The Sinking U.S. Dollar Doesn't Want Any Competition
The dollar continues to sink. How about a little competition to perk it up? Think that's silly? Well, the folks who created the Liberty Dollar didn't think so.
You could have found out all about it at http://www.libertydollar.org/. Until now. Now the sites been "removed." Here's why.
The guys who created the Liberty Dollar have been around a few years. They created a paper form of gold. They said they were trying to create an "alternate" currency to our paper dollar (a/k/a Federal Reserve Note).
The idea was this: If you don't like the U.S. dollar, but don't want to buy actual gold, the Liberty Dollar would be a different kind of paper money. It would represent actual gold. They did the same thing with silver.
Seems like a simple idea. Assuming there really is gold and silver backing up the "paper" gold and silver. I don't see why someone can't set up a business to serve people in the market for paper gold (if there is one), just like any business serves any market. The federal government's justice department decided they disagree.
They arrested the backers of the Liberty Dollar in 2009. U.S Attorney Ed Ryan stated: "When groups seek to undermine the U.S. currency system, the government is compelled to act. These coins are not government-produced coinage, yet purchasers were led to believe by those who made or sold them that they should be spent like U.S. Federal Reserve Notes."
The government apparently decided this company's claim to be providing a service to consumers that they would be willing to pay for was really an effort to undermine the U.S. currency system. But back in 2009, when I read read the words of the U.S. attorney something didn't add up.
I checked out the Liberty Dollar website back then (as I said, it's been removed "due to court order" so don't bother to look it up now) to see if the U.S. Attorney's statement made any sense. The verbiage on the website was pretty straight-forward stuff. The Liberty Dollar is a form of "warehouse receipt." That means it's a piece of paper that represents something tangible that's stored in a warehouse. In this case, what the paper Liberty Dollar represents is gold, silver and copper held in a warehouse. It seemed pretty clear to me at the time when I read the words on the website. So I'm not too sure what the U.S. Attorney thinks we were being "led to believe."
Second, what could the U.S. Attorney possibly mean when he says purchasers were led to believe they (the Liberty Dollars) should be spent like U.S. Federal Reserve Notes? When you use a credit card or a debit card, you're spending money in an acceptable manner - but you're not "spending Federal Reserve Notes," right? Anything wrong with that? And since anyone who uses Liberty Dollars should know exactly what they are (again, it seemed clear to me on the website), how could they possibly think they're spending "like Federal Reserve Notes"?
Third, the U.S. Attorney states that the Liberty Dollars aren't "government-produced coins." True enough. The U.S. mint is a government agency. It produces our coins. But wait. The real meaning of "coins" was always something made from metals like gold, silver and copper. We even once had nickels that were made from real nickel. Now all the things we call coins are made from other base metals. And items made from base metals were always called "slugs" not "coins." Well, if you think I'm being nit-picky, I'm not. But that just addresses "coins." What about Federal Reserve Notes?
The Federal Reserve, which issues Federal Reserve Notes, isn't a government agency. Some people have called it a "quasi-government agency, but I don't know what they mean by that. The fact is, it isn't a government agency. The U.S. Treasury used to produce our money. But they don't anymore. The government delegated that function to the Federal Reserve.
Another point: Federal Reserve notes are not warehouse receipts. They represent nothing. There's nothing held anywhere that "backs them up." I should think there's nothing confusing about that. What do you think? Are you confused? You shouldn't be. If you still think your Federal Reserve Notes are backed up by anything like gold, silver or copper, you need to bone up on your knowledge of just what our "official" money really is these days.
So what's going on? Why is the federal government so concerned all of a sudden?
First of all I wouldn't have used Liberty Dollars. If I wanted to have gold coins, I'd just buy gold coins. But why shouldn't someone else have been able to use Liberty dollars?
So the government went after these folks with the idea that they were being seditious, by trying to undermine the U.S. currency. Worse, the decision the government reached said that the defendants actions were a form of terrorism. You can read there decision here. Frankly, it shocked me to read this. It makes absolutely no sense. It's quite disturbing that the government said this.
So why shouldn't the Liberty Dollar folks have been allowed to compete with the Federal Reserve? After all, a lot of folks today know that Federal Reserve Notes lose their value over time due to inflation. In fact, they've lost around 95% of their value since the Federal Reserve created them in 1913.
If the Liberty Dollar, based on gold, silver and copper, could hold its value better than that then why wouldn't you rather have a Liberty Dollar rather than a Federal Reserve Note? Wouldn't that be good for you and me?
But it looks like the Liberty Dollar will not be allowed to compete with Federal Reserve Notes. It looks like the Federal Reserve can rest easy and keep printing their Notes and keep inflating away their value without any competition from the Liberty Dollar. The folks associated with the Liberty Dollar are out of business and it looks like the principals will be going to jail.
