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Economy Title: “God, Gold, and Guns”: Right-Wing Whackjobs, Shameless Hucksters, and Economic Fraud “God, Gold, and Guns”: Right-Wing Whackjobs, Shameless Hucksters, and Economic Fraud July 28, 2010 by Kevin T. Keith It’s hard to keep track of the craziness on the right – birtherism, creationism, secessionism, supply- sideism, the Gold-Fringed Flag conspiracy . . . the range of delusions they gin up to obsess over and rile each other up about is so broad and ever-changing that you can’t keep it straight. But weird economic fads, often fraudulent, are part and parcel among it all. I don’t mean just large-scale weirdness, like voodoo economics and the constant yammering about “socialism”. Here I’m talking about retail-level con games – the stupid fads and frauds that right- wingers perpetrate at the individual level. There’s the one about how you can declare yourself a “sovereign person” and avoid paying all taxes. There’s the one about how the US government was secretly replaced by a “corporation“, and thus none of the laws of the US are valid and you can get out of obeying them by simply stating this fact in court. (There’s an even odder one about how all laws are invalid because they are made by lawyers, and lawyers are invalid because they have “Esquire” after their names, and esquires are invalid because the Constitution prohibits titles of nobility. I’m not making this up.) There are the ones about how you can establish your own currency or issue liens against other people’s property because you are your own government and the real government is illegitimate. Naturally, instructions on how to do all these things are available for a hefty fee (instructions on what to do after you go to jail for this are generally not available). What is common to all this nonsense is its genesis in right-wing paranoia and delusion. The “sovereign person” and fake-government scams are nothing more than variations on the anti-”big-government” resentment that fuels so much of the right wing – they’re basically the Atlas Shrugged fantasy revised as a tax scam. The bizarre theories about the Constitution and the flag have much to do with the whole anti-civilization shtick the wingers have got going – the same things (and in many cases the same people) that show up in militia/secessionist movements and Golden Age nostalgia (we used to have a legitimate government, but FDR or Abraham Lincoln secretly did away with it and everything went to hell, plus those kids won’t ever get off our lawn). The fact that they can be repackaged as tax avoidance or get-rich-quick schemes is just another attraction, and another opportunity for the scammers to prey on the delusions of even-more-gullible wingers. There’s an old joke about the small island where everyone made a living taking in each other’s laundry. The right wing makes money by scamming other right wingers, first by deluding them with lies predicated upon their underlying fears and confusions, then by telling them they have to pay for security against those manufactured fears, and ripping them off when they do so. The Big Picture lines out an especially obnoxious example: Glenn Beck is shilling for an abusive precious-metals “investment” company that pays for ads on his shows, during which he tells his gullible and stupid fans there will be an economic meltdown and they should invest in gold to survive it. The company sells antique French gold coins as a hedge against inflation or economic disruption, without informing buyers of the difference between collectible coins – which sell for more than the value of their precious metal alone, because of their value to collectors – and plain bullion coins, which sell for only a small amount more than the value of their gold or silver by itself. Buying bullion can be a reasonable way of storing value if you’re the sort of person who thinks that (a) the economy is going to hell, and (b) gold will always be in demand (i.e., the post-crash economy is going to be populated largely by people who also read Ayn Rand, or just like shiny trinkets). But buying collectible coins as a store of value is immensely stupid, because the excess price, above their shiny-trinket value, will only be paid by other coin collectors, who are likely to be the first ones eaten by the Randian ubermenschen in a post- apocalypse cannibalistic meltdown. Even worse than this, the company Beck is fronting for marks these coins up by about $150 each above their current selling price on the legitimate market, without ever informing the customer, virtually guaranteeing a huge loss on the purchase while offering deliberately misleading promises of financial security. As Big Picture’s helpful graphic makes it clear: Customer buys 20 Franc French Roosters [coins] for $402 each. Customer loses 42% of their investment instantly. The company is under investigation by local authorities in California, and has been the subject of a Congressional investigation: Goldline International has been in business since 1960, but has gained national prominence recently by sponsoring conservative talk show hosts. These paid spokespeople have happily agreed to promote Goldline by playing off the fear of inflation, to encourage people to purchase gold as an investment that will protect them from an out of control government. In reality Goldline is a company that uses conservative rhetoric, high pressure sales tactics and tall tales about the future