This is a brand new speech on The21Convention.com given by level 3 CFA Gary Korolev. As the title states, it’s about the history and future of money. Gary is highly critical of fiat currency and central banking in the presentation, especially when it comes to the federal reserve of the united States.

For some of you, the concepts presented in this speech will be brand new. For others it will be a review. Regardless, I think everyone will enjoy it in full.

As the founder of The 21 Convention, and as someone who passionately f*cking hates the federal reserve, it’s a very welcomed sight at my own event.

Click here to watch

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In related news, and as discussed to a degree in the video, Texas Congressman Ron Paul is hours away from WINNING Iowa. For international readers who do not understand what this means: it’s a very, very, very, very good thing.

Relevant to the video, it’s a giant step towards abolishing the federal reserve, as well as legal tender laws (meaning our right to choose our own money is within striking distance).

– Anthony Dream Johnson

You could actually say a real life Midas Mulligan/Hank Rearden hybrid, but who’s counting. Peter Schiff is a bad ass and drives at real fundamental issues in the face of the sheeple — defending the remaining producers left in this crumbling country.

I wonder how many people in the crowd even had a murky let alone clear concept of what unalienable rights are — and why they are by lights years upon light years, the most important thing that could be discussed by anyone right now so far as government is concerned.

And I love Peter’s question — what objective % of my own money should I keep?

Notice no one answers with the only correct answer possible: 100.

– Anthony Dream Johnson

ps — I got in touch with Peter Schiffs people a few months ago about speaking at T21C. Got side tracked but shall be interesting to pick the discussion back up.

Found this neat article in the New York times. Here’s a quote.

If I were betting on the engines of future job creation, I wouldn’t put my money on college students cramming for tests and writing papers with properly formatted M.L.A.-style citations in order to bolster their résumés for careers in traditional professions and middle-management jobs in large corporate and government bureaucracies.

I’d put my money on the kids who are dropping out of college to start new businesses. If we want to get out of the jobs mess we’re in, we should hope that more will follow in their footsteps.

I mention this because it’s eerily reminiscent of my own life. As many of you know, I dropped out of college Spring 2010 when I failed “how to start a business”, for the second semester, in a row. Adding insult to injury, I had started a business from nothing at age 17, currently ran it at the time, continue to run it years later, and was the only student in the class both semester, to ever own and run a business — let alone do so alongside a full college schedule, during the class.

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Will college drop outs “save” America? In a distant sense, perhaps. More accurately, man’s individual mind will save what’s left of America. Dropping out of college, in most cases, is merely reflective of this fact. College education in the American States being all but destroyed by government statists, altruists, collectivists, involuntary fiat currency, “student loans”, student welfare programs, and so on at this point.

You not only learn a whole bunch of contradictory, anti-reality information in college at this point — you pay out the nose in fiat currency created out of thin air, forced upon you to use via the threat of a gun.

What’s left of it anyway, after you pay into involuntary bankrupt programs like social security — which are more accurately called social bankruptcy — and of course, your favorite personal income tax.

All of which is being constantly debased by the federal reserve in the first place.

It seems to me young men and women are robbed at every turn today. Of what little wealth they have left, of their time, and of whatever mind they were able to salvage after 13 years in compulsory — meaning involuntary — school.

My advice? If you’re in college, in the US, you should seriously reconsider the path you are on. Counter-intuitive as it may seem, if you are in a lot of student loan debt, this only applies more, not less. Even if you are  not, it’s quite possible you are spending some of the most valuable and formative years of your life on shit that is a complete waste of your time. At this point, I would say you are better off doing anything else that is even remotely creative and an exercise in self-reliance, than attending school for ABCXYZ 4 year degree.

The only exception here being a profession you are 100% sure you want to do that requires such a degree. Even then I would very carefully look at the profession as it currently stands, and then attempt to project into the future where that industry will be in 2 years, in 3 years, in 5, etc.

