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The Life of a Dollar

"It is well that the people of the nation do not understand our banking and monetary system, for if they did, I believe there would be a revolution before tomorrow morning."
Henry Ford

"Give me control over a nation's currency and I care not who makes its laws."
Baron M.A. Rothschild

"Whoever controls the money in any country is master of all its legislation and commerce."
President James Garfield

From bartering valuable goods and services, to trading commodity money (such as salt, pepper, incense, olive oil, honey, tobacco, shells, metal coins, etc.), to the use of representative money (where gold, silver and/or other valuable commodities are stored by a bank or other lending institution and are represented by and redeemed with paper money), to the trading of federal reserve notes (fiat money; IOUs with nothing but credit and debt to represent; the most common form of currency in use today) -- almost, if not all societies of the world, have some form of trade, goods and services to sell, and some (regulated) way to pay for it all.

HOW MONEY CIRCULATES

Currently, money is made either in the form of coins (by United States Mint) or in the form of paper money (otherwise known as dollar banknotes, fiat money, promissory notes, IOUs, federal reserve notes -- call them what you will) made and placed into circulation by banks, printed by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, issued by the Federal Reserve and used as legal money/tender.

Once federal reserve notes (FRNs) have been placed into circulation by federal reserve banks, consumers typically earn this fiat money in exchange for their time and labor, so as to pay others to provide them with the things they need like food, water, shelter, heating and cooling, electricity, transportation, medicine, etc. But for every dollar a person earns, 15-38 cents (or more) goes to the IRS for federal income taxes, and about 30-40 cents or more will be needed for paying bills (and this doesn't include state, county and/or local taxes). So basically, this means that for every dollar YOU EARN, only 42-55 cents (or less) is yours to keep, save or invest as you wish - the remaining 45-58 cents will go to tax and bill collectors. As this money is spent, it is ultimately taxed again and again until eventually every penny goes back to where it came from (i.e., the banks) and is re-circulated or replaced with more fiat money.

Then, for every dollar deposited into a bank, the bank is allowed to lend out nine more fiat dollars. And because fiat money can be created almost for free (without much time and very little, if any labor) no matter the said value of any bill or coin, there is no real limit to the amount that can be created (by inflation) or removed (by deflation) from circulation - and therefore, no limit to the loss in the value of a dollar. Considering that the dollar today has lost about 95% of its value since 1969 (due to inflationary money debasement), a loss of about 2.5-10 cents per dollar, per year due to inflation is not uncommon. Fiat money has no actual value and cannot be redeemed (at any federal reserve bank) for gold, silver or anything else of any value; it is nothing more than a medium of exchange, which depends entirely on the faith placed upon it, though its use and value is regulated and manipulated by federal banks and the US government (via deflation, inflation, taxation, government and municipal bonds, rates of interest and other debt and money debasement schemes). Indeed, the national debt could not exist without the existence and use of fiat money.

HERE COMES THE TAX MAN

Many goods and services (such as public roads and highways, schools, hospitals, fire departments, utility providers, etc.) are considered to be beneficial, useful, or even necessary for the common good of the general population, so taxes have been levied for at least as far back as the 17th century to help pay for public works. There are many different taxes, such as those on income, social security, FICA, capital gains, corporate, self employment, sales, gift, property, use, toll, excise, death, personal property and other taxes … and the list goes on while it continues to grow. But many taxes can be legally avoided, reduced or even eliminated while some are even optional.

SALES TAXES
Sales taxes can be avoided by either producing your own goods, or by only buying goods from states without the sales tax (i.e., Alaska, Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire or Oregon).

EXCISE TAXES
Excise taxes (such as those on tobacco, alcohol, gasoline, etc.) can generally only be avoided by either producing your own goods and services, or by not using them at all. For example, instead of buying gasoline and paying applicable sales and excise taxes, drive an alternative vehicle that doesn't run on gasoline, or don't drive.

INCOME TAXES
Some states don't have income taxes (such as Alaska, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington and Wyoming), but federal income taxes will apply no matter what state you live in. So reduce federal income taxes with credits, deductions, exemptions and other adjustments to taxable income, and start converting as much taxable income to nontaxable income as possible. For example, learn the ways of self sufficient living so as to reduce the need for income, and start contributing to a Gold and/or Silver backed Roth IRA account for inflation-proof, nontaxable retirement income.

PROPERTY, ESTATE AND OTHER TAXES
Property taxes can be minimized with tax credits, deductions and exemptions, and can even be eliminated by owning federally patented property (i.e., homesteads, mining claims, etc.). Estate taxes only apply to estates (of all assets combined) worth more than $1,500,000; holding these assets in trust avoids probate as well as gift and estate taxes (depending on trust terms). Capital gains taxes only apply to profit from the sale of real estate, and the first $250,000 of profits from the sale of a primary residence (of at least two years) can be excluded from taxable income. Gift taxes only apply to non-charitable donations of more than $12,000 to any one individual (other than a spouse) in any one year.

FINANCING PUBLIC WORKS


Taxes and loans (such as municipal and government bonds) are not the only sources of revenue for financing public works. We can make tax deductible donations to churches, schools, colleges, hospitals and other such public nonprofit organizations. In addition, the need for so many public funded social and welfare programs could be reduced if only people would become more self sufficient. For example, we can start contibuting to private gold/silver backed Roth IRAs for future nontaxable, inflation proof retirement income, so as to reduce the need for Social Security along with its associated taxes. Another example might be to start contributing to your own personal tax deductible health savings accounts, so as to reduce your income taxes as well as the need for public health insurance programs. As we can see, with independence comes freedom!

ELIMINATING THE NEED FOR FIAT MONEY

First, it is possible to conserve and provide oneself with things like water, food, shelter, heating and cooling, electricity and such necessities in an economical, earth friendly and sustainable manner, so that paying someone else (bill collectors) to provide these things for you is essentially unnecessary. The words, "A Penny Saved Is A Penny Earned" come to mind, as with the reduction (or even elimination) of the cost of living (financially and environmentally) -- one can be assured that living standards will no longer be determined by one's income or by bill collectors!

And second, it is possible to eliminate the need for fiat money, yet still buy and sell. Real money is at least backed by gold and/or silver (unlike federal reserve notes) and in many cases can be bought and sold (at spot price) in the form of gold and silver coin or bullion without the risks associated with stocks, bonds and futures. Gold prices also generally go up when the value of a dollar goes down (which evidently is going to continue until the dollar has completely flatlined), so simply exchanging your federal reserve notes for REAL MONEY can be an investment in and of itself!


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