(8) Don’t feed the beast.
And I saw a beast rising out of the sea, with ten horns and seven heads, with ten diadems upon its horns and a blasphemous name upon its heads. And the beast that I saw was like a leopard, its feet were like a bear’s, and its mouth was like a lion’s mouth. And to it the dragon gave his power and his throne and great authority.
Revelation 13:1–2 (RSV)
Commentary:
Apocalyptic literature portrays great empires as beasts that devour and destroy everything in their path. In the above citation, the Apocalypse of John describes the Roman Empire as a beast which gets its power from the dragon (Satan). The Roman emperors taxed the peoples that they conquered in order to maintain their military might and their political advantage against their internal rivals. Egypt was the bread basket of Rome. It fed the beast.
The world’s beast today is unquestionably the USA. It has extended its military might across much of the planet. It maintains its economic might through the monetary system. The USA beast feeds on the world through its imposition of the US dollar as the world’s currency of trade, and it benefits from most countries maintaining US dollars in their own reserves. Since Nixon took the USA off the gold standard in 1971, the USA beast exports its dollar, which as a fiat currency costs virtually nothing to make, in exchange for real goods (oil, manufactured goods). The USA beast employs deficit spending which devours the value of the dollar and effectively taxes all foreign holders of USA dollars. Not only so, but the USA has weaponized the banking system to combat its enemies. No one can buy or sell anything without the mark of the beast (Rev. 13.16-17).
By comparison to US currency debasement, the taxes paid by expats hardly contribute anything to the beast. Nevertheless, expats do feed the beast in two main ways:
- The US tax compliance industry, which is a tentacle of the beast, depends largely on the hapless expat.
- The IRS brags about their special offshore programs.
We should do everything in our power not to encourage the spread of the USA tax compliance industry. Indeed, I recommend that we lobby for legislation to ban compliance condors from our countries. Feeding this industry, which is part of the agency capture of the corrupt USA government, is a bad idea. It leads to more bad and abusive legislation, as the compliance industry has a huge lobby in DC, and this in turn feeds more parasites around the world. One of the best strategies for curing Candida is to starve it of its main foods, sugar and simple starches. I suggest the same for this world-wide infection of compliancitis–we must starve it of expat sugar.
The IRS brags about how it has made US $6.5 billion from the Overseas Voluntary Disclosure Programs. But of course this is likely gross revenue from the program and has not deducted the countless hours spent by IRS employees who persecuted middle-class citizen abroad like Marvin van Horn. But such gloating would likely fool the math-challenged American public for whom $6.5 billion seems like an extraordinary amount of money. But in terms of annual federal expenditures of $3.95 trillion, it would feed the beast for only about 14 hours. So clearly, the IRS vaunts this figure of $6.5 billion for the purposes of propaganda and demagoguery.
In my opinion, expats can have a significant collective effect on these two aspects of the beast. Feeding the beast only makes it more powerful. So it is definitely in our own interests not to feed it.
Previous discussions:
The nature of the beast: feeding on EX-pats
California genocide and the Indian Tax Revolt of 1851
The Conscience of a Lawyer and the FBAR Fundraiser
Previous Petros Principles:
(1) What the IRS can’t know unless you tell them can’t hurt you.
(2) Fear makes the IRS more dangerous than it really is.
(3) Haste is the devil.
(4) Those most hurt by the IRS’s persecution of expats have engaged the services of cross-border compliance condors.
(5) Those least hurt have done nothing.
(6) Home is where you live.
(7) An unjust law is no law.
About: Petros is the alias of the founding administrator of the Isaac Brock Society. Petros Principles are guidelines that have helped him and others deal with the United States’ world-wide tax invasion.
@Petros
A brilliant and important post. May I suggest that add to your list the following:
“The Conscience Of A Lawyer and the FBAR Fundraiser” (one of your comments is referenced in this post)
http://isaacbrocksociety.ca/2012/05/31/the-conscience-of-a-lawyer-and-the-fbar-fundraiser/
I am finding it really interesting to read your new series of posts in the context of some of the posts that appeared in the early years of Brock.
What the Obama administration and the IRS did to Americans abroad in the early years through the disclosure programs must NEVER be forgotten.
Also, the “The Conscience of a lawyer” post above reminds me how in 2011 at term of the OVDI program was that:
Those Americans abroad who didn’t even know they were considered to be U.S. citizens were required to pay a 5% penalty on their assets!!!!!! Think of it. Many of the tax compliance people thought that this was a good deal (NOT).
@USCitizenAbroad, Thanks. I’ve added that post to the list.
“Don’t feed the Beast”. My favorite Petros Principle so far. It should be a new guiding principle for all who see what’s going on here. Cut off the USA Empire Beast’s food. Remove your money and assets. Put them elsewhere. There are ways of doing this for individuals, businesses and governments. We need to be creative and courageous.
More abuse coming out of the US / UK / EU
http://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/business/20160724/jnbs-vmbs-band-together-resolve-correspondent-banking-fallout
The US / UK / EU Banks are trying to UN-bank all Caribbean banks. Guess why.
The USA Beast and FATCA are getting more complex all the time, please see:
http://www.accountingtoday.com/news/tax-practice/irs-proposes-new-qi-agreement-for-foreign-banks-to-comply-with-fatca-78730-1.html
I think the gist of it is: “The new rules promise to help the IRS with its goal of pressuring foreign banks to turn over more information on potential tax evaders.”
Best to distance oneself from this mess. Especially us “wealthy tax evaders” retiring on our meager pensions north of the border.
Great post Petros
FATCA revealed to me what USA really is. A financial mafia corporation created in 1913 named the Fedral Reserve and now the IMF.
I’m spreading the word and defeating the beast everyday with a lot of pugnacity.
People are flabergasted when they find out what USA really is. They won’t send their children to study or find a job in the states anymore, out of the question.
FATCA will hit the beast like a boomberang and cut it’s head of, it’s just a matter of time…
@PatCanadian – as far as I can see, these new proposals have implications for entity accounts but not for individual accounts. ICBW
@Steven
“People are flabergasted when they find out what USA really is. They won’t send their children to study or find a job in the states anymore, out of the question.”
How about avoiding American shares?
Boycotting all American products?
Ignoring American businesses?
Avoiding holidaymaking in the States?
Calculate all of the above over a lifetime, and you get hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost revenue that could have benefitted a has-been beast chasing innocent people worldwide for ignoring to file reams of pointless paperwork to prove zero taxes owed and to pay for FBAR pseudocrimes committed extraterritorially. Madness…
Yes, little by little, US business is loosing foot because of US gouvernment’s absurd behaviour.
Tic tac tic tac tic tac…