How the Liberty Dollar Showed Me That Uncle Sam is a Blackout Drinking Wifebeater

My hoard of Liberty Dollars at its Height

Back in 1997 my brother and I worked together at a bagel shop. Every payday, we would gleefully go back to the local bank to cash out checks. We would gloat over our seemingly massive amounts of “Power Units.” We had been told all our lives that our money was backed by GOLD. Wasn’t the gold stored in Fort Knox what was providing the power to our “power units”?

For me this myth lasted until the year 2002. I was heavily involved with the Libertarian Party of Minnesota during this period. The party had rented a storefront on Hennepin Avenue, in the Kingsfield Neighborhood of Minneapolis. It was a hip neighborhood, right near where I worked (at yet another bagel shop). Shortly after helping the Libertarian Party to open their storefront offices, I noticed something. It was a foil sticker on the window which said, “Liberty Dollar Accepted.”

“What the hell is the Liberty Dollar?!” I asked.

Bob Smith was chair of the LPMN at the time. He was quick to explain that The Liberty Dollar was a privately issued currency. That simple explanation of fact piqued my interest in money. I embarked on an odyssey that revealed much about my self, the nature of money, and how government by a coercive state is at odds with all striving to become free.

At that time, my understanding of the monetary system, like most of the populace, was cursory at best. I was vaguely aware of that entity known as the Federal Reserve (FED). I did not yet know that the FED paid pennies for each an every dollar bill they purchase (no matter what the denomination) from the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. I was not yet aware that the FED lends those dollar bills into circulation, which must be paid back with interest. I didn’t know about fractional reserve banking practices engaged in by your local savings bank.

The Liberty Dollar really opened my eyes to the quagmire that the United States was in, by it’s engagement in one of the biggest boondoggles ever conceived by human minds. I started to exchange my Federal Reserve Accounting Units Denominated (backed by nothing but the threat of nuclear aggression). I then began to circulate the American Liberty Dollar to local merchants. I asked my employer to pay me partially in this new private currency (he politely declined).

I also began contributing American Liberty Dollars to all my charitable causes, including tithing and fast offerings paid to the church that I am a member of. When I started paying in American Liberty Dollars, I was explicit in my instructions that my tithes and offerings were not to be deposited into any commercial bank, as it would not be credited for deposit (owing to it’s existence in competition with the Federal Reserve System). My bishop nor any of his counselors seemed to have a problem with this, as I never had any conversations with any leaders of the church regarding my tithing.

After paying my tithing and fast offerings with the American Liberty Dollar for an entire year, I was called in for tithing settlement. Tithing settlement is an opportunity to meet with the bishop of the ward, and discuss your tithes and fast offerings. In addition to talking about provident use of resources, all members receive a record of tithes and offerings received by the church, which is used by many as a tax shelter, since such giving to the church is tax deductible.

My first tithing settlement after paying for an entire year in a voluntary currency went incredibly smooth, or so it seemed. About a month after my tithing settlement, I was called in to see the bishop.

The bishop (who likes to be called Ben), is a really nice guy, and I could tell immediately that our appointment was regarding my use of the American Liberty Dollar. I don’t remember exactly what was said, but our conversation went something like this:

Ben: “We have to talk.”

FURB: “Oh, what about?”

Ben: This! [Pulls out a gigantic amount of silver and gold medallions, and a bundle of multicolored warehouse receipts in a clear plastic security envelop from the bank]

FURB: Did you deposit that into a bank?!

Ben: That is our standard operating procedure. Usually, the Church Headquarters withdraws all funds deposited electronically.

FURB: I stated explicitly that if these medallions were deposited into a bank, the deposit would not be credited.

Ben: But we did it anyway. And since the church is such a good customer of the bank, they held on to this for us, and gave it back to us after the first of the year, as they could not credit our account.

FURB: Well, what do you want me to do with it?

Ben: We want you to send it to Church Headquarters.

FURB: Me? Oh, no. That’s your job.

