Tax farming is a system where the state, usually a ruler or oligarchy, grants the right to collect taxes to a private person or group of individuals. In theory, this agent collects the taxes and hands them to the state, keeping a percentage for his fee. The tax farmer is eager to make sure the taxes are collected so he does a really good job collecting those taxes. Since the tax farmers are usually closer to the people being taxed, they are going to be better at unearthing the various tax dodges cooked up by the people, thus avoiding the problem of tax avoidance.
This was common in the Bronze Age and flourished from time to time in various places into the late Middle Ages. The Italians still maintain a form of it in their banking system, where the small local banks operate as a taxing authority for certain transactions. The remains of this practice are still with us in the form of business and sales taxes. The retailer is basically a tax collector. The difference is the business collecting sales and employment tax is not getting a commission. They are forced to do it by the state as a condition of doing business.
Like all solutions, it came with trade-offs. The king may have lacked the communications systems and granular knowledge of the local economy to efficiently collect his own taxes, but he gave away some degree of his authority when he resorted to tax farming. He also gave away some portion of his tax revenue to the tax farmer. Since the power to tax is the power to rule, the king was also ceding some of his own power to others, who could one day use those powers against him. In other words, the king was trading power for money, which is always a risky trade-off.
Tax farming is something to keep in mind when reading stories like this one from Hollywood. Of the eight people in the story, three run cable empires. Two run empires that piggyback on the cable monopolies. That means five of the eight most powerful media men in America base their power on state-granted cable monopolies, which are really just updated forms of the old tax farm concept. Instead of the state taxing you through your cable and internet, they grant that right to these companies, who kick a portion of it back to the government in the form of bribes and taxes.
It is tempting to resist this comparison because the cable company is not banging on your door, demanding that you give them half your crops. It does not feel like a tax, but income taxes do not feel like a tax either. You never see them. They just happen behind the scenes. Most people are completely unaware of the taxes on their wages. They see what is on their stub, maybe, but they do not see the laundry list of taxes paid by their employer. Those of you who sign the front of paychecks know the stuff on the pay stub is just the tip of the iceberg.
Similarly, as a consumer of pop culture you want to watch TV and go on-line so you get cable. In most areas of the US, there is one cable company. They do not just sell you the content you want, they sell you a package that you have to buy whether you watch it or not. You pay for ESPN, for example, even if you never watch sports. You pay for the parade of freaks on the news channels, even if you are a sensible person who gets his news on-line. That is a tax, no matter what they call it. You are required to pay for these channels even though you do not want them.
Here is a little math. The average cable TV bill in America is now over $100 per month. There are roughly one hundred million cable homes in America, which means $10 billion per month flows into the cable companies via subscriber fees. Then you have the internet access portion which is about half that number. When you have the right to tax $150 billion from the public, you have a powerful tool at your disposal. It is no wonder that five of the eight most powerful media moguls are in the cable rackets. They have been granted the power to tax.
This would be just another swindle the Billionaire Boys Club is running on the American people, except that most people still get their news and culture through the television. All of those moguls are raging left wingers, who use their billions to finance their favorite politicians and pump into your home their ideas about how you should live. It is not an accident that most of what turns up on television looks like it was dreamed up by the sophomores in the women’s studies department. The modern tax farmer does not just have the right to tax the people in his domain. He gets the right to tell them how to think.
Elon Musk is another example of a tax-farmer: everything he does is government-subsidized, IOW we’re paying the freight for this famous “entrepreneur”.
Elon Musk is not a tax farmer. The things he gets subsidies for are things we as a country have agreed are important for the future. I feel that subsidies to all his pursuits are worthy. We eventually need to have some sort of long range space travel to protect us from extinction. We need to move to electric cars or at least to some sort of fuel that can be made by electrical power. Solar panels for homes are great for getting the borg off your back. I know of people who run their homes on solar and have a Chevy Volt they charge with solar. They rarely buy fuel. Being energy independent is a big step towards being freer. I’m not for these things because I’m a ecology nut I’m for them for security. Home power means secure power, no dependence on foreign oil means security.
