Bleed the Beast

I’ve gotten a number of emails from folks who wish to know what kind of resistance to the State can be accomplished. Well, I’m not a Red Dawn kind of guy, and I’m not Thomas Jefferson (nor do I play him on the internet.) But I have actually given this a lot of thought and investigation and will reveal what I believe to be the “magic bullet” that can abolish the government and Wall Street together in a “death of a thousand cuts”.

What is the “magic bullet”? You might not believe this, but it’s actually consumer spending. The entire apparatus of the federal government, local governments, and Wall Street are held together and kept alive by consumer spending. How and why? This is how it works: People become convinced via the media that they need all these non-essential items or essential items vastly overpriced because of “brand”. Now, the federal government inculcates into the people that consumer spending is important to the economy. And it is. The entire economy, the government, and Wall Street are all held together by it. Because once people chase after these things and buy them, they must be paid for. Thus, they must work (and work even more hours than ever before) in order to pay for this crap. In so doing, they are taxed by the federal government whose tax rates go up when their income does. Therefore, the more you buy, the more you have to work, and the more taxes the government collects.

Let me go into more detail as to how it all comes together. The liberals will have you to believe that Middle Eastern wars we get into are over oil. That much is true. But this isn’t just about gas for Billy Bob’s and Jethro’s pick-up trucks that have the fuel efficiency of an M1 tank. That’s only partially true. What actually drives our need for cheap oil is our agricultural system which is totally built around that. Our entire nation is pretty much fed by corn, wheat, and soy or fractions of those three crops. Those three crops are controlled by three mega-corporations who also control most of the processed foods that come from them. These three crops are heavily subsidised by the federal government through “farm bills”, which is how they keep food prices so low. Look, these three crops require vast millions of barrels of oil to grow and produce because all the farming, transport, and processing of these foodstuffs is totally mechanised. What’s more, the primary one it all relies on—corn—requires vast tonnage of synthetic fertiliser to grow. Fertiliser that is made using petroleum products. Without cheap oil, cheap food will collapse overnight.

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Now, the feds learned this tactic during the 1973 Arab Oil Embargo which crippled our auto and manufacturing sectors. Food skyrocketed in price because, again, it is heavily reliant on oil for the tractors and combines and fertiliser. The feds discovered that when food prices are high, consumer spending goes down. But why does the government need to subsidise food and keep food prices low? Because they care about us? No. Because they need people to have enough money to engage in consumer spending and, therefore, work longer and pay more taxes. See, buying food is not the same as buying a house or a car. There is no opportunity for the government to recover much revenue from people buying food. But cars and houses? Absolutely! Both those things are heavily taxed, gasoline is taxed, and people have to work for decades to pay for them. And pay taxes on that income. Also, in addition to that, those taxes are necessary for the military needed to secure that cheap oil from the Middle East. This entire thing is a cycle that revolves around tax revenue generated from taxable wages.

See here, the government got to the size it is because of the Cold War and the massive military spending that went on for decades. The government became used to that kind of income because they actually brought in lots of tax revenue from people paying taxes on high-income jobs in the defence industry. Not to mention the taxes on the corporations themselves. When the Cold War ended, the government was stuck holding the bag with a massive drop in revenue. That’s where the early 1990s financial blip came from that got Clinton elected. The way the government “corrected” this was to bring in the idea of consumer spending on crap we do not need and expensive crap we do need where 60% of the price is directly related to the brand name alone. Whereas in the past a “fad” might be a Hula-Hoop that cost a couple bucks, today the fads are expensive electronic gadgets that cost hundreds of dollars. Plus, the fads are also related to brand names where you can sell a $10.00 pair of shoes for $150.00 just because of the brand name. People work longer to buy this crap, hence, they pay more income tax. The government also started promoting the idea that consumer spending was somehow “patriotic”, even in times of war, as we saw after 9/11. Now, why would they do this?

The answer is because the entire system is built upon tax revenue from people working to buy this crap. Yes, the corporations are taxed. And, yes, the government borrows a lot of money because the tax revenue alone cannot provide enough money. But, knowing that, we can see that if people simply stopped buying crap they don’t need and stopped working longer hours to pay for it, the State will soon be in deep trouble as far as revenue goes. Look how scared they get every time consumer spending drops. The government and Wall Street panic like a newborn that can’t find its pacifier. That’s what the whole 2008-2009 Great Recession proved. It wasn’t the Wall Street oopsie that scared them. That is easily fixed with fiat currency. What scared them was what came next.

During the Great Recession, many people got scared and stopped spending money. That, readers, is what got them scared. They need people spending money and working to get that money (and pay taxes) to keep this entire system alive. Notice how the biggest goal of the government was to get credit available to everyone again, so they can return to spending money they haven’t got and working overtime to try and come up with it. By the way, the feds tax overtime a lot and they love you to work overtime. The next goal of the government was to “revive” the housing market. Sensible people ought to know by now that owning a house is like giving your ATM card to your local government. Whenever you see your local schools saying they need more laptop computers for the kids, guess how they’ll find the money for that? Raising your property tax. Finally, the federal government needed people to stop feeling scared and start spending money instead of saving it. Buying a new car or house is a trap the feds love. Because you’ll pay income taxes on the extra work needed to pay for that crap for decades.

