5 THE INTERNATIONAL DRAGNET
The hard reality is that there’s much effort extant from governments,
and not just our own, as well as from international organizations,
often working in tandem, to tighten the grip on
the citizens of the world for the purpose of increasing taxes and implementing
more effective tax collection measures. In fact, the focus
is tremendous, as is the desire to plug the “loopholes,” as they are
viewed, and to create a “level playing field,” on which to tax everyone
to death. Why? Because they can—or so they would like to think. The
problem with this plan, besides toying with our individual sovereignty,
is that the sovereignty of individual nations is also jeopardized
by other bigger nations, or more hideously, by international organizations
that want to bully the smaller countries into telling them what to
do. By hoping to eliminate tax competition between nations, which
incidentally promotes economies and business for the benefit of these
smaller countries, they are also hoping to reduce or eliminate the opportunities
for their taxpayers to creatively and legally lower their
taxes. Government oppression? Well, effectively, yes.
The United Nations, with its 191 member nations, is supportive of
a global tax organization, presumably to eliminate “unfair tax competition”
as part of their agenda, as if this were a noble cause. If they ever
succeed, one thing will surely happen. Taxes will go up. Why? Because,
there will be nothing to stop them. The sovereignty of individual
nations is gradually being usurped by outside forces with special
agendas, served up by organizations like the Organisation for Economic
Co-operation and Development (OECD) and their redheaded
stepchild, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), and many others.
They are beginning to work in concert, trying desperately to get everyone
to comply with their wishes. There is plenty of talk of expandbarbing global democracy and capitalism, free markets, and free trade, all
of which sound great! Doesn’t it? But, the consolidation of power is
likely no matter what you call it, and the downside is potentially horrific.
Imagine a world in which the current discussions to give the UN
the power to create the ultimate global tax-collecting body become a
reality. Imagine a single, worldwide UN-administered IRS, and no
other options. Actually, this very scenario is a possibility, and this one,
like others, is what we need to be thinking about when we blindingly
support initiatives that are being touted as “good for us.”
The big “D” word, “Democracy,” is being peddled all over the
world as the cure-all form of government that every foreign country
should hope to achieve. President George Bush talks about democracy
in general and continual terms, almost as if it were a religious experience.
Why is democracy being trumped so hard on the world stage?
Will fewer people die in wars, will the debt of nations go down, will
the people of the world be freer and happier? Not likely? Well, then,
why not?
Could it be because democracy is a more favorable environment
to increase commerce and productivity worldwide and, in the globalization
crusade, to tax the world? Free markets are music to a capitalist’s
ears, but they should not be attained at the expense of the
sovereignty of nations and the sovereignty of individual human beings.
And, what better way to finance the ultimate plan than through
globalization? Former President George H. W. Bush put it on the table
when he declared it a “New World Order,” but he stopped short of
telling us where that might lead us. These inconvenient details are
often left undisclosed to the populace, particularly in advance of
changes of this magnitude. Only later, through time and tide and our
own reflection, can we perceive the amplitude of the true intentions
and the bigger picture—and often when it’s too late. Did the German
population really know what plans Hitler had for them, and others?
A uniform global tax policy and unified collection methods
will be necessary to fuel the ultimate plan that is not yet revealed to
us. Once again, individual national sovereignties are at stake, and
so is yours.
In this chapter, we review a few pitfalls that are directly related to
anyone going offshore, and that were largely designed to reduce liberties
and increase taxation. The latest tactic in the war on our liberties
is action in the name of “security.” The “anti-money-laundering” laws
that are being passed worldwide are one mechanism to create a strong umbrella of control. We are told these laws are necessary to
stop terrorists and other international criminals, but tax collection
purposes are almost entirely the real reasons for this expansive global
legislative move. The legislators might not actually recognize a terrorist
if they saw one—in fact, all the funds uncovered from terrorist financing
came through OECD member countries or Islamic nations,
not, as the authors of this legislation have tried to imply, through the
“bad boy” tax havens.
In fact, the high-handed tax regimes themselves are to blame, as
they have provided their own citizens ample inspiration to become
more creative and personally respond to this global epidemic. Protection
from persecution at the hands of their own government is why
folks have made tax havens so popular. Corporations have taken the
same measures. Money, like water, still seeks its own level, and it will
seek out safe havens regardless of the state of the world.
What the world governments really need is to have their taxpaying
citizens hold them fiscally responsible. Only then will this spiraling
problem modify and maybe end. Otherwise, the finale will be much
more dramatic and few people will escape its consequences.
Why have tax havens become the brunt of these actions? Supposedly,
they harbor vast amounts of criminal money and protect taxdodgers
of every description. The truth? More money is laundered
through OECD member nations, and an even larger sum through the
United States, than is supposedly laundered in all the world’s tax
havens combined. Laundered criminal proceeds are less easily detected
flowing through huge financial centers like Tokyo, New York,
and London. Curiously, the United States is also the biggest tax haven in
the world, as it provides many tax incentives to foreign investment.
Without this infusion of foreign capital, our economy would be in serious
jeopardy, along with our future. Ironically, this is precisely why,
in 2002, the United States backed off on giving the OECD its support.
The United States could not be party to the idea of global harmonization
as long as the truth is that our nation is greatly benefited by its
status as the largest tax haven of all.