People say the market will do all these things and I say bullshit. I’m for some kind of back up plan for energy and transportation because it’s so important.
Another area where tax farming takes place is in health care. It is a hyper-regulated monopoly set up to benefit those licensed in the monopoly and the government, which protects it, and profits from the closely watched transactions and controls. Consider this: In France the salt monopoly was granted to the farmers general who enforced the gabelle. Consumption went down. The government then required people to buy salt. Same with health insurance today.
Not only that, but it (health services) and residential housing are pretty much it as far as our GDP goes. So, eliminate those subsidized industries, and … you got nuthin’.
http://healthblog.ncpa.org/health-services-50-percent-of-gdp-growth/
https://mishtalk.com/2016/06/28/third-estimate-of-first-quarter-gdp/
LetsPlay gets it right. We should start referring to DC as the “center” like communists did to the party apparat in Moscow. Tax farming, or call it what you will, is just part of the intersection of big business and government, in my mind, a form of incorporated socialism, with government, business and media all run by the same new class.
What is to be done? as Lenin asked? Beats the hell out of me. I’m beginning t think that withdrawing my vote is a start but that goes against a lifetime’s habit. Tim
@ Tim – Not voting is the worst thing you can do and it is exactly what the elites prefer! The fact less than 40% of the 18-24 year old Brits who favored “remain” didn’t vote is telling. And yet they screamed the loudest. I would agree the vote for your president may be a difficult pill to swallow but people must remain engaged at the local and state elections. Little Switzerland is a great example…the cantons vote on everything.
I’ve never had cable but I quite agree.
However I can provide an example of how much tax is hidden within the products we purchase:
Some twenty, or so, years ago (so I’m, of course going to be talking 1990s dollars.) I did a fair amount of traveling in the Russian Far East. As an unapologetic smoker I’d buy Camels, in Russia, for the equivalent of fourteen cent a pack in US dollars. Here is Alaska then I’d pay around a buck fifty a pack, if I remember right, it might have been quite a bit higher, Alaska raised their tobacco tax to a buck a pack sometime round the mid- ’90s.
My point is R. J. Reynolds wasn’t giving Camels away, including shipping, packaging, handling, etc. they were still making a profit at fourteen cents a pack so I suspect the majority of the greater than tenfold difference in cost for the same pack of cigarettes here and in Russia had to be tax monies, most of them hidden.
Yes much of the tax on tobacco is a sin tax and hence perhaps a bit more exorbitant than most, but still a clear example of how much of each dollar we spend ends up back in the hands of our beloved leaders.
http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/14273-tax-gatherers
“During the Middle Ages the position of tax-collector was often filled by Jews. Mention is made of Jewish tax-collectors in France as early as the sixth century (Gregory of Tours, “Historia Francorum,” vii. 23). In 587 the Council of Mâcon issued among other prohibitions one against farming the taxes to Jews. That this prohibition was disregarded is seen from the fact that the Council of Meaux (849) deemed it necessary to renew it. The collection of Jewish taxes was always entrusted to Jews; during the reign of Charles V. (1364-80) Menassier of Vesoul was receiver-general of the Jewish taxes for the north of France, and Denis Quinan for Languedoc. The kings likewise often entrusted to Jews the position of receiver-general of taxes. Among the renowned receivers mention may be made of Joseph Pichon, Joseph of Ecija, and Samuel ibn Waḳar, all of whom paid with their lives for the riches they had accumulated in office. Until the regency of John I. of Castile (1385) Jews held the position of tax-receivers in Portugal also.”