Look here, why do you think they’re telling you this? Do you think they actually care if you “own” your own house? Do you think they care if chicks think you’re cool because you’re driving a new Ford Mustang “muscle car”? Folks put things into perspective! A home is a shelter, okay? A car is just a tool to get from Point A to Point B. My gosh, my boots are older than most peoples’ cars and these people then wonder why they’re broke. What, because the minimum wage isn’t high enough? No! It’s because you people are living way beyond your means! Because the government needs you to do so in order to remain enslaved to them. That’s what keeps them alive: Tax revenue.

See here. If people stopped buying all this expensive crap ($300 for a pair of tennis shoes?! Really?!) and stopped working all those extra hours to pay for it, the government is going to start running out of money real quick. The credit other countries give the United States government is based on tax revenue income. Let that start dropping and other countries will not want to risk loaning money that it is now clear cannot be paid back based on the incoming revenue. Wall Street will begin to tumble and collapse and, this time, the government will not have the money to save them. The government will not have the money to keep the military at the size it is. Look, people, you think you haven’t got any power? You do. It’s called economic power.

An Underground Free Market Economy can smash this State. I have not bought a “consumer good” new in several years. Listen, this nation has made and imported millions of tons of “stuff” just since the 1980s alone. The amount of “stuff” out there that can be had used is astonishing. Why would you buy this stuff new and pay sales tax?! Why would you work longer hours and pay more federal tax to buy more of this crap new? What, do you need to be a walking billboard for all the fashion designers? What, will that brand new muscle car bring you a quality relationship? Excuse me, it’s going to bring you an expensive one. Especially the one with the federal government.

Swap meets, yard sales, rummage sales, internet marketplaces, free “penny-saver” periodicals, classified ads, internet discussion forum “trade blankets”, and even brick-and-mortar “used exchanges” have vast selections of everything under the sun. Why would you buy any of this stuff new? Some of this stuff you can trade for and never even part with a penny. This is how we get rid of the government. We stop funding it. Look, they need vast income to survive. It’s not going to take much of a loss of that revenue for them to squirm. Wall Street nearly died and that was just one segment related to credit, housing, loans, and so forth. Stop buying houses and cars alone, Wall Street will probably begin to wither and die on the vine in a year. Stop working once you have enough to provide the genuine needs, the loss of tax revenue will start causing the government to go broke from the city and county all the way up to the feds. Think it can’t be done? Oh, it can. Why do you think governments use economic sanctions against other countries?

It’s called “Bleeding the Beast”. Every avoidance of tax, be it buying things used to working fewer hours and paying less income tax, is a revolutionary act. People, we don’t NEED all of this crap! It is the government and Wall Street telling us that we need it! The ideas that we “need” it comes from the media who are owned and controlled by them! And, what, people work longer hours, pay more taxes, and get deeper into debt to buy it?! Is it necessary? Has your life been enriched by this? Or are you just getting fatter and sicker and more in debt? There is a reason that is happening. It’s called an addiction to buying.

The government needs people to pay taxes like a drug dealer needs people to buy heroin. The government can only exist through tax revenue. They can only increase tax revenue significantly more with people working longer and paying more taxes as a result. Therefore, yes, they try and get you to buy a house from Freddie and Fannie and all the other scam loan shark entities that are and aren’t government owned. So you’ll bust your hump for twenty years pulling overtime they tax the living crap out of in order to pay for that house. So you’ll use that house as an ATM and take out this second mortgage and work a second job and pay more taxes. Excuse me, but what was the reason you needed to own this self-incarcerating prison you call a “house”? What, this is freedom? If that is true, why then does the federal government have such a stake in getting you to buy one? Since when has this government cared about freedom?

So, you want to “do something”? There. I just gave it to you. You can have this for free. Stop buying stuff, people! Stop working harder to get nowhere! And when you need stuff, there is a vast free market out there and people don’t even realise it! We don’t need to create a free market, there’s already one here. All we need to do is use it faithfully and expand it. The Free Market is a wonderful idea, but it must be practised! You can’t think that someone else should do this for you. That’s how a government comes into existence! You have to start practising it right now. If you look around, you might be surprised at what you can buy out there and pay zero sales tax. Some of this stuff still has the original tags on it! Never used and just sat in someone’s closet. Because there’s tons of “stuff” out there.

Don’t feed the Beast. Bleed the Beast. Don’t buy anything new. Food doesn’t count; it’s non-taxable in most states. Stop playing Brand Name Bingo. You look like a sucker: “Hey, I paid an extra $300 to wear this logo!” Besides, guess what? You can find the same thing at the thrift store for a small fraction of the original price. Often, it’ll still have the store tag on it, too. And figure out a budget and when you arrive at one, don’t work beyond that. Meaning, don’t work more hours where the income is taxed if you get my drift. If you can find barter or cash for labour, hey, what can I say? But on the other hand, once your needs are taken care of, what is the meaning of work? Some hobbies can pay off in trades for other stuff. Especially things like woodworking and so on. You ought to see how much good wood is thrown away each day.

It can be done. But we’ve got to practice it. We need to show people there’s a better way. Because there is. Those of us who haven’t got much money and have learned how little we actually need can testify to it. It’s there. Use it. The hand-written price tag is the flag of the Frugal Revolution.

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