Mark this well. You do not, repeat not, embarrass Master. That is what Master does to its own targets, and it does not suffer the competition well.
The redoubtable William Norman Grigg covers the story of the persecution of Robert and Danille Kahre for the "crime" of beating Master at its own game.
As usual, the state's victims harmed no one, and so they'll pay for that: fifteen years in prison for Robert and five years probation for Danille. For the "crime" of paying their employees in gold and silver coin.
Huh?
Oh yeah. See, the problem there is that the commodity value of the gold and silver is worth far more than the amount officially minted on the coin...so the recipients quite sensibly reported the face value of the coin as income (it being official legal tender and all) and used the real value of the coin for purchasing power. And of course that makes them low-down-dirty-tax-cheats.
After being acquitted on the basis of the same facts in a previous trial, Robert and Danille Kahre were found guilty by a federal jury of "tax crimes" -- a charge that describes the efforts of productive people to avoid having their honestly earned wealth stolen from them by the world's most vicious criminal syndicate. In this particular case, the method used by the Kahres -- owners and operators of a large and successful construction company -- protected their earnings, as well as those of the people with whom they worked, and underscored the pervasive criminal fraud practiced by the regime.
In operating their construction business, the Kahres paid workers as independent contractors, rather than "employees," in gold and silver coins minted by the U.S. government. The employees were able to sell those coins -- which were assigned a face value by the government, not by the Kahres -- at the much higher market value. The contractors then claimed a tax liability based on the government-assigned face value of the coins, not their value in Federal Reserve Notes (FRNs).
This is, if you will, the obverse of the government's claim that gold and silver minted currency are "legal tender" only for their face value. The Kahres simply reverse-engineered the logic of the legal tender laws in an entirely defensible application of the commandment to render unto Caesar only that which is Caesar's: If the government is content to perpetuate the fraud that a Gold Eagle fifty-dollar coin is worth only that amount, and not the $1171 and change it presently commands on the market, then the tax liability of that coin should reflect its fraudulent face value.
I'm pretty impressed, personally. That's perfectly logical thinking, exploiting a gloriously gaping loophole in the fiat-currency system. Nice play! An honorable opponent would cede the point and release he who taught him the lesson. But hey, who are we kidding? This is Master.
On the other hand, this is the stuff of which folk heroes are made. Nobody harmed? Check. Underdog showing up Goliath? Check. Pointing out the absurdity of a broken system while playing within the system? Check. Obviously wrongly accused and imprisoned? Check.
The state will work to quash this however it can (and don't you just love it when the federal government gets all lecturey on the plebes about matters of fraud?), but that's all the state can do, since the cat is out of the bag now.
People know. People learn. Pass that on.
Comments
Shouldn't have reported it at all and there would probably have been no problem. "Master" is leaving principled people no option other than the black and gray markets.
Sorry Kent, master is leaving no option other than violence. We just read of the rules being obeyed and still they were punished. Black and grey markets would just make punishment easier to achieve.
Great volley, SA. I don't think I can argue your point rationally, so think of this question as being in the same spirit thereof: are you suggesting that it is POSSIBLE for it to get any easier for Master to have its way with its chosen targets? I'm not sure I could defend that, either. :-)
Yes, it can get easier. At the moment they have to cheat, break the rules and break the law. Something for which they may be hanged when we have had enough. Something we would be loath to do if we were as dirty as they, or maybe not, if we were that dirty :(.
On the other hand, protecting our republic from these creatures is laudable, especially if we have maintained ourselves above moral reproach.
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