“In Germany the Jews were very early excluded from all public offices; and it can not be ascertained whether they ever filled there the position of tax-receiver. It seems, however, that such Jewish officials existed in Austria in the thirteenth century; for in a document dated 1257 two Jews are mentioned as the king’s financiers. In Hungary the Jews were excluded from the office in 1279 by the Council of Buda. The higher Polish nobility, however, depended largely on the Jews for tax-collectors; until lately the Russian government also made use of Jewish tax-gatherers (“sborschiki”) for the collection of taxes from the Jews; and it still leases to the highest bidder the special Jewish taxes, such as that on kasher-meat (“korobka”), and on the candles used for Sabbath and for other religious purposes. Until the middle of the seventeenth century the customs duties were generally leased by the Turkish government to Jews. According to Manasseh ben Israel (1656), “the viceroy of Egypt has always at his side a Jew who bears the title ‘ṣarraf bashi,’ or ‘treasurer,’ and who gathers the taxes of the land. At present Abraham Alkula holds the position.” Alkula was succeeded by Raphael Joseph Halabi, the rich friend and protector of Shabbethai Ẓebi (Grätz, “Gesch.” x. 34). See Publican.”
@ the Zman – I am surprised you have not capitalized on the real significance of the Brexit with regards to the superiority of the American form of democratic government over the clear failure of the EU. While you and others often complain about what’s wrong with America, Brexit is a clear indication of what is good about it; fifty independent, self governing states, still functioning in unison for nearly 250-years. The Euro-experiment as we know it today, barely made it two decades and already it’s off the rails with one if it’s most significant members leaving.
As the Brits are often hear to say “Well done old chap!” Between British rule that outlasted the Europeans and dominated the world for hundreds of years, followed by their American cousins who outlasted British rule, it’s pretty obvious who’s been doing things right. I think it’s worthy of one of your write ups, n’est pas?
I hate to be the one to burst your bubble but the truth must be told … America is really more like the EU that you might think. Washington DC is like Brussels where cretins, lot of faceless, nameless bureaucrats and political appointees create laws but live like royalty and sneer down from their lofty perches at the small people out beyond the safety fences.
They care little for what the little people think. The Constitution is not respected or applied any longer. Presidents, Supreme Court Justices, and politicians, as well as military commanders take the oath to uphold and defend the Constitution and then turn right around and piss on it in a partisan manner befitting a foreigner/traitor.
The collusion between big business and government is such that the only consideration that matters is making a few key people richer. Making the pie bigger is an old, obsolete idea. Globalism is where it is at. Just like with the EU. Jobs? For the citizens? Are you serious? We must, must, drive down the labor cost to the lowest possible level even if that means exploiting some other country for the sake of profit. But hey, the world gets cheaper products! And the locals can earn a sustainable wage while they work in sweatshops, although now they are hi-tech sweatshops with no labor laws, nor benefits or medical or retirement protections.
No, it is true. America is more like the EU. The reason Trump is so popular is the same as why Brexit was popular. Not that it is a painless way out, but that he represents a different direction that has failed. We, and I mean we, will have to work to make changes and make them succeed in spite of those will do everything in their power to fight that success. Kind of like the fight the leaders of the EU will put up to keep their gravy train going. But the tide has turned and it is time for the tide to rise and along with it, all boats to rise, not just the yachts of the few.
@ Infidel – Brexit, Trump and the AfD are reactions to bad decisions and bad policies, not a bad government. Fundamental democratic republics, as defined in our respective countries constitutions, have proven to work quite well. Unfortunately the EU that has attempted to subvert, pervert and twist it into something very different – bordering more and more closely to a fascist state. America, despite it’s faults, is not quite there yet. The Brits were smart enough to recognize it, I believe you Americans are too. You just haven’t reached the pain threshold the UK did. We Germans have lived through true fascism, America has only witnessed it from a distance. There’s a big difference between having cancer and seeing what it can do to someone else.
Your are correct Karl that the US is on approach to becoming exactly like the EU. That is what our “Left” desires. Many of us see it happening and are frustrated that our efforts at electing representatives to take action to stem and turn the tide have come to nothing. In fact, these traitors, RINO’s in our parlance, have aided and abetted the enemy. And they are the enemy because they want to cause us to lose our freedom. Many Americans would rather die standing than live kneeling. It does take reaching a pain threshold to force us creatures to change and we have reached that point.
