It’s hot outside, but I am splitting and stacking firewood – in anticipation of when it gets cold, not too many months from now. More precisely, I am stockpiling wood as a fallback – in the event the power goes out this fall. A not-unlikely event, given the “electrification” of everything. Also as an alternative, in the event the cost of propane rises beyond the constantly diminishing purchasing power of the currency we’re all forced to us to buy such things with.
But it is also a hedge.
The wood being more than just a source of heat – both to keep us warm and (should it become necessary) a way to heat food and even water, so as to keep us clean. It is also a way to store the value of currency before it dissipates further.
Much better than a bank. Or rather, it is the best kind of bank there is.
The wood is a tangible asset, directly under my control. It can be withdrawn at any time and without even having to show ID. I can withdraw as much of it as I like, whenever I like, without having to worry about the transaction causing unwanted scrutiny. And – most of all – it will still be in my “account” come winter, even if the banks decide to lock my accounts with them, over something I wrote or said.
The power company cannot turn the wood off, either.
Nor charge me more for it come winter . . . which they can’t, because I already have it.
The value of the wood decreases only as I “spend” it – as by using it. The government-Fed (essentially the tail wagging the dog) cannot devalue the wood, as it does the currency made out of wood pulp. Even if the currency transitions to worthlessness by winter – a thing not out of the question, as it was in formerly better times – the wood will still be worth a great deal.
And not only because I value staying warm.
Others do, too.
The wood, having value as such, is fungible – meaning it is possible to exchange its value for other things of value, even when (especially when) currency has no value at all. It is hard to heat a home with paper dollars, even if you have a suitcase full of $100 bills. It might be enough to boil a cup of coffee.
But I know I could barter some of the wood I’m stockpiling for things others may be stockpiling that I might need more than the extra wood I’ve “banked” – and which someone else might need more than the things they have that I need.
An exchange of value can be made.
This being a concept alien to the things that control the currency, who view economics as a zero-sum game in which they win – and we lose.
Because they control.
This control expresses itself in many ways but perhaps the most malicious way is via the subtle, devilish diminishment of fiat currency’s purchasing power – which is the thing styled “inflation.” This term is used deliberately, to confuse the victims of it, who are led to believe that the things they need to buy simply cost more – as opposed to their currency buying less. This causes them to focus their anger not upon the currency devaluers but rather – as they see it – on “price gougers” and “greedy” people charging them more, for the same. Or even less.
This, of course, being precisely what is wanted by those who control the currency as it swerves the two-fold purpose of focusing anger away from them and giving them the pretext they need to achieve further control.
Accordingly, it is better for us to control as much as we can.
Banking wood is one way to do exactly that. But the same is true of anything that has real value, in and of itself, that you might exchange for currency today that may be of less (or no) no value by winter. Perhaps sooner. It is certain that the currency you have right now will be worth less – in terms of what it can buy – a month from now and possibly even by tomorrow.
Accordingly – and arguably, for the first time in modern American history – it may be more prudent to spend rather than to save. In order to avoid them stealing. 
If you have a propane tank, it might be a good idea to top it off now rather than later – when you might no longer be able to afford to.
Buying food, now, is not a bad idea either. Or things that produce food, such as a small flock of chickens. Food being extremely fungible, especially when money no longer buys it. Or when there is no food to buy.
Ammunition might soon be worth its weight in silver – or even gold.
Anything you need – or that others will likely need – that you may not be able to buy, later, might be well worth buying now, while you still can.
Bank that – and you’ll worry less about banks and what might happen to your savings therein.
. . .
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I think I finally understand the U.S. idiom, “got wood?”
Indeed, PM!
Of course, it helps to have a stove. Fireplaces are nice for aesthetics; a wood stove will keep you warm all day (and night).
You may want to look into gasifiers to burn wood, charcoal etc. to run converted/adapted internal combustion engines for cars or other equipment, though those engines will have to be the sort with carburettors rather than fuel injection. Of all people, FEMA has or had a good internet guide to gasifiers, particularly the Imbert model (remember to have an odd number of air inlets to prevent direct burning channels from forming).
