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One Part Of The Economy Is Booming: The Underground/Cash-Only Sector
Submitted by Charles Hugh-Smith of OfTwoMinds blog,
If you make it so burdensome to operate a legit business, then you're basically giving people without big lines of credit and capital few choices but to work in the cash-only underground economy.
It won't be much of a surprise to those living outside the Washington D.C. beltway and the Unicorn Herd of start-ups selling for millions of dollars that the underground cash-only economy is one of the few bright spots in the U.S. economy. Correspondent B.U. recently submitted this report from rural America in response to my entry What Happens to our Economy as Millions of People Lose the Habits of Hard Work?, which mentioned those in the cash-only sector as not showing up in official employment statistics:
It is very common for folks where I live to get some form of subsidy be it SSI or WIC or whatever. Then they maintain their lifestyle by:
-- Selling items for cash on Craigslist:
This is mostly sub $1500 cars, Building materials or scrap metal.
I know quite a few folks that are doing very well in this line of business.
--Selling at various ‘trades-days’:
A friend mine clears ~$100K just trading in gold, firearms and ammunition.
Others I know trade cattle and livestock.
Another friend repairs cars at his home. He has weeks of backlog and turns away work all the time.
The key to all of this is that these folks have no official business. They trade only in cash. They do not make deposits in the bank except for the government checks.
The point is that for these folks, unplugging was a pay raise just in the tax exposure. When they get sick, they claim indigent and get whatever they need.
The spread between the burden of regulation and taxes is getting so onerous that folks are just falling into the very solution you describe.
I believe your focus is more professional in nature in terms of folks being a hired gun (i.e. free-lancer/contract employee). But what I see are the non-professionals as the ones who are really moving to fill the void of value that is growing as deflation/inflation oscillate.
Thank you, B.U., for the straight-up report from the real world. Despite the fact I pay all my taxes (and am royally reamed as a result), I sympathize with those making tax-free incomes in the cash-only economy.
Back when I had multiple employees in the 1980s, I was basically working to pay workers compensation insurance (40% to 80% of the hourly wage for construction workers), liability coverage, unemployment insurance, disability insurance, FICA (employers' share of Social Security), excise tax, income tax, rent on the office that we were required by law to maintain, healthcare insurance for all the employees, filling out HUD/FHA forms required when building homes with FHA loans, and so on. Then there's the cost of accounting and tax returns (complicated when you're operating a business), and a long list of other expenses I've forgotten.
My partner and I had a stock response when any employee griped about all the money we must be making: we'd take out our keys to the office and offer it to them, and say "payday's on Friday. It's all yours." I'd have been relieved if any had been dumb enough to accept the offer. No one ever did.
It's no wonder that legit small business and self-employment is often a struggle for financial survival. I've covered the travails of one serial entrepreneur in launching a new business in today's America: the costs were so heavy that he gave up. It was impossible to actually make a living once you met all the absurd regulations, codes and requirements.
The people enforcing the regulations ("just doing my job") are paid by taxpayers; their job is safe, their paycheck and benefits guaranteed.
Our Government, Destroyer of Jobs (August 12, 2015)
The Troubling Decline of Financial Independence in America (August 28, 2015)
The Fading American Dream of Working for Yourself (October 2015)
Financial independence is the American Dream because it gives us the freedom to say Take This Job And Shove It (Johnny Paycheck).
This chart shows the tax-paying self-employed as a percentage of those with jobs (all nonfarm employees). According to the FRED data base, there are 142 million employed and 9.4 million self-employed. (The incorporated self-employed, typically physicians, attorneys, engineers, architects etc. who are employees of their own corporations, total about 5 million.)
This chart depicts self-employment from 1929 to 2015. Self-employment is cratering in the "recovery" of high taxes, senseless regulations and burdensome report-filing (big fines if you don't comply), tax preparation, business licence fees, fishing-expedition lawsuits, etc.
I have no problem with paying all my taxes for a couple of reasons. One relates to "Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's." That's my view, but I don't hold anyone else to it. That's up to them to deal with.
I live by Andy Grove's dictum Only the paranoid survive and for good reasons. (Intel co-founder Grove wrote a book with this as the title: Only the Paranoid Survive: How to Exploit the Crisis Points That Challenge Every Company.)
Having experienced COINTELPRO in the early 1970s, I know what's it like to be an enemy of the State. Violating tax codes makes you a very easy target for the state. If you want to draw a target on your back, be my guest. I'm going to pass.
(The FBI thug who "was just doing his job" snarled at me, "This isn't the Sunshine Biscuit Company, this is the FBI!" Hopefully their witty-threat training has improved.)
Anyone who can't find a state/Corporate America job or says Take This Job And Shove It has my sympathy. I've been down to my last $100, and it's a lonesome, troublesome feeling. If you make it so burdensome to operate a legit business, then you're basically giving people without big lines of credit or plenty of capital and regulatory expertise few choices but to work in the cash-only underground economy.