The point on which I would disagree with you is that “we, America” have only witnessed fascism from afar. Being a student of history, and one of the old crowd which seems to get only derision in the media (especially in Britain regarding Brexit), is that there is some memory of history and it’s consequences. That is the problem with the younger generation. No respect. As usual, they think they know all and can solve everything when they haven’t even been around the block once yet. They sneer at the ideas of the old folks as if their combined life experience has not taught them anything about human nature and governments. Instead of asking, communicating and listening, they want to just vote, have their cause du-jour, go party and leave the hard work to someone else, a bureaucrat or even an illegal immigrant who might kill you later.
America may not have had cancer but it was the doctor who treated a world caught up in cancer, not once, but twice in the last century. I think that in the process we actually did contract cancer because those who considered themselves so smart infested our country with the “best & brightest” of our enemies simply for economic,scientific, and military purposes. And we invested heavily in rebuilding Europe only to see it drift from a democratic sphere to a socialist one. America invested heavily in protecting the world for decades with military bases in many countries freeing up budgets to spend on a socialist utopia that otherwise would have gone to military spending. Why was America fighting a war in Bosnia when that is in Europe’s back yard? Just one of many examples.
The seeds of the EU were started with the end of WWII. The UN (worthless). Granting life to Israel?? Carving up the world according to the dictates of economics rather than groups of like peoples. This idea of a super committee is antithetical to individual freedom. America was supposed to be a land of small government. Now the federal government rules over the states with a heavy hand imposing rules and regulations in every area of life. So maybe it is fascism-lite, but I don’t like even that and many others don’t either.
So in answer to you statement, we have seen cancer and we don’t like it one bit. Time to excise the disease before it kills the host. Sometimes, like with Brexit, you have to do the hard thing.
I think you will find every younger generation has sneered at the old. There are quotes that go back to ancient Greece on that topic. But, as I posed the question before, can a nation (America or the EU) of over 300-million people be effectively ruled by a “small” government? The days of grand European wars are over. So it will be interesting to see if the EU de-evolves back into a collective of cooperative nations.The Brexit put the smell of liberty in the air, and in a prison, that’s not a good thing.
To your original question, I do believe that a large country like America can be ruled effectively by small government who has clearly defined goals. As stipulated in our Constitution, those goals are well defined. As a Republic, the rest of the details should be left to the States. It all depends on a decentralized form of government and shared responsibilities. I think where failure comes in is when a small group of people based in a central location try to manage the affairs of many over a tremendously large area with the cajones to think they know what is best for everyone in every situation. Wrong. Wrong in the EU. Wrong in socialism. Wrong in fascism. Wrong in Communism. But like a stinking turd that floats on the water, it just won’t go away and just keeps stinking up the locale. Live free or die! The domestic enemies of America claim that the Constitution is outdated and yet their prescription to replace the best thing in history is an ideology with a history of failure and misery.
As for Europe, the challenge is to finally come to grips with the hard work and really work to become Republics with educated citizens, responsible leaders, and institutions that fight graft and corruption at every level. Don’t get me wrong. America is in the same boat having drifted down the rapids and lost it’s way. All I am saying is that since the end of WWII, the goal of each country truly defining itself and becoming unique, strong and independent while also being a part of a strong Europe without sucking on someone else’s teet, really hasn’t happened IMHO. Less so in the case of Germany but still a lot of dysfunction to go around. Rather than being strong and secure, everyone is afraid of their own shadow and their neighbor and nothing has really changed. And now you add to the mix, immigration of people’s who have nothing in common with local cultures under the guise of being “open borders,” “open minded,” and non-racist. Well, I guess everyone gets to pick their poison, just don’t tell me what mine should be. I want nothing to do with the EU, the UN, the World Bank, the IMF, or even the FED, a fraudulent institution elected by no one and accountable to no one (at least citizens). Globalization is nothing but a big scam just like Global Warming, the War on Terrorism, etc. which only serve to reduce individual freedoms and control people.