I was also asked why I was using an alternative currency. When I told the Bishop that my reasons were to be able to keep my temple covenants (must have honest dealings with my fellow man), he bristled and started an inquest into my anti-government stance. One of his questions was, something akin to “Well, why do you use government roads then?” To which I responded, “Is there any alternative to government roads which will get me to where I need to go?” He could not refute what I was saying, and I was curtly excused from his office.

I did what I was asked, and sent the gold and silver medallions as well as the warehouse receipts to the Office of Donations In-Kind at the headquarters for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. About a month later, I received an envelope containing receipt for the gold and silver medallions. However, they also included the warehouse receipts saying that they would not accept those, as payment of tithes and offerings. At that point I considered my tithing paid in full.

Was it my fault that the church refused to accept my tithes and offerings? They would take all manner of tithing, from commodities such as fruits and vegetables, to foreign government currencies. They would not accept the warehouse receipts issued by the American Liberty Dollar.

I converted many hundreds of the warehouse receipts into medallions to spend for my own purposes. And continued to pay my tithing with bullion coins. Each and every time I have moved since then, interesting conversations with the new bishops and their counselors have resulted. Each conversation increases the knowledge of the various leaders in voluntary exchange and honest money as opposed to fraudulent currency issued by the edict of a coercive government.

Fast forward to 14 November 2007. Things are really heating up for fans of Ron Paul, whose campaign is beginning to take shape as an amorphous blob of super-activists. Now, this may seem like a contradiction, from a self-described anarchist, but I figure that I only came to my way of thinking by trial and failure through political action.

It was on this day that the American Liberty Dollar folks failed in their obligation to me. It is my opinion that their support of Ron Paul (by minting copper, silver, gold, and even platinum Ron Paul medallions) brought upon them the wrath of the the United States Government. It was on that day that “a dozen FBI and Secret Service agents raided the Liberty Dollar office in Evansville, Indiana.”

Federal Agents also raided the supposedly secure warehouse where about $1 Million American Liberty Dollars were being stored. Those are the medallions which backed the warehouse receipts that I still hold, while the federal government continues to stall on a class action lawsuit, of which I am a claimant. They stole my property, and refuse to remit to me that, which is my property! I had recently started attending a community college and was attempting to liquidate my gold at the time of the raid to pay my college tuition.

Fast forward to 05 June 2009. This is the final insult to injury. This is the day that the organizational leadership of the American Liberty Dollar was arrested for daring to compete with the Federal Reserve, showing that the Federal Reserve Accounting Unit Denominated (F.R.A.U.D.) is an inferior medium of exchange that doesn’t hold it’s value. This was the day after I had the idea of initiating arbitration proceedings against the American Liberty Dollar organization for failure to redeem the warehouse receipts I have.

The Federal Government of the United States were the ones who initially stole my gold and silver from the people entrusted in safeguarding my property until I demanded the actual commodity. The Federal Government of the United States have denied me due process after seizing my property. I have never been compensated for this seizure. Also, they seem intent on depriving me of holding the American Liberty Dollar organization accountable for their lax security in retaining my property as they promised. I am left without any recourse at all to regain my lawful property.

Well, I have a message for all of those so called “public servants” out there. You, the agents of the federal government, are the corporeal entities that comprise that mythical familial relation known as Uncle Sam.

Uncle Sam, you are a drunken lout! You are the lowlife uncle that begs for a loan then goes to the track and gambles it all away. When asking for a loan no longer gets you what you require, you threaten your family members, who have willingly entrusted you with their lives. Many of your family members love you and enable your debauchery. Many only comply because they fear the wrath of the blackout drinker.

Uncle Sam, you have thrown your own relatives into cages when you caught on that your brothers and sisters were evading your thieving fingers, blunted fists, and prying eyes. Many that have stood up to you have been beaten, caged, and killed when refusing to comply with your demands. Thanks a lot Uncle Sam, for all the painful memories. I am scarred for life.

Consider yourself disowned.

This was originally published at libertyconspiracy.com on 10 October 2009