of gold to sell over priced coins that can be bought somewhere else for cheaper. . . . Goldline Grossly Overcharges For Their Coins The average Goldline mark-up was 90% above the melt value of the coin. The largestmarkup seen on a coin was 208% above the melt value. The average Goldline markup in comparison to the best price we could locate on competitors websites was 47%, going as high as 102% on one of the coins they offered. Goldline Falsely Claims To Offer “Good” Investments By selling gold at twice the melt value, the price of gold would need to double for consumers to break even on their “investment.” Goldline Salespeople Misrepresent Their Ability To Give “Investment Advice” Sales people imply that they are “Investment Advisors” or “Financial Advisers” by offering investment advice, which insinuates that they have some sort of fiduciary responsibility to get you the most return on your investment. However, since they are not licensed “Investment Advisors” (the industry term), they have no such responsibility. . . . Goldline Formed An Unholy Alliance with Conservative Pundits to Drive a False Narrative On numerous occasions, Glenn Beck has dedicated entire segments of his program to explaining why the U.S. money supply is destined for hyperinflation with Barack Obama as president. He will often promote the purchase of gold as the only safe investment alternative for consumers who want to safeguard their livelihoods. When the show then cuts to commercial break, viewers are treated to an advertisement from Goldline. . . . Conservative Pundits Profit on Peoples Fear Fred Thompson, Dennis Miller, Mark Levin, Laura Ingraham, Lars Larson, Michael Smerconish, Monica Crowley and Mike Huckabee are all paid spokespeople for Goldline. Glenn Beck was also at one point a paid spokesperson but is no longer because it violated Fox news rules. Goldline does however sponsor his program and he commonly encourages his viewers to purchase gold, without mentioning that Goldline is a sponsor of his show The message that these commentators push is that government is out of control and unsafe, inflation will continue to devalue the dollar and that as an investor you should protect yourself by stock piling gold coins. Glenn Beck: “Tonight, are we facing the end of the almighty dollar?… So I’m sure we can all assume that the dollar is here to stay, and everything is just peachy. But in the offchance that, maybe, somebody in the Middle East wouldn’t tell us exactly the truth, you know, that they’re not exactly 100 percent reliable, maybe we should discover what it means for our dollar and our country if it’s no longer pegged to oil. What does that mean for you? … Any way to protect yourself? Gold”. (Source: The Glenn Beck Show 10/7/2009) “We could be facing recession, depression or collapse. Nothing Left! … I like to call it the three G system here for this, its God, Gold and Guns.” (Source: The Glenn Beck Show 11/23/2009) “Explain, if I’m right, the policy that the Government has is something that, what is it, the WS2 or something like that policy which is — what is it, Stu? BW2, which is Bretton Woods 2 which is basically the world needs us; we can borrow; it doesn’t matter how much we’ll borrow because the world will never disconnect from the world’s consumers… Best thing we can do is buy the gold, right?” (Source: The Glenn Beck Program 4/9/2008) “There are those in power that […] want to destroy the dollar or … the dollar is on life support and they’d like it to stay there. It’s true. Not much that you and I can do about it. Well, there are a few things. You can prepare yourself, that’s what’s next year is a really all about on our program. Preparing yourself and part of that is – or could be – protecting yourself with gold. If you have the money to buy it, protect yourself from an out of control government with gold.” (Source: The Glenn Beck Program 12/3/09) “I think you’re nuts. When the system eventually collapses, and the government comes with guns and confiscates, you know, everything in your home and all your possessions, and then you fight off the raving mad cannibalistic crowds* that Ted Turner talked about, don’t come crying to me. I told you: get gold.” (Source: Politico ) “Just the other night I was rereading Atlas Shrugged*, and in it one of the characters is talking about the value of money and how paper dollars really hold no value whatsoever. They represent your work. The only thing of real value is gold. What you’ve backed that dollar up with. Well, we no longer back our dollars up with gold. If things get dicey, we’re on a banking crisis now, the declining value of the dollar, what will hold its value? Gold. I want you to call 866-GOLDLINE and find out about buying gold. You can buy it as an investment. I buy it really as insurance because it’s the one thing that will have value forever.” (Source: Goldline radio ad) Mike Huckabee: “I’ll bet you’re concerned about the economy and the depreciation of the dollar just like me. That’s why people are diversifying their portfolio with gold, as a way to protect against a falling dollar and future inflation. Goldline has been helping people acquiring gold for 50 years. The people at Goldline will explain just how easy it is for you to buy gold that’s delivered directly to you.” (Source: Goldline radio ad) Dennis Miller: “Hey folks in a perfect world we could print all our own money, buy ridiculous amounts of stuff and live happily ever after. Well life ain’t a fairy