Excellent article Eric and I share your sentiments exactly. The old Indian said, chop wood and carry water. That is some good advice in a world gone mad.
Everything in this world has been financialized and taxed, and the farther you get from it the better off you will be. Thus chop wood, carry water, grow a garden, put your money in cash in a FDIC account and bury some gold and silver coins on your property.
—————-
There is a question in the comments about inflation and deflation, and I know the answer, as I have studied that question with extreme interest for many decades.
Amerika could have a hyperinflation but that is not likely. The Fed is chartered for price stability and full employment, and currently the entire Fed system of governors including the chair Jerome Powell are committed to fight inflation. Thus interest rates are going to keep going up until the current spike in inflation collapses.
There are call to remove Powell and he may be replaced by an ultra anti-inflation hawk, a new Paul Volcker, like James Bullard who is the Saint Louis Fed CEO and is a shoe in for the job.
Thus you can bet your sweet behind that interest rates are going to the moon, at least in the foreseable future.
The big reason why Amerika can NOT have hyperinflation like Zimbabwe is that a first world nation, and the hegemon nation, has a very sophisticated bond market, and the Fed can not allow inflation to rage and expect to have any credibility.
Zimbabwe was a back water nation that would print extra zeros on the currency. The Fed can not do that and expect any other nation to buy US gov bonds. So what the Fed does is oscillate to lowering rates to zero to stop a deflationary collapse, and then when inflation picks up like now raise rates to stop inflation.
So the Fed is simply reacting, and is caught in it’s own whiplash, and essentially has lost control of the money printing problem it created. So we are very much at the end of a century long fiat money printing scheme and the whole thing is unraveling – which means at some point the system is going to go bust and deflate, $450 trillion of debts can not be paid, so there are going to be epic defaults on a Biblical scale.
The bottom line is that the world has gotten into repeated waves of increasing debt until the point is reached where debt becomes a ball and chain and must be “reset” in a Jubilee year.
And do not be fooled by the Davos dumbasses, this reset was not created by elite gopher Klaus Schwab, but he is trying to push his agenda in the “great reset” that he neither created nor controls.
The conditions for deflation have been met, high debt levels associated with high levels of speculation. You can read all about this right now on the internets just go to:
https://deflation.com/
You can also track the daily “wave” here:
https://danericselliottwaves.org/
and you also watch Dr. Copper or the daily gold price:
https://goldprice.org/gold-price-chart.html
and note how silver is stuck in the low 20’s. So as long as silver is around $20 and gold around $1800 I sincerely doubt that hyperinflation is a problem.
I think that we will see silver and gold continue to vacillate and decline ESPECIALLY if interest rates keep going up.
I remember the debates in the mid 20 teens over whether the Fed could “raise rates” from 0% on Bob Wenzel’s (RIP) Economic Policy Journal. I forget the specifics but when the Fed did move off zero during Trump’s term, they went back to 0 really quickly. This seems to match up with your oscillation theory. There was a guy whose handle was Jimmy Joe Meeker who would always say that, at a 25 bps hike per year, it would take something like 18-20 years for rates to “normalize” to 4-6%. That’s important to keep in mind in light of how much the money supply expanded in the past 2 years. Inflation lags and is just getting started.
So, at this point, the Fed has moved bigger and faster then back in 18 or whatever and we are seeing downward moves in speculative assets, including stonks and some real estate. Also some consumer discretionary items. So perhaps that is deflationary. We are not seeing deflation in the things we need, such as housing (thinking rents not speculative purchases) food and energy. It’s a case of inflation in what you need and deflation in what you don’t.
There’s a lot of noise and deflection of blame going on. Ultimately, the real question is how badly has the currency really been devalued? Are extreme rate increases going to help that? Seems apples/oranges to me. Every intervention makes things worse. I just saw how CA is sending people up to $1050 to help “fight inflation.” Insane.
I was just thinking about E.P.J. today, & who might ever fill his shoes.
That, and what you wrote, and how Martin Armstrong talks about how the Dollar cannot go lower, ’cause that would mean the other fiats are going higher – he said ~ no way that’s happening.