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No wonder the Fed and its minions want to eliminate cash
Please chip my ass.....so you can turn it off.
Only then can I do exactly what is expected of me.
I was fortunte enough to retore "early" after the sale of my business. Being in great health at age 46 (just as good or better shape than I was at age 20 i nthe military in combat arms) I decided to help pay for "toys" (and Pm's) that I'd picl up a part time gig. Well seeign how I will actually work and am in excellent physical condition (I half-ass homestead and work my can off here) I took a "home renovation" job with a guy. I work for only cash.
The problem is, is that since I will work that the owner of the company wants me to work 50 hours a week. Seems every contractor is like that, can't find guys that will show up regularly and if one does they can make decent CASH money. I pretty much have a firm grasp off all the trades and am a white guy. I'll make just as much "take home" pay as I did working i nengineering for Kodak....and the good thing about it, is the flexibility. If I don;t want to work one day or having somethign planned I do not work. The owner respects this as this was the ground rules I laid down. He feels it's worth it to have me around when I want to work.
Hard work habits go away when it's more profitable to not work hard.
Hard work habits go away when it's more profitable to work smarter.
It is every Citizens solemn and patriotic duty to lie, cheat, and steal as much of their own money as they safely can, out of the greedy fingers of their own malicious and wasteful government.
For his "Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's." attitude, I am ashamed to call the author of this article my countryman.
Willingly and enthusiastically funding your own enslavement is stupid, but doing the same with the knowledge(which the author has clearly demonstrated he posesses) that you are funding OTHER's enslavement is 2nd degree evil.
It's unfortunate that serfs aren't allowed to own property in the "land of the free".
Charles, always nice to see a well written post on ZH! ...but why no outright condemnation of the the IRS? It is the largest source of the poison that sickens our economy, and there is an antidote for that particular poison: THE FAIRTAX (HR25). It is real legislation that has many sponsors in the House and the Senate... BUT NO ONE IN THE MAINSTREAM MEDIA (or ZH for that matter) TALKS ABOUT IT!
The FairTax would resolve a very large part of the problem you describe so well.
This is why I'm not gung ho on all the China bashing that takes place...if you've been to China, and walk the streets of china you see thousands, and if you walk them long enough you'll see millions of entrepreneurs doing everything they can to make money. Unbridled by bureacracy and the Rule Maker Overlords that we have in the US. Their business is cash, and they aren't paying income tax and they aren't charging a sales tax. We preach "democracy" as if we have some monopoly on virtue and at the same time we kill off every shread of entrepreneurial spirit by making everything illegal. Let's throw the Zoning rule makers on the bonfire too who basically make it illegal to be poor, illegal to even own an affordable space of land if you're poor, illegal to construct your own tiny house, etc.
So you're saying that, effectively, China has a more free economy than USA? Now that I have an extremely difficult time believing. Try going to an area where "low-income" people gather, you'll see we have that same sort of thing here. It's just that the folks are selling stolen goods, drugs, food stamps, etc. and they must be discrete.
Well said.
It's not for nothing that the electronic cigarette came out of China!
That invention is saving MILLIONS of lives (and costing TPTB many billions in lost sales to past cigarette addicts who easily switched to the harmless nicotine vapor).
Willingly and enthusiastically funding your own enslavement is stupid, but doing the same with the knowledge(which the author has clearly demonstrated he posesses) that you are funding OTHER's enslavement is 2nd degree evil.
Cannot agree more, Financial support is SUPPORT.
Dupe sorry.
And people will then go to barter or a foreign currency. We-Be-BANANA!
A cheeseburger or a pizza on a deserted island beats cash every time.
I'm selling my Ronnie Raygun selection of pink dildos from your wifes bachelorette party starring Mandingo the magnificent, any takers?
What in the actual fuck is that incoherent shit even supposed to mean? Seriously. What the fuck?
Ebonics?
"I'm selling my Ronnie Raygun selection of pink dildos from your wifes bachelorette party starring Mandingo the magnificent, any takers?"
Your skanky black momma who lives as a welfare slave on the Democrat's bankrupt entitlement plantation wants two--but only if taxpayers are paying for them.
I'm selling my Ronnie Raygun selection of pink dildos from your wifes bachelorette party starring Mandingo the magnificent, any takers?
Your skanky black momma who lives as a welfare slave on the Democrat's bankrupt entitlement plantation wants two--but only if taxpayers are paying for them.
chief is not the color of the photo. dont be fooled
the article cites data from non-farm payrolls.
very misleading.
although the number of self-employed non-farmers may have declined (or may simply be under-reported), it has been more than offset by the spectacular increase in the number of farmers.
farming continues to attract millions of people who have had their fill of city life and aggressive bosses, and farmland continues to increase in value. after all, people everywhere are in need of food to eat.
in addition, thanks to modern methods and new technologies, farming has never been more productive. the land and animals practically raise themselves. it's like free money.
