IMF Loan to Ukraine in SDR, not US Dollars. – B.R.
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Jim Rickards: Expect A Sudden International Monetary Collapse
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Items from The Economatrix:
Economic Preview: Trade Deficit May Narrow
U.S. Economy Gains 288,000 Jobs In April
John Embry: Hold onto Gold as ‘Currency Event’ Likely
Richard Russell – D**n The U.S. Lies, Untruths & Propagandal
Parent Arrested After Complaining of Explicit Sex in Schoolbook. – H.L.
Yet another reason why I homeschool my kids and will help homeschool my grandchildren.
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An Iowa City with a Population of 7,000 Will Receive Armored Military Vehicle. – H.L.
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Burglar Jiggled Doorknobs Looking For Way In, Then Got Shot. Had she not been armed, he probably would have killed her, but I’m wondering why the burglar got the chance to chase her around the house assaulting her with a garden tool before getting shot?
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Hillary Clinton: Gun culture ‘way out of balance’. – T.J.
I’m also wondering if the previous story’s victim thinks the gun culture is way out of balance? Maybe Hillary thinks it is because she never had an assailant assault her with a garden tool in her own home. Dodging shoes just isnt even remotely the same.
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ATF quietly laying groundwork to expand multiple rifle sales reporting – B.B.
“Government is actually the worst failure of civilized man. There has never been a really good one, and even those that are most tolerable are arbitrary cruel, grasping, and unintelligent.” – H. L. Mencken
From a SurvivalBlog Reader: New bill would change the definition of an antique firearms to Pre-1914
“Currently, any gun made in 1898 or before is deemed an antique, but the new bill would change that to 1913. This change would be significant because it would increase the number of antique firearms that could be sold and shipped without a Federal Firearm License.”
Hmmmm….an original 1911 (built from 1911 – 1913), could cease to exist on BATF paper. What’s NOT to like ? Expect major squawking from “Bloomberg’s Bolsheviks “. – T.Y.
JWR Adds: The “Antique” threshold has been artificially frozen at 1898 since 1968. Please contact your congresscritters and ask them to co-sponsor H.R. 4547, which is long-overdue legislation!
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Today we present another entry for Round 52 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The $11,000+ worth of prizes for this round include:
First Prize:
Second Prize:
Third Prize:
Round 52 ends on May 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.
I have been involved in “prepping” for just under eight years. I received a rude awakening in ’07 when the housing market crashed and my house equity went completely upside down in a matter of days. I discovered my nest egg (my house) SUDDENLY was NOT such a great investment. Also, up until that time, we had been riding high with second trust deeds, earning upwards of 17% at times, using the equity from a HELOC mortgage to buy short-term trust deeds. Needless to say, trust deeds are a very, very high risk investment, so much so that the laws were changed to limit how many a single person could purchase.
The next thing I am going to share has a spiritual side. I am a believer in Jesus and that, through His Holy Spirit, He still speaks to us today, both through the scriptures and through the prophets in the body of Christ. There were many dreams and prophetic insights given to what was coming to America, and the “judgements” because of the wickedness of the nation and how we had rejected HIM. Abortion, pornography, and the rampant rise in immorality and lawlessness is something God will not put up with, especially from a nation/a people who claim to be “Christian”.
My journey began with some simple questions. The first one was, “What is important?” I came across SurvivalBlog and was immediately impressed with the breadth of information and, most importantly, two things– the list of lists and the Rawles gets you ready e-book. Both of them are invaluable in getting your house in order.