He’s a brainiac, got good stuff, I’m not sure what to say when he slams Austrian economic theory & says it isn’t the quantity of money which creates hyperinflation, rather it’s related to the level of confidence of The People towards the goobermint.
…It might all be related/inter-twined? Idk.
Silver and gold spot price is manipulated through the paper market to maintain this illusion. The price for actual gold in your hand is about $1,950.00 an ounce and silver about $35.00. As time goes on the paper and physical markets are becoming more divergent. If those holding the paper contracts requested actual delivery the whole house of cards would come tumbling down.
Hi Randy
If the gold market wasn’t manipulated the price of gold would probably reflect the real dollar gold exchange rate, because of the amount of dollars printed…. who knows….$50,000 per ounce? buy and hold and wait, except they will confiscate again….lol
I’m a year ahead on motor oil, rumor is diesel grade motor oil additive chemicals are coming up short. I figure car oil isn’t far behind. I’ll do the same for filters.
Tires are good for several years, I snagged a set of Pirellis for the Grand Cherokee last summer. I used to be a Michelin fan but they aren’t as quiet and last about half as long as 20 years ago.
Portable generator has been converted to dual fuel, nice to hook up a propane tank if needed. Carbs are cheap the old gas only unit was done. House is dual heat source, heat pump and nat. gas furnace. Gas stove and hot water, no fancy tank it’s an old school pilot light burner. Back up back up heat is a gas fireplace with blower.
I’ve been through this inflation drill before. I feel for those that are on the edge financially and can’t stock up on the necessities. Also those that have no “fix it” skills, they’re screwed financially when stuff breaks especially as a homeowner.
Your comment reminds me of FerFal saying something about having a spare set of washing machines & a dryer.
I’ve not got the funds for that. I’ve fixed a couple of washers & dryers, but without the new parts, there’s nothing to be done.
I keep reading here & there about how guys are buying spare sets of tires, I was under the impression tires are only good for about seven years, wether you use them or not, and that’s about it. If so, buying spare sets doesn’t seem to make much sense unless you’re gonna use them offroad & at low speeds? Or, as an emergency spare? … I dunno.
I did some reading of experienced plumber types, they talked about how long water heaters lasted. All of them said electric outlasted gas, by far. … I’m not buying a spare water heater… ‘er, I guess my spare water heater is my canning jar pot?
Tires will last longer if you protect them from the elements. But not forever. I would be very careful with a tire over 15 years old even if given TLC.
Hi Helot
There used to old hand cranked clothes washers, drying?….hang to dry…or a shed with wood heater or hang near/over the wood stove.
Oh, another thing I wonder about:
Spare roof shingles.
… I can’t even get a roofer to return my phone call now. S.O.L.X2 when things are worse, I suppose.
[Tarps!]
I prefer felling, cutting and splitting from late fall to early spring. There are several benefits if you can plan and store accordingly.
The first major benefit is deciduous trees will regrow as a coppice when cut down in dormancy rather than being killed. This allows your woods lot to recover much faster and you can harvest off the coppice stumps when the trunks are perfect “no split” burning size.
The next benefit is you and your equipment won’t overheat in the cool to cold temperatures. You’ll probably get down to a tee shirt even when it’s freezing outside.
Frozen logs seem to split easier.
No damn bugs to drive you crazy on top of profuse sweating and being caked in dirt and sawdust.
You get fresh air, vitamin D and exercise at a time of year when those are in short supply.
And, like JK said, it warms you twice!
I’m splitting my wood by hand with an ax and a maul, beats going to the gym and you get exercise. If the wood puts up too much resistance I switch to a chain saw. A neighbor said to me “Don’t you have enough for this winter?”, I said I was already stacking it for the next winter. I’ve already built two small wood sheds this year. I’m also stocking up on other stuff I know I’ll need in the future if it become unavailable or too expensive.
I can’t spend my money fast enough. Silver, gold, ammo, even pulling the cash out of the bank a bit at a time.
Not sure what will happen, but it seems the only tool left to the money manipulators is to bring on a recession. The inflation is here and will keep up until who knows when.
I figure it’s safer to get control over all my money before they do some hair brained scheme like reducing the amount of money in our accounts.
