Freedom Matters
Civil Forfeiture - IRS Seizes Innocent Grandma's Bank Account
Carole Hinders has worked hard at her family-owned restaurant, Mrs. Lady's Mexican Food, for 38 years. The federal government took all her money in her bank account using civil forfeiture, even though she did nothing wrong. Her life savings amounted to $33,000 dollars and the IRS took all of it. Under civil forfeiture, property can be forfeited even if its owner has never been charged with a crime. Under civil forfeiture, police can take your money or property if they think it might be associated with some kind of crime.
One morning IRS agents came to Carole Hinders house and told her they took all her money in her bank account. The IRS agents told her they think she is structuring cash. Federal law requires banks to notify the IRS whenever you deposit $10,000 or more into your account. If you deposit $10,000 there is no problem. But if you go to the bank and deposit $5,000 and then a week later you deposit another $5,000, then you have committed a crime called cash structuring. The IRS agents told her by going to the bank and making deposits less then $10,000 she was trying to evade the banks requirement to notify the IRS.
Carole Hinders family-owned restaurant does not accept credit cards, just cash. Carole Hinders does not like to keep a lot of cash around so she goes to the bank often and makes deposits. She has been doing this for 30 years at the same bank and has never gotten in trouble for putting her money in the bank before. But according to the IRS this is illegal now and they are going to keep her money. The IRS has not charged her with a crime but they said they are going to keep her life savings because there allowed to under civil forfeiture. Under civil forfeiture the government can take your money or property if they think you might have committed a crime. The burden is on you too prove to them that you did not commit a crime which is an expensive process involving you hiring lawyers and going to court.
Carole Hinders has been struggling now because she had no money to pay bills and she had to borrow from friends and max out credit cards to keep her business from going under. Now she has zero dollars to retire on.
ANALYSIS OF THE VICTIMS ACTIONS:
Did the victim harm, steal, or threaten anyone? No
Did victim violate anyone's individual rights? No
Was the transaction between victim and the IRS voluntary? No
The victim did nothing wrong.
ANALYSIS OF THE ACTIONS OF THE IRS:
Did the IRS harm, steal, or threaten the victim? Yes
Did the IRS violate the victims individual rights? Yes
The IRS stole her life savings. The IRS violated her rights.
MY ANALYSIS:
Theft - is the taking of another person's money or property without that persons permission or consent. More money and property have been taken by the government then has been stolen by thieves.
This is one of the worse things I think you can do to a person. She is old and ready to retire and you go and steal her life savings. What makes this even worse is that the theft of this old ladies savings was done by our government which is suppose to protect her and not rob her. She wanted to keep her money safe so she deposited in a bank and then the government stole her life savings from the bank.
If an individual decided to rob this old ladies life savings most people would agree it is wrong and the person who did it is a real piece of garbage. Most individuals would never rob a old lady of her life savings. But if these same individuals work for government and there bosses tell them to rob an old ladies life savings they will do it without thinking. They will say I am just following orders or I'm just doing my job. If your job is to rob old ladies of there life savings, then you are a criminal.
For some reason if a person who is imagined to have authority tells you to do something, most people will just do it. If government tells these IRS agents to rob old ladies of there life savings, they will. These IRS agents don't see themselves as being evil but if you rob old ladies of there life savings then you are a evil criminal.
The relationship between our government and it's citizens is becoming like the relationship between a criminal and his victims. Our government has been stealing from us, disarming us, violating our individual rights and it will only get worse as time goes on. Over time government will lose more and more respect for the people and we will be in greater danger and the people will be less able to defend themselves.
How did we end up in this place? Where our government is stealing the the life savings from old ladies. We are in this place because we have let our government get away with stealing from us for a long time now. If criminals can get away with something they tend to try and get away with more and more over time. If they are not stopped then it will just get worse. It is important to stop small transgressions before the thieves become bold enough to commit big ones. Robbing old ladies of there life savings is a big transgression.
GOVERNMENT IS ...
Government is control by force. The authority claimed by governments is unique because it is considered a license to use force against peaceful people. People claim it is acceptable for government to do things that an individual would never be allowed to do. This is why governments come up with special words to obscure what they are really doing. War is mass murder. Taxation is theft. Even when government gives money to someone in need it must first steal that money from someone else. No one has the right to control others by force, even if they claim to have the majority behind them.