My first order of business was food and water. Our property is on a well and septic, which means as long as I have a way of getting water out of my well, we can flush the toilets using a bucket if we need to or add a small pressure or gravity feed tank to get water into the toilet tanks. I had a brand new 1500 gallon septic vault installed, the leech lines inspected, and the drain field surveyed for pipe locations and whether or not any lines were clogged. Fortunately, all was in order. The next step was a hand pump for the well. I waited until summer. Using a plumb bob, I found out what my static water level was at the very end of our dry season. I also contacted the county and got a record of how many times the well had been deepened. It turns out my well began as a simple 50-foot 6-inch diameter hole with a decent flow. The well has been deepened three times and is now at 150 feet with a mix of mud and clay at the bottom. The current well pump is at 110 feet and the static water level is 80 feet with the well pump on, at about five gallons per minute. Knowing this, I purchased a deep well hand pump, like this one from sunshine works, along with spare parts for the foot valve and packing glands. I had to remove the well head cap and install the stainless one provided, re-attach my well pump, and then feed the nine foot sections down into the well, screwing them together a section at a time. I had to drill a hole in the roof of my well house to pass the pipes down into the hole, but that was an easy fix. Once installed, it sits right beside the powered well pump and does not interfere. I made sure all the members of the household pump some water, so they all realized how heavy a 90 foot tall ¾ inch column of water really is and how blessed we are to have a powered well! If you live in a freeze zone, you can get a section of pipe with a drain back hole. So that the pump will not freeze, they drill a small hole around four feet down the well head below the freeze line. My next step will be a DC pump and gear assembly, so the well can be run off a battery-powered gear pump, like this.
The well is currently sterilized with a ½ micron sediment filter and a u.v. sterilizing light. This is 240 volt a.c. and will not work when the lights go out, so we have a couple of Big Berkey Water Filters to make sure the water is potable.
Next on the list was food. I began looking at all possible avenues. Buying pre-bagged wheat already Mylar sealed was expensive. I began buying and scavenging food-grade plastic buckets from restaurants around town, and I found some great buys on craigslist. Before I knew it I had 100 buckets with lids sitting in my garage, all obtained for less than 100 dollars. These are not gamma seal style, but I will be buying a few of them to put on the bucket I am currently using. Nitrogen seemed to be the way to go, but buying the injector premade from a website was very expensive. I decided to buy a hose and nozzle set from Home Depot, which was 17 dollars. Then I purchased a fixed pressure regulator used for blowing up helium balloons from a welding supply shop; in this case it was Airgas. They had a refurbished one for 15 dollars. I soldered a piece of copper pipe to the end of the nozzle, drilled a few holes along its length, and for less than 40 dollars I have a nitrogen injector. You can rent a nitrogen cylinder inexpensively, use it, and return it when you are done from most welding supply houses. Expect to pay between 20 and 40 dollars for the gas and a few dollars in rental. Mylar bags and oxygen absorbers came from a number of vendors off the Internet. To seal the bags I purchased a Teflon shoe from a local sewing center like this one.
Fill the bag with wheat, beans, or rice; inject some nitrogen; throw in an absorber; fold the bag over; and iron well. This was a slow process. We had a few bagging parties where the whole family helped out. My beans and rice came from big box stores and from Bob’s Red Mill in Milwaukee, Oregon. If you order enough from them, you get wholesale rates and shipping is reasonable. I’m still working on collecting spices, some TVP, and a few things to make the staples more palatable.
One thing on bulk wheat. Please buy the food-grade wheat. Wheat that is used for seed, more often than not, is coated with a fungicide to prevent wheat rust for planting. You DO NOT want to eat this stuff. Wikipedia has info on wheat diseases, if you are so interested.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_wheat_diseases
For protein, I have invested in several traps and a feeding station for deer, and I’ve spent a lot of time walking and hiking my local forests– ones in walking distance from my house. Squirrel, wild turkey, grouse, quail, deer, Roosevelt elk, and black bear all wander through my local forests. I have several grains and legumes stored for their protein content. Beans and rice can make a complete protein if you combine them right. We also have ducks (farm breeds) and a dozen of hens (Road Island Reds, mostly, and Black Sexlinks) for laying eggs. Scratch grains supplement the diets of the hens and ducks, as they are semi-free range and spend most of the day eating grass and bugs. We purchase a half a cow every year from the rancher down the street, and we have a standing order. I am not sure where we will put it all, if the freezer stops working. I suppose we will dehydrate and make jerky out of as much as we can.
I have also invested in some seed stores from Victory Seed Company. I purchase all my seed form local organic growers; that way I know my seed was raised in the climate I will be growing it in, and it will be ready for what nature throws its way. Gardening is hit and miss for us, as some years there is not enough sun and the tomatoes never get red! A green house will help this I am sure; it’s on the list.