The big thing I’m staying away from now is real estate.
‘Anything you need … might be well worth buying now, while you still can.’ — eric
Naturally, the Biden Thing is doing the opposite.
He’s selling off the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in a futile attempt to depress the price of oil. Last week another 6.9 million barrels gushed out the pipe, dropping the SPR below 500 million barrels for the first time since 1986.
Scott Sheffield, CEO of Pioneer Natural Resources:
“So he [‘Biden’] is going to have to buy at a higher price and refill it in my opinion. And we’re going to be even shorter, and the SPR will be half of what it was three years ago.”
The SPR is under the purview of Energy “Secretary” Jennifer Granholm, who has a law degree from Hahhhhhhvid — and knows less about energy than your neighbor’s cocker spaniel. Her qualification for the job? Working on the campaign of Obama, he of the giant propane tanks.
Every day, I drop my jaw, scratch my head, and roll my eyes like ol’ Gomer Pyle, exclaiming, “Gahhhhh-lee, sha-zay-um … where do they find these freaks?”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSpBwt4hFN8
I’ve been slowly stocking our freezer with all kinds of meat whenever it’s on sale – which is becoming rare – and slowly building a stockpile of canned veggies, tuna, pasta, sauce, etc. have a couple inverters to run the refrigerator, freezer, and furnace if the grid goes out. No generator yet but I always keep both cars with full tanks so I can run the inverters off the car battery for an extended period if it gets to that.
My father always reminded my brother & me that we were one generation removed from an outhouse and a corncob. They grew/raised nearly everything they ate. Back then they were scorned and made fun of for being poor hillbillies. Today it’s called farm-to-table and paleo.
I always did my firewood work when it was cold out. That way it warms you twice. Once when you work it, and again when you burn it. It’s hard work, many times getting down to my shirt sleeves at 20f degrees.
seasoned split wood also has value. hardwoods currently going for about $300/cord, up from 200 last year.
just heard a story from a neighbor that a local pizza shop uses a particular species of wood, it was $400/cord.
Chris,
A cord being 4’X4’X8′, which will heat a small house here in Missouri most winters.
Yup, 2-3 cords for a medium size, but depends on density too.
In the East, 2-3 cords with their much denser oaks, ashes, and maples.
Out West 4-6 cords cause that stuff I call it balsa wood, haha..
I don’t know Missouri trees.
Visiting a western logging town, they showed me their ‘hardwoods’ and I had to try and refrain from laughing.
So they became good friends and I shipped a piece of sugar maple (I call it iron) and their mouths dropped open.
Back when I was a tree newbie, I cut a sugar maple down for some reason, and my Forrester (my state requires them for farm assessment) came down and started choking up “why did you cut that down……………”. ’cause, I forget why’
I got my edumication pretty quick.
He passed a while ago, and his son took over, so if I HAVE to take a sugar maple I dedicate it to his father and send him a picture. He loves the memory. Sugar maple nut, haha….
They literally dull a top-tier blade a little doing the whole tree.
Chris,
Missouri mostly oak and ash. Or if you want a really hot fire, locust, black or honey. The former being much easier to handle. It’s roughly twice as dense as ash. I always get a chuckle when I see birch listed as a hardwood.
Yes you don’t need that much wood down there, I lived in Arkansas just south of Missouri panhandle and it was much more mild than living in PA or Ohio.
When I figured out this wood thing, and went 100% wood stove – with no elec or gas backup I was surprised as to how wonderful it was not to worry about the heating bill.
I was building houses and decided to build a superinsulated one for myself that had only 600 ft squared heating space with double insulated walls set 12″ (outside dimension) apart. I also did raised heel trusses to make the insulation along the roof line higher, and the new double pain windows.
Well let me tell you, that even in the worst of the winter you could walk around in a swimsuit with the front door open to cool the house! 600 ft2 super insulated house will make the house a hot house just burning a few sticks.
Bottom line: one day cutting wood in the fall will heat a superinsulated home. And cutting firewood is fun especially when you have a Stihl 066 and a 4×4 so you can drive right up the tree after felling. I always think of the old days how hard people had to work before chainsaws and trucks.
