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16 July 2008
Is there a trade-off between Freedom and Security? Freedom is something most people regard as very close to their hearts. Living
in “the West” or a “democracy.” The “American
Dream.” The Freedom to do business, create wealth. Until, it seems, governments
start talking about security and protection against the dark forces of evil
– whether it be terrorism, drugs, or even benefit fraud. That at least
was the conclusion of The Economist in a
recent article entitled Mary Poppins and Magna Carta based on a
survey carried out in June by YouGov PLC.
Despite Benjamin Franklin's sage advice that those who would give up liberty
and security deserve neither, the British public seems more than happy to trade
a little liberty for a the promise of more security.
Successive governments have conned us that by giving up just a little more
freedom each time they ask, we increase our security. This has been going on
for a long time now, and the effects really are becoming noticeable –
especially to people like me who live offshore and just visit the UK on occasions.
As restrictive new laws are brought in, uses for them tend to multiply. In
March it emerged that local councils in the UK had been using surveillance powers
intended for deployment against terrorists and serious criminals to spy on people
trying to game the school-admissions system.
As David Davis, the British Member of Parliament who recently resigned to make
his point, says:
The government presents these issues as Faustian trade-offs between security
and liberty. The reality is that draconian measures rarely make us safer and
often jeopardise security. That is not a trade-off. It is a con…
Gordon Brown has indeed done just this. He claims that new authoritarian powers
for the state are “guarantors of liberty.” Shall we believe him?
For a start, says David Davis, look at the British national ID card scheme
and its overseas equivalents such as America’s REAL ID which effectively
seeks to create a USA national ID card by standardising state ID cards. There
is no convincing evidence that terrorists are using fake identities –
the September 11th hijackers used their own US IDs to board the planes, and
the national ID card schemes already in place in Germany and Spain did nothing
to prevent terrorist plots there.
The ID cards common in European countries, however, are much less dangerous
to our liberties than those proposed by Blair, Brown and their cronies, because
they use a limited amount of data which remains broadly in control of the card
holder. They are not “swiped” by terminals linked to a national
database wherever you go, while the British ID card will be.
Promises that sensitive personal data will be carefully protected also look
rather limp. Last November, CDs containing 25 million child-benefit records
were reported lost. On June 12th a civil servant was suspended after top-secret
papers about terrorism were found on a train; on the same day another set of
documents—this time on financial fraud—turned up on a different
train! Five days later it emerged that a laptop stolen from the office of a
cabinet minister may have contained confidential documents, violating data-protection
rules.
Yet, the British public, according to The Economist/YouGov survey, trust the
government a lot more than private firms with their personal data. Odd, since
more than half of British consumers have signed up voluntarily for supermarket
loyalty schemes which track their purchasing habits.
Privacy is a basic human right, and you should think very carefully every time
you are asked for personal information. Give out personal information on a strict
“need to know” basis. If a few companies don’t want to do
business with you that way, or try to bribe you with a free toaster, just live
with it. You’ll be glad you did.
To finish, here’s another thought from Ben Franklin that seems very appropriate
to our themes of freedom, wealth and privacy: "Sell not virtue to purchase
wealth, nor Liberty to purchase power."
Look forward to more blog entries about Freedom, Wealth and Privacy. I hope
you enjoy them and that you can use the information here to benefit your business
and your life. In turn I would much appreciate your feedback, comments and questions.
I can be contacted via info@petermacfarlane.net
Peter Macfarlane is joint editor of The Q Wealth Report an established
newsletter dedicated to informing readers about creating, protecting and growing
wealth in a secure offshore environment. It also covers international living,
banking, retiring and investing. Visit www.QWealthReport.com
to see more.
If you would like to know more about the opposition to the UK National
ID card scheme, visit www.no2id.net.
You have been
reading an entry on the following blog:
The Q Wealth Report Peter Macfarlane of The Q Wealth Report blogs on Freedom, Wealth and Privacy
Other recent
entries in this blog:
19 November 2008 You Don’t Know Until You Go! It’s a few weeks since my last blog entry, and the reason for this is
that I have been travelling in Latin America with a small group of investors
– concerned privacy-minded and freedom loving individuals who are concerned
about how our financial and personal freedoms are being gradually eroded. We
had an interesting ten day trip starting in Panama City then taking in Paraguay
and Brazil.
When I talk about “concerned individuals” what I really mean is
that if and when things get worse in the western world – in terms of financial
and political restrictions - it’s important to be prepared. An established
business or residence presence in one of the more remote corners of the world
will be a great fallback or hedging position. Even a second passport or citizenship
might be your ultimate goal.
You might be surprised to learn that Paraguay scores highly on all this –
a free society, no personal income taxes and an economy that is completely self
sufficient with plenty of fresh water and clean, green power. In fact Paraguay
is the world’s largest exporter of hydro electricity, and one of the highlights
of the trip was a visit to the Itaipu Binacional hydro-electric power plant
– the largest in the world, and an incredible feat of engineering and
international co-operation. We also visited the spectacular Iguassu Falls, one
of the seven wonders of the natural world.