Anyone entering college when I did for example (2006), that had even a basic understanding of real economics, would have seen the housing bubble nearing it’s burst point, calling for a serious reconsideration of a degree track in anything related to residential construction and linked industries.

– Anthony Dream Johnson

ps — If you discuss, or “god forbid” go through with dropping out of college for “whacky” reasons, be prepared to hear a lot of nay saying and criticism. I sure did, and I sure have seen a lot of my friends go into mountains of debt, only to leave college, be unemployed, take up jobs they hate (if they can find one), and be generally confused as for what to do with their lives.

Other than the default — more debt, more school, more soul sucking, and more time suck out of their lives — when they should really be figuring out who they are and what they want to do with their time on earth.

I thought this was pretty profound, so I started thinking about it on an almost daily basis. In a distant sense, implementing it. The literal, physical results have been pretty profound, and strongly encouraging for continued use. I mean this across the board to.

So what’s the deal? Is it some magical thought process?

Of course not, it’s a reflection of reality, one very supporting of a strong self-esteem, in the sense that it aids you in accurately valuing your-self. Specifically your time, your money, your effort, your mental energy, your emotional energy, the products of your work, etc. It really gets you focused on where you are spending yourself. And it begs the question on every “transaction”: is this a wise choice for my value?

Is this what I am worth in a given scenario, or am I worth more, or less? What do I deserve based on the competence and execution of my (fill in the blank)?

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Some real life examples of how this has looked for me include the following,

New Laptop

Unfortunately I made the wrong choice last year in purchasing a Dell. The computer was simply not meant to handle what I needed it to do. It was riddled with hardware problems, and I completely lost trust in it to last me even another year. I seriously considered going to a Mac, but quickly realized I would be paying out the nose for dramatically inferior hardware. And for what, to be able to edit video in Final Cut? No thanks.

Over the course of a few week I then spent maybe 2-3 hours total scanning around for a laptop that would meet my needs, and was not a Dell. I then realized that tinkering around periodically was a big waste of time, so one morning I woke up and was determined to buy a new laptop, come hell or high water. It took just under 3 hours (straight), but in the end I was confident in my decision after staying glued to my then current laptop without moving an inch. I spent a total of $1,300. For that I got a smoking awesome laptop, from a company that served me flawlessly for 4.5 years, HP. I also got a free Xbox 360 with my laptop, which I sold on Craigslist in under 2 hours, cash in hand, for $175.

Dropping my new laptop price to about $1,125.

Moral of the story, those solid 3 hours were worth 10+ fragmented ones. I invested my time, and focused thought into what I judged an extremely important investment. In fact there is no greater investment I can make work wise. My laptop is by leaps and bounds, my core tool for doing anything and everything. And it needs to be fast, and work without meaningful risk of failure. (My previous laptop had serious issues only days before the London convention, which was a real wake up call that I need to be able to count on my equipment to work when I need it most).

In regards to the fiat money invested in the laptop, while I made out awesome on the laptop price, it is still a serious investment for me, even if my old laptop sells for a decent price. The same concept applies though, and the dollars invested in this new computer will in large part, produce the next $xx,000 (by my hand and the speed at which the computer can respond without fucking up, overheating and crashing).

New Gun

I bought a new gun, after selling my old one on ArmsList. The story is almost the exact same. I realized I could no longer rationally trust my old gun. Lifetime warranty or not, the thing had to many damn problems, and was unreliable at best. Considering that I carry this gun on a daily basis for the defense of my life, I realized I needed a new one. Quickly realized dabbling around was a waste of time, and subsequently, spent about 2 hours straight picking out a new gun online, watching reviews, searching for potential problems, pros, cons, etc.

Took about 2 hours to make my decision, and another 20 minutes to shop around for the best deal on it (ultimately realizing that the local gun store was essentially the best deal for the money and time required). The minute I held the gun in my hands — it being the original gun that my previous gun was “modeled” after as an “improvement” — I knew immediately that I had made the right choice. This was then confirmed by putting 200 rounds through it, and realizing what a joy it was to conceal carry.

