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Start (Or Buy) Your Own Country
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Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Vol. 9 No. 14 |
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In Today's Letter:
Comment: Start (Or Buy) Your Own Country
Offshore: Keeping New Year's Resolution #9
Wealth: Soft Commodities = Hard Profits
Privacy: The National ID Card Needs to Go
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Start (Or Buy) Your Own Country
Today's comment is by Bob Bauman, long-time editor and Legal Counsel for The Sovereign Society.
Dear A-Letter Reader,
"What's wrong with just starting your own country?" Bob Kephart used to ask rhetorically in his geopolitically reflective moments.
My late good friend, a staunch libertarian and the founder of The Sovereign Society, was a strong believer in minimalist government. (Actually he was a quasi-anarchist who disliked all government.) As a self-made man, he used his wealth to promote liberty and freedom in every way possible. (See An Extraordinary Man, July 15, 2004.)
I thought of Bob's suggestion because of an article last week announcing that Sealand was up for sale.
Sealand, which was built as a wartime fort called Roughs Tower in 1941, is a 550 sq m (5,920 sq ft) steel platform perched on two concrete towers. Accessible only by helicopter and boat, it sits seven miles off the coast of Harwich in Essex. In 1967, Paddy Roy Bates, a former English army major, settled there with his family. He proclaimed the island his own state and gave himself the title of prince. A year later the Royal Navy tried to evict him. Roy of Sealand saw them off with warning shots fired from the fort. A judge ruled that Sealand lay beyond the three-mile limit of Britain's territorial waters. So he was, therefore, outside government control.
Sealand delighted Bob and he even joked about seeking citizenship from Prince Roy. Here was a free British citizen declaring himself to be outside London's control and thumbing his nose at Her Majesty's mighty government. A 2004 article in Harper's magazine set forth, with some tongue in cheek, the several alternatives U.S. citizens or resident aliens have when they decide to say "bye bye" to America. It even addressed the gaggle of self-appointed "nations" that always fascinated Bob, including "Sealand" and the floating "country" of ResidentSea.
Harper's suggested correctly that Americans have a legal right to "expatriate" -- that is, to formally end their U.S. citizenship. But as one who authors The Sovereign Society's Passport Book, (a new edition will be out in a few months), I warn you not to contemplate such a move unless and until you have acquired a new, second citizenship in another nation. (And we can tell you how you do that as well.)
Harper's article touched on many aspects of second citizenship I cover in my book. The article spoke about instant economic citizenship in two Caribbean nations that costs big bucks and they discussed the risk of becoming a man without a country. But what they don't tell you, we do: how to move offshore and achieve eventual freedom from U.S. taxation with complete expatriation. And, yes, it is legal, but long and complex. We even publish a special report on expatriation.
In the meantime you may want to check out this ad: "For sale: the world's smallest country, complete with its own passports, currency, stamps and national football team. Uninterrupted sea views and complete privacy assured. Oh, and more wind than you will ever want. Offers in the region of eight-digit sums considered." To heck with Charles; you too can be a prince!
Liberals or conservatives, The Sovereign Society will tell you how to go offshore, for investments, for banking -- or for good.
That the way that it looks from here,
BOB BAUMAN, Long Time Editor
P.S. For more information see:
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Keeping New Years Resolution #9:
Plan Your Estate to Protect Your Family After You're Gone
Let's face it. Estate planning is something we have a tendency to put off, mainly because if you try to do it yourself, estate planning can be ridiculously complicated.
But estate planning is one of the most responsible things you can do for you and your family. Derek Sambrook, Managing Director of Trust Services, S.A., in Panama says "Failing to have your offshore estate in proper order when you die leaves a debt unpaid to your heirs."
If you've been meaning to take care of your estate for the last few years, make 2007 your year to finally get your act, and estate plan, together.
So how do you get started?
Like so many other New Year's resolutions, estate planning starts with seeking out professional help. But as Shakespeare said, "there's the rub."