Canning supplies are found easily on craigslist, and tattler lids are a must have, as they are reusable over a number of years. Invest in a decent pressure cooker; it reduces canning time and lets you work much faster.
We have a few fruit trees and hazelnuts on the property, and we grow all the fruit organically– no harsh pesticides or sprays. Fall can be a bit hectic, as all the fruit tends to mature in a short window of time. You either eat it, can it, or it goes to the horses next door.
Now, on to bullets. After much reading I settled on an AR 15, a GLock 19, a 12-gauge Remington model 120 pump shotgun with the longest and shortest barrels I could find, and a Tikka T330-06. For small bore I chose a Ruger 10-22 with a walnut stock, a Henry arms AR 7 survival rifle and a couple of wheel guns in .22. All of these are extremely common calibers in the United States, and I can find ammo in a dozen stores. These calibers are synonymous with sporting and law enforcement, and will be valuable for barter in a long-term grid down scenario. Slow, small cash purchases spread across a number of years have helped me get my ammo stocks up before the latest ammo shortage. I am still on the lookout and use several online ammo trackers to look for ammo availability. Local range time is a must, and dry fire drills using snap caps will help you with firearm familiarity. I cannot stress this enough– practice, practice, practice! If you don’t have your C.C.W., get one! It’s your constitutional duty to protect and defend your family and property from the golden horde.
Next is band aids. There are dozens of websites out there, with great authors. I use Dr. Bones and Nurse Amy’s website all the time. Following their recommendations, I have purchased animal antibiotics in all the various flavors. I would also encourage purchasing an older copy of the Physicians Desk Reference off of ebay; it’s a great resources for all things pharmaceutical. I also downloaded “When There Is No Doctor” and “When There Is No Dentist” from Hesperian. Each are a great resource, and they have a ton of info. I encourage donating to them if you can. Take a local first aid class if you can, and get trained on common injuries and how to treat them. I do have suture kits, but most wounds will close by themselves if treated correctly. Sewing someone up if the wound is not sterilized is a recipe for disaster. My local farm store had betadine solution and a bunch of stuff used on farm animals, that when I was a kid was sold over the counter for human use. It no longer is, but it’s fine for equine use, so I got some for my preps. Walking the equine aisle was a real eye opener for me. Tinctures of all kinds, sterile syringes, all sorts of scrubs, lotions, and topical antibiotics are available over the counter. I tried to find lidocaine solutions, but they have a short shelf life, and mixing your own solution from powdered lidocaine can be dangerous and even fatal. I am sure there are some TMT’s here that can chime in on the dangers of this. I have slowly stocked up on tape, gauze, bandaids, and other basic first aid supplies. A good set of tweezers are actually hard to find! My local army surplus has a ton of medical and dental implements for sale, and I found a good set there.
For power I installed a 12KW natural gas/propane powered Genset, with automatic transfer switch, to run the house in the short term, while getting ready for the long term. A simple jet change will allow the Genset to run off propane. As of right now it is plumbed into my existing house natural gas feed. I also have a 4 kilowatt solar system set up on the roof, which will provide enough to do a load of wash on a sunny day. Another 6 kw will be on the shop in the coming months, along with batteries and a charge controller, which will power most DC loads I have.
Lighting at night will be hurricane lamps, candles, and led rechargeable yard lights. Put them outside in the daytime, and then you can light the house up easily where you need it at night.
I still need a wood stove and a supply of cordwood. I can harvest from the local forest, but it is mostly douglas fir, and there is not a lot of local hardwood to be found. A decent axe and other manual tree felling and cutting equipment is still in my future. I still have a long way to go, but it shows what you can do when you have time, modest resources, and are careful with your purchases.
Hugh,
I don’t think it was the calorie restriction which made him suffer those ill effects. I think it was the high soy content of the meals. Despite all the hype about how healthy soy is, the ugly truth is that soy is not that healthy.
First, it is highly genetically modified, so it is nowhere near the original cultivated plant.
Second, it is a false estrogen and plays havoc with one’s endocrine system. Even in a healthy person with no endocrine (thyroid) problems, that much soy can cause ill effects. I think it was the soy protein messing with his endocrine system which caused all the ill effects he experienced.
A caloric reduction to 1200 to 1500 calories a day is not that drastic a reduction when the food choices are healthy. – B.C.