Hi Chris
I had two friends that split firewood and sold it for extra cash, it works till CBDC comes in effect…then barter…
splitting shakes is more profitable….The average price for shake roofing is around $6.30 per square foot. A square is 100 square feet and a bundle is equal to a third of a square. Therefore, the average price of a square of shake is $630, and a bundle costs around $210. The final cost will depend on the type of wood you select, brand, quality, and other factors.
I agree. My propane tank was filled last summer and it’s still full. Several acres of trees and a chain saw in reserve. I recently added 6 months food that doesn’t need refrigeration at reasonable prices. Still working on the weak point of electricity to run the well pump and heating system though (if I can’t get gasoline for the generator.) A tree falling through my roof has me distracted from the path at present. That could be an opportunity, too. No comment on ammunition on an open channel. Hopefully my vpn is working.
Pay CASH for your ammo as long as the retailer allows it. Best done at a gun show. Put it in an ammo container, don’t leave it in the original box.
EP, you could be in big trouble. The county land inspector will visit the premises where you reside and charge you with theft of property. There will be a fine and possible stay at the hoosegow for cutting and stacking wood without their permission. It’s not your tree, you can’t just be cutting down forest with no license, the real owners will take action. You’ve been warned and alerted.
I’m not kidding, you have committed a serious infraction. JK
Worse than the Soviet Union, at least you got a free trip to Siberia back in the good old days of gulag-ing.
Fill your freezer with meats and frozen goodies, green beans, corn, peas, tater tots, all the stuff you’ll want and need.
Before enlightenment, chop wood, haul water. After enlightenment, haul wood, chop water.
Maybe got that wrong too.
No, it depends upon how the Commonwealth of Virginia addresses timber rights. In some locations, “private” property isn’t all that “private”, if you own, say, fifty acres of forested land, you might find Louisiana-Pacific owns the timber rights; check your deed. Same with water…in some states, you can be fined for simply putting a rain barrel on the downspout that collects runoff water off your roof, by “Gawd and Sonny Jesus”, I shit you not. As for collecting food and/or AMMO…that’s best done on the “down low”, for obvious reasons. Not only for would-be thieves and robbers (hence WHY the guns and ammo), but sometimes they wear uniforms and sport badges of “authoritai”. Most states and the Federal Government do have “anti-hoarding” laws, to be in effect during times of bona fide emergency. The trouble is, THEY get to define what constitutes an “emergency”. Nor is the definition of what constitutes “hoarding” definable. As an example, I think of a farmer in Appalachian Ohio, not far from its junction of WV and KY, who, during the depths of the Depression, saw that his sons were growing up, and although his farm still sustained his family, there just wasn’t enough land to give any of them a piece and they could make a living out of it, and only ONE son could reasonably inherit the place and continue. As jobs in factories had gone away, the farmer decided to go into the scrap business, as he had plenty of real estate to work with. His boys joined in, and in a few years, it was a profitable concern that they all had a decent living out of. Along came World War Two, and most of the boys went into the military, the old man was left with piles of scrap, especially aluminum, that he had no trouble selling off. ALCOA in particular wanted his aluminum scrap for production of aircraft parts, so they brought the fact of his having all that scrap to the War Production Board, who sent an agent to make an offer. The farmer was willing to sell but didn’t care for the WPB’s offer, feeling they were taking advantage of his “patriotism”, especially with most of his sons in the service. The WPB refused to meet his price which already was a discount off market rates; reflecting his sense of “patriotism” and doing a bulk sale. After several weeks of fruitless negotiations, the matter was taken to a Federal court, which issued a seizure order as a wartime emergency, coincidentally, radio muckracker Drew Pearson did a “piece” on this “petty profiteer” and HOARDER. Never mind that virtually all of this man’s stock had been acquired for cheap during the Depression, when often he got it virtually free, for the hauling! Along came the trucks, with soldiers guarding them and his house, keeping him prisoner while his aluminum scrap was loaded up and hauled away. It took years for this man to finally get a settlement out of Uncle Sam, and his reputation in the community had been ruined because he’d “hoarded” and “selfishly” demanded a fair price for his property.
