The Dollar Vigilante Interviewed by Cambridge House

Hello all,

I am on a flight from LA to the Dominican Republic at the moment but thought you might find this video of interest.  It was an interview I did at the Vancouver Resource Investment Conference.  Here is how Cambridge House described the interview:

In an entertaining conversation with anchor Bridgitte Anderson, self-described anarchist Jeff Berwick bemoans on the "debt fantasyland" the Western World is mired in, reveals the foundations of his conversion to a libertarian and anarchist worldview and, in his most controversial statement, declares, "...everything Obama does is unconstitutional!"

Comments

[Opperdienaar]

The thing that finally nailed it for me is the fact that statistically the biggest chance of dying violently in the last 100 years world wide, was being killed by your own government. Being killed by your neighbors government was number 2. Governments killed 200 million people. That fact, for me, took it out of the academic notion that government=violence and taxation=theft. It is hard for people to see the violence, like my mother always says:I don't see government people with guns running on the streets.
They send blue envelopes (over here)

[Lizzie]

Jeff you are amazing!! I am going to send this interview to everyone I know!! You might actually get through their dense government controlled skulls, and you don't come across as a nut job, (that helps)... Thanks a million for all your efforts. We do appreciate. Lizzie, South Africa...

[George Silver]

Somebody who thinks exactly like me although I've been doing it slightly longer now being 70 years old.
The sheep are slowly beginning to see the fence around the enclosure and are getting the idea that freedom lies on the other side.
Unfortunately most people are scared of thinking for themselves.

[Hussain Fahmy]

Money supply should be created in co-ordination with GDP and with the proven reserves of the natural resources of a country. The strength or weakness of a Fiat currency is on the purchasing power, that is; determined by the demand and supply of a country's produce. Remember how the Barter system was formed in the early days before paper money was invented. Today it has evolved to digital bits and bytes. There is not enough physical Gold or Silver to use as a medium of exchange.

[Shane]

@ Opperdienaar

It really is that simple...its amazing how many people make things more complicated than the truth.

[Jeff Berwick]

Hussein: You've been brainwashed by the Keynesians. Even if there was only one ounce of gold in the world, it'd be enough to be money. They tell you that so you accept their debt slave paper. Also, the money supply does not need to be constantly increased, that's more propaganda. If you were on an island with 10 people and you fished, another guy got coconuts and others did other similar things and you all traded, would you need to constantly increase the money supply to survive? Of course not. Time to wake up, amigo.

[Shane]

@ Hussein

You're not realizing the divisibility factor of gold (or any other commodity or even virtual commodity)...

An ounce of gold can be broken down into grams and grams into grains, etc.

In a free-market there would likely be MULTIPLE kinds of competing monies anyways...and no shortage of facilitators for conducting trade.

[fader]

Hi Jeff I've been reading your blog for a long time. I am a fellow Canadian who has worked in Korea for the last 7 years.

I have about $400,000 worth of Koean Won in savings (400,000,000 Won). I have really been able to save lots of money here, but I am not an investor by any means.

I wonder your opinion of the Korean Won down the road? Am I vulnerable by keeping all my money in the local currency. Any thought and suggestions would be nice.

[Hussain Fahmy]

Jeff: Are we forgetting the size of the world economy. Cross border trade. Your logic applies in a Barter system. However we have moved into a more complicated financial/economic system. Not every country's money supply is created out of Debt. The economic system we have adopted in the UAE is backed by solid tangible income producing assets. Currency is only a medium of exchange and we, the people put a value to it and set the price of a commodity through collective measure. We should research and study the authentic Islamic economic system. BTW we love this Blog.

Shane: I agree with the divisibility and the possibility of an electronic means of transaction, which enables fraud. Try carrying a grain of Gold around for practical purposes. A change in the monetary system is inevitable.

[Opperdienaar]

@hussein Explain to me how Jeff's logic only works in a barter system? People who see freedom as the only consistent 'system' in which no man has to obey at gunpoint to another man, do not have any objection against money. Usually not even against the prevelent form of money, debt based money. We would argue however that people are not likely to freely chose fiat moneys. If an institution borrows 1000 units into existence, but demands 1050 units back, there will always be chronic shortages, which they then have to combat by issuing more debt based money. The institute that has a monopoly on issuing this money, will always increase it's powers and assets.
History has shown that governments that tried to stick to hard money, have always given up in the end, since it limits their spending and as the fiat currencies around them lose value, the exports of their tax slaves becomes to expensive and imports become too cheap, destroying their industries. This could be avoided by reducing wages in the hard currency (not a problem, since everything becomes cheaper anyway), but this is usually prohibited by minimum wage laws and other legal provisions.

[Hussain Fahmy]

@Opperdienaar: In an island with 10 people or a small number of people can effectively trade their goods and services with a mutually agreeable trade off. My fish for 2 coconuts. This worked for a while until we shifted to Gold as a medium of exchange. My point is when the population increases and with that more goods and service are produced in the market place; the Law of supply and demand says as the supply of money of claims increases relative to the supply of tangible assets in the economy. The disparity occurs when the Federal Reserve issues Bonds without being backed by tangible wealth rather by the promise to payout by future tax revenues.