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Hugh,
Right off the bat, a big problem I see with the diet that BadIdeaGuy was put on is that it apparently relied heavily on soy protein, which is one of the worst things you can eat. In fact, we would all be healthier if we were to eliminate all soy products from our diet. Soy is NOT a health food! Search “soy” on mercola.com for the complete story of why you don’t want to be eating this stuff. – W.M.
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HJL,
I read the guest author’s article with interest. I am trying to lose weight and found that what may work for you will not work for me. I suggest that readers re-evaluate the food storage they have (unless they already eat large quantities of 3rd world protein). I know you recommend that everyone eat what they store, but I fear that few do. When the balloon goes up, it would not be a good time to find out that “Passport to Survival” and your wheat, salt, sugar, and honey, is woefully inadequate. I have abandoned the conventional wisdom of the current Food Pyramid, or whatever they call it now; as it is unworkable for me and too close to a Vegan diet that I refuse to participate in. The 60 pounds that I am trying to shed are all as a result of trying to eat a low fat high carbohydrate diet that was loaded with processed carbs and replaced fat with sugar. I have adopted the “Paleo” style of eating, which is the opposite of the author’s doctor suggestion. Look at www.marksdailyapple.com for a better idea, but basically I avoid wheat (as if I were gluten intolerant) and other grains and sugar. That means my food storage is leaning heavily towards freeze-dried vegetables, fruits, meats, oils, and fats. I would suggest you plant a garden and also have the supplies to turn beef in the freezer into canned meat, if power is lost. Of course if normal food production is off-line, none of us are going to have food any more processed than our great grandfather’s, and our sugar intake will match theirs as well. – BFT
Hugh Replies: If freeze-dried vegetables are to be a mainstay of your food preps, you’ll be very interested in an upcoming review. SurvivalBlog is currently evaluating an in-home freeze-dryer. We will have an in-depth review shortly.
Todd Savage of Survival Retreat Consulting has launched a new blog: StrategicRelocationBlog.com, in cooperation with well-known preparedness author and lecturer Joel Skousen. I have great respect for both Todd and Joel. Be sure to check it out. – JWR
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AAPS News May 2014 – Do Doctors Expire in 10 Years?. – H.L.
First, the absurdity hit teachers. Now it looks like doctors are next on the list. I have been both a teacher and a medical professional (EMT-B). I can state with first-hand knowledge that I have never had a class (in a classroom) or taken a test that had any bearing upon what I did as a professional. What was important was the actual practice and contact under the tutelage of another professional. The tests and classes have all been money-making experiences for the state and a grand waste of time and resources.
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Company bans homeschooled workers.
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‘Chinese police to help patrol Paris streets’. – G.P.
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FBI: Gangs Responsible for Nearly Half of All Violent Crimes. – G.P.
“You cannot antagonize and influence at the same time.” – John Knox
May 6th is the birthday of Tuvia Bielski, born 1906. You may remember him as the main character in the movie Defiance This movie was based on the book Defiance: The Bielski Partisans by Nechama Tec.
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For those that like Sig Sauers, one of our contest sponsors, Autrey’s Armory, is offering 10% off for any Sig Sauer firearm in stock, and they will throw in the shipping. Just use “SIG10” at the checkout to get the discount. They will run the sale until May 15th.
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Today we present another entry for Round 52 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The $11,000+ worth of prizes for this round include:
First Prize:
Second Prize:
Third Prize:
Round 52 ends on May 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.
First, I am a licensed insurance agent. I prefer not to mention the companies I represent. However, laws differ from state to state. This article is to educate people how to use their insurance to replace their prepping supplies and retreats when disaster strikes.
There are some basic terms to know when dealing with insurance. I’ve defined some of these terms into every day language:
Actual Cash Value– This is also known as the depreciated value. Think about your roof. If you have 20-year shingles that have been on your house for 11 years and have a hail storm strike your home, here is how it is settled. If the cost to replace your roof is $10,000, the insurance company says you have nine years remaining on the shingles (20 year shingles less the 11 years they have been on your house) and they multiply $10,000 by 9/20 of the remaining value of your roof. So, the value of your roof is $4,500. They pay you this amount ($4,500), less your deductible. Not too good!