Self:
Must be the whiskey – Cody Jinks
Any army is going to do the same. The generals want war, a rancher is hoarding livestock, cattle, an armed group of soldiers pays a visit to the farm and carts off a cow or two, pay visits to many farms. The grain farmers will contribute or else.
An empty stomach will make the battlefield kind of boring. We gotta eat, game over.
Lower the red flag and raise the white flag, we’re hungry, we surrender.
Gotta confiscate just about everything, tax your goat, tax your plow… etc.
We see what you’ve got, we are going to take it, no matter what, you’re a scrap hoarder and we will see to it that the place gets cleaned
upout, you’ll be left holding the bag.It’s the law and all of that nonchalant jazz.
In other words, might makes right.
Nothing more than a smash and grab.
All your stuff to us belong.
Two things to remember about the military:
1) The management of teenagers, most bereft of parental supervision for the first time in their lives, armed with select-fire rifles and often more lethal “toys”, has never been an easy thing.
2) Arming a man and giving him either a badge of authority or, when under conditions of martial law, a uniform and insignia, tends to obviate any respect for PRIVATE property. Akin to Barry Pepper’s war correspondent being handed an M-16 by MSGT Plumley in “We Were Soldiers”, when he professes he’s a “non-combatant”, is told…”Son, out here today, aint’ NO such thing!”
You’re right, drpumhish. Here in the bay area of CA, for example, storing rain water for future use is considered water theft from your water district. What you need to do is get a permit for your holding tank, put a meter on it, and when you use rain water you’ve stored, you’ve got to pay for it.
Is that right, Opposite?
Such environmentalists, they are. Oh, and what about the “human right” to water? But, no, of course, this sort of “socialism” is about being owned, rather than owning.
Never mind that for most Northern California private residences, the amount of runoff actually collected would be minimal…enough for potable uses on a daily basis, when it does rain, but nothing that really affects the local watershed. It’s all about CONTROL, which the “Water Nazis” jealously guard.
…if you woke up on a Casper mattress, worked out with a Peloton, Ubered to a WeWork, ordered on DoorDash for lunch, took a Lyft home, and ordered dinner through Postmates only to realize your partner had already started on a Blue Apron meal, your household had, in one day, interacted with eight unprofitable companies that collectively lost about $15 billion in one year.
https://www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/archive/2022/06/uber-ride-share-prices-high-inflation/661250/
The era of 0% (or negative) interest is over. With 1 year iBonds paying 9%, why bother chasing unicorns? That strategy made a tiny amount of sense when the bank was charging you interest to hold your money. If you were going to lose money no matter what, why not gamble on a web3.0 startup? Now that the sugar daddy is gone they’re going to have to get by on more than their looks. The upside is that even though there’s less easy money floating around, a good idea is still a good idea. Cull the unicorns and concentrate on the startups that add to society now, without any hand-waving technological breakthrough.
Or buy some timber, batton down the hatches, sit back and watch The Great Hangover™.
Banks are agents of the state. It’s foolish to leave much more than operating expenses in one. If the IRS decides you cheated on your taxes, whether you did or not, a phone call to a bank can freeze your money. Better to spend it on concentrated assets, as in the smallest unit with the highest value that can be bartered with. Precious metals are good, and I have a stockpile of them, but people addicted to dollars may take a while to relate to them as money. Ammunition, which you mentioned, is another. Which I also have a stockpile of. If one is fairly young and healthy, not guilty I’m afraid, one can barter their services, especially if you have a commonly needed trade. Dollars are the worst investment one can make, since you have zero control over what they are worth, or will be worth. I was a young working man in the late ’70s- early ’80s. Supporting a wife and son. It wasn’t easy, and in fact lost the wife and full access to my son in the ordeal. Inflation, interest rates, and unemployment were ALL in double digits. I think we will soon be there again.
‘in the late ’70s- early ’80s … inflation, interest rates, and unemployment were ALL in double digits.’ — John Kable
What was so different then, versus now, is that fedgov debt was a modest 30 to 35% of GDP. Now it’s 125 percent of GDP, where over 90% is considered in the danger zone.
