The Federal Government Cracking Down on Bartering

I have heard it said many times, we will return to a bartering system in the United States. First, paper money is proving it has no worth as the dollar continues to tumble. Secondly, bartering keeps the IRS out of your business by establishing a method of trade that doesn't involve the transfer of green pieces of paper. Is it any wonder the federal government is beginning to crack down on the practice of bartering, specifically in the gold and silver markets.

The crack down centers around a man who decided to create his own currency--currency made of real precious metal that has a real value. As you know, the federal government pressed criminal charges against the man for counterfeiting even though his currency didn't resemble worthless paper money and was something of value.

The Federal government is trying to establish bartering private currency of any type as an illegal enterprise in a false interpretation of the court’s recent conviction of Liberty Dollar’s owner Bernard Von NotHaus.

In a case where the government used conspiracy and counterfeit charges against NotHaus to establish that he intended to mint and illegally replace US currency with a private one using silver coins, the US Attorney is now parlaying the conviction to say that this ruling sets a precident against any private barter transactions which use any form of currency besides established Federal Reserve Notes.

The Federal government also is seeking on April 4th to take receipt of the $7 Million dollars in silver ‘Liberty Dollars’ that were minted and sold by Von NotHaus.

Now I have a question for you. If you produce a product, let's say you are a farmer and Mr. Von NotHaus comes to your farm in need of food. He offers a trade, an ounce of gold for a freezer full of premium steaks, ribs, and ground beef. What business is it of the federal government, providing the transaction doesn't cross state lines, which gives them some authority due to the Interstate Commerce clause, if Farmer Joe trades his beef for Von NotHaus's ounce of gold, no matter what form the gold is in. The gold obviously is of value or he wouldn't attempt to barter it for the food.

Let me ask this question. What if Farmer Joe decided to trade his meat to Mr. Von NotHaus for a cow patty with Abraham Lincoln's face carved into it with a number on it to signify it's worth. Would the federal government still be interested even though Von NotHaus got the same amount of beef in the exchange? Probably not, but ask yourself, what is the difference other than the materials used to create the trade.

This should worry Americans as we may be on the path to returning to a bartering economy as the dollar continues to fall.