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So you want to build a bunker!

Sovereign Citizens, Monetary Protesters, and Credit.

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What is a sovereign citizen, and why should I care?

Sovereign citizens believe that they are separate, or “sovereign” from the United States, despite living here.

Because of this they don’t believe they are bound by government entities.

Government entities include but are not limited to: the IRS, the BMV, law enforcement, the court system.

If you enter a dispute with a sovereign citizen, they will not respect the bounds of the law or the remedies of the court. Like bears, because they do not fear consequences, this can make them dangerous.

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Sovereign Citizens will sometimes file lawsuits against public officials, clogging up the court system with pure garbage cases, with the intent to harass.

A court may decide to block filings from the S.C. by getting the S. C. declared a “vexatious litigant,” but this is a long involved process, and in the meantime they are wasting time and money.

Because S.Cs do not honor government, they may issue fake (fraudulent) documents and defraud people.

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I hate the gubbment, why are Sovereign Bros Bad?

  • The ideas of the "sovereign citizens" movement are based on the ideology of the Posse Comitatus, an anti-Semitic Midwestern group active in the late 1970s and 1980s.
  • SCs often distinguish between what they call “organic citizens” and “14th Amendment citizens” which means, yup, they hate black Americans, who were not granted freedom until the passing of the 14th Amendment. Thanks, Lincoln!
  • Interestingly, the 14th Amendment is also used to grant corporations their “personhood,” which allows them to operate in such a way that their human managers are excused from liability. Thanks, first US Corporation Boston Manufacturing Co.!
  • SCs believe that when the founding fathers set up the US, they secretly replaced the law of the people (“common law”) with a new government based on admiralty law - think maritime law and international law

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A 2014 poll of US law enforcement officials ranked Sovereign Citizens as the top terrorist threat to the US.

SCs commonly create and sell fraudulent documents, create fraudulent businesses, and their own promissory notes. A fraudulent promissory note may not fool a bank, but it might be enough to scam a neighbor or unsuspecting person interested in doing business with the SC.

Because SCs believe the government is totalitarian and corrupt, they are prone to violence against law enforcement. There have been numerous violent incidents over routine traffic stops. Frequently, domestic terror attacks can be tied to people who belong to this movement.

The Waffle House shooter, the Oklahoma City bomber, and the Wildlife Refuge attack were each perpetrated by people who are part of the SC movement.

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Hypocrisy and the Sovereign Citizen

  • SCs believe in a number of conspiracy theories
  • The basis of most of these theories is the idea that if a SC recites the correct legal jargon, they are somehow exempted from laws and legal obligations
  • The recited legal jargon (often out of context, outdated, or just plain wrong) often comes from - you guessed it - case law, statutes, and other forms of the very law that the SCs claim to not honor
  • One way a SC asserts themselves is to affix US postage stamps set at odd angles to legal documents. They will include a bloody fingerprint with the stamp to provide DNA. Supposedly, this asserts your sovereignty by filing a public record through the post office (an agency of the US federal government).
  • SCs cherry pick random phrases and parts of various laws in order to try to create loopholes for themselves

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It gets weirder...

  • In 1933 the gold standard for currency ended, and the government guaranteed the value of money by what FDR called “full and faith credit.”
  • SCs interpret this as meaning that each citizen of the US being considered collateral or property to the government - since the government guarantees the value of money sold to foreign investors, they are enslaving Americans with their earning power
  • A birth certificate issued at birth “buys in” to the government’s social security program and creates a corporate trust
  • Because of this documented “buy in,” SCs consider babies enslaved the moment a birth certificate is issued
  • The ALL CAPS format of the name on the birth certificate is considered a corporate straw man by SCs, where the actual baby is the person in flesh. This is why you may hear a SC use his full given name as his straw man or corporate name, and differentiate between himself, the SC, as a flesh in blood person. Once differentiated, the person is no longer liable for the corporate strawman’s debts or crimes
  • SCs believe that if you know the right secret jargon, you can write personal promissory notes off your own corporate strawman account, which has access to US Treasury money

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What the hell is a Monetary Protestor? (Sometimes called the Mandrake Defense)

Remember that business with the gold standard being replaced by the idea that the government could somehow guarantee the value of money, using their good word as credit?

I think a lot of us have to suspend our disbelief to have any kind of faith or confidence in this, but there are people who take it to the extreme. People who believe that they can buy on credit and never have to pay it back, because it’s not real money.

Welcome to the Mandrake Defense.

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Wait, credit cards aren’t real money?

  • Credit is essentially trust, right? I borrow some money from you today and give it back to you sometime in the future with a little extra for the privilege of borrowing. This is called “credit,” and many religions frown upon it.
  • Mandrake defense, monetary protestor, no money lent, militia people, vapor money, these are all terms used to describe people who will take out a loan, and then argue that since actual money never changed hands, they can pay the credit with their own credit!
  • If you think this means using one credit card to pay another, you are wrong, and should seek debt counseling.
  • Monetary Protestors will take out loans, and then instead of paying cash, issue their own homemade promissory notes back to the lending institution. Meanwhile, they are enjoying a house or a car that they have not yet, and will never, pay for.
  • Obviously, American judges know this is horsepucky. But the constant fake legal filings will drag out a case and buy a MP some time.

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So