About the Nothing Store

As Obama and crew print and borrow more and more money, the U.S. dollar faces an uncertain future.

But three cheers for our Unmighty Dollars -- print as many as you like. They're already worth Nothing, so they can't go down in value.

Comments? Email The Nothing Store team!

The Nothing Store issues new currency weekly.


Counterfeiting Instructions:

Click on a denomination above, print the bills, cut them out, and stuff in an envelope. Send to your congressman or senator marked as a CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTION. They'll get the message! For the address of your congressman, click here for senators and here for representatives.






An Excess Of Power



"Where an excess of power prevails, property of no sort is duly respected. No man is safe in his opinions, his person, his faculties, or his possessions."
-James Madison

The Christmas Eve vote of 60 Democratic senators was a display of such pure power and corruption that we tremble thinking what the future will bring.

This was not just a vote on medicine or medical insurance. Both were set on the road to government control years ago with Medicare and Medicaid, and because a person's health is such an immediate attention-getter, this strengthening of cental control will eventually make it even clearer that government involvement in anything makes prices go up relative to quality.

But this was more than that. This was a signpost, brilliantly lit, that points to the fork in the road that the Founders warned could lead us back to tyranny.

As the great French historian, Alexis de Tocqueville, put it so bluntly:

"The American Republic will endure until the day Congress discovers that it can bribe the public with the public's money."

Perhaps there is still time to take the more difficult fork that leads us back to freedom and responsibility. The 2010 elections will be telling, but meanwhile alert citizens should take prudent steps to protect themselves. As in all past tyrannies, the sleepwalkers, innocent though they may be, get crushed. Those remaining awake will have a much better chance to prosper and pursue happiness.

We are not suggesting that the clear-eyed among us should run for the hills to become back-to-the-earth survivalists. Where's the fun in that? But a little foresight will come in handy as the government devalues the currency and exerts more centralized control over our lives.

So how do we protect ourselves? Having correct information about the past makes the future somewhat knowable. We know for instance that statism is relatively static, while freedom is often chaotic. A free people innovate, explore new ideas, start new companies, and generally add to the constant change that is the only real stability. As government puts more of a lid on, the more the citizenry will be prevented from all these incremental changes, and the more we will be subject to pent-up explosions of change. Some of these explosions will be Black Swans, rare events that tilt civilization in unexpected ways.

Mixed with our usual rants, in the coming weeks we will be making some guesses about what we imagine might be lurking in the future. It will be food for thought, and all the usual caveats apply.. Stay alert and stay tuned.

And...least we forget: Happy new year.


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