Do you find this as disturbing as I do?
You could have found out all about it at http://www.libertydollar.org/. Until now. Now the sites been "removed." Here's why.
The guys who created the Liberty Dollar have been around a few years. They created a paper form of gold. They said they were trying to create an "alternate" currency to our paper dollar (a/k/a Federal Reserve Note).
The idea was this: If you don't like the U.S. dollar, but don't want to buy actual gold, the Liberty Dollar would be a different kind of paper money. It would represent actual gold. They did the same thing with silver.
Seems like a simple idea. Assuming there really is gold and silver backing up the "paper" gold and silver. I don't see why someone can't set up a business to serve people in the market for paper gold (if there is one), just like any business serves any market. The federal government's justice department decided they disagree.
They arrested the backers of the Liberty Dollar in 2009. U.S Attorney Ed Ryan stated: "When groups seek to undermine the U.S. currency system, the government is compelled to act. These coins are not government-produced coinage, yet purchasers were led to believe by those who made or sold them that they should be spent like U.S. Federal Reserve Notes."
The government apparently decided this company's claim to be providing a service to consumers that they would be willing to pay for was really an effort to undermine the U.S. currency system. But back in 2009, when I read read the words of the U.S. attorney something didn't add up.
I checked out the Liberty Dollar website back then (as I said, it's been removed "due to court order" so don't bother to look it up now) to see if the U.S. Attorney's statement made any sense. The verbiage on the website was pretty straight-forward stuff. The Liberty Dollar is a form of "warehouse receipt." That means it's a piece of paper that represents something tangible that's stored in a warehouse. In this case, what the paper Liberty Dollar represents is gold, silver and copper held in a warehouse. It seemed pretty clear to me at the time when I read the words on the website. So I'm not too sure what the U.S. Attorney thinks we were being "led to believe."
Second, what could the U.S. Attorney possibly mean when he says purchasers were led to believe they (the Liberty Dollars) should be spent like U.S. Federal Reserve Notes? When you use a credit card or a debit card, you're spending money in an acceptable manner - but you're not "spending Federal Reserve Notes," right? Anything wrong with that? And since anyone who uses Liberty Dollars should know exactly what they are (again, it seemed clear to me on the website), how could they possibly think they're spending "like Federal Reserve Notes"?
Third, the U.S. Attorney states that the Liberty Dollars aren't "government-produced coins." True enough. The U.S. mint is a government agency. It produces our coins. But wait. The real meaning of "coins" was always something made from metals like gold, silver and copper. We even once had nickels that were made from real nickel. Now all the things we call coins are made from other base metals. And items made from base metals were always called "slugs" not "coins." Well, if you think I'm being nit-picky, I'm not. But that just addresses "coins." What about Federal Reserve Notes?
The Federal Reserve, which issues Federal Reserve Notes, isn't a government agency. Some people have called it a "quasi-government agency, but I don't know what they mean by that. The fact is, it isn't a government agency. The U.S. Treasury used to produce our money. But they don't anymore. The government delegated that function to the Federal Reserve.
Another point: Federal Reserve notes are not warehouse receipts. They represent nothing. There's nothing held anywhere that "backs them up." I should think there's nothing confusing about that. What do you think? Are you confused? You shouldn't be. If you still think your Federal Reserve Notes are backed up by anything like gold, silver or copper, you need to bone up on your knowledge of just what our "official" money really is these days.
So what's going on? Why is the federal government so concerned all of a sudden?
First of all I wouldn't have used Liberty Dollars. If I wanted to have gold coins, I'd just buy gold coins. But why shouldn't someone else have been able to use Liberty dollars?
So the government went after these folks with the idea that they were being seditious, by trying to undermine the U.S. currency. Worse, the decision the government reached said that the defendants actions were a form of terrorism. You can read there decision here. Frankly, it shocked me to read this. It makes absolutely no sense. It's quite disturbing that the government said this.
So why shouldn't the Liberty Dollar folks have been allowed to compete with the Federal Reserve? After all, a lot of folks today know that Federal Reserve Notes lose their value over time due to inflation. In fact, they've lost around 95% of their value since the Federal Reserve created them in 1913.
If the Liberty Dollar, based on gold, silver and copper, could hold its value better than that then why wouldn't you rather have a Liberty Dollar rather than a Federal Reserve Note? Wouldn't that be good for you and me?
But it looks like the Liberty Dollar will not be allowed to compete with Federal Reserve Notes. It looks like the Federal Reserve can rest easy and keep printing their Notes and keep inflating away their value without any competition from the Liberty Dollar. The folks associated with the Liberty Dollar are out of business and it looks like the principals will be going to jail.
Do you find this as disturbing as I do?
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