Where we live nobody points a gun at us. The vested authorities point a gum at those who threaten peace and harmony. In our system of finance we do not borrow rather we participate on a profit and loss on trade. We do not create wealth out of thin air. You are describing the Zionist economic system and probably you are a victim as well. As long as the they have control of your monetary system they will rule you with the fear weapon. This "fear weapon" is invoked in numerous ways, for example through the control of money and debt, and the conditions of its distribution for basic survival needs. Another very major and pervasive deployment of fear is through the media, who portray a vengeful, jealousy, whose much more insidious application of control through fear created in the last couple of decades, particularly in and by the USA, is the so called "war on terror", which seeks to make people feel fearful and insecure so that the "controllers" can exert all manner of oppressive and invasive controls over the people. Please note however, although all Zionists are Jews, not all Jews are Zionists. We are living in two different worlds. In my world we are accountable to our actions to the one who created us.

[Opperdienaar]

@hussein
"Where we live nobody points a gun at us. The vested authorities point a gum at those who threaten peace and harmony."
I think you have not carefully thought this through (as I had not). Government always and everywhere has a monopoly on violence. That means that the salary of the police is paid by taxpayers effectively at gun point. When government issues a new law or requires a business to have a license (say to sell alcohol), and the bussiness owner would proceed without their license, he will be shut down with force at gunpoint. This is effectively a robbery, since the bussines owner was only voluntary dealing with other people using his own property.
As such you obey them at gun point, not for their wisdom but for their forrce.

[Hussain Fahmy]

@Opperdienaar: I beg to differ; not all governments have a monopoly on violence. We know some thrive on it and as a result frustration, unemployment, food stamps, deception, trillions of public wealth spent on destroying the lives of Millions of people thousands of miles away around the world. Our Leaders are not power hungry. Here the citizens/residents have never PAID any Income/Wealth/Inheritance TAXES ever. So salaries have to be pitched in from the fees levied from the users of a particular service that offered. Our Law enforcement officers are highly paid and rewarded for ethical behaviour. They have a deep conscience to serve their people irrespective of nationality.

You fail to see the positive effects of licensing and competency issues related to it. This could be because you are focussed on individual freedom rather than collective Human Rights. What we are witnessing in the West is the return to the Law of the Jungle. Sad but true. Values are replaced with Brute Force. In conclusion please ADDRESS THE ROOT CAUSE and learn to apply the wisdoms in the Last Testament.

[Opperdienaar]

@hussain,
Wel we differ about our views of reality. Although your government is maybe less totalitarian power hungry than most western ones are at them moment, I think this is only temporarily. The west used to have a lot of freedom also, it resulted in a lot of wealth being created, then a lot of it taxed, then an empire built. The state always grows.
Although I do not know the particulars of your government (UAE ?) I am certain they are the first ones to use violence against me even though I have not committed an act of violence or theft. Say I decide to buy some property from someone (voluntary exchange) and hire some people (voluntary exchange) and build a church on it (to which I have no intention, but for arguments sake). The government will use force to shut me down, right?
Suppose I start an internet service provider, i recruit workers, machines, property and customers (voluntary), but I do not buy a license from the government, they will shut me down using force. They will use force against me first. Look what happened to blackberry. It is a fact of reality that the government uses first force against their subjects. If they do not and just sell services, it is not a government, but a company. Even if they provide services that I want for payment, but they threaten other people from supplying the same services, they are immoral. Truth begins with looking at the facts for what they are. A law is just an opinion of a guy with a gun. It is not called a government if it acts just like a company providing services.
When I was in Dubai, a native came up to me and wanted to have a beer with me, the minute I set foot outside my hotel. Why is that? Was he not allowed to buy alcohol himself and was I the means for doing so? Would violence be used against him or the bar tender if alcohol was served to him?
Note that this is totally separated from supposed utilitarian benefits of licensing. I will also claim there are no benefits from it either, but the first thing to realize is that they are a monopoly on first strike violence against innocent people. After you recognized that part of reality, we can talk about supposed benefits.
They always start harmless and small banning things that make sense and they will always grown to dangerous killers, killing abroad first and domestically later.
That being said... I really liked Dubai as people were very friendly and helpful and everyone was just looking to make some money and not interested in controlling each other through the state, as you could expect with so many foreigners.

