Secession and Predictability

by Russell D. Longcore

(Editor’s Note: TWO articles today. Op-Ed piece below this article.)

One of the greatest benefits that can come from secession is predictability. No one ever talks about this, and even I haven’t mentioned it before. But predictability will be a welcome recompense to the state that secedes and designs its new government correctly.

Eventually, the American government will collapse, either from (a) the rejection of the dollar as world reserve currency, or (b) the collapse of the world bond market, or (c) hyperinflation. Either of the first two would be sudden and catastrophic…the third would be drawn out and catastrophic. The time frame of the Federal Government collapse is not predictable, but the surety of the event is.

The collapse will bring economic chaos, riots and burned cities, and rampant crime. Starvation and disease will kill millions across America…most severe in the places where populations are most dense. Shortly thereafter, pro-secession citizens, survivalists, and contrite politicians will finally begin to see the practicality and efficacy of secession. At that point it will be obvious to all that Washington has no answers, and that the regulation, taxation and overt fascism that emanated from DC actually CAUSED the grand America experiment to end after only 230-plus years. But do not blame Washington entirely…DC is a mirror held up to show the reflection of a nation that STILL wants something for nothing.

States will secede from the Union and become brand new nations. I predict that the first to secede will be Texas. After that, it’s anyone’s guess.

Those responsible for the New Texas nation will likely call a constitutional convention and rewrite the Texas Constitution to better serve a sovereign nation in the early part of the 21st century. And those doing the rewriting should be made mindful of the importance of predictability in their new nation.

The most crucial predictability will be found in the method of taxation chosen by the new nation and the type of money the new nation creates.

Since 2008, when the Bush bailouts and Federal stimulus packages began occurring, the American economy has been in a severe recession. Washington has been writing laws and spending money wildly, writhing like a monster in a fire. America’s business class has noticed, and they see a Federal Government that will enact a law or a tax today that may be repealed or superceded tomorrow. A business cannot afford to ignore the unpredictability of business regulation or the business tax code. They see Washington react, not act. And Washington’s reactions are ALWAYS wrong, because the reactions are founded in a philosophy that government is the answer. In a situation in which a business cannot reasonably plan for the future, the business will exhibit hesitancy and reticence in all it does.

Think about it. If you own a business, and you don’t know how the Obama Health Care law or a new EPA or OSHA regulation is going to affect your business, would you take a chance on hiring new people when there is so much unknown that could ruin your business? If you price your product competitively, but the inflation rate increases from 5% annually to 5% a month…how do you stay in business? How do you protect your profit margin? How do you make plans for a month from now, much less make plans for 12 months from now?

It is no different for individuals. Unpredictability causes chaos. Wages have lagged behind inflation for 40 years. All of us that saved money for retirement have seen inflation eat out our substance, and have watched the markets tumble, drastically shrinking our retirement money. It is impossible for the average person to save and invest enough money in this present uncertain economy to have a comfortable retirement…with or without Social Security. But the same question about inflation affects the individual; how do you budget your income and expenses when inflation jumps from 5% annually to 5% a month…or 5% a week?

The most profound source of future predictability will be found in a monetary system built around gold and silver. Why? Because gold/silver money prevents government from spending more then they take in. Period. “Hard currency” eliminates inflation. Do you understand what I’m saying here? All of us that are 80 years old and younger have lived our entire lives under a government monetary system that includes inflation. Inflation has been as familiar to us as oxygen. We have lived our lives hearing about the inflation rate…some years high, some years low…but never nonexistent. We have never experienced a money that does not lose value over time. When we consider a return on an investment, we always subtract the inflation rate from the gross return to find the net return. In a nation without inflation, the gross return IS the return on investment.

What would you do if you knew that the money you saved this year would have the same value in 20 – 30 – 40 years? Answer…the amount you had to save for retirement would be considerably less than in the American economy now. For the average citizen, that would mean more cash available today that is not being deferred until “tomorrow.” More cash today means a higher standard of living. Anybody out there against a higher standard of living?

Want to know the REAL reason the world stock markets are fluctuating wildly? There is one reason. The world reserve currency is the US Dollar, and its value is entirely unpredictable.

The next big source of predictability is taxation. A state that becomes a new nation must stop thinking like the serf state it was, and begin to think thoughts of independence and sovereignty. I have written extensively about taxation, and I am promoting the national sales tax as THE ONLY SOURCE of tax revenue for the new nation. Set the tax rate in the constitution at 10% on all transactions. No more property taxes, ad valorem taxes, tariffs, excise taxes…no other taxes of any kind. No subsidies, no exemptions for ANYONE. The tax revenue will flow into the nation’s treasury, and the new nation can pay for ALL government programs… city, county, township, police, fire, militia, courts, etc… the national treasury pays for it all. Of course, this would also require the new nation to drastically slash the services it provided in order to live within its means.