tale my friends. Look at the economy, they’re spending more than Paris Hilton on a bad day and it doesn’t get us a tiny dog and a pink purse either. It leads to a lower dollar. What can we do to diversify our portfolio and protect against that falling dollar? Buy gold. Gold prices have tripled in value and they are up more than 40% in the past 2 years. I trust Goldline.” (Source: Goldline radio ad) Laura Ingraham: “With the stock market where it is, volatile, moving up one day, down the next, the trillion dollar budget deficit. And look what’s happening in the banking industry, the government continuing to print money it looks like. It’s important to remember there’s only a finite amount of gold. It makes sense in these types of economic times to seek a safe harbour. And that is gold. I can’t tell you whether gold is going to get up or down. I can tell you however that gold makes sense as part of any portfolio. It serves as a great ballast against inflation.” (Source: Goldline radio ad) Fred Thompson: “Our country is experiencing the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. Stocks and real estate have lost much of their value and government is spending trillions of dollars in a desperate attempt to bail us out. In these tough times I believe you should own gold. Gold offers diversification so all your eggs aren’t all in one basket. And gold is one of the few investments that is going up every year since 2001. My choice for gold is Goldline.” (Source: Goldline radio ad) So it’s not just Beck – there’s an entire stable of right-wing hacks openly shilling for this rip-off company, on the basis of winger fears of economic catastrophe that they deliberately stoke in order to make sales. Two of these are former GOP presidential candidates – one a former governor and one a former Senator. Huckabee is still taken seriously as a candidate in 2012! In one way or another, they all make their names through oppressive moral judgmentalism, while promoting deceptive and blatantly dishonest “investment” schemes. (And note Fox News’s “ethics” – you can’t be a paid spokesperson for a for-profit company, but you can promote their products by name on your show and charge them for advertising.) There is simply no compunction about playing on your own followers’ ideological insecurities in order to rip them off, while positioning yourself as leader and moral arbiter for them and everyone else. Of course, none of this would be possible if the wingers, as a group, weren’t so goddam stupid. I, for instance, easily avoid buying overpriced, useless gold coins to protect myself against financial losses while being cannibalized by people with more guns and Ayn Rand novels than me during the coming liberdorkalypse, because I’m not panicked into thinking that cannibalism, or adolescent hero-fantasy survivalism, are likely in my future. (Among other things, I remember that we faced persistent, grueling unemployment, with much less in the way of social support and a less-productive economic base, during the Great Depression, and we successfully managed the situation by electing liberals to office, not harvesting them as a food source. This knowledge leaves me much more sanguine about current events than, obviously, Glenn Beck is.) I am not driven to the edge of madness by my allegiance to a dimly-grasped economic principle that is essentially equivalent to wampum, nor do I regard my ability to almost remember two initials of a more sophisticated system as a refutation of it. And I am not plagued by such a thoroughgoing inability to come to terms with modernity that I literally reject civilization itself as a lifestyle option – thus I have no need to worry about the consequences of living in the anarchically violent state of nature, plus precious metals exchanges, that would result if my addled beliefs about the world actually became real, nor do I have to pin my hopes for survival in MadMaxistan on finding a French coin collector who will give me the equivalent of 150% of my collection’s value in the form of fruits and jerky before either of us get cannibalized. Because I’m not a fucking idiot, and therefore not a conservative, and therefore don’t take advice on investment or survival from Glenn Beck, Laura Ingraham, or Mike Huckabee. Even so, I feel – a little – for the morons who do listen to these people. Being angry, resentful, and fearful is a harsh way to live, and it has harsh consequences. Usually the wingers are busily screwing up everyone else’s life. The fact that they are now doing so to each other is a welcome respite, but still not a very nice way to treat people. Which is all too characterisitic of the right wing, and all too familiar. * I honestly did not read these quotes before writing this post. This guy is more crazy than you can make up.
Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest Begin Trace Mode for Comment # 7.
#6. To: Godwinson (#0)
rotflmao. From the Left, that brought us 'skull and cross bones' 'Bush Knew' 'Haliburton!' etc? Get a grip.
Bush did know terrorists planned to attack the USA or at least his cabinet members knew (I can't claim to know what that idiot actually knows or not). Skull and bones is part of the ruling aristocracy and Haliburton made a fortune from no bid contracts and it must be a coincidence that VP Cheney once ran the company.
#8. To: Godwinson (#7)
Snicker, or at least, sheesh.
Everybody did, dumbass. Sheesh.
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