In short, this new gun is a better gun, for a small investment in money, that comes with a lifetime warranty, that I strongly suspect I won’t be needing very much or very often, if at all. It’s a gun I can trust to go BOOM when I need it to.

What a concept for a firearm eh?

New Girlfriend

Outwardly, this is amusing to me for a number of reasons. For one, there have been a number of comments on this blog damning me for my contrarian thoughts on male/female relationships. Me being arrogant, selfish, narcissistic, self-centered, and so on, and especially in this arena of life, come to mind. The irony is that these comments were made in the midst of meeting and now dating my first girlfriend, who, to a stunning degree, holds the same values as I do and have expressed on this blog.

For two, some have criticized me for just now starting my first relationship, in regards to The 21 Convention, as if this makes me a charlatan of sorts. The reality is, the only thing I have ever really claimed in regards to finding speakers for The 21 Convention is that I have a very keen and highly developed “eye” for finding (although I am not perfect) men of reason — men of the mind. What field they study and what subject they want to speak on, is typically of little relevance to this. My interest lies in their commitment to reality first, and secondly, in their ability (as I saw it once put, the gold standard of ethics) to consistently discover the subsequent facts of reality.

Whether they want to talk about economics, philosophy, intimate/long term relationships, paleo diets, high intensity exercise, or plain old pickin up chicks — I welcome it, because valid information across the entire spectrum of human knowledge stems from the same place: man’s mind and it’s ability to accurately perceive reality.

In light of this, and that the criticism is ridiculous, it’s also contradictory given my history. I came from a place of complete lack. At 17, I had no idea how to hold a conversation, let alone start a new one with a girl I found attractive. That was terrifying, to say the least. It then took me a few years to derive valid information from a corrupt PUA community, and a boat load of personal experience (read: lots of failures, few successes), and integrate it into my self. Once I had that figured out, it became a matter of figuring out what the hell I want in a girlfriend (on the premise that a committed relationship was at the very least, worth experiencing), being patient, and finding that.

Well, in light of the things I write on this blog, it should be obvious that I am pretty exact in what I want to buy, and subsequently, that this would and should take a while. Well, duh, it did. And to say that my first girlfriend is pretty awesome, is an understatement.

In conclusion, so far as I am concerned, which is the only concern I care about in this matter, I took the most rational course of action possible for starting my first relationship. I acted on the best of my judgement every step of the way, and won. I did not “compromise” and date some girl that did not meet my standards “for practice”, I was patient, and found one that met all of them, and exceeded most of them. I have had the same attitude for casual/short term relationships my entire life: no compromise.

Compromising in this arena of life, I think, and as I’ve stated before, is an exercise in self-hatred. Sex is to intimate an experience for it not to be, no matter if it’s a one night stand, fuck buddy, open, or exclusive relationship. The standards will and should change between the experiences and the parts involved, but not the fact that you should have concrete standards, and to not have them results in damaging experiences all around.

– Anthony Dream Johnson

 
An excerpt from “The History and Future of Money” by Gary Korolev.

I will add to what Gary said and state that its not so much the power to tax that is the problem, its associating “tax” with violent force. Taxes could very easily be made voluntary or fee based, with a loss of services for not paying. A business for example that did not wish to charge its customers a State sales tax, could lose an appropriate degree of ability to enforce their contracts with customers and other businesses in State court.

Make as many agreements as you want, if you don’t want to pay sales tax, they are only enforceable to X degree without paying huge fees. Charge and pay sales tax, and they are enforceable with no or minimal fees involved.

While this would have to be ironed out in great detail, it is an enormous step in the right direction.

Why?

Because no government in the American States was granted the authority to put a gun to your head and pull the trigger, unless and until you enacted force against another human being first, committed fraud, violated property rights, etc.

Detach violent force from “tax” and our government is WINNING.

– Anthony Dream Johnson

If “it’s not about the girl, it’s about YOU” is one of the most profound ideas I have ever come across in my understanding of male/female relationships, “wealth is a product of man’s mind” is the corollary in business/entrepreneurship.