Yeah and it's amazing what you can do with even just one acre.
You serious, Clark? Smaller family owned farms have been on the decline for years. Good luck to the average person without access to the capital needed to pay $5,000 to $7500 an acre for the easy life.
Wrong on every account. The number of small farms has been INCREASING in the past 7 years. And 5000-7500 per acre? WAY off. I bought my farm land for less than 1,000 per acre. Thats good quality land, sandy loam soil, in a temperate climate with lots of rainfall. The bigger farms that are following traditional models of heavy leverage, monocropping, and chasing volume have been going under, there farms split up and bought by smaller, more versatile farms with better business models.
Do your homework, you ascertions were outdated 10 years ago.
My credentials; A working farmer, owner-operator, 200 acres of farm-land
What are you smoking?
First of all, small farms have been on the DECLINE. The AVERAGE age of a farmer in the US is 55.9 YEARS OLD.
Gtfo, you know nothing about farming...free money? My grandad farmed for years an called his job a "glorified lavatory attendant. First of all, its insanely time consuming if you farm correctly (i.e. not use petroleum/ petro byproducts at every turn). Second, the capital investment needed is daunting: new mowers, tractors, manifold systems, seeds, pesticides, ferts, gasoline, hundred of meters of pipes, barns, specialty equipment like wheat combines, etc. Then you have to decided what your gonna grow/raise, transportation logistics, etc. And at the end of the day, you barely make any money and are always beholden to loans to raise capital for the next season. You can also screw up your health ealing with pesticides and fertilizers that are insanely toxic.
Now, you can go permaculture, which is cheaper, doesnt rely on pesticides andfertilizers, but you have to have a huge variety of plants and the yield of a single cereal/fruit/nut/vegetable is small. You also don't make any money doing it. Most people that go permaculture are in it for the self-sustainability/environmental impact but I haven't seen any of them talking about the money in it. Cause there isn't any. Food prices are held very cheap for a reason. The wealthy farmers are those massive ones in California that hold the senior water rights, or the large potato farmers in Idaho (like 100K's acre farms), or the massive corn farmers in Ohio/Indiana. And these are 3rd 4th generation farmers who hold massive plots. I respect farmers, but what you might see in your part of the woods is not indicative of the rest of the world (for example, in the UK, average age of a farmer is in the 60's...pretty scary).
Small farms have not been on the decline, you dont know what you are talking about. I just attended a meeting at my local cooperative extension where we discussed the growing number of small farms. Large farms are declining, small farms are increasing. The types of huge monocroping farms that you are talking about are exactly the farms that are going out . I make a nice living with my SMALL FARM and have done so for the past 7 years. I can't get into every point you made here, but almost everything you said is completely wrong. The "farmers don't make money, farms going out of business, farming work being incredibly difficult" are all urban myths. Whenever I hear that mantra I can be rest assured that the person talking has absolutely no farming experience.
You talking about small "FARMS" or acreages owned by preppers where they grow a few tomato plants and some trees? Or where they cash rent any tillable land out to real farmers? small farmers can't make money - unless they have an outside job, or a spouse that works to being in the money that really supports the family.
Totally and completely wrong. "Small farmers can't make money", BS. I can introduce you to a dozen small farmers in my area that are making money. I've made money cultivating just 2 acres in vegetables and raising a few cattle.
True. And once the provisions of the TPP & TISA monopoly, uh I mean, trade agreements go into effect, small farms will take another big hit.
"land and animals practically raise themselves. it's like free money."
You left off the /s. Either that or you live in an alternate universe.
I've got to go with Retired Guy on this one.
"arming continues to attract millions of people who have had their fill of city life and aggressive bosses, and farmland continues to increase in value. after all, people everywhere are in need of food to eat."
I don't think so. The average age of a farmer is 60 or older (it was 60 last time I looked it up). Kids of farms leave the farm and rural area to seek out better/easier careers. The size of farms has increased, as the consolidate. Big Machinery and Big Agra corps. dominate the industry. Sure there are a few people that retire and set up a hobby farm, but these people are doing it as a hobby, and not for steady income. There are also a few people like myself, who are or already have relocating to go Galt, However the majority of us made our money outside of farming and are just looking to escape to safe location and avoid the perils of socialism.
IIRC, in the 1930s about have of the US population lived in rural american and probably about 1/3 of the population was directly involved with agraculture. Today its less than 2%.
You are completely full of shit. Farming is like free money? Obviously you have never farmed.
Just got a letter that you can go to walmart and pay your health insurance premiums in cash. Russia has cash payment machines like this too. You raise up the taxes and regulation too much, and people go to cash and corruption. There doesn't seem to be a way to turn it around either.
