see Obama came up with a great plan to spend even more money he doesn't have to "create jobs" last night. Hey, Barack, if government spending creates jobs, why not spend ten times that amount and get the jobless rate down to 0% and we'll all be employed and well off?
The funniest part is that he just finished going through the motions on the whole "deficit cut debate" where they actually didn't make any cuts. Then, literally a few weeks later, he says he is going to "spend" $400 billion more to "create jobs". Don't worry, though. He says the $400 billion will come out of the spending cuts they didn't do.
Yeesh.
Maybe I would have been better of in the jail in Tepic. I wouldn't have to listen to that ignoramus. I suppose in a way we should thank him though. He is doing everything perfectly for our gold-laden portfolios and is hastening the demise of the US Government. Maybe we should become his biggest fan.
Nah. All the gold in the world couldn't make me genuinely like that guy.
Next Week from Toronto
This concludes a very Mexican week on the blog. Next week I'll be heading to Toronto for the Toronto Resource Investment Conference. So, next week we'll have some Canadian flavoured (that's how they spell flavor in Canada) meanderings, likely starting with my obligatory shake down by the border guards.
Have a great weekend!
Reader Comments (11)
Have a good weekend
Saludos!
Too bad you didn't have more time to enjoy and explore the state of Nayarit!
You might have done the following:
Visited Cream Minerals flagship silver/gold property.
Visited just north of Tepic the premier largemouth bass fishing lake in Mexico called Agua Milpa. I fished it in 2000 but now the fish are much bigger and more abundant.
You twice drove past the village of Tequila where they produce much of that fine drink. A tour of the vintage distilleries is great fun!
Next to Tequila is the village of Magdalena....in the heart of the Opal mining district, where you can fine many shops with incredible opal items.
But then, with your wife along your adventure may have cost much more!
hasta la vista!
I enjoyed your newsletter as I usually do. I'm commenting as I usually do not do, however, because there is something that I disagree with. I believe that the YouTube video, "Law without Government, Part Two: Conflict Resolution in a Free Society," that you linked to does not describe an anarchist system, but rather a system of competing governments.
The "Dawn Defense" organization and "Tanna Justice" organization in the video both qualify as governments, despite how they compete and how they get their funding by means other than taxation. The reason why they are still governments and not just private dispute resolution or arbitration organizations, is because they still possess political power.
At 4:20 in the second video the narrator says that Dawn Defense can threaten to use force against Bill if necessary to collect the $10,000 is restitution for his act of theft. This is political power that is not acceptable in a truly anarchist free society. If Bill had agreed to follow Dawn Defense's rulings at some point (and agreed to allow Dawn Defense to use force against him should he not follow their ruling), then the use of coercion to extract the $10,000 from Bill would be justified, but if Bill never agreed to such things, then it is unjust for Dawn Defense or anyone else to use physical coercion to extract restitution from Bill for his crime.
If someone manages to get away with a crime and does not agree to pay up for it (such as Bill in the video refusing to pay the $10,000), then it is not legitimate to use force against him to make him pay restitution. That is political power. That is a mark of government. In an truly free society (not the "free society" described in the video), economic ostracism could be employed to "enforce" (non-violently) the ruling.
Bill might feel the need to pay the $10,000 voluntarily because doing so would be better for him than facing the ostracism by the many people in his society that agree with Dawn Defense's ruling that he committed the act of theft and should pay restitution for it.
So while the system of competing governments in the video would surely be a lot better than what we have now, it does not quite reach the point of what I am advocating as an anarchist, and what I believe you (as an anarchist as well) mean to advocate.
Did anyone else notice this?
You seam like you have a few brain cells left that are questioning things still.
If there are people in society ( a society of any sort ) that are given money by others without appearing to be threating in any way, then be suspicious maybe they have cohirsted for so long now they just get it because of the violent crimes they have committed in the past.
If something seams so easy it often is not.
Take tic tac toe for exemple. The first move should always win , but people who think they are smart still lose tic tak toe.
Take chess for example, it should be easy to beat a computer if you are white , it should be harder with black, but sometimes people play chess for an hour and the first move is meaningless. But it is not. the reason there are so many secrets ( haha ....... ) is because history repeats itself on and on. The powerful lose there power. They always do they just get better at regaining it, because they have done it before, but as soon as things are too easy, BOOM they lose it. Look what happened in Iran, the clericks were talking to eachother in persia talking about this white boy who took over the empire without anyone realizing. Hence End of persia, they are back or sure trying. Osama Bin Laden never orchatrated 9 11, he fianced stuff ( ort his family did ) but it was this "freedom powerful clerk from Iran that told him he is partners ( hint hint, Iran is the reason for 9 11, learn anything yet ????????? )
The definition of government is a territorial monopoly. It is not merely the use of force but the monopolistic use of force that define the state. It is the only one allowed to use coercion. Anarchy is not lawlessness. There has to be someone that provides law and security because these are things people want and need. So either we have a monopoly or competing agencies. You can't outlaw force altogether. The non-aggression principle is not same as the pacifist doctrine. The former just means to outlaw the "initiation" of unjustified violence. Some believe a better name for this kind of society is a private law society to emphasize that freedom is not lawlessness. The key factors distinguishing these agencies from statist institutions is their accountability, susceptibility to competition and voluntary subscription. They are driven by profits not force.
Ed BUgos