Replacement Cost– Does not take depreciation into account. It replaces your item(s) in today’s dollars, less your deductible.
Fair Market Value– What you could sell your asset(s) for today.
Perils– Anything that goes wrong.
Extended Values– In our state, this means the insurance company pays for 125% of your insured amount.
Scheduled Property– Property that has significant value and should be listed on your policy. Think about your jewelry, guns, silver, gold, money, computers, manuscripts, tools, and so forth.
Umbrella Liability Policy– A cheap way to insure against big mistakes. If you are driving and have an allergy attack and start sneezing uncontrollably and cause a five car pile-up, you will be glad you have this policy. It will help keep you out of a courtroom.
Exclusions– What your insurance will not cover. The best example of this, in most states that allow them, is the insurance companies lack of payment in case of an act of war, nuclear disaster, flood (external rising water), and (in the southeast) hurricane coverage. In most states, one can add earthquake coverage.
Flood Insurance– The government’s second attempt at a national insurance program. If you live in a flood prone area, you really need this insurance. However, like Obamacare, it is too expensive, lacks some coverage, and has high deductibles. This is a standardized coverage nationwide. I live on a plateau that has never flooded in our town. It would cost me $365 to have flood insurance, in an area with a very low chance of occurrence. I can only imagine how much it would cost in the states that have wide-spread flooding.
Rates– What you pay for insurance. Rates are approved by each state’s department of insurance.
Pet Insurance– Don’t do it! This is “feel good” insurance that most veterinarians in my area say is a waste of money.
Insurance is broken down into sections. Each section covers a specific area of your properties. We will now examine the various sections.
Coverage “A” – Your Dwelling
The best conversation I have with clients is the amount of coverage they have on their home. You are insuring the reconstruction cost of your home, not the fair market value of your home. This means if you have a 1,500 square foot home, multiply it by the cost to replace a house like yours. Where I live, the building inspector told me houses are being constructed for $100 per square foot, if it is an average house. For higher end homes, it can be as much as $125 to $200 per square foot. So, in this example, the average house should be insured for $150,000 (1,500 square feet X $100). Your home might only sell for $120,000, if you sold it. Be sure to insure the rebuilding amount.
Some companies guarantee to replace your home no matter what the cost. This is called the “unlimited replacement value”. Other companies will offer extended limits. In my state, the “extended limits” means that your house has an extra coverage of some percent determined by the insurance company. The company I write most insurance for has extended coverage of 125%. In the example above, the individual would have coverage of $150,000 times 125% or $187,500.
Is this a good option? Yes. Let’s say your insurance renews on May 1, 2014, and you elect “extended limits” coverage. On July 10, 2014, the Federal Reserve System announces it is stopping quantitative easing immediately. The cost of all goods and service rises quickly. You have a house fire on October 27, 2014. In the example above, the house is insured at $150,000. Because the cost increased quickly, to replace your home now costs $180,000. Your insurance coverage did not increase, but you are covered. Had you decided to wait until your policy renews to increase your coverage and did not have this coverage, you would be in a world of hurt. It does not cost much to have this peace of mind.
Coverage “B” – Private Structures
Private structures are building other than your main home.
They too are settled on the same basis as your home.
Be sure to tell the agent that you have a storage building, underground shelter, barn, or other buildings.
Coverage “C” – Personal Property
If you take the roof off your home and then turn the house upside down and shake it, the stuff that falls out is your “Personal Property”. This includes your prepping supplies. You can increase this amount from the policy minimum. Some items are required to be scheduled. See the definition of Scheduled Property above.
Please make sure you have replacement cost settlement on this part of your policy. If they use depreciated values, your 15 year old sleeping bag will have no value. However, you could not buy my bag from me. I consider it a part of my life. At least I would get a new bag.
Part “D” – Loss of Use
Should your home become uninhabitable, your will need other shelter. This coverage will reimburse you for the cost to live somewhere else while your home is being rebuilt.
Part ”F” – Liability
This will cover the cost of people who get injured at your home. Think pools, trampolines, and dangerous dogs! I encourage my clients to consider an Excess Liability Policy or Umbrella Policy. They are cheap and will cover your driving and your accidents at home.