I am the Gold standard.
How you can talk about the "all cash" economy and not mention the all cash drug trade is beyond me. HSBC laundered billions of dollars in drug cartel money. AG Eric Holder's corrupt minion Lanny Breuer made the deal that gave HSBC a pass on criminal charges if it gave the government a big chunk of change, some $2 billion (substitute the word pimp for U.S. government, they operate the same way), and installed one of Breuer's corporate friends to monitor HSBC for compliance, a high paying (millions of dollars) no-show job.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/12/12/us-hsbc-probe-idUSBRE8BA05M201...
America is now a RICO enterprise run by thieves, murderers and traitors.
Right. This is why maryjane is gonna be legalized - RICO governmnent ain't gettin' it's cut. Right now, at tail end of seasonal harvest season, and the summer greenhouses start coming down, there is a fuckload of cash running about my neighborhood in So Hum county, northern CA. Hundreds of millions in $20s, $50's, and $100's. (So I've been told - I don't grow, but I did see a tackle box full of neatly rubber banded cash.)
Local town looks like something out of Grapes of Wrath, with all the wanna be trimmers hanging out on the sidewalks with their cardboard signs "Looking For Work". Right. Most of the seasonal trimmers that are reliable regulars get passed around between growers - some of them are already starting to leave with a bundle of cash stashed in the recreational vehicle. The wanna bes will be leaving when the rain starts. (Soon please.)
No matter how hard they try, government and big banks ain't gonna outlaw cash, there are too many outlaws out in the wild.
Now excuse me, I've got some applesauce to make from my buckets of organic apples from my large yard. There is a lot of farming going on underneath the reporting of the Ag Department. Average age of farmers around here (all kinds) is close to 40.
"The more you tighten your grip, Satan, the more humans slip through your fingers."
Give us NIRP and you'll really see a cash-only economy.
Wanna see booming, look at VOW:GR. That's how you squeeze shorts by the balls. Fuck even GLEN is having its best week in ever as the shorts were squeezed out of their positions by banks that borrow from the Fed at 0% and buy as much of the stock as possible. Banks have the positions of their clients along with other banks clients and they do collude to squeeze and profit.
Read Atlas Shrugged to see how this story ends.
Read it .. and maybe it goes that way, or Brave New World or Fahrenheit 451 or ....
Personally, I am trusting on the incompetence and laziness of humans executing the plan to eventually cause it to fail. Unfortunately, those behind the plan are not human (meaning not exactly the same as us). They are something less and they are trapped in the same place as us, but with no hope for escape ... and that makes them mean.
..."Render unto Caesar." What a bunch of shit written by a bunch of ass-licking Christians to appease TPTB at that time.
Bet you buy into this shit too:
Romans 13:1 “Everyone must submit to governing authorities. For all authority comes from God, and those in positions of authority have been placed there by God.”
Romans 13:2 “So anyone who rebels against authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and they will be punished.”It's middle-eastern boogeyman hype. It should be sent back to the middle-east along with all of the weirdos from the middle-east.
After reading into something of the Gnostic beliefs and the Essene beliefs and about the clearly fraudulent conversion of Constantine to Christianity, so as to consolidate power under Rome, and his continued worship of so called pagan gods, a picture is starting to form.
There are gods, lots of them. They are like us, only somewhat different. They walk amongst us and we have some of their DNA. Wasn't is Hermes Trismegistus (also known by several other names) who said "Know ye not that ye are gods?".
But let's step back here for a second. Using a more human definition of "god" (maybe Lloyd Blankfein's god), there is a clear separation between gods who walk among men (basically different humans with different properties) and the Creator. The so called gods can no more create a universe or a generative power than we can. They can manipulate what has been created, just as we do ... maybe with more advanced technology. They may even know a lot about their existence in this environment and use it to their advantage, something that has been hidden from us through the intentional destruction of old libraries and old knowledge... and the secreting away of cool stuff by traitors to humanity.
There are some very good questions:
What do they know that we do not know?
Do they need us more than we need them? (apparently they do not need more than 500 million of us)
How many of them are there? I have heard several numbers: 200, 200,000 and 30 million.
I saw what you did there, Grampy!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgia_Guidestones
NUMBER ONE: "Maintain humanity under 500,000,000 in perpetual balance with nature."
OK. Then, "As of July 2015, [world population] was estimated at 7.3 billion.[1]
You do the math. The only question remaining is, when will the culling begin IN EARNEST?