Never forget that Americans have the benefit of a nearly 250-year old Constitution. Europeans have had to re-write theirs several times in just the past 100-years. America still has the dollar while Germany has already gone through four currency changes in the past 100-years alone.
Europe, despite it’s ancient roots, is still evolving. It’s what your forefathers went through under the Brits, but on a multinational scale. The US remains unique that it can manage 300-million people because it has the advantage of a common Constitution and I would also argue, a common language.
What you are witnessing is 27-nations trying to cobble together their unique values, morals and language after a nearly constant warfare across Europe, up until 1945. So yes, there will be problems.
Germany has only been a unified nation since 1887, and we went through it again in 1949 and yet again in 1996 when the wall came down – just over 25-years ago. And don’t forget that Spain was introduced to democracy only as recently as 1979. So you’re about one hundred years ahead of the rest of us.
Thank you for that overview. Quite compelling bit of history. And it makes my point that countries have never developed their own form of government and economy before being offered the panacea of a “Unified” and common market. I personally never believed that even the Euro, a common monetary unit could be agreed upon by all the European countries. The fact that many did was amazing but how long it will survive is still in question as is the life span of the EU.
This is why leftwingers and Euros (BIRM) love the Value-Added Tax. I remember my first trip abroad, as a wee lad. It was great! No sales tax, no tip, you just got the bill and handed over the weird Monopoly-looking money and a handful of coins that look like miniature stop signs. It was only later, when I realized I was paying the equivalent of US $12 for a freakin’ beer, that the tax burden became evident. If you really want to end the leviathan state, simply eliminate withholding. Every April 15, you have to add up your earnings for the year and write a big ol’ check to the feds, straight from your bank account. No lamppost would be without its politician in a matter of hours.
Way back in the olden thymes I was living and working in New Hampshire. Our counterparts from Montreal were down for a meeting and the subject of health insurance came up. They started mocking us for not having government health care. One of the guys pulled out his pay stub and show them the tax portion. They got very quiet. At the time, Canada charged 30% federal tax plus a 17% provincial tax, paid in cash or beaver pelts. In tax free NH, you paid the Feds and that was it. Suddenly free health care looked very expensive to our friends up north.
I’ve often said that if you listed all of the taxes on every receipt and pay stub, there would be blood in the streets within hours. Hidden taxes are what keep the modern social welfare state running. That includes borrowing, which is just a tax on the unborn.
As I have mentioned before, attending university in Germany is free to students who are smart enough to get in. Yet it’s always interesting to listen to these often liberal and progressive ‘know-it-all’ students go on about how we should all be more socially conscious and take care of refugees and the poor and every social miscreant they pass on the street. At the same time they drone on about the great job they will have when they graduate and the flat they will live in and the car they will drive.
And when they end up in the ‘real’ world, get their first pay check and see how much they gave up in taxes, their tune suddenly changes. Especially when they realized the money they earned is now supporting a ‘refugee’ family down the street who have a very nice home and a big screen TV – while they’re working 40-hours a week, sharing a tiny flat with two friends and streaming movies on their smartphone.
I call it the curse of third party payments. When “the government” pays for stuff, it masks the cost, at least for a little while. Here in the states, we have one party promising “free” stuff and one party promising low taxes. The result is $20 Trillion in Federal debt and tens of trillions more in state and local debts.
Here’s a delight we Brits have to endure. A litre of petrol in the UK (I’d prefer gallons but we must be more European so so we have to bow to Napoleon’s heritage) has over 40 per cent of the price at the pump as fuel duty. In other words, tax. On top of that, the government adds its customary 20 per cent Value Added Tax, so the motorist is effectively paying tax on tax. As the car is taxed by the state already then even filling it up is a tax event of super proportions.