So be cautious. Don't go for the cheapest professional you can find. Look behind your chosen professional's academic degree for actual results. Ask your friends, and your attorney for referrals.
Interested in taking your estate offshore? Check out our Council of Experts page for help at Home
ERIKA NOLAN, Executive Director
P.S. Check out my A-Letter comment on Thursday for offshore estate planning tricks.
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Why Soft Commodities = Hard Profits This Year
Diversification within the commodities complex is paying off this month, despite a very bad start for most raw materials in 2007.
Energy, the precious metals, and the base metals are getting slammed this month. That's the bad news. But the good news is that the soft agricultural commodities are soaring, especially the grains.
With the energy complex getting blasted right now, the grains are surging as corn, soybeans, and wheat hit 52-week highs. Though most commodities tend to rally or decline in unison, that's not always the case in a bull market. Divergence has occurred in January as most raw materials are suffering another brutal correction in their multi-year bull market. But not the grains.
Since last September, the grains have embarked on a major trend reversal after several years of flat-to-negative performance. Like other commodities, trends are primarily driven by supply and demand. In this case, demand is booming for corn because of the bull market in renewable energy (ethanol). Some of the worst corn harvests on record in China and Australia have also boosted demand.
Wheat, also on a tear, is suffering from plunging inventories because of record-low yields and rising demand from Asia. Other softs like cocoa, orange juice, and coffee are also on the move. Since 2002, the base metals, precious metals, and energy have gone to Mars. But the soft commodities have done nothing. That's now changing.
One of the most compelling investment ideas going forward lies in the growing consumption of foodstuffs for biofuel production and human ingestion.
There's no doubt that higher oil prices this decade will continue to encourage governments and companies alike to develop cleaner and cheaper sources of fuel, including ethanol and other biofuels. Plus, rising wealth accumulation in the emerging markets means countries like China will import more grains to feed their livestock as diets change. Combined with erratic weather patterns, I think there's a very good chance we'll see a boom in grain prices and other soft commodities, too.
On January 23, I'll recommend the most liquid way to play this exciting trend. You don't need margin or leverage, and it trades daily. If you want to invest in wheat, corn, soybeans and sugar, make sure to get a copy of my Commodity Trend Alert, now in its 6th year.
ERIC ROSEMAN, Investment Director
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Time to Repeal U.S. National ID Card Law
In 2005, President Bush signed the "Real ID Act," passed quietly by Congress without hearings or debate.
It's no wonder our congressional solons didn't want the American people to know much about this law. For the first time in U.S. history, this law has created a national identification card.
The legislation (hidden in a bill authorizing US$82 billion in funding for the Iraq war) didn't call for a national ID card. Instead, it created one through the "back door" by requiring state driver's licenses to contain standardized information that is machine-readable and linked to a central database maintained by the federal government.
Driver's licenses issued after the May 2008 deadline issued under the act may look like they do today. But "under the hood" they will function as a national ID. And in the event an upstart state refuses to comply with the standards, the Act declares that any state-issued driver's license that doesn't comply to the new standards will not be acceptable for admission to "federal facilities," including airports, government offices, etc.
Yet, some states have resisted implementing these requirements, primarily because of the huge costs involved. Congress didn't appropriate one penny to assist states in implementing the requirements of the Real ID Act, yet independent studies show that the cost of compliance with the law nationwide could easily top US$11 billion.
Now, a few lawmakers are beginning to question whether this law belongs in a free society. Senators Daniel Akaka (D-HI) and John Sununu (R-NH) have introduced legislation that would cancel most of the standardization that would create a de facto national ID card, require encryption of any personal data on driver's licenses, and prohibit the use of ID data by third parties.
It's time to ditch this intrusive law. A national ID card has no place in a nation founded on the principles of liberty.
MARK NESTMANN, Privacy Expert &
President of The Nestmann Group
www.nestmann.com
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