Beowulf55,
The author's view of Romans is a misreading of scripture. Paul's epistle was addressed to a specific group of people at the time, and the "governing authorities" referred to the leaders in the jewish synagogues NOT the secular Roman government officials. This reading is ridiculous. Judaism recognizes God as creator and therefore owner of all. Render unto Caesar what is his means he isn't due jack. Here's something else to think about. Considering the fact that the ruling jewish authorities at the time of Jesus were tryig to entrap him, so he could be arrested and persecuted, isn't it rather interesting that Jesus was asked if people should pay taxes? If Jesus was teaching that people should just submit and pay taxes, then why bother asking the question?
Don't be mad at God or the bible but rather man. Man always takes something, be it religion, the Constitiution, the law, and perverts it from an instrument of peace and order to one of vice and plunder.
"Man always takes something, be it religion, the Constitiution, the law, and perverts it from an instrument of peace and order to one of vice and plunder."
Is it really man who does that?
Men in positions of power. Power corrupts.
Yes...
Most excellent.
Yet millions take the bible literally. A bible that was written 300 years after the death of this guy Jesus the carpenter, supervised by an Emperor. OH, boy..........makes me feel better knowing the word of God was written by the same people that run the Republican and Democrat parties.........
The authorized King James Version of Romans 13. All other english versions of the bible are Vatican perversions.
13 Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.
2 Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation.
3 For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same:
4 For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil.
And man created god in his own image - vengeful, jealous, and murderous.
Bible - first lamestream media in this Cargo Cult.
Actually,
Roman 13:1 Says the following:
Let every soul be subject to higher powers: for there is no power but from God: and those that are, are ordained of God.
Romans 13:3 and 13:4 says:
For princes are not a terror to the good work, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? Do that which is good: and thou shalt have praise from the same.
For he is God' s minister to thee, for good. But if thou do that which is evil, fear: for he beareth not the sword in vain. For he is God' s minister: an avenger to execute wrath upon him that doth evil.
The impliocation is that your princes (government) are not evil but are doing "good" and of course later in Romans "Good" is defined. You are only duty bound to follow "Authortiy" that does no evil acts. There are other places in the bibe as well where they keep the same theme, you are not to oppose the government as long a they are doing "good acts"
You know the bible has been re-wrtitten DOZENS AND DOZENS of times, eact time it gets more "Statist" in the process.
You should red very old versions of the bible,they make a lot more sense and are more consistant than the later "Statists" versions.
Always remember Jesus beat-up the bankers.
You know the bible has been re-wrtitten DOZENS AND DOZENS of times, each time it gets more "Statist" in the process.
Another key issue about the Bible that rarely gets discussed is the fact that in about 300 AD there was a conference led by Constantine (I'm pretty sure) whereby the people there selected which ancient texts would be included in the Bible. Talk about a HUGE amount of human influence on something that is supposed to be "Gods word". I have always wondered what political shenanigans took place during that conference and what information was specifically excluded from the Bible because of those political issues.
+1
Words written by the Apostle Paul but he defied the authorities by publicly preaching the Word of God and was thrown into prison. Point being the law of God is higher than the law of man.
."Render unto Caesar."
Let me translate it to you in common modern english: Pay the tax man or face Bubba the sodomist in Prison. The Working class has a gun pointed at them at all times to comply. Failure to comply will risk your life, health and family. Not work the risk, unless you have nothing else to lose.
FWIW: I too pay all my taxes. I pay so I can escape the system, by using my income and savings to pay for resources to become self-reliant and remove myself from gov't instigated crisises that are coming. At some point, when I completed my self-reliant preps, I will drop out and stop being a wage earner and stop paying taxes.
As far as going underground, All it takes Is a single whistle blower to end in prison time. Perhaps its a neighbor, or a customer that end up in trouble with the IRS and reports you in order gain leniency. By going underground you risk everything and are subject to all of your neighbors, customers, friends, etc not blowing the whistle on you. --CAVEAT EMPTOR
If I'm not mistaken, there currently is no law that states citizens must pay federal income taxes. It is strictly voluntary.
Spreadin ya cheeks in publuc and hollerin for the man to come and fuck ya is not the way to go either
But you do your way
Romans 13:1 “Everyone must submit to governing authorities. For all authority comes from God, and those in positions of authority have been placed there by God.”
Romans 13:2 “So anyone who rebels against authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and they will be punished.”
These are probably some of the Jesuit "Modifications" of the original Bible. This sounds like the kind of crap they'd write. Oh... and the current "Pope" is Jesuit - a pot-stirer extraordinaire.
I'm self employted (just me) and every third month EVERYTHING goes to the Feds.
When I go to the large Hispanic supermarket (parking lot full of $40K pickups, I might add) every hispanic I see in line pulls out a wad of 100s to buy groceries, while the few non-hispanics there (they make good ceviche) use credit cards.
The Hispanics are being brought into this country so that they can be properly enslaved ... like us.
They're all running here so they can make it just like the place they just escaped.
That's absurd. TPTB are already working on that.