[Opperdienaar]

@hussain,
Wel we differ about our views of reality. Although your government is maybe less totalitarian power hungry than most western ones are at them moment, I think this is only temporarily. The west used to have a lot of freedom also, it resulted in a lot of wealth being created, then a lot of it taxed, then an empire built. The state always grows.
Although I do not know the particulars of your government (UAE ?) I am certain they are the first ones to use violence against me even though I have not committed an act of violence or theft. Say I decide to buy some property from someone (voluntary exchange) and hire some people (voluntary exchange) and build a church on it (to which I have no intention, but for arguments sake). The government will use force to shut me down, right?
Suppose I start an internet service provider, i recruit workers, machines, property and customers (voluntary), but I do not buy a license from the government, they will shut me down using force. They will use force against me first. Look what happened to blackberry. It is a fact of reality that the government uses first force against their subjects. If they do not and just sell services, it is not a government, but a company. Even if they provide services that I want for payment, but they threaten other people from supplying the same services, they are immoral. Truth begins with looking at the facts for what they are. A law is just an opinion of a guy with a gun. It is not called a government if it acts just like a company providing services.
When I was in Dubai, a native came up to me and wanted to have a beer with me, the minute I set foot outside my hotel. Why is that? Was he not allowed to buy alcohol himself and was I the means for doing so? Would violence be used against him or the bar tender if alcohol was served to him?
Note that this is totally separated from supposed utilitarian benefits of licensing. I will also claim there are no benefits from it either, but the first thing to realize is that they are a monopoly on first strike violence against innocent people. After you recognized that part of reality, we can talk about supposed benefits.
They always start harmless and small banning things that make sense and they will always grown to dangerous killers, killing abroad first and domestically later.
That being said... I really liked Dubai as people were very friendly and helpful and everyone was just looking to make some money and not interested in controlling each other through the state, as you could expect with so many foreigners.

[Opperdienaar]

@hussain,
Wel we differ about our views of reality. Although your government is maybe less totalitarian power hungry than most western ones are at them moment, I think this is only temporarily. The west used to have a lot of freedom also, it resulted in a lot of wealth being created, then a lot of it taxed, then an empire built. The state always grows.
Although I do not know the particulars of your government (UAE ?) I am certain they are the first ones to use violence against me even though I have not committed an act of violence or theft. Say I decide to buy some property from someone (voluntary exchange) and hire some people (voluntary exchange) and build a church on it (to which I have no intention, but for arguments sake). The government will use force to shut me down, right?
Suppose I start an internet service provider, i recruit workers, machines, property and customers (voluntary), but I do not buy a license from the government, they will shut me down using force. They will use force against me first. Look what happened to blackberry. It is a fact of reality that the government uses first force against their subjects. If they do not and just sell services, it is not a government, but a company. Even if they provide services that I want for payment, but they threaten other people from supplying the same services, they are immoral. Truth begins with looking at the facts for what they are. A law is just an opinion of a guy with a gun. It is not called a government if it acts just like a company providing services.
When I was in Dubai, a native came up to me and wanted to have a beer with me, the minute I set foot outside my hotel. Why is that? Was he not allowed to buy alcohol himself and was I the means for doing so? Would violence be used against him or the bar tender if alcohol was served to him?
Note that this is totally separated from supposed utilitarian benefits of licensing. I will also claim there are no benefits from it either, but the first thing to realize is that they are a monopoly on first strike violence against innocent people. After you recognized that part of reality, we can talk about supposed benefits.
They always start harmless and small banning things that make sense and they will always grown to dangerous killers, killing abroad first and domestically later.
That being said... I really liked Dubai as people were very friendly and helpful and everyone was just looking to make some money and not interested in controlling each other through the state, as you could expect with so many foreigners.

[Hussain Fahmy]

We do not differ on reality but with choices. Yes the West was a shining star once upon a time until they started associating with the Zionist regime. We see them getting stronger and its people weaker by the day. You are absolutely right that you do not know the sincere intentions of Emirates Philosophy unless you actually know the natives of the desert and spend time with them. Accusations should be backed up by hard evidence not by the repetition by the media to brain wash one sided opinion. If you are referring to using violence against you (911 - Hoax of the century) THAROUGH RESEARCH REQUIRED. CONFLICT BEGINS WHEN MUTUAL RIGHTS ARE VIOLATED. Return land to its rightful owners and leave nations to fend themselves; in short mind your own business. Ron Paul.

No places of worship ever shut down here; on the contrary they have facilitated for every denomination. Regarding your internet/Blackberry issue, this may sound radical to your way of thinking. If we are law abiding citizen, we should not care if the government is listening and watching us. Nothing to hide. We should in reality concerned about our actions and the accountability to one who created us. The crux of our discussion is: assuming that you follow man made and man thought rules, while we follow the divine law set forth through revelations. Like your term IMMORAL. Where do you extract the values of Morality? The native you met here has chosen his life of Alcohol. So what: there is no compulsion; however the government’s duty is to protect its people from the evils of a disease sold in bottles. This may sound absurd based on your beliefs. To us the greater good for Humanity is more preferable.

Afghanistan is where it is said that "Empires go to die". In chronological order:
The Indus, Kushan, Scythian, Parthian, Saffarid, Ghaznanavid, Ghorid, Timurid, Hotaki, Durrani, Aryan, Persian, Sassanid, Hepthalite, Hun, Mughal, Arab, Turk, Hazaras, Kwharezmid, Mongol, British (three times) and Soviet empires. So the current incumbents, the USA, obviously have not read the history books yet.