Finally, as the new nation crafts new laws, it should keep the principle of predictability in mind. When individuals and businesses can plan for the future knowing that the money will not lose value, that taxation is not going to increase, or that regulations are not going to restrict their individual liberty and property rights, they will enjoy a predictability that none of us living have ever known or experienced. Don’t ever underestimate the importance that predictability could have in your life.

Secession is the Hope For Mankind. Who will be first?

DumpDC. Six Letters That Can Change History.

© Copyright 2011, Russell D. Longcore. Permission to reprint in whole or in part is gladly granted, provided full credit is given.

An Op-Ed Piece About Texas

by Linda Brady Traynham

(Editor’s Note: The razor mind of Mrs. Traynham jacks me up for my stance on the national sales tax, among other things. Linda is always worth reading, even when I’m the one getting a tune-up. I still like my idea, but she’s pointed out some cool things about Texas that bear reading.)

ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR FLAMING MIND? The LAST thing we want to do is re-write the 1836 Constitution, which has been “brought up to date” legally to include universal suffrage, God knows why. Of all the horrors and dangers, the very worst is that a convention would be packed with Progressives who would vote in all the laws and regulations killing us now. The whole point of secession is to go back as far as we can and start over, changing as little as possible. What possible difference does it make what we call ourselves if we have the same Nanny State? What does “The Republic of Texas” mean if it is under the rule of Homeland Security and the Greens? Would it make any difference if we called ourselves “Texicans” if we still had stupid, needless, restraint of trade licenses and school teachers pushing socialism and “modern” “values?” We’ve got a real’ nice little Constitution just as it is. The President gets a salary of $10,000/year and a mansion, and nobody’s salary can be raised during their tenure. I may have a nervous breakdown. I will read the rest of your article later, but I had to stop right here and scream. We do NOT need more laws, regulations, and taxes. We need no regulations that are not written into law, one subject per law, in ordinary English, not written FOR big interest groups BY big interest groups.

I’m sorry, Russell, dear. You know I think the world of you and have the highest opinion of your mind and your work, but NO, we don’t need an enormous sales tax or anything else along that line. Those of us who have worked for years have in mind a 15% tax on all corporations not based in Texas (such as one out of Bentonville, Arkansas), and a 10% flat tax on new residents for two years. Keep your nose clean, obey our very few laws, behave yourself, and after two years you are a citizen and the tax goes away. NO welfare. NO Medicaid. The FEDS owe us Social Security and Medicare as a matter of private contract. Oil revenue, under the control of the Texas Railroad Commission, pays for schooling in our Constitution–and by the US Supreme Court ruling and international law we own out to 200 miles and nobody can tell us we can’t drill. I think you published my article on how the school system will be restructured (if we win), and citizens can have any sort of schools they want to pay for, “they” meaning “those who have children in schools.” With no income tax and no gas taxes and no sales tax they can afford private schools. They can home school. For all I care, they can lease current buildings and pay for utilities, upkeep, teachers, and textbooks, but that is a decision for a neithborhood. All OUR wonderful Constitution says is that we must have a “plan” to educate the children. Fine. I’ve got a plan. There’s more to it, but the basic idea is that part of the slavery is forcing me to pay for the education of the children of others. On-line schooling can be up for all but free. A dedicated channel teaching reading, arithmetic, history prior to 1950, geography, taped lectures by our very best teachers would cost very little to set up and after that it runs 24 hours a day and people can watch or not. Their choice. THAT is what we are fighting for, individual choice and not paying for the “kindness” of others. What’s destroying us is the biggest cities full of “gimme, gimme, gimme,” and, of course, that nobody is willing to admit that Mexico is at war with us. TANSTAFL, buddy. Anything enough people want some entrepreneur will provide. The rest we can do without. What about roads? What roads, where? Toll roads work fine and are lucrative. We got along beautifully from 1842 until a few years ago with a simple dirt road past the ranch which got graded occasionally. Paving it was hideously expensive and added nothing. So far as I’m concerned it can deteriorate to gravel, and if my new city slicker neighbors don’t agree they can repair it. And they can pay for it because they are the ones that want it–and they can either eat the cost or they can pitch in land and expenses and I’ll drive slowly on whatever is left of the old road because I don’t want to go anywhere much anyway. OUR Constitution calls for simple “common law courts,” a system of elected judges (who don’t get paid much) and the first half dozen citizens grabbed at random. Nice short trials. No lawyers. The decision of the jury is final. Anyone who doesn’t like it can either not get in trouble or move. If it were my choice we’d outsource all prisons to Mexico, a land with a real talent for discouraging recidivism…and anybody who commits a felony loses citizenship. Real simple laws, like “You broke it, you bought it.” Sure you can drive without insurance…but if you cause the wreck you will pay every dime needed for repair, and if it costs you your house, that’s fine. It was your choice not to buy insurance. What if everything isn’t enough? Well, you can become an indentured servant until you work it off. What about your family? Well, you should have thought of that before you chose not to buy very inexpensive liability insurance, and your family should have mentioned the subject until you did. No, I am NOT out of my mind. People must learn that they are responsible for their own behavior and the consequences of their actions. Take all the chances you feel like you can afford, but know that justice will be swift and sure.