People need to realize that government does not have the right to rule. Victims of this gang called the government imagine an obligation to obey it. Government is an entity that is imagined to have the right to do things that individuals do not have the right to do. Such as steal and they call it taxation. Such as initiating violence and calling it law enforcement. Such as committing murder and calling it national defense.
TAXATION IS THEFT:
People have the irrational belief that government is allowed to do things that you can't. So the resistance in peoples minds is turned off and they think government authority is OK, logical, and reasonable. But if people would examine the cause and effect of what is really happening. They would say it is logical to resist someone who wants to harm you, steal from you, threaten you, or violate your rights.
If evil were only committed by evil people then we would not be in that bad of shape. But today almost everybody thinks it is OK for you to be forcefully robbed which is called taxation. People imagine that it is a good thing if done by government. Good people condone evil because they do not recognize that it is evil. But once they realize that it is evil. They will try to stop it instead of voting for it.
A GOVERNMENT OF WOLVES:
If government violates your right to own and carry firearms. Then in a way they are also violating your right to self-defense. It is almost impossible to defend yourself, your property, and your rights from armed people when you are unarmed. Once your unarmed, government will have no problem violating the rest of your rights.
Unarmed people are like sheep, and a nation of sheep will end up with a government of wolves.
ONCE YOU SEE THE TRUTH:
The great government lie is that it exists for the good of its victims. To obscure the truth, governments go to great lengths with propaganda intended to change the way we think and thus how we act. The greatest measure of what governments are capable of with propaganda is how much they have convinced us to identify with them so that anyone who challenges their power is seen as an enemy of the people. The most potent weapon in the hand of the oppressor is the mind of the oppressed.
No matter how government employees are selected they are only human beings and they have no rights or claims that are higher then those of any other human. No one has the right to harm you, steal from you, threaten you, or violate your rights. We can not give people any rights that we do not have ourselves. Government should never be able to do anything you can't do. If something is wrong for you to do, it should also be wrong for government to do. Wrong is wrong, no matter who does it.
A government that commits theft, extortion, and violence, is a criminal organization. Once people realize that government is a criminal organization. They can rid themselves of the belief that they have an obligation to obey government. Then you can have free people who can decide for themselves what they can do.
INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS:
Individual rights are rights your born with and no one can legally take away from you.
- The right to liberty - The right to do whatever you want as long as your not violating the rights of others.
- The right to self-defense - The right to defend yourself, your property, and your rights.
- The right to own and carry weapons - So you can defend yourself, your property, and your rights.
- The right to self-ownership - We own ourselves. No one can claim even partial ownership over you without violating your rights.
- The right to free speech - The right to communicate your opinions and ideas without fear of government retaliation or censorship.
- The right to privacy - No one has the right to violate your privacy.
Any law that violates your rights is null and void. Anyone that violates your rights is a criminal.
LIBERTY IS NOT A BATTLE:
Liberty is not a battle that requires the conversion of others in order to win.
Liberty is won when you accept the fact that you own yourself, that you have individual rights, and no one has the right to violate your rights.
When you accept that you are liberated.
PRINCIPLES OF FREEDOM:
1 - All people are born free, created equal, and have individual rights.
2 - Interactions between people should be voluntary and free of force, fraud, theft, and threats.
3 - People have the right to self-ownership. Self-ownership means not only that you own yourself, but everyone owns themselves. The best way to ensure respect for our self-ownership is to respect the rights of others. Without self-ownership, there is no freedom.
4 - No one can claim even partial ownership over a person without violating there rights. Taxing people without there consent under the threat of force is robbery and is a violation of our rights. Free people get to decide for themselves how there money is spent.
5 - People have the right to carry weapons to defend themselves, there property, and there rights. We never have an obligation to let anyone commit aggression against us. No one has the right to harm you, steal from you, threaten you, or violate your rights.
6 - We have the right to seek leaders for ourselves but we have no right to force rulers on others. No matter how leaders are selected they are only human beings and they have no rights or claims that are higher then those of any other human. No one has the right to murder, enslave, or to steal. We can not give people any rights that we do not have ourselves.
