PEGs: The Parallel Economy for Traditionalist Americans
By James Wesley Rawles
As our nation spirals out of control with “woke” socialist politics and normalization of perversion, there has been a natural and rational backlash by conservatives who want no part of this. Generally, the economic side of this divergence has been dubbed The Parallel Economy. Thusfar, this is a small, nascent movement. But as inflation increases, I predict that it will grow much more popular. And eventually, once a sovereign cryptocurrency is announced, the Parallel Economy may divorce itself almost entirely from The System. (Or as some call it, The Beast System.)
What I propose is that informal Parallel Economy Groups (PEGs) be started at the community level. You haven’t heard of the PEG acronym until now, because I just coined it. PEGs will naturally be extensions of existing community groups like churches, farmers’ markets, and grange halls. There will be no need for formal organization. I believe that PEGs will just naturally coalesce, as mainstream society degenerates around them. A PEG needs no bylaws, nor club meetings, nor formal leadership. It can simply be an informal agreement among like-minded people who just want to be left alone. We can trade skills and man-hours of labor for foodstuffs, various goods, or services. Just leave us alone, and we will get by, just fine.
It Takes a Currency
To be successful, any economy needs more than just barter. It needs a functioning currency. Let’s face it: Apples are fine for a weekend of barter, but after a month, they rot. We need to use something more durable, divisible, and fungible. Up until 1964, the U.S. had real money that could be exchanged for silver on demand. The so-called “money” that has been issued in the U.S.since 1965 has been based entirely on Federal Reserve Note (FRN) “Dollars” — a fiat paper currency with debased coins that are just silver-plated copper tokens. This violates the U.S. Constitution’s concept of a “Dollar.” (Article 1, Section 9, Clause 1 of the Constitution and its Seventh Amendment use the term “dollar”. That term is codified as a coin containing Troy 371.25 grains of fine silver.) Even the pre-1982 copper pennies have been replaced by copper-flashed zinc tokens. The FRN is just a convenient fiction that allows massive government spending and currency inflation. The FRN is both a fraud and a hidden form of taxation. By accepting the FRN Funny Money, we’ve been robbed.
Let me give you an illustration: A 1964 Ford Mustang had a sticker price of $2,240. But a 2022 Ford Mustang has a sticker price of $32,705. And, parenthetically, a restored 1964 Mustang is now worth around $35,000. So, back in 1964 if you’d cashed your paycheck and bought a ’64 Mustang, then your earnings would have held their value. But if you’d put paper FRNs under your mattress, then they would have lost most of their purchasing power by 2021. The cumulative rate of inflation since 1964 has been 792.2%. Again, we’ve been robbed.
Inflation is robbery in slow motion that just a handful of people rightly recognize. Granted, wages have gradually increased, but they have not kept up with inflation. For most families, maintaining a middle-class standard of living now requires two incomes. The long-term effects of currency debasement, inflation, and wage taxation have been the destruction of the Middle Class. Indirectly, these macro-level changes forced many mothers into the workforce, and that caused a whole raft of social problems that in turn are destroying our society.
Some groups have tried issuing Local Currency barter scrip — such as Ithaca Hours — with limited success, in limited geographic regions. Usually, those local currencies are pegged to FRN currency. But in my estimation, that is a mistake. As inflation accelerates, it will destroy any local currency that is so pegged. Similarly, any local currency that uses the term “Dollar” printed or minted on their scrip will run afoul of the U.S. Treasury and the IRS. (Just like The Mafia, they hate completion.) If you have an extra hour, then do some web searches on the phrase: “Von Nothaus and Liberty Dollar.”
My suggestion is something a bit more practical, well-grounded, and universal: For face-to-face transactions PEGs should encourage the use pre-1965 mint date U.S. Silver coins (dimes, quarters, and half dollars) as their currency. These coins have widely-recognized genuine value and are still legal tender at face value. For the sake of appearances, the government cannot entirely repudiate pre-’65 coinage. If they ever did so, then they’d have an “Emperor’s New Clothes” moment. For transactions over a distance, I suggest using private cryptocurrencies (such as Bitcoin) that should be transferred wallet-to-wallet. With my own mailorder business, I’ve proven that silver coins can still be used over a distance, using mailed packages. But there is obviously a time delay that discourages some customers who are accustomed to instant gratification.
