The history of money is largely tied to the history of human government. Therefore, it is not a good history. And although there are many lessons to be learned from history, few people actually do. And for most people, it is hard to recognize that government is not necessary for the concept of “money” to exist in a society, or even between societies.
Prior to the invention and widespread use of printing, money was always in the form of some kind of metal. Gold and silver, in particular. However, copper and its alloys (bronze and brass), platinum, (and at one time aluminum) were also money. Government did not create the concept of metals as money, they simply recognized it and co-opted it. Then perverted it in many ways.
As anarchists, we here at The Price of Liberty are opposed to any and all mandatory human government. From a “one-world” or transnational state and government to a local “homeowners’ association” or special services district. (Yes, most homeowners’ associations are de facto governments.) The key, to us, is “mandatory” – a government of any type which has power over you (and us) based on where we were born or where we live (or work).
But even so, we understand that limited mandatory human government is far more preferable, far better, than what most of us (and most of mankind) have endured and endure today. It is a sad fact that such is necessary at all.
There were multiple times in history when men have attempted to create and sustain limited government. We submit that this is little more than tolerating something that is inherently intolerable. Many ways have been sought and tried to limit the power of government, to prevent the rise of the all-powerful state. However, humans are perversely ingenious and are inventive when it comes to enslaving their fellows. And usually in convincing the slaves that they are still free.
Today, 14th of July, is of course Bastille Day. Over the years, TPOL has commented on it as much as any other significant event.
The French Revolution of 1789-1799 actually began on 22 February 1787, just a few months before the Philadelphia Convention signed and published the US Constitution on 17 September 1787, and not long after the American War of Independence was won (the surrender of British troops at Yorktown in October, 1781). The so-called American Revolutionary War lasted 8-1/2 years, from 19 April 1775 to 3 September 1783 when the peace treaty was signed.
The French Revolution actually began with the “Assembly of Notables,” a kind of Congress, refused to obey the King and dissolved itself on 25 May 1787. However, it is usually dated as starting on 14 July 1789 with the storming of the Bastille, a prison in Paris. And its official end on the 9th of November in 1799 (by Napoleon Bonaparte’s successful coup over the Directorate) was just a pause in a mess that did not really end until 1815. Whether we count this as 28 years or just 10, it was a terrible time and resulted in almost no change: they started with a king and tyranny, and after the reigns of terror, rule by an emperor, and millions and millions dead, ended up with the emperor replaced by another king and continued tyranny.
In other words, the French people (and government) are today celebrating a single event in a failed “revolution.” (Of course, we at TPOL argue that the call the 1775-1783 conflict the “American Revolutionary War is just as bad: a war of secession, a War of Independence? Yes.
With the breakdown of negotiations and the loss of patience and control, as we see combat resume in South Asia and the Middle East, does it hurt to talk about the objectives of Muslims? Especially of those we label as “Islamists” today?
One correspondent suggested that we again (as so often we do) look to Europe to see what we can learn.
Let us start with recent events. Just a few days back, a Muslim politician publically proclaimed: “Belgians must leave Belgium.” Saliha Rais said: “If people don’t like seeing hijab and niqabs.. if you don’t want to see us any longer, go elsewhere, get out.”
(In response, Elon Musk says: “If tolerance means the end of our civilization, then we can’t be tolerant.When Europe will regret having bartered its own principles and values for cheap labor, it will be too late.”
It is not just government agencies and officials, or even “failed” politicians (in other words, those not in office or who are not really in control: the puppets and ne’er-do-wells) who spout the biased, usually twisted and filled with lies, tales that seek to push this or that political or government idea.
Nor is it big (or small) business trying to cozen you into buying X or not buying Y. And trying to convince you of their honesty, their compassion, and their generosity. And it isn’t even your child or grandchild channeling Calvin!
The “academic community” may be the greatest purveyor of propaganda today. And we can show evidence that status may go back centuries. They are (regardless of “public” or “private” status) the natural allies of the powers-that-be: the rulers and would-be rulers in government.
Consider the Smithsonian Institution, and its centuries-long partnership with government. Not just the National Park Service (as you might expect), or the various historical elements of many other agencies. The Smithsonian, like NPS, USFS, BLM, USACE, and many other agencies, is an enormous generator of twisted lies and interpretations. And the source of most is not their political masters in Congress or down at the other end of the Mall in the White House. No, it is academia.
We easily see this in the National Museum of American History (NMAH), perhaps the best known of the Smithsonian’s outlets, with all the historical objects, many of the historical documents, and all in all, a vast treasure store.
As we look past 250 years, we wonder. Information like this from last month has caused many people to question what is going on.
Many characterize this as a de facto merger of the FedGov’s and Jerusalem’s military forces. Perhaps this thought is driven by the “success” of the joint US-Israel war on Iran.
Crook County is a small, ranching, timber, mining, and tourist county in Wyoming’s Black Hills. It is home to one of five Amish communities in the State of Wyoming. They are good neighbors, good people, and of great value to the community (not that the last is a requirement for the first two). It only has about 8,000 residents living in more than 2800 square miles. It is a lovely place, filled with a lot of good people, businesses, and opportunity. The Amish fit in well with the frontier and surprisingly libertarian attitude of most people. Indeed, the community of Hulett, in addition to having Amish, Devil’s Tower, a huge sawmill, and great hunting and fishing, is where Boston T. Party and others established the Wyoming Free State project decades ago.