Yeah right. Just take a trip to Avocado FL (near Homestead) and then tell me how all those hispanics look like slaves. It's a booming small farm community and mostly hispanic.
They are currenty allowed the benefits of our economy, but get to skirt the bad parts. You know, the little things a Native born, who is " in the system" has to comply with. And once you are in, it's hard to get out.
Hispanics get paid in cash, don't file taxes, can get a driver license and a car loan, and basically, unless they murder someone and it's caught on videotape, get a pass by the authorities.
Cops will literally catch and release. It is not worth the trouble, for someone who is essentially invisible to the system. 11 million? My ass. It's been 11 million for 10 years. It's more like 30-40 million. They are everywhere. And it is decimating our middle class. For them, a labor job here is like hitting the lottery. A car or truck? Oh my god! Can't blame them, but does not mean I accept it. They are my competition, for resources, and as such my enemy. The government? Oh yeah, those motherfuckers don't have my back.
Do what they do. Work for cash, pay cash, become invisible to the system.
They also have 40 oz. Steel Reserve, new i-phone, pack of smokes, wad of lottery tickets, and...oh...wait a minute...wrong race. Pardon me.
whatever happened to Olde English 800?
I hear ya. Architect here and every three months Im flat broke and pull up in a 15 year old car to the job site where the Mexican carpenters have brand new F150s. In my neck of the woods they are decent hard working skilled tradesmen so I applaud that, but something is definitely broken. I live in a world of regulatory hell. My entire existence it seems is to please planning councils, appearance committees, carry massive liability and pay taxes and payroll (used to, we let everyone go this summer because the economy is that fucking stellar) , there is no way to justify the cost of this burden to the clients unless they are a massive conglomerate like Starbucks or General Growth. Small businesses I work for now have to pay 2-3 times the hours to me they would have 30 years ago just to appease the local governments - mind you this doesn't go towards better design or engineering, this goes to cost of doing business with local authorities, basically bureaucracy. Obviously they dont pay it all and fees have suffered severely, but not for the asshole public "servant" holding 3 meetings to say change the brick color and then retiring with a $100K a year pension. The carpenter is the smart one who can work for cash and fly under the radar and if caught retire to sunny warm Mexico where he could get some acreage and ranch, us gringos however are fucked.
" this goes to cost of doing business with local authorities, basically bureaucracy."
bureaucracy - legalized mafia.
Now you know why those nice folks at the tax collectors / licensing / whatever,,, are smiling when you walk in.
Computer repair guy here in Ireland - had my own business for 12 years, just wound it up three weeks ago. Could never get ahead. Dell, Intel, Google and all the other big IT companies get humongous tax breaks to operate in this country; meanwhile the small guy on his own is persecuted, just so the public service here (who do the persecuting) can have their big fat wages, big fat entitlements and big fat pensions. Oh, by the way, these were also the people who wanted you to repair their computer for a pittance. Two days labour dismantling the laptop, re-assembling it to test, dismantling yet again, and so on, not to mention running around getting parts and what-not, and they expected it to be done for no more than 50 euro.
But the minute anyone in government says the public service here should be cut down they're all out on strike telling everyone how important they are.
Now I'm on social welfare and plan on staying there for the next 12 months so I no longer have to worry where the next 50 euro is going to come from.
i know my mexican painter had a big toothless grin when he got paid
The article says "It's tough to be a business owner"......well no shit
This guy should go off the grid, or stop whining
That depends on your skill sets and clients as to whether its even possible.
An established business is pretty screwed.
The // economy
(It's a skill-testing statement)
It's all fun and games untill an unexpected 1099 arrives.
I barely use my checking account anymore, maybe as little as three to five transactions a month, and one of them is the phone bill. I keep my banking exposure as close to zero as I can get it.
Reminds me of that guy who owned big ranch in Arizona who was paying 3 mexicans to work on his place as farm laborers for 7 bucks and hour. Big shot rancher was ordering them around and acting like he owned them
ATF had a raid on his ranch and they confiscated like 1.2 million in cash on just the day of the raid. large operation of crank cooking equipment in his old sheds with huge network throughout the state and had been doing it for years.
I always treated my ranch help well after that. Some of the little fookers prolly have more than I do.
Yes I will move the Hay for you. you pinche cabrio
Pendejo Gringos. lol
cash is criminal, just ask any tbtf economist..when cash is outlawed only criminals will have cash.
The irony of course being that only banker/financiers will have cash...
The irony of course being that only banker/financiers will have cash...
In reality their "money" will never be in the form of cash (FRN's) - it will be in gold and silver and other high liquidity investments such as real estate (i.e. farm and mining land, not necessarily housing).
been seeing this for years.
Say it with me;
get long sharecropping and guillotines, beat the rush!
It's the true " Fight Club" .
And you don't talk about Fight Club.
