“Terrorism” is a Tyrant’s Favorite Safe Word: Here’s Why

Terrorism has long been a buzzword for corrupt governments. In 63 BC, Romans took control of Syria following the Third Mithridatic War. That same year, they sacked Jerusalem and took control of Jerusalem’s temple. It wasn’t long before the Judaea Province, of which Jerusalem was a part, was made an official part of Rome. That made is subject to the Roman census and the decrees of taxation that came with it.

Thus gave birth to the Zealotry rebellion, an organized movement of Jews determined to throw the Roman Empire out of the homeland. It sought to incite those in Judaea to fight back against Roman rule through the use of force. It was a long and bloody rebellion which saw the destruction of of Jerusalem by the blood-thirsty Romans. Not content to be overrun, the zealots formed a more extreme group – the Sicarii.

The Sicarii were the original cloak-and-dagger men. They attempted to level the playing field against Rome by murdering top officials in the government, then start crying when people flooded the scene. Eventually, the Romans found a way to play this to their advantage. Jonathan the High Priest, once believed to be murdered by the Sicarii, was later thought to have had his killing orchestrated by Felix, the governor of Rome.

Jews throughout the Roman Empire were subjected to dismal treatment and outright torture as backlash against the small Sicarii movement. This is how the Romans re-took control.

Two thousand years ago, the Romans knew how to play the terror card and take back the power. The same is true of modern governments.

In fact, Big Government might think you’re a terrorist for reading this right now. Just this week, President Obama said that information available online fuels “violent agendas” using “hateful propaganda”. He argued that recent and future acts of domestic terrorism stem from too much information being available online.

In government’s war to prop itself up by any means necessary, they’ll resort to calling the greatest human advancement of the modern age a tool for terrorism.

If only people couldn’t freely share information, their life would be so much easier. Just look at all the laws they propose to regulate the internet under the guise of crony capitalism with their buddies in Hollywood.

The only real threat the internet poses is to corrupt government. Without the internet, would the IRS scandal or any of their other rotten deeds have come to light? Heck, the internet has – like it or not – led to the impeachment of a former President.

You can see why tyrants like Obama want to brand the internet as a tyrant assembly line, while on the other hand decrying anyone who claims government “tyranny is lurking around the corner”. (His predecessor probably wasn’t bright enough to realize how the internet could air his dirty laundry.)

Now, The Land of the Free has shut down Liberty Reserve, among the oldest digital currencies. The service required users to enter their name, date of birth, and email address when sending money to other users. But in the overhyped age of Big Terror, Big Government wasn’t happy about that.

Using the draconian Patriot Act as their defense, they seized Liberty Reserve this week on charges of money laundering.

As usual, the government cares not about the vast majority of Liberty Reserve users who use it to conduct business transactions internationally or for whatever other reason. After all, anyone who doesn’t use Federal Reserve Notes is a terrorist to a government hellbent on dominating every aspect of everyone’s life.

This is a position they feel secure in, because to the unwashed masses busy dripping nacho cheese on their paunch during a football game or catching up with the Kardashians, anyone not using paper money is “so totally creepy”. That well-rationed public support is enough for the government to crack the whip.

As The Bumbler said, “you’re either with us or you’re with the terrorists”.

Basically, the government is saying that if bad guys use your service, you’re going to be liable. Here’s the rub: Liberty Reserve is based in Costa Rica. Run by a Costa Rican citizen who renounced his US citizenship last year. Many of the company’s transactions were outside of the US. But we all know that if it weren’t for the Good ol’ USA, the rest of the world would stop functioning – perhaps even become a post-apocalyptic wasteland.

And so Uncle Sam stepped up to shut down a company whose entire function was allowing private individuals to send each other money online. Unlike Paypal or Google who suck up to the statists, Liberty Reserve fought against them. And that’s not allowed.

Allow me to propose an alternative solution. Perhaps if the lazy thugs that make up today’s law enforcement got off their ass and went out looking for bad guys, they could find these nebulous child pornographers and drug merchants they claim Liberty Reserve, Dwolla, and other such services are crawling with.

Why is it that the government passes a bunch of facocta laws to shut down victimless crimes like drug use, then is too lazy to even enforce their own bad laws and instead just shuts down entire other areas as well? Bad policy begets bad policy begets bad policy. Damn anyone caught in the crosshairs; government needs to look good.

Here’s someone else who needs to look good: US Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina Anne Tompkins.

Anne was in charge of busting Bernard von NotHaus, the creator of the Liberty Dollar. Upon convicting von NotHaus, a sentence which could lead to a fifteen year prison sentence, she said Liberty Dollars were “a unique form of domestic terrorism” trying “to undermine the legitimate currency of this country… While these forms of anti-government activities do not involve violence, they are every bit as insidious.”

Undermine the currency? I thought the whole point of the Liberty Dollar was as a hedge against the currency. Were any of the American Idol viewers fooled into getting Liberty Dollars when they wanted “real” dollars being devalued by Ben Bernanke? I don’t think anyone was fooled.

While I could argue the fiat US dollar is as illegitimate as a three-dollar bill, Ms. Tompkins does have the power of the appointed ruling class behind her. Yet the fact that she believes someone printing a barter currency that hardly resembles Federal Reserve Notes is as culpable for the downfall of her country as an underwear bomber is repulsive. And telling.

The movement to stifle those who speak out against the state is ramping up faster than ever. The Southern Poverty Law Center’s website lists Liberty Dollars on their “Hatewatch” section, saying shutting down the barter currency is part of silencing “the radical right”. Commenters on their site said von NotHaus “needs to be jailed as a lesson to others who would attempt this type of crap”.

Just what “crap” are they referring to? Private commerce? Freedom of speech? It’s chilling. But don’t let anyone fool you – all the warning signs are there. When private citizens advocate ruining a man’s life because he didn’t goose step along with them to an Obama Youth Rally, you know government propaganda has gone full-blown sociopathic.