THE SOVEREIGN SOCIETY OFFSHORE A-LETTER
Your Link to Freedom, Privacy & Prosperity in the Offshore World
Wednesday, December 15, 2004 - Vol. 6 No. 241
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In This Issue:
* COMMENT: The Evolution of Freedom.
* OFFSHORE: Ultra-Clean Bermuda. EU Anti-Rock. Swiss Votes. Jersey Euro
* WEALTH: Dental Detention: Not Like Pulling Teeth.
* PRIVACY & RIGHTS: Anti-Money Laundering in America.
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Our Guest Comment today is by John Pugsley, Chairman of the Sovereign Society, noted author & founder of The Bio-Rational Institute.
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COMMENT: The Evolution of Freedom.
Dear A-Letter Reader:
John Stuart Mill, the famous 19th century philosopher, in his essay, 'On Liberty', posed three questions:
* What is the rightful limit to the sovereignty of the individual over himself?
* Where does the authority of society begin?
* How much of human life should be assigned to individuality, and how much to society? I have long puzzled over the mystery of why the vast majority of people, including those who are intelligent, educated, and successful, accept without question the idea that 'society', i.e., government, should be assigned authority over their lives and actions. This near universal acceptance of the authority of the state is especially baffling in light of world history in which we see that the State is consistently the source of human misery, and government 'solutions' invariably worsen every problem that they propose to solve.
In our quest for safety and security, mankind has experimented with a wide variety of social contracts. To date, all experiments, from monarchy to democracy, and from fascism to communism, grant society the authority over individual members.
Since biological evolution has programmed each of us to be self- interested, individuals entrusted with political power tend to be corrupted by that power, a point famously made by Lord Acton. Unfortunately, the evolution of social contract technology has not yet arrived at a design that doesn't hand power to corruptible individuals.
If our species is to survive, I believe experimentation will eventually lead to the evolution of a new social system in which the belief that society must have authority over the individual will change and a new status quo will be created. The majority will still accept the customs and traditions of the society into which they are born.
However, those customs and traditions will no longer grant society arbitrary powers over individuals. Rather, all individuals will be sovereign unto themselves. Not only is a world in which individuals have sovereignty over themselves the optimal social system, it is the only possible system that takes into account the evolutionary nature of Homo sapiens.
The scientific evidence is mounting that the only social contract that can insure our species' survival is one that leaves each of us sovereign over our own lives.
Thomas Paine, whose remarkable pamphlet 'Common Sense' catalyzed the American Revolution, reminded the colonists that '...a long habit of not thinking a thing wrong, gives it a superficial appearance of being right, and raises at first a formidable outcry in defense of custom.'
The belief that you and I and others must be governed is deeply imbedded in our beliefs, our history, our education and indoctrination. Mankind's long habit of not thinking it wrong for society to have authority over the individual gives the concept the appearance of being right. The near universal belief that a society couldn't work if government isn't in control is simply wrong.
The answer to Mill's question has grown out of the evolution of mankind.
It is freedom -- a world in which every individual is sovereign.
John Pugsley, Chairman, The Sovereign Society
San Diego, California
PS: For insights on the evolutionary roots of freedom, sign up for The Bio-Rational Institute's FREE weekly e-letter at:
E-mail: johnpugsley@sbcglobal.net
Web page: LINK: http://www.biorationalinstitute.com/email.html
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* COMMENT LINKS:
* John Stuart Mill 'On Liberty'. LINKS:
http://www.utilitarianism.com/ol/one.html
http://www.wsu.edu:8080/~wldciv/world_civ_reader/world_civ_reader_2/mill.html
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* FROM THE EDITOR'S DESK:
* OFFSHORE *
* BERMUDA THE ULTRA-CLEAN
HAMILTON: This week the parliament passed what has become a global requirement for trendy politicians - a ban on terrorist financial activities on the island, with the attendant power to seize funds and monitor accounts. Over the years Bermuda became a highly sophisticated venue for asset protection and the tax haven of choice for respectable offshore business, for the most part. And they certainly are trendy. In the last decade Bermuda has knuckled under to every privacy compromising demand from London, Washington, the OECD and FATF, some would say unnecessarily so. The result; strong anti-dirty cash laws, tax information exchange agreements with the US, mutual legal assistance treaties, EU co-operation, et al. And perhaps a lot less business from the privacy-minded who have done nothing wrong, but resent constant government surveillance.
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* IS THE EUROPEAN UNION ANTI-ROCK?
It's beginning to appear that the EU Brussels bureaucrats have a vendetta against GIBRALTAR, one of the world's elite tax havens for high net worth individuals. The EU busybodies have tried to repeal the special tax treatment for foreigners, curbed financial privacy, and now contend this historic UK colony is really part of the UK and must adopt its high taxes! And there's a sneaking suspicion that SPAIN is behind all this harassment, as part of its three centuries-long battle to take over The Rock and it 30,000 souls, who overwhelmingly want to remain with the English.
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* WHY DO THE SWISS VOTE SO MUCH?
ZURICH: Because, alone among the world's democracies, the Swiss have the right to national referenda on constitutional, legislative, and policy issues; every man (and women) a lawmaker. If you want to know more about how this works, there's a new book that explains Swiss 'direct democracy.'
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* GOT CHANGE FOR JERSEY EURO?
ST. HELIER, Jersey: A leading economist suggests that this Channel Island avoid the turmoil abolishing the British pound sterling may (will) cause; tie Jersey to the Swiss franc, the US dollar, or create a Jersey euro, his preferred option. Why shouldn't a major, although small financial haven have its own monetary policy, he asks?
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* WEALTH *
* NOT LIKE PULLING TEETH
RENO, Nevada, USA: A former dentist turned 'financial adviser' gets 6 months home detention and a 10K fine for telling 'clients' to avoid US taxes by putting cash in offshore accounts.
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* PRIVACY & RIGHTS *
* MONEY LAUNDERING IN AMERICA
US law enforcement officials estimate that between $100 billion and $300 billion of criminal cash is laundered in the USA each year. Numerous laws require various types of report of cash transfers for almost every business, but there is no overall control or co-ordination of the reports and there is no way of ensuring that the information even is being used.
Meanwhile, we all are forced to surrender our privacy to the government, on the vague hope that they may find a needle in a haystack.
Brilliant!
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* OFFSHORE LINKS *
* Bermuda passes law against terrorism financing
LINK: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N13623172.htm
* EU investigates claims of 'State Aid' in Gibraltar
LINK: http://www.panorama.gi/updates.htm#EU
* New book: Swiss learn democracy by voting. LINK:
http://www.swissinfo.org/sen/swissinfo.html?siteSect=111&sid=5403455
* Break from UK money, Jersey expert says.
LINK: http://www.thisisjersey.com/business/business3.html
* Advantages of Listing on Channel Islands Stock Exchange.
LINK: http://www.mondaq.com/i_article.asp_Q_articleid_E_29995
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* WEALTH LINKS *
* Reno man sentenced for tax fraud. LINK:
http://www.krnv.com/Global/story.asp?S=2690610&nav=8faOUBLe
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* PRIVACY & RIGHTS LINKS *
* Money Laundering in America.
LINK: http://www.michnews.com/artman/publish/article_5980.shtml
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* Learn how to slash your taxes...build an iron wall of protection around your assets...create a lasting legacy of wealth. Find out more in our print publication, The Sovereign Individual. Click here:
LINK: http://www.agora-inc.com/reports/SVS/WSVSECFF/
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THE SOVEREIGN SOCIETY OFFSHORE A-LETTER.
* Bob Bauman, Editor * Daniel Aponte, Jr. Editorial Asst.
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