So now we know why there's a strong momentum building to abolish cash altogether.
If they want a revolution ban cash.
That's the first intelligent thing you've said in a long time, or ever.
I hang on your every word waiting for your approval.
People in my country think banning of cash and the implementation of a "financial register" to record all financial transcactions will solve corruption and tax compliance. Most support it naiively and ferociously. So I don't know about a revolution... More like a welcoming mat for Piketty et al. I'm planning to emigrate soon and let them be the abject slaves they so want to be.
Everyone deserves self actualisation.
People in my country think banning of cash and the implementation of a "financial register" to record all financial transactions will solve corruption and tax compliance.
In the USA these people are the same sheep that get their "news" from MSM propaganda outlets such as CNN, MSNBC, FOX, etc. Unfortunately for the rest of us they comprise the majority of the population. Until this changes TPTB will be able to push issues like "banning cash" down everyone's throat without much trouble.
Fair enough. Sad part is most people here I think just resonate politically with these ideas. Underlying our "democratic society" is a fascistic state and they love it. Need it even. I fear this is the case the world over. Christopher Hitchens spoke of how monetheistic messianic religion feeds on a need to be a slave and I think this applies to politics too.
I was thinking of Christopher Hitchen's "servile" remarks recently when I was trying to decide if I should subjugate decision making to my Asian girlfriend who is 33 years younger than I am. This girl wears me out, and so in the last years of my life I have become a happy slave. BTW, the Chinese have taught me a lot about living underground, they are truly masters of this art. All of my transactions are cash only.
These people are providing an invaluable service of building the infrastucture for a resiliant post-collapse economy.
Scrapping is another cash business. Just the street I live on has 3 or 4 scrapper families. 3-4 kids per household, mom works part time, probably gets some government benefits and the father goes scrappin for cash. These people aren't living the high life but it's better than working at mcdonalds.
A local guy here scraps cars and he's living the good life. Drag your junker there for some cash or he'll charge $50 to haul it. He calls the mobile crusher and loads a bunch of them on his flatbed and his buddy with the tractor hauls them off to the city to the scrapper.
He makes a lot more from scrapping than he does with his mechanics business. He buys and sells at auto auctions too.
He's got a 32' diesel pusher motor home with walnut cabinets and marble tile to haul around his ATV collection for his monthly vacation trips in the summer.
He probably bought it from a bank repo at 20 cents to the dollar.
That's like high level scrapping. Requires a lot more initial capital than the depth groveler's enterprises that live around me.
This is always the way things work in flyover country. I'd guess that at least 40-50 % of people have some kind of cash business in the building trades, welding, baking, bookkeeping, auto repair, etc either part time or full time.
There's a fine young lady who made a perfectly fitted sun cover for my boat at about half the cost of what it would be to buy a generic 'maybe it will fit" cover. I pay my yardguy more per hour than he makes as a welders apprentice. He knows his boss is screwing him but he's only going to be there until he buys his truck welding rig and go off on his own.
My old yardguy started a chicken farm and sells flats of eggs to all the local area bakerys, restaurants and truckstops that make breakfast sandwiches. I'd also bet that there's a lot of fried chicken sold locally that started out at his place.
No epidemics of dead people from eating 'home-made food and produce without the FEDS keeping them 'safe' with their all powerful inspections. Imagine that.
It's pretty bad when the costs of doing a taxable business can defeat the savings of mass production.
That's probably a good thing in the long run.
The fuckers killed Greendot Moneypak, which was the best thing since sliced bread in the realm of cash.
You could send up to $1,000 *without ID* to anyone in the world for $5.
BARTER AND CASH IS WHERE IT"S AT!
You could send up to $1,000 *without ID* to anyone in the world for $5.
You can send $1,000 to anyone in the world via BitCoin for about $.01 and with total anonymity . . .
Only if you have a working grid and a secure account and connection.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQoXXbVVZmg
The way to revive the US economy.
This article fits me to a T. Except I don't get any gov't benefits.
I'd like to add................this is about survival. Those that bitch about it, what are these poeple going to do? Lose their fucking homes and every goddamn thing else just to make the 'mainstream' happy and go out and flip burgers and live in a goddamn cardboard fucking box?
Fuck the gov't.
No gvt bennies...?!?! Then you're not doing it right.
If you are like me and in your 30s/40s and have paid plenty into the system but are decades away from SS benefits, then you can kiss your contributions goodbye. Take them now, however you legally can.
Dear Mr Smith
You are a very smart guy and I really enjoy your writings, but you really FU*&^%$KED up publishing this article - WE DO NOT NEED MORE ATTENTION FROM THE JACK-BOOT REGIME ON OUR INCOME -EARNING ACTIVITIES.
STOP !!!
This article is spot on. I encourage everyone to learn at least one useful trade. I have a small woodworking shop. I enjoy working with wood and sometimes people buy things I make. Life is good.
