The Criminalization of Everything

Do you own a dog? You could face six months in federal prison If you walk it on federal lands on a leash longer than six feet in length.

Do you have a bank account? If you deposit or withdraw more than $10,000 in cash over multiple transactions, you could be imprisoned for up to five years. You could also lose every penny in the account, under the theory it “facilitated” your crime.

Do you have foreign investments? If you neglect to tell Uncle Sam about them, you could face draconian penalties. Forget to file just one form? You could face a $10,000 penalty per account per year.

There’s no requirement that you know any of these crimes exist for you to be found guilty of violating them. After all, “Ignorance of the law is no excuse.”

Fortunately, America is nearly unique in criminalizing so many offenses. The world prison population rate, based on United Nations estimates, is 144 per 100,000. By comparison, it’s 698 per 100,000 in the US – nearly five times as high. “Getting out of Dodge” can provide some real relief from the American cancer of criminalization.

But if you have any interest in setting up a second home overseas, don’t wait until some inadvertent slip up results in an arrest and possible felony conviction. Once you have a criminal record, you’ll find it much more difficult to acquire legal residence anywhere else.

There couldn’t be a better time than now to begin, while the coast is clear.

Reprinted with permission from Nestmann.com.

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