In America, every gallon of potable alcohol is taxed roughly $24. The cost is about $3 per gallon. That means a ten dollar bottle of cheap liquor is five dollars in tax, give or take. It is not stated anywhere on the bottle. Then there is cost of collecting that tax which is substantial. People in the alcohol business have special accounting people who do nothing but account for every drop of alcohol. The Feds come in annually to audit their books and the fines are draconian.
I used to keep books for a bar and there’s an astonishing amount of bureaucracy on those alcohol sales too. Normally if you’re a day or two late paying a vendor, it’s not a big deal. If you’re even a little late paying an alcohol vendor, they report you to the state liquor commission and no alcohol vendors are allowed to deliver to you unless you greet them with cash on delivery. I was taking over for an incompetent temp and resolving the liquor situation was a huge headache.
Since young voters or potential voters don’t subscribe to the media/entertainment companies which continue in their destruction of American liberty at nearly the rates that old folks do, even old folks who mistakenly believe they aren’t raping the young with more debt and more finger pointing instead of less debt actualized, should applaud the effect of reducing the influence of the “gatekeepers.”
This isn’t to claim these same young don’t Facebook and Apple and Google ergo providing different Leftists power, and the distinction matters.
As Michael C. said, the young overtake the old, it’s natural.
Unless the old are like sugar, Disney copyrights, and/or politicians in the U.S.
Cord cutting is a real thing, but it is not enough of a thing yet. About 7% of homes that could have cable do not have cable. It will grow over time and maybe even reach critical mass as other services become better. But, entrenched interests tend to fight back.
In the UK, as probably well known to many, we have a television tax. This is via the BBC, and works as a ‘licence’ to the point that as all televisions are capable of picking up BBC’s output (the whole range from excellent documentaries on wildlife and period dramas to unfunny left-wing ‘comedians’ and utterly agenda-ridden ‘news’ coverage packed with socialist tripe — as Al-Beeb gets a kickback from the EU you can guess which side they are on in their supposedly unbiased reporting) then everyone whether they watch or not must pay.
I believe there are a handful of people who successfully argued in court that they had disabled their television so that it couldn’t pick up the BBC’s output, but mostly the government loves jailing old age pensioners who either can’t afford the licence fee or perhaps had forgotten to renew it each year.
But then as many of us say, if you could pay for Al-Beeb on a watch-and-pay structure there would be whole chunks of programming then which wouldn’t get made and hundreds of socialist parasites wouldn’t be employed.
At one point, the most common charge in British courts was failure to pay the TV tax.
“What are you in for?”
“I don’t watch the tele”
“You monster!”
In Germany every household is obliged to pay a TV license fee which is used to pay the German public broadcasting services, similar to the UK’s BBC. The license fee is used to fund the public broadcasters ZDF and Deutschlandradio as well as the nine regional broadcasters of the ARD network, who altogether run 22 television channels. Within Europe, Germany’s fees are considered average; Switzerland charges €385 and Austria €278 a year respectively. However Germans have to pay more than the British (€179), French (€129), and Italians (€110).
The license fee since 2009 had been €5.76 a month for a radio and/or a computer with internet access, and €12.22 for a TV. The office responsible for collecting the fees (Gebühreneinzugszentrale), or GEZ, would actually come to your house and in some cases, try to gain entry, (which legally they could not do), in an attempt to determine if you had a registered TV, radio or computer device of some sort. Those with any degree of sense choose not to pay this license fee. However, most law abiding Germans paid without questioning it.
To eliminate the problems of trying to get their money, back in 2013 a law was passed that every household shall pay a fixed monthly rate of €17.50 whether you have a TV, radio or computer or not. As every household must pay it’s no longer possible to avoid or evade the fee. The rationale for this system is as follows:
1. Public broadcasting services are considered of benefit to society as a whole. Even if someone doesn’t watch TV, or own a TV, that someone still lives in a society that is better informed, better connected, and better “culturally protected” because of public services. Everyone benefits, even if only indirectly, and therefore everyone should help fund it.
