“There are more instances of the abridgement of the freedom of the people by the gradual and silent encroachment of those in power, than by violent and sudden usurpation.”

— President James Madison

As the United States travels down the long road from the first limited government republic model of our Patriot Founding Fathers to a Washington style form of fascist national socialism, both health insurance and our private retirement system will eventually be nationalized and much of our retirement wealth confiscated all in the name of protecting us. But in a democracy, unlike total fascist and communist systems, great pillage and wealth attacks by government does not happen over night like Kristallnacht in Nazi Germany against Jewish wealth and property. The same can be said for Stalin’s starvation of the Ukraine and forced collectivization and confiscation of all private property and farms. By necessity in a democracy, it is a slow, incremental step-by-step process and this provides the means for American investors to protect and defend their retirement assets.

There is little chance to stop the coming health and retirement plan nationalization because both systems certainly don’t work for the benefit of most Americans. The needs of the American people have been circumvented by the politicians of both parties, the legal system and the greed of Wall Street and the American insurance industry due to their special interest control of Congress. Only a fool would say either the health or retirement system works well or that they represent the best of free-market capitalism. Both industries are simply regulated monopoly interests and the GOP propaganda to the contrary is self-serving rather than a real attempt to fix the problems.

Because of public opinion and the risk of voter outrage like we see today with the Tea Party movement and Ron Paul’s Campaign For Liberty, the ultimate wealth confiscation goal is the same in our special interest controlled debt democracy as in a totalitarian system but the confiscation time frame is far longer. The population must first be prepared and a number of real or contrived crises must follow to give the excuse for incremental government actions over a number of years.

But Will Americans Never Learn?

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on you.

For example, the income tax began in 1913 with taxes starting at around 1% of income on an equivalent income of around $65,000 in today’s dollars. The graduated tax rate went up to 6% on annual incomes over $10 million.

Social Security started in 1935 with a 1% tax on the employee and employer and only half the workers were covered at inception. Roosevelt promised the funds would go into an independent trust fund rather than the General Operating Funds of the government. Oh and yes, your Social Security benefits were originally not considered taxable income to recipients.

The Federal Reserve was created in 1913 and promised to promote economic stability and stable prices. The Great Depression followed in 1929 as did Franklin Roosevelt’s confiscation of the entire private supply of gold in the United States. The stated goal was stable prices and low inflation. But check out the graph below and see the actual results of the Federal Reserve System and don’t forget we are now in the middle of the greatest financial crisis since the Great Depression.

More Incremental Theft

The coming retirement trap I write about in “Get Ready For the Obama Retirement Trap” and the new mandatory retirement system proposed by the Obama Administration known as the “automatic IRA” is just more Washington theft. It is the same for the eventual nationalization and confiscation of the majority of retirement benefits from successful Americans as their funds are forced into breach of a flood tide of forced liquidations of treasury debt. Their retirement funds will benefit many lower middle class, unemployed and government employees at the expense of the productive Americans who saved for retirement in the first place.

The coming nationalization of private retirement plans and IRAs will be the greatest government theft and wealth transfer scheme in the history of the world but it will be opposed only by a small minority of productive Americans who have worked in the private sector and who have saved for their retirement years. These Americans who have saved a substantial amount for retirement will lose wealth and retirement security while the groups who have spent their entire lives feeding at the public trough will continue to come out ahead as usual in the largest theft in history.

Remember, everything out of Wall Street, Congress and Washington on retirement planning is all about generating money in the form of dramatic government tax revenues for Washington and not about building real retirement security for Americans.

For other groups listed below, the retirement trap will be a winning proposition for them as funds from successful Americans will be used to fund their retirement benefits.

The Usual Tax Feeders Will Continue to Pig Out at the Expense of Productive Working Americans

The Winners

• State government employees
• County and municipal employees
• Federal employees may be bailed out along with state and local government employees who have dramatically under-funded retirement programs.
• The unemployed
• The underemployed
• Those who simply don’t work
• Participants in most under-funded union plans

And The Losers in the Retirement Trap: All productive, working American in the private sector who have trusted the government and politicians to keep their world and saved a substantial amount of funds in qualified plans and IRA accounts.

The Timing

The timing of the steps to retirement plan nationalization and confiscation are a very difficult proposition first because of an uncertain political situation. While I fear both political parties will move in the direction I’ve outlined below to retain political power, historically the Democrats have moved faster in this direction than the Republicans. But now with the revenue needs of Washington totally out of control, which side of the two-party monopoly in control of Congress and the White House may not matter in the future. Second, most of the probable causes of the next financial or foreign policy crisis depend more on what China, Japan, Iran or Israel may do than on Washington. I believe the ultimate confiscation conclusion of the Retirement Trap will take place within ten years and I have a suggested time limit for each step to help you in your retirement planning.

Regards,
Ron Holland, LewRockwell.com
for Whiskey & Gunpowder

March 23, 2010

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Ron Holland

Ron Holland has written three books, two on the Washington threat to the private retirement system, plus over 100 reports and articles and he speaks and serves as a moderator at conferences on a wide variety of financial, political and freedom-related topics. He is a strong proponent of defending American liberties at home and the importance for global investment diversification outside the dollar and U.S. financial markets. Ron Holland works in Zurich and is a co-editor of the Swiss Mountain Vision Newsletter.

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