Accept that nobody owes you anything because you breathe. Accept that charity is the province of families, churches, and clubs devoted to that purpose, NOT the purview of government. Understand that most of us are tired of having guns held to our heads to pay lavish living expenses for those who choose not to work, many of whom are here illegally. We don’t care what happens to you. We don’t care about the sacred environment as presented by junk science, although we love our land passionately and take care of it with our own toil. Get rid of city councils and Home Owner’s Associations and raise chickens; at least you’ll have something to eat. Anybody who doesn’t like it can leave. I am sick of the tyranny of NIMBY and those who profit vastly by terrorizing the Amish for selling supremely healthful fresh milk. Under our rules, IF you can prove that their milk made you sick, they owe you for doctors’ bills, lost work time, and the value of the “bad” milk, except spoiled food doesn’t come from small farms and ranches; it is manufactured in big plants that are inspected constantly, at enormous expense. Some inspectors are even bribable, you know. Grow your own or buy from those who consume what they grow.

Stop expecting the rest of us to pay for what you want. Stop requiring that barbers need an expensive school and license to cut a man’s hair; the worst that can happen is a bad haircut will grow out in a couple of weeks, people learn Joe isn’t a good barber, and he goes out of business. Stop obsessing over “codes.” If the house falls down the builder is responsible and must make restitution. Get it through your heads that more and more of us really don’t want or need your stupid regulations which are destroying our business frivolously. I’ve been dealing with the EPA since January on a dump begun in 1842 when it was quite legal…but “ex post facto” doesn’t have much to do with laws any more and has nothing to do with regulations. Their demands have been so outrageous I gave up and fired one of the hand, not being able to print my own money. That’s great for the economy! Hey, if he has to drop out of college, tough, huh? Can’t go around throwing ancient metal and old tires in MY forest, you know, even though the deer and wild hogs really don’t care. Can’t bury old plastic grocery store bags, even though those would keep the precious rain close to the surface. We’re only talking about half an acre or so, not visible to anyone, and it has cost me hundreds of man hours and we still aren’t through. In theory I can dump 2500 pounds/person/per year on my own land, but once you dig through all the regulations (presented as legal citations I can pay my lawyer $250/hour to look up), it turns out that I can’t dump anything. By regulations. Written by those we never elected, who are checked by no one, however you define “checked.” I don’t have much trouble with a series of guidelines others can follow or not, but by what right does some regulator (or even Congress or the Legislature) tell me I have to upgrade from R38 to R50 whether I can afford it or not? Who are THEY to tell you what sort of light bulbs you can use or mandate how much water you can use to flush your toilet? (I am convinced low flush toilets are a health hazard. Fortunately, I have a simple solution: go buy an old one and install it. Toilets are really very simple machines any idiot can hook up and repair. It’s illegal, many places, but don’t ask, don’t tell..)

No…our only chance is to dismantle what the Statists have done. Other than that, all we will do is substitute one set of slave masters for another. Even the Egyptians are bright enough to have figured out they were better off under Mubarak, and sentencing him to death for “war crimes” won’t solve anything. It does create a new problem: Col. Qadaffi has no option but to fight on. The USA and Switzerland have already stolen Libya’s money and he knows his fate if he says “Fine, I quit.” He will be hunted down like an animal and killed. Tripoli lies in ruins because the Obama crowd decided to “protect” civilians. Must make them feel really safe every time another million dollar missile thuds in destroying housing, buildings, and non-combattants. And DC whines, “Well, it was really NATO and the UN said it was a good idea.” Terrific. It would have been a lot cheaper and kinder to send in professional demolition teams to bring the houses down neatly. It would have been a lot smarter and more ethical to stay out of a simple family squabble which started primarily because of the “success” in Egypt. I’m waiting for the day the UN decides that Phoenix needs “protecting” because of the drug cartels. Lots of murders and the kidnapping capitol of the USA, hey, it’s a natural. While I’m on the subject…it really feels good to know that “the greatest nation on earth,” the bastion of liberty, freedom, and justice can’t manage to beat Libya in an unfair fight in six months paying mercenaries, while our “good” guys cruise high in the sky, out of range. Oh, it makes me proud to be an American. Secession? We had better be worrying about our necks.

Linda Brady Traynham is a woman of formidable intellect, crystalline wit and conviviality. She is a writer and rancher in Texas.