2. The fee is collected separately from income tax because this is considered a way to give public broadcasting companies their independence. This is designed to prevent broadcasters from becoming government propaganda machines.
3. The fee is flat, €17.50 for all households regardless of how many people live there, because this makes it easier to manage and collect. It reduces overhead costs and keeps the system simple and streamlined. The fee is also considered low enough that it shouldn’t be a burden to anyone. If someone can afford a roof over their head, then they can afford a “little” extra for public broadcasting.
Germany currently has one of the largest total public broadcast budgets in the world and annual income from license fees is approximately 7.6 billion euros. The board of public broadcasters sued the German states for interference with their budgeting process, and on 11 September 2007 the Supreme Court decided in their favor. This effectively rendered the public broadcasters institution independent and self-governing.
In March of this year, the Federal Administrative Court of Germany dismissed 18 challenges to earlier lower-court rulings upholding the mandatory broadcasting tax (Rundfunkgebühr), declaring that the fee is indeed constitutional even if one does not own a radio or TV.
http://www.rundfunkbeitrag.de/e175/e198/Informationsflyer_Buergerinnen_und_Buerger_englisch.pdf
Oh dear lord, what have we allowed on our watch. I don’t have cable thankfully.
A couple of quibbles…Most states (I think) allow businesses to take a discount on the sales taxes due and collected. In Wisconsin it is .5% with a maximum of $1000 per month. Of course, this doesn’t even come close to what it costs to account for taxes collected, not to mention the convoluted rules involved regarding who owes and who doesn’t, what exactly is taxable and what isn’t. It’s a royal pain the arse. It’s only going to get worse if a national sales tax or VAT tax is levied. Lastly, I absolutely despise all those obscure, penny-ante taxes listed on my cable and utility bills! And what about the obscene taxes charged on cigarettes and gasoline. Hidden larceny!
David Friedman said “Property rights are not the rights of property; they are the rights of humans with regard to property. They are a particular kind of human right.” Your guns, your money, everything you own, it is property, that is the first thing. I think the further the spirit advances in the thought and act of defiance to tyrants, the greater the increase of adversarial nature to eradicating that defiance, and resistance becomes manifest in people. That is what being a dirt person is. It is an evolution of insurgency that is required, it is the original open source middle finger, and that it comes in stages, at some point the equation changes, from one of being a subject to tyranny, to one of subjecting tyrants to the motive energy of being so free, freedom can not be resisted any longer. It’s winning and winning liberty.
Lot of people don’t know you can get 100’s of channels free, that you pay for through cable or satellite. All you need is a decent Yagi type Digital TV antenna. RCA sells one for $48, they have a booster too. But all you need is a tall mast, made from conduit. The taller the more channels. And the satellite dish mount you have works perfect for the Yagi, and a taller mast. I live in rural WV, we get 54 free channels on a 10 ft mast mounted on the roof ridge. Free. Then we bought a flat screen 12 volt TV, made by Jenson, runs off a battery charged by solar cells. Top of the line TV, all the bells and whistles, LCD, bluetooth, etc. Now we reduced our bills by $115 bucks a month, between no cable bill and no mains power running our TV. $115 a month! And that is but two ways out of dozens we have reduced our total basic bills to $550. You can do it. Nothing stopping you but yourself. These bastards running things can’t force you to give them your hard earned bucks. Screw em’. And if more and more of us defy and resist them, we win. It is Brexit of the heart and mind, it is secession with a vengeance, because they need our money, and WE do not need them. Little at a time all it takes. But the best thing, is all that savings now belongs to us, nobody has a hand in our pocket unless there are no alternatives. It is a mentality and a philosophy, it is change your thinking. Look, it all begins with each of us. Join the honorable resistance, find ways to become self sufficient, to not be a wage slave of the corporate/government complex. Give the bastards the bird. Start small, one thing at a time, before you know, one day you look around and your free in ways you would not know unless you said I Won’t!, and MYOB!
Google LEAF ANTENNA.
Dan Kurt