7 - To help secure our individual rights, governments may be created, deriving their powers from the consent of the governed. Whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter it, abolish it, or withdraw there consent to be governed.
THE FREEDOM SOLUTION:
There are two kinds of people. People who prefer big government (statists) and people who prefer freedom.
Statists want government to have a great deal of power over the economy and individual behavior.
People who prefer freedom, want to have a great deal of control over there own lives.
We should just let each group live the way they want too.
If your a person who prefers statism then you can have all the government you want, as long as you do not violate the rights of others.
If your a person who prefers freedom then you can have all the freedom you want, as long as you do not violate the rights of others.
Freedom means that people get to decide for themselves how they want to live.
WHAT RIGHTS CAN GOVERNMENT HAVE:
- Can you delegate to another human being a right that you do not have?
- Can two people delegate a right to a human being that neither of them have?
- Can seven million people delegate a right to a human being that none of them have?
- Can someone delegate the right to steal my money to government?
- Can seven million people delegate to government the right to steal my money?
- Can anyone in government have a right that I do not have?
QUESTIONS REGARDING THEFT AND ROBBERY:
- Is it wrong if someone takes your money or property without your permission or consent (Theft)?
- Is it wrong if someone is taking or attempting to take your money or property by force, threat of force, or by putting the victim in fear (Robbery)?
- If something is wrong for a individual to do, should it also be wrong for the government to do?
- Is it fair to say, wrong is wrong, no matter who does it?
QUESTIONS REGARDING TAXATION:
- Is it wrong if someone takes your money or property without your permission or consent (Taxation)?
- Is it wrong if someone is taking or attempting to take your money or property by force, threat of force, or by putting the victim in fear (Taxation)?
- If something is wrong for a individual to do, should it also be wrong for the government to do?
- Is it fair to say, wrong is wrong, no matter who does it?
QUESTIONS REGARDING ASSAULT:
Assault - physically attacking another person or threatening them with a weapon.
- Is it wrong when someone assaults an innocent person?
- If something is wrong for a individual to do, should it also be wrong for the government to do?
- Is it fair to say, wrong is wrong, no matter who does it?
QUESTIONS REGARDING VOTING:
- Does government want to rule you by forcing you to obey there laws?
- Does government want to rob you by forcing you to pay there taxes?
- If you get to choose between two politicians who want to rule and rob you, does that mean your free?
- Does having the right to vote, mean that you are free?
DEFENDING YOUR RIGHTS:
- Should people respect your rights?
- Should you respect the rights of others?
- Do people have the right to defend themselves, there rights, and there property?
- If we do not defend our rights, could we end up losing our rights?
- If we lose our rights, do we also lose our freedom?
- If we lose our freedom, are we just tax slaves?
DOES GOVERNMENT PROTECT OUR RIGHTS:
- Would it be fair to say that some laws actually violate peoples rights?
- Should government create laws that violate our rights?
- Should government violate our rights?
- Should police enforce laws that violate our rights?
- Is government allowed to take away our rights?
- Has government killed or imprisoned millions of people for victimless crimes?
- Is government the biggest violator of our individual rights?
- What is more dangerous, freedom or a government that has authority over you?
- Is government the biggest threat to our freedom?
QUESTIONS REGARDING GUNS:
- Why do no mass murders occur in a police station, full of people with guns?
- Why do no mass murders occur in a gun store, full of people with guns?
- Why do no mass murders occur in a shooting range, full of people with guns?
- Why is it becoming more common to have mass murders in places with gun free zones, full of people without guns?
- Is it fair to say, the only way to stop a bad guy with a gun, is if there is good guy with a gun who is willing to defend himself?
- Do people have the right to defend themselves?
QUESTIONS REGARDING YOUR RIGHTS:
- If a person harms, steals, threatens, or violates your rights, is he a criminal?
- Do we have an obligation to obey criminals?
- If government harms, steals, threatens, or violates your rights, is it a criminal organization?
- Do we have an obligation to obey a criminal organization?
- Do you have an obligation to obey anyone who violates your rights?
- Does anyone have the right to claim ownership over you?
- Do you own yourself or is someone else your master?
- Do you have an obligation to obey government?
- Should interactions between people be voluntary?
- Should interactions between people be free of force, fraud, and threats?