We at TPOL know and work with some of the officials in Crook County. And we know that sometimes the officials (elected and appointed) demonstrate disturbing signs of stupidity and evil. And we know that their governmental system is corrupt and evil, just as every county in every American State is. Why? Because all too often they fail to praise and honor those who do good and fail to punish those who do evil. Why? All too often, as in this case, the failures come from what the State government (read, Legislature, Judicial Branch, and the Executive Branch) forces the county to do. And of course, much of what the State government does is demanded, dictated by the FedGov, DC (with threat of force if not obeyed).
… the Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking up Arms, enacted by the 2nd Continental Congress on 6 July 1775.
This five-page declaration explained why the Colonies believed armed resistance against the Crown (Great Britain) had become necessary. Although the delegates still expressed hope for peace, they made it clear they were prepared to defend their liberties by force—setting the stage for the Declaration of Independence one year later.
Part of that process we discussed earlier this month, it is worth studying by lovers of liberty.
Lest this declaration should disquiet the minds of our friends and fellow-‐subjects in any part of the empire, we assure them that we mean not to dissolve that union which has so long and so happily subsisted between us, and which we sincerely wish to see restored. Necessity has not yet driven us into that desperate measure, or induced us to excite any other nation to war against them. We have not raised armies with ambitious designs of separating from Great-Britain, and establishing independent states. We fight not for glory or for conquest. We exhibit to mankind the remarkable spectacle of a people attacked by unprovoked enemies, without any imputation or even suspicion of offence. They boast of their privileges and civilization, and yet proffer no milder conditions than servitude or death.
In our own native land, in defence of the freedom that is our birthright, and which we ever enjoyed till the late violation of it for the protection of our property, acquired solely by the honest industry of our fore-‐fathers and ourselves, against violence actually offered, we have taken up arms. We shall lay them down when hostilities shall cease on the part of the aggressors, and all danger of their being renewed shall be removed, and not before.
With an humble confidence in the mercies of the supreme and impartial Judge and Ruler of the Universe, we most devoutly implore his divine goodness to protect us happily through this great conflict, to dispose our adversaries to reconciliation on reasonable terms, and thereby to relieve the empire from the calamities of civil war.
Can we have the same attitude those men and women had 251 years ago today?
The Colorado Supreme Court ruled today that Democrats cannot use ballot initiatives to gerrymander the state’s congressional map and deliver themselves a permanent supermajority. The ruling is a clean win for election integrity.
At best, it is a clean win for procedure and practice, and leaves the question open in the longer term. This is something that Colorado and other “Blue States” have done and faced in the past. We predict that they will in the future. We note that the 4R-4D headline is very optimistic: Colorado is as rife with election fraud (and punishing those who seek to fight against it) as any other State. And the very recent SCOTUS Nazgul decision ensures Colorado continues to enjoy a license to do so: several of those GOP seats are far from safe!
Three ballot initiatives — numbered 240, 241, and 242, backed by a group called “Coloradans for a Level Playing Field” — would have redrawn Colorado’s congressional map to give Democrats seven of the state’s eight seats in Congress. The current delegation sits at 4R-4D. The plan was to flip three Republican seats for 2028 and 2030, 𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐃𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐚𝐝𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐞 through rigged redistricting.
On July 4, Americans celebrate the Union’s 250th birthday. (TPOL notes that the actual vote was on the 2nd, in the Continental Congress assembled in Philadelphia that hot summer.)
The Founding Fathers pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor against the greatest empire on earth. They created a republic based on the radical proposition that rights come from God, not government. They built a constitutional system designed to restrain power because they understood, better than today’s experts, that human beings are fallen and governments are dangerous.
That act of creation, of building something for the future did not happen on a single day, or even weeks of discussion: it was a key milestone in a long process. But one of significance. While tending to focus on a precise date, what Americans actually are celebrating is a 30-year-long transformation, from about 1760 to 1790. A transformation in a small group of countries that had a massive historical impact on the entire world for the last two and a half centuries.
The Price of Liberty 
Wrong and right: the two great “revolutions” of the 1700s
Today, 14th of July, is of course Bastille Day. Over the years, TPOL has commented on it as much as any other significant event.
The French Revolution of 1789-1799 actually began on 22 February 1787, just a few months before the Philadelphia Convention signed and published the US Constitution on 17 September 1787, and not long after the American War of Independence was won (the surrender of British troops at Yorktown in October, 1781). The so-called American Revolutionary War lasted 8-1/2 years, from 19 April 1775 to 3 September 1783 when the peace treaty was signed.
The French Revolution actually began with the “Assembly of Notables,” a kind of Congress, refused to obey the King and dissolved itself on 25 May 1787. However, it is usually dated as starting on 14 July 1789 with the storming of the Bastille, a prison in Paris. And its official end on the 9th of November in 1799 (by Napoleon Bonaparte’s successful coup over the Directorate) was just a pause in a mess that did not really end until 1815. Whether we count this as 28 years or just 10, it was a terrible time and resulted in almost no change: they started with a king and tyranny, and after the reigns of terror, rule by an emperor, and millions and millions dead, ended up with the emperor replaced by another king and continued tyranny.
In other words, the French people (and government) are today celebrating a single event in a failed “revolution.” (Of course, we at TPOL argue that the call the 1775-1783 conflict the “American Revolutionary War is just as bad: a war of secession, a War of Independence? Yes.
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