I've suspecting that the cash under ground economy is growing, especially this year. I have had several people pay me this year in cash...which is all right but not usual. I still claim it on my taxes, but I wonder where are they getting it all?
My brother owed me several thousand. He sold some cows and the buyer gave him cash, so he paid me in cash. Another day, a stranger drove in the yard and asked me if I'd sell an old 4620 sitting not being used much anymore? I set a price and he paid me in cash, ten grand.
There's been many smaller transactions the same.
I think the Blue brothers, General Atomics and the other drone makers are doing just great also.
In the immortal words of Baron Karl Munchausen, "No doctors". And fuck worker's comp, that is a scam to prevent lawsuits and after you, the worker, have been turned into hamburger the company is fined $10k.
up the republic
If they stop printing cash, the value of the existing cash in circulation will go up.
Yeah, while we are at it, fuck those corporate weed selling chumps. The taxes on legal weed are insane. Sure the quality is great but that pimply faced kid trying to educate me on weed is a bit much. So...support your local grower and boycott the legal, highly taxed, weed.
Barter is just one enemy of the state. Black market WILL be the biggest market by 2020.
Ah, ZH.
Nothing like celebtrating 6 figure income earners who collect tax-payer funded benefits designed for the truly needy. I guess "getting over" on the rest of us isn't just for corporatist billionaires anymore.
It's a sure sign you live in a Banana Republic when your black market is better than the legti market.
And to those tyrant boor-o-crats 'just doing their jobs.' FUCK YOU! When you enforce a policy, it is more YOUR policy than anyone else's. Even the people who wrote the poilcy.
agan, it's not the Occupy Movement - it's the Opt Out Movement.
Even the Colorado weed farmers are going back underground. My son knows a weed farmer that sold his business barn to another guy and moved up to the country to a new home and "shop" he built and set up his indoor grow. He got sick of the constant hassles of numbering and inspections and all the legal bullshit when prices kept dropping. Solar panels keep his costs in line and he makes far more growing less weed and marketing to a select connoisseur clientele. Less work, more profit without headaches, rip-offs and employees.
As far as his neighbors know he's a gentleman farmer and a part time musician living the good life in a sleepy mountain valley.
I just returned from a 2 week hiatus in Japan / [A great culture & society]
On return I flew into JFK.
TSA & Customs workers were all black or hispanic. All but [qty 2 employees] were very rude, overweight, under-ambitious, impatient and disrespectful to the mostly Japanise tourists & business people. It was embarrassing.
I thought to myself: My God what's happening to my country.
Fuck Obama & all the Dem's with their open borders policy.
It's an intentional takedown of American culture.
My dealings with the TSA and airport security in general since 9/11 have been so unpleasant that I no longer fly. The last time I went through airport security I didn't want to be irradiated by one of Chertoff's x-ray machines so of course I was marked as a troublemaker. I was groped and my phone was taken away. I got my phone back at the lost and found desk and vowed to not fly in the US again.
I am european I visited the US only once in 1999
Already then the reception at the TSA was unbeliavably rude (it was a black guy then)
And with all the security checks this days, restrictions , rules. I will never visit america again
Not sure what you hit, but it wasn't the TSA, at least not in 1999.
Hemp backed coin or booze backed either way it would work well. The stall could do it.
Yep they are going to crash the $. The question is can we impose a coin with a true value or let them force another fiat on our children.
I say we withold all our labour until we can actually get paid. Barter is the only way out of this mess.
I'm 41, wrenched on the side for years when I was younger, and thought it was behind me (at least as a regular gig), some years ago. My wife asked me recently if I'd like to wrench on the side, again. Figure I might as well as long as I'm healthy. Trades are good for hard cash and bartering. I taught her how to run the Bridgeport mill out inthe garage, so she putts around with it a few times a month.
I can't stress enough how important it is to know a trade. Friends of mine weld, machine, wrench, etc., and they'll never go hungry between doing that on the side, and working a part time or full time job on the books.
I respect anyone who's been able to transition to doing it full-time, on their own.
Both me and the wife are in medical and dental, and the cash/trade business is alive and growing. Good cash discounts for trusted patients . . .everybody wins. The trade is a little tricky, pretty much limited to diagnostic services among a few other pros. It's a risk to conduct trades with general patients when you have a license to lose.
The point is, from my chair their is more of this going on in licensed professions now than five years ago. I don't see the trend changing.
As long as I have anesthetic, blades, sutures and forceps I will not starve. I don't like the idea of bartering with someone who needs my service, but if it comes to that I am sure they will understand.
Just lamenting that despite all the complaints, why is the underground economy not bigger than it should be with todays' enabling technologies and porus borders ? US/EC little people are just waking up to the potential of the underground economy well in place in places with extractive Crony systems.