Should someone break into your home and you hit them over the head with a meat tenderizing mallet or in some other way have them meet their demise, what will protect you from the law suit? The Umbrella Policy. For a few hundred dollars a year, this is good to have. At 44 years old, I am too old to start over for a mistake that really hurt someone.
This is the basics of insurance. If you were my client, I would spend about two hours with you discussing what you are looking for. If you want a quick quote, with a cheap policy, I might not be the right agent for you. Notice, I call you a “client”, not a “customer”. Clients mean you have a long-term relationship, while a customer is a one and done relationship.
Find you an insurance agent that is willing to listen to you. When you think about insurance, ask yourself three questions: What coverage do I need? How are claims settled? What is the best price? Do not reverse these questions.
You do not need a salesman for your agent, you need a caring person. Set down at least once a year to discuss your coverage. Make them talk to you!
As I stated above, this is a basic lesson in how to cover your prepping supplies and your retreats (homes). I am only licensed in one state and do not in any way imply that I know it all about each state’s requirements and rates.
Look for an agent that has your best interest at heart, not his own bottom line. Record your conversations when talking about coverage. If he says your roof will be settled on replacement cost basis, and it ends up being settled on the actual cash value method, you might get him to pay the difference. Otherwise, you would have no chance.
If you ask him to make a change to your policy, ask for proof of the change.
Read your policy. Ask your agent to explain the things you do not understand.
Make a video of your stuff! Lay out your undies, your tools, your prepping supplies and everything else you have. Then, video it! Store the video away from your home. Add up the cost of your prepping supplies and make sure you have enough coverage under the personal property section.
I am unique in the fact that I am a prepper and an agent. I have extra tarps, generators, and extensions cords for my clients to use if the power goes out for a few days following a tornado. You might find someone like me in your area. Insurance is designed to pool all our money together and help each other out during an emergency.
The company I represent most was the first to settle more than 95% of the claims when Hurricane Sandy hit. I was proud to hear this. Insurance companies should be there for us. That is why we pay our hard earned money to the company.
Hugh,
I noted the post in Economics and Investing on 30 April.
I would like to share my experience with Wells Fargo which occurred about 20 years ago. I went in to the branch to access my safe deposit box. After telling me that I had no box, we sorted out that they had made a mistake about deducting my annual fees and closed my account. The next thing they said was that there was no such box. I convinced them that there was such a box, and we went into the vault and the previous location of my box was now an aisle-way. It turns out that they remodeled the vault, and they could not find my box. After nine months of run-around, the branch manager said that I should fill out a claim form with a statement of the contents. I told her that I did not want to file a claim but rather wanted the contents of my box. About one week later they finally found the box. I promptly closed my safe deposit box account. I did some research and learned that this type of thing happens surprisingly frequently, and there are many lawyers out there that will assist you in bringing a law suit against a bank who has lost your safe deposit box. Bottom line: If you place something in a bank safe deposit box then you may never see it again. Safe deposit boxes are a reasonable solution in some situations but not without risk.
If anyone chooses to use a safe deposit box, make copies of all documents and diversify storage locations for things which are irreplaceable, placing only some in the safe deposit box and another portion in other secure locations. As always, remember that the safe deposit box contents may be inaccessible temporarily or permanently, due to many reasons, among which could be a power failure, a bank failure, or even a new executive order confiscating gold a second time. – Anonymous SurvivalBlog Reader
Hugh Replies: As has been stated many times, unless you hold the asset in your hand, you do not truly own it. Any time you are paying someone to handle the asset for you, you run the risk of losing control of that asset. Obviously, OPSEC is something that needs to be managed as well. Fortunately, I learned that lesson from the U.S. Postal Service without losing anything of monetary value. I sent a letter, by registered mail, to a person who never received it, nearly causing some serious legal ramifications. When I contacted the Postmaster, they smiled politely and apologized for losing the letter, but there was nothing anyone could do. The letter simply vanished. In every case, you must weigh the convenience of having someone else manage your asset against the security needed to manage it yourself. Sometimes you cannot avoid it, but you must be prepared to lose control of it.
Hugh,
Considering the important position you have taken as editor on this blog, any post by you should have authoritative backing. I have concerns about parts, 3, 4, and 5 of your post “Response to Ideas Concerning a Post-Collapse World.”