But the most important thing I think we all learned from this trip was the
importance, even in this internet age, of actually getting on a plane and seeing
things for yourself. We all know the comfort of familiar places and people,
but that often also comes with a feeling of frustration, a feeling that we are
not in full control of our lives as we should be. On the other side, we all
have a natural fear of the unknown. This internal fear is perpetuated by the
mainstream media. But by confronting and overcoming it we can open up a whole
new world of opportunities.
For example, one of our delegates, a successful UK businessman, said TV and
press coverage had led him to believe he would find machete-wielding individuals
a mile or two from the financial district of Panama City. But by going there
and getting a feel for the place by visiting local and expat-owned internet
businesses, he found instead that it’s a great place to do business. Now
he is making plans to move his operating base down there instead.
Here at The Q Wealth
Report our business for over a decade has been writing about not just how
to preserve your assets offshore, but how to create wealth and develop opportunity
by actually living offshore. As a famous offshore author once said, “You
don’t know until you go.” The instability in the world right now
means that you truly need to know about safe places and new opportunities. Right
now would be the time to start, and here on lowtax.net you will find a lot of
information to begin your quest.
Peter Macfarlane is joint editor of The Q Wealth Report an established newsletter
dedicated to informing readers about creating, protecting and growing wealth
in a secure offshore environment. It also covers international living, banking,
retiring and investing. Visit www.QWealthReport.com
to see more.
28 October 2008 Why the Financial Crisis Doesn't Really Matter Well I needed an attention grabbing headline! Maybe I’m exaggerating
a little if I say it doesn’t matter. No disrespect to the many financial
services professionals who read this blog. What I really wanted to say, is that
it’s time to take a step back and look at the bigger picture. Does it
have to matter to you? Do you want it to matter?
For weeks now we’ve been glued to our screens, watching the latest news,
share prices, currency rates and so on. In this article I want to suggest a
different approach. It took me a long, introspective walk on the beach last
week to figure this one out, and now I will run it by you.
It’s easy to get drawn in by mass media hysteria. That’s what happened
to me as the bailout plans unfolded. But at the end of the day, why get stressed
by things we can do nothing about? Let me restate two facts we all know already:
The market is no longer free, nor is there even any pretence of a free market
economy. A huge part of the global financial system is now in hands of governments.
Apart from the obvious intervention (bailouts) you don’t have to be
a conspiracy theorist to see there are lots more political factors playing
out behind the scenes. Lots of special interest groups. Lots of infighting.
The media is in business to make news. There was a time when reporters
reported. Now, they don’t. They take stories from the internet and rewrite
them, changing them a little so as not to stand accused of plagiarism.
It would be hard for anyone to dispute these two facts in isolation. The conclusion
I draw from these two facts combined is that it is simply not worth participating
in the financial markets anymore – not unless you happen to be a central
bank, maybe.
What we need to do is concentrate on living. During that walk on the beach,
I thought back to some decisions I made years ago. They have stuck with me and
served me well ever since. I decided I wanted quality of life – a healthy
life with friends and family. Time to do things I believed in, that pleased
me. In other words – I wanted to be in control of my life.
That is why, back when I was a business student in London in the early nineties,
I didn’t jump on the bandwagon and apply for a job with a big American
investment bank. I knew a lot of people who did, and sure they made a lot more
money than I did. But their lives didn’t seem to me to be complete. Or
maybe it just seemed too much like hard work for me.
That’s why now, I don’t want to be a slave to the TV and the endless
market watching sites. If I can’t do anything about it, I might as well
look for better things to do with my time.
When times look tough, the Americans talk about ‘heading for the hills.’
I headed for the beach in Latin America, with a few stopovers in European cities
on the way. And I’ve never regretted it for a moment.
Now, just in the last few weeks, I’ve talked to a lot of people who have
been dreaming for years about a “new life offshore” but now they
are really taking concrete steps towards that goal. It is really possible to
live better, live healthier, at lower cost, make money using the internet, and
– best of all – you can hedge against the effects of the financial
markets in a way that you would never achieve with even the most sophisticated
derivative!
Maybe now is really the time to do something about it, if you are one of those
people. If the financial situation is pressuring you, it could be time for that
radical change you have been putting off. Don’t doubt your abilities.
Grab your spirit of adventure, stop gambling on rigged markets, and move yourself
offshore!
If you are interested in this topic, I’ll be addressing more specifics
of how to achieve this in my blog entries here over the coming weeks. I’ll
also talk about more recession-proof investments and businesses you can start
from scratch – all in a low tax environment of course! No promises as
to specific dates, but I will certainly cover this topic more! And if you would
like to investigate this through a more in-depth approach (i.e. peek ahead),
you can read articles in this vein by myself and others at www.QWealthReport.com
Peter Macfarlane is joint editor of The Q Wealth Report an established newsletter
dedicated to informing readers about creating, protecting and growing wealth
in a secure offshore environment. It also covers international living, banking,
retiring and investing. Visit www.QWealthReport.com
to see more.
Penelope Wise
Penny Wise but not Pound Foolish! But remember: I am not offering investment advice. My comments are just for your general information; I do not recommend investments, and you should take professional advice before entering any investment contract.
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