Sadly, in an illegitimate fiat currency regime, every citizen is obliged to become an economic forecaster, whether they wish to or not.
Does this crushing debt load imply a Weimar-style inflationary blowout dead ahead?
OR, would a sufficiently devastating collapse of capital markets and the economy once again produce deflation, as in 1929-1933 when the price level dropped by one-third?
Egghead ‘experts’ with PhDs DON’T KNOW. You can find them on both sides of this existential debate.
One such éminence grise, the red metal Doctor Copper, has been falling in recent weeks against gold. Chart (GC = gold futures; HG = copper futures):
https://ibb.co/qk2cyGR
Dr Copper hints that the inflationary impulse is abating a bit, at least till the next gratuitous intervention by Big Gov. (“Stimmy checks! YAY!”)
We must cross the river by touching the stones, using what signposts we can find.
Jim,
Inflation is the purpose of fiat currency. There is no other reason to use it.
“Money” can be created out of thin air. Wealth cannot be. Those “Egghead ‘experts’ with PhDs” haven’t figured that out yet.
The State is also an agent for the bank(sters).
Self,
They are indeed joined at the hip, but the government supplies the goons with guns.
In 1970 a banking law was ‘passed’ to report transactions over $10,000. Today one has to fill form 8300 for any transaction exceeding $10,000 each month. You even need to inform papa gov if you are carrying more then $10,000 over seas and it will likely be confiscated. Your friendly bank teller will hand over the money,,, call the squids which will pull you over and seize it under asset confiscation ‘laws’. All was to prevent money laundering but of course the biggest money launderers are the banks themselves which are under no such requirements.
$10,000 dollars in 1970 now has the buying power in 2022 of $1,300 dollars. So basically we are having to report a $1,300 transaction to government. If inflation was indexed you should not have to report any transaction under $75,000. Just another way to control us.
It’s a bad idea to carry large sums of cash anyway…not merely for the potential of loss due to literally losing it, or getting robbed by “conventional” robbers, but also having it confiscated should you be accosted by LEOs. What’s utterly galling is so many have been stopped by the cops and ASKED if they’re carrying money, or “would you empty your pockets, please?” under auspices of a “Terry Stop”, and, instead of saying something like, “Officer, I respectfully decline to answer”, or “No, officer, I don’t have to empty my pockets or show you what’s in my briefcase/backpack/suitcase, where’s your WARRANT?”, or even “Go FUCK YOURSELF”, they just “comply”! Auggh! At least refusing permission greatly reduces the likelihood that the legality of such a search and seizure will be upheld…you never know with some courts. BTW, if you are “frisked” (under a “Terry Stop”, the officer can “pat you down” to check for WEAPONS only) the officer can NOT, say, grab a wad of cash you’re holding in your pocket or a bag of stuff, it must be something that can reasonably be construed as “feeling” like a weapon. The officer can detain you long enough to investigate for circumstances that would sustain probable cause and therefore search and/or arrest as the evidence warrants, but even then, that detention must be “reasonable”, i.e., it can’t be tantamount to a de facto arrest or imprisonment.
Although the “War on Drugs” is the ostensible reason for requiring the reporting of transactions above $10K (BTW, if you moved, say, $9,500 one month to a certain party and $9,200 the following month, that can be construed as ‘structuring’, which is treated even more harshly, because it’s considered a deliberate attempt to evade the reporting requirement), or likewise other possible criminal activity, I suspect the REAL reason is to cut off the “underground” economy. Which simply means Uncle Sam wants to TAX it, MORE, OR, the banks themselves want the info so they can SELL consumer info on you. This is what REALLY should provoke a revolution, and in 1775, it DID, pursuant to the 1765 Stamp Act and subsequent Parliamentary Acts intended to milk the American colonials for British benefit, which finally culminated in the retaliatory measures against Massachusetts commonly known as the “Intolerable” Acts. But that was a different generation of Americans, one that had balls that dragged the ground.
Hi Ken
Compared to a 1900 dollar today’s dollar is $0.01, so you are reporting a $100 transaction….lol
that fits today’s gold price $20 per ounce in 1900, now near $2000 per ounce, a good inflation hedge….