Part 3. Usury. Usury is simply a fee for the use of money. Not all religions prohibit it. In Judaism, it is prohibited only in loans of “brothers” to each other, not to outsiders. It is not prohibited in Christianity. Compound interest has a number of uses, including calculating the present value of an amount to be paid in the future, or the future value of an amount currently held. The current and present values are in the same specie. It does not make sense to calculate, in gold, the future value of five copper coins. Also, English pennies did not exist at the beginning of the Christian era. Starting from 1836, five English copper pennies at 5% compound interest would now be 45,629.95 English copper pennies. A lot of pennies, but not bank busting.
Part 4. Limited Liability. Limited liability of corporations to its creditors can be created out of ordinary contract law. All persons dealing with a corporation can agree not to sue the corporation’s shareholders. Limited liability does not shield a corporation from liability in tort. It does not shield a corporation’s officers from criminal liability.
Part 5. Specie as tender. Your note in this part says that bankers are “parasites”. How can they be parasites if they have figured out a way to avoid the lending in specie that you object to? When a bank makes a loan, it does not hand a bag of money, or specie, to the borrower. It creates a new bank account in the borrower’s name. The account is “backed up” by the promissory note signed by the borrower. Private money, or specie, backed by a private promise. Incidentally, the warning of Scripture about the love of money being the root of all evil arises from money being based on man’s promise, rather than God’s promise. Sincerely – J.L.
Hugh Replies: I think you have a mistaken idea on who wrote the post. The post was written by JLF. But the ideas that are put forth are valid considerations. Usury was indeed forbidden by Christianity in the middle ages, and the New Testament has clear teachings against the charging of interest. Specifically, the Christian is expected to lend money without expectation of repayment, according to Matthew 5:42, Luke 6:34-35, and Luke 6:38. The Qur’an clearly forbids usury. Some of the earliest prohibitions that we see historically on usury come out of Vedic Texts of India. Even China has outlawed interest, at times, in its past. It is, therefore, a true statement that every major religion has taken a stand against usury at some point in history. Even if you decide that an acceptable interest rate is, say 5-8%; a credit card company raising your interest rate to 24% or 29% is nothing short of criminal and is equivalent to mobster loan shark activities. Even if the current law condones or accepts it, the practice is ethically wrong and morally bankrupt. You are also comparing apples to oranges in your calculations. The original author gave a loan life of 2000 years. Your calculations are only showing a loan life of 78 years. Using current interest rates, it is an expectation that you will pay as much in interest (sometimes two or three times as much) as you will on the principle of your home loan. Even in your calculation, the value of the loan is nearly 10,000 times the original value. Clearly, these are areas that need to be dealt with when the rebuilding of society eventually occurs.
I do not have the background or knowledge base to argue the authors point on part 4 or part 5, but I do know that the laws, as they currently stand, are very problematic and prone to abuses in the extreme. There must be some sort of representation of money to facilitate a widely accepted bartering market, but a fiat currency cannot be it. There must be an equal exchange of value or fair representation of held value on any transaction. Personally, I rather like the idea of bank checks, as they were used in the 1800s, but it requires a level of trust. The bank check held no value after being redeemed at the bank. However, you might be reluctant to take a check from someone whom you did not know. In that case, the exchange had to have something involving a hard value. I see that as a major problem with our current currency, as the bills are no more than bank checks without any value behind them, yet we are expected to believe that they contain value in and of themselves. That value only exists until people quit trusting in the value and demand hard assets in exchange.
Again, while something may be legal, it does not make it morally or ethically right. The artificial person doing business and then dissolving while protecting the organizers is a real, valid problem and needs to be addressed.
Frank Limbs Hernandez, 94, of Eagle, Idaho, passed away peacefully in his sleep on April 21, 2014. He, serving in WWII, Korea, and Vietnam, gave over 30 years of service. He was the oldest living Marine in Idaho to have survived three combat theaters. A true hero. – D.H.
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3.8 quake in central Idaho, 2.5 in west Montana | KTVB.COM Boise. – RBS
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Fourth graders kicked out of school after planning to make fireworks. – RBS
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