Bernard von NotHaus Was Arrested

Bernard von NotHaus is the operator of the Liberty Dollar. According to this page, Bernard von NotHaus was arrested by the FBI. Lewrockwell.com also has an article.

I liked the quote on this page.

Here is a very telling quote from an internal staff meeting by William Casey, Director of the CIA in 1981: "We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false."

Actually, brainwashing everyone to have perfectly false beliefs is pretty impressive! Then, just by taking the opposite of the majority, you know you're right! This is simultaneously silly and true. The more that pro-State trolls get offended by my writing, the more important the subject. It's like the "Opposite George" episode of Seinfeld (fnord!).

On this page, von NotHaus announced that he was ceasing operations for the Liberty Dollar. As part of the conditions of his bail, he was forced to stop operating the Liberty Dollar business. Notice that, even though he hasn't been convicted of a crime (yet), the judge ordered him to cease operating his business. He decided that he preferred to be out on bail instead of waiting in jail for 6-12 months, so he agreed to the restriction. There is no legal requirement for a judge to offer someone bail, so the judge can demand whatever restrictions he chooses.

Even if he is acquitted, he doesn't recover the time and expense of a trial. The trial is going to last for months. It will extract a financial and physical toll, even if it ends in acquittal. The State bureaucrats can afford to harass von NotHaus, because their salaries are paid by taxation/theft. If you have a very profitable extortion racket, you can afford to spend a lot of resources harassing people who try to end your scam. As long as only a handful resist at a time, this is profitable.

Just like Robert Kahre was railroaded into a conviction in an unfair trial, it is very likely that von NotHaus will be convicted. It seems that every high-profile critic of the Federal Reserve winds up going to jail for income tax evasion or other "victimless" crimes. Once you realize that the Federal Reserve and income tax are one big scam, you have to act on your beliefs. Otherwise, you're accepting your status as a slave.

I'm surprised that he hired a lawyer, instead of going pro se. His lawyer is probably going to argue "The law is legitimate, but von NotHaus did not break it!", instead of "The Federal Reserve is immoral!" Von NotHaus probably won't be allowed to explain to the jury the immorality of the Federal Reserve and financial industry extortion racket.

The Liberty Dollar is immoral and stupid. I disagree with "The Liberty Dollar is illegal!" If I had to rank evil on a relative scale, the Federal Reserve is way more evil than the Liberty Dollar. However, the Liberty Dollar has some undesirable elements.

The Liberty Dollar buys silver at spot ($15 when I wrote this) and sells it at face amount (currently $20). The difference of $5 is profit for the Liberty Dollar business. Liberty Dollars are sold via a multi-level marketing scheme. Also, the Liberty Dollar should have picked a design that didn't look like State-issued money.

A really stupid person could confuse the Liberty Dollar with State-issued money. This potential confusion is probably the reason von NotHaus was assaulted by the State police. I read stories of someone taking a Liberty Dollar to a bank to deposit it, only to have the bank reject it. Some people are stupid enough to accept Liberty Dollars in payment and then try that.

It should be legal to use Liberty Dollars as money if you want to. It's misleading if people confuse the Liberty Dollar with State-issued money.

Businesses like the Liberty Dollar give alternative currencies a bad name. Instead of using Liberty Dollars, you should use generic silver rounds and value them based on the spot price of silver.

Looking at the indictment, the problem seems to be "The Liberty Dollar coins look sort of like US government-issued money." If von NotHaus hadn't made his coins look like State-issued money, then he probably would not have been arrested. On the other hand, then the State bureaucrats would probably have found another frivolous charge.

Even though the Liberty Dollar is stupid, I disagree with "Bernard von NotHaus is a criminal!" It seems that his biggest mistake was making the Liberty Dollar sort of look like State-issued money. If he printed "NOT LEGAL TENDER!" on the Liberty Dollar and made it look different than government money, he probably would not have been assaulted by the State. On the other hand, State bureaucrats always look for loopholes to arrest people who criticize the State.

For example, even if the Liberty Dollar did not look like State-issued money, von NotHaus could have been arrested for not reporting all his sales to the IRS. Whenever you buy or sell silver, it's a taxable transaction. If you use silver as barter money, it's a taxable transaction, with a much more unfavorable tax treatment compared to when you use slave points as money.

Even though the Liberty Dollar is offensive, I'm disappointed to see that von NotHaus is the victim of State violence.

If you want to boycott the Federal Reserve, use generic silver/gold rounds/bars and value them based on the spot price. There's no need to use Liberty Dollars. Even better, quote prices directly in silver or gold instead of slave points. Instead of saying "This costs $30!", say "This costs two ounces of silver!" It's loss-oriented thinking when you only think of prices in terms of slave points.

The Liberty Dollar is not a true alternate currency, because it's still based on Federal Reserve Notes. Stamping "$20" on a silver coin entirely defeats the purpose of an alternate monetary system.

It seems that every high-profile critic of the Federal Reserve winds up in jail, especially if they act on their beliefs. That is a serious problem if I want to promote agorism. Pro-State troll critics like Ron Paul are allowed, because they implicitly endorse the State. If I promote agorism, but don't also act on my beliefs, that makes me a hypocrite. My goal is to start agorist businesses myself, and help other people start agorist businesses. If I'm a high-profile advocate for agorism, then State enforcers will be eager to kidnap and torture me. It's a problem.