Branching Out
PEGs will naturally grow up around farmers’ markets, gun shows, coin shops, gun stores, flea markets, craft faires, dog shows, and similar local venues of commerce that already have an affinity for the local economy, barter, and the gray market. But people in PEGs need to be ready for the advent of the planned eDollar. That will be a fully-tracked sovereign cryptocurrency. We need to branch out to cooperate with small, privately-owned companies and get them to agree to accept pre-1965 coinage for transactions. From a practical standpoint, this would necessitate using a floating multiplier to calculate the value of those coins, based on the spot value of silver in terms of debased FRNs. The FRN multiplier for silver coins must float. If it were fixed, then we’d once again make ourselves victims of Dollar Inflation.
To function outside of The System, people need to be able to still engage in some important commerce and transactions with the government. Specifically, they must somehow:
* Pay their mortgages or rents.
* Pay their property taxes.
* Pay for their motor vehicle registrations and drivers’ licenses.
* Buy fuel for motor vehicles.
* Buy groceries.
* Buy electricity from a utility.
* Buy water from a utility.
* Pay for home, health, and life insurance.
* Pay for health care.
* Cash checks.
For people who want to develop PEGs, all of those are quandaries.
Potential Workarounds
There are definitely some viable workarounds–especially for folks who live outside of city limits. But some of these may still require the use of FRNs. These workarounds could include:
* Self-employment, preferably with a home-based business.
* Develop an off-grid power system. (Photovoltaics and microhydro are the most affordable and reliable.)
* Drill a well and pump water with your off-grid power system.
* Heat your home with a woodstove and cut your own firewood.
* Plant a large-scale vegetable garden.
* Gather wild edibles. In my region, huckleberry picking and morel picking are both very popular sources of extra income.
* Learn how to dehydrate foods and do home canning.
* Be willing to accept barter transactions.
* Buy permanent license plates. (These are available cars, trucks, and trailers, in many states. In most states, a car or truck must be at least 10 years old, to qualify for a permanent plate.)
* Join a Christian healthcare cooperative, rather than using health insurance. Two of the best known are MediShare and Samaritan Ministries.
* Find a local propane company that will accept pre-1965 silver coins, in payment, at an agreed multiplier.
* Find a family doctor that will accept pre-1965 silver coins, in payment, at an agreed multiplier
* Pre-pay your property taxes for several years — before the use of paper currency is eliminated.
* Buy gift cards for expected purchases — before the use of paper currency is eliminated.
* Buy “Forever” postage stamps — before the use of paper currency is eliminated.
The real bugaboo will be paying your property taxes. From what I’ve heard, there are just a handful of counties that agree to allow pre-payments. Please do your best to persuade more counties to do so.
I’ll probably get deluged with hateful e-mails from people who have declared themselves “Sovereign Citizens”, so let me blunt: Yes, in theory, we are all sovereigns. Yes, people have tried it as a legal defense, and No, it doesn’t work. The System is so thoroughly entrenched that you cannot completely avoid it. Your driver’s license and Social Security number in effect are your adhesion contracts to statutory jurisdiction. If you travel around without license plates and/or a driver’s license then eventually you will get pulled over and then end up in court before a judge (not a jury of your peers. And odds are that you will lose your case. If you sell modern guns across state lines without a license, then you will get nailed by the ATF. If you don’t pay income taxes then you will get nailed by the IRS. People have tried fighting all of these issues and they’ve ended up tilting at windmills. So pick your battles wisely.
If you commit yourself to living entirely outside the system and shun the use of FRNs then you will surely see a huge decrease in your standard of living. You will be forced to give up any wage-based or salaried employment. Without a driver’s license, you will have to beg rides. (Uber and Lyft don’t take silver dimes, in payment.) You will have to barter for food and fuel. You will be a renter rather than a landowner, and you will have to find a landlord who is willing to accept silver in payment, or some form of barter.
Conclusion
I hope that all of the foregoing provides some food for thought, and encourages people to develop their own community PEGs. Starting this won’t take much more than printing up a few flyers to hand out at your local farmers’ market, and chatting up your neighbors.
We can do this! – JWR
Republished with permission by SurvivalBlog.
Related: More on The Coming Supply Shortages
Related: Digital Currency & Economic Transformation
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