Since the day I heard this statement, which wasn’t that long ago, money has been 100x more abundant. Which is a term I am a bit queasy about because it is typically spouted off by mystics and irrationalists, but never the less, money has been flying at me since I heard this quote and grasped it’s meaning.

It’s meaning being that man’s mind is the source of all good in the world. “Wealth” as we know it is an expression and logical, subsequent offshoot of this.

In another sense, a la The Fountainhead, “man’s ego is the fountainhead of human progress”.

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So, wealth is a product of man’s mind, but how exactly does this translate into more fiat dollars in your pocket?

Easy: making this metaphysical connection strongly encourages you to think harder and smarter. It reveals that wealth cannot be created any other way — and that any wealth obtained by means of a “shortcut” is actually and inevitably destructive (shortcut in quotations because this is not meant to attack effectiveness or efficiency).

• Real wealth in a man’s pocket is confidence in his mind.
• False wealth in a man’s pocket is a dangerous accident waiting to happen.

This is why people who win the lottery experience astronomically high levels of bankruptcy, drug abuse, divorce, suicide, etc.

Because there are no contradictions in reality. And if you obtain wealth you have not earned, it will destroy you to the degree you have not earned it.

Nothing else is even possible.

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Wealth being a product of man’s mind also dictates that it be maintained by man’s mind — it’s source. This is why when government — a monopoly on force — get’s involved in a private industry, the industry deteriorates to the degree government has gotten involved.

If completely, the industry will collapse, either entirely, or so close that is is merely propped up by the leviathan force of government — meaning wealth obtained by the force and threat of a gun.

Such as, personal income tax, “legal tender laws”, etc.

The United States post office is a perfect example of a government monopoly that would have gone bankrupt long ago without wealth obtained by force being injected into it.

And The 21 Convention videos are a perfect example of a sum of wealth — of knowledge — that require maintenance. Without the frequent tweaking and fine tuning of my mind, they would gradually lose prominence and visibility/viralbility.

This is in part why the speeches from the Ancestral Health Summit will never be viewed very much, and will be forgotten relatively quickly.

Where as T21C videos are timeless or “evergreen”. They are timeless because of me and my mind. At least in large part. I am for example, not creating the raw material building blocks.

The speakers are. My involvement in the construction is limited as well. I am not the building contractor.

I am an architect =).

– Anthony Dream Johnson

One of the best speeches ever given at The 21 Convention, and the first ever on entrepreneurship.

Eat it Rick Smith.

The Psychology of Entrepreneurship 2.0 coming soon, filmed in Orlando Florida.

– Anthony Dream Johnson

… Right now gold is on the cusp of going parabolic, but before any big move there will be a big hit, so i think anytime between now and november, gold looses between $300-400, that will shake loose the public from their gold, and the banksters will be be on the buy, sopping up all the selling, then at the climax of panic out of gold, it will reverse and go into the parabolic phase.

this year gold stocks have been shorted by the fundsters (with borrowed $ from the banksters) so gold stock has fallen even as gold has risen dramatically, who do you think has been buying the shares of tumbling gold stock?- yes that would be the banksters, so dont be surprised if gold stocks go up as bullion falls. it doesnt make sense, and its not supposed to, the banksters transfer wealth from you to them, using confusion.

professionals buy weakness and sell strength as they trade around their core position in any asset. dont chase price. volatility is our friend

I’ve read this elsewhere, in the sense that we will experience significant deflation, before a final and swift collapse of the US dollar. I have little reason to doubt this.

Basically, we will experience a pleasant drop in prices, for a short time … which is the final calm before the storm, in which federal reserve notes forever lose their value, very, very rapidly.

I’ve watched the regular price of various groceries rise over the past 6 months anywhere from 10 to 40%. It’s alarming to say the least, but watching those prices drop back down will be even more alarming.

The days of $20 per gallon of gas I think will be here sometime in 2012, at latest.

– Anthony Dream Johnson