Our leader of the Canadian Cheekiness Movement (CCM) may be finding himself in some interesting company, namely Carl Watner, an American historian of libertarian studies and Voluntaryist, and Paul LePage, the governor of Maine. With a great deal of aplomb, Watner’s drawn parallels between the actions of the US government and Nazi Germany, Governor LePage in remarks he recently made about the IRS.
In his paper, Watner make references to regulations, including FATCA, that are ‘reminiscent of what Nazi Germany did to its citizens in the years before World War II’.
The Noose Continues to Tighten But No Government Lasts Forever
Governor LePage, recently found himself in hot water stating that the IRS is “headed” in the direction of becoming the infamous Nazi secret police, later clarifying:
What I am trying to say is the Holocaust was a horrific crime against humanity and, frankly, I would never want to see that repeated. Maybe the IRS is not quite as bad–yet.
Paul LePage, Maine Governor: IRS Is ‘Headed’ In The Direction Of Killing A Lot Of People
In Watner’s words, ‘The hopeful part is reflected in what we can observe from history’.
Perhaps it would benefit us to collect these kinds of references if only to create our own ‘circular file on the floor‘ , as a retrospective of how we were forewarned by those labeled ‘whack jobs, wing nuts, kooks and wierdos’.
Here is an idea: I was thinking today how the only way to get out from under crippling student debt in the United States, since it is impossible to declare bankruptcy, will be to leave the country and start somewhere else, Australia, UK, New Zealand, China, and Canada. Next, the USA will pass a law saying anyone with over $25,000 in student loan debt may not receive a US passport for travel abroad, lest they leave the country definitively and make their lives elsewhere.
*Petros, the US credit card debt is $803.6 billion. 46.7% of the households owe about $14,517: http://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/credit-card-data/average-credit-card-debt-household/ So, the US government could easily use debt to deny half of the nation the ability to leave the US.
Knowing the USA, they will never under any circumstances let people go free, instead insisting everyone pay back their student loan for as long as they possess their mortal coil and regardless of whether they live in Paris or Antartica.
Some people may be exaggerating with their comparisons– FOR NOW. But what if things go unchecked or challenged? Hopefully I will be long gone by then.
Thanks for the link to Stephen’s blog. Golden ring– a US Green Card. Haha! The US is the only place in the world with opportunity? Yeah right… I think all of us are good examples to prove the contrary. The world is a really big place. I’ll never understand why Americans have to continually repeat these positive affirmations……? If anything, intelligent and entrepreneurial people should avoid the US like the plague. The life-long citizenship obligations aren’t worth it.
*Many look outside the US for analogies for FATCA legislation, there is one US precedent we can use to describe the plight of expats
slavery was not only legal in the US and subsidized through increased representation in congress, but slaveowners rights were strongly enforced with the Fugitive Slave Acts of 1793 and 1850
http://www.nationalcenter.org/FugitiveSlaveAct.html
@Patricia; particularly: “a person held to service or labor”…. thank you for the link to the document.
Carl Watner seems to have a pretty up to speed on US regulations effecting offshore bank accounts, but when answering his own question: “But why would a citizen break the law of the United States?”, USP’s abroad are overlooked. Perhaps because we have legitimate reasons for having them and they’re not for tax evasion purposes? The first step in fixing a problem is the recognition that there is one.
@Petros
“Next, the USA will pass a law saying anyone with over $25,000 in student
loan debt may not receive a US passport for travel abroad, lest they
leave the country definitively and make their lives elsewhere.”
Careful what you wish for – The Hungarian government is already doing this and trapping their graduates for many years in the country:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-19213488
“The power of the Executive to cast a man into prison without formulating any charge known to the law, and particularly to deny him the judgment of his peers, is in the highest degree odious and is the foundation of all totalitarian government whether Nazi or Communist.”
‘President Obama has created an imperial presidency that would have made Richard Nixon blush.’
On violating Nuremberg and crossing the Rubicon:
http://truth-out.org/opinion/item/11264-john-cusack-and-jonathan-turley-on-obamas-constitution
@bubblebustin I thought that the following exchange was very frightening:
“CUSACK: Does that order have to come directly from Obama, or can his underlings carry that out on his behalf as part of a generalized understanding? Or does he have to personally say, “You can get that guy and that guy?”
TURLEY: Well, he has delegated the authority to the so-called death panel, which is, of course, hilarious, since the Republicans keep talking about a nonexistent death panel in national healthcare. We actually do have a death panel, and it’s killing people who are healthy.
CUSACK: I think you just gave me the idea for my next film. And the tone will be, of course, Kafkaesque.
TURLEY: It really is.”
This makes me think of the episode in Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy where the President is trying to undo the death sentence of one of his companions and encounters the full wrath of Vogon bureaucracy.
An article on VOGONS: Probably a very good parody of US bureaucracy or bureaucracy in general if you really think about it! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vogon
I found a clip from Hitchhiker’s Guide containing an overview of the Vogons and a visit to a Vogon administrative office. A very funny quote “Presidents don’t have power, their purpose is to draw attention away from it…” (after 1:21).
@Jefferson
Thanks for sharing that! I’ll have to watch the movie in its entirety.
The 2013 NDAA has a tasty nugget that would allow the USG to use propaganda on the American people. The US already spends 4B a year on foreign propaganda, while at the same time is stepping up efforts to alienate 6 million of its citizens who live abroad, many of whom were once ‘good-will ambassadors’ to the US but no more.
More parallels being drawn between the actions of the US government and those of Nazi Germany to add to our repository:
http://www.activistpost.com/2013/02/2014-too-late-to-leave-united-states.html
http://genevalunch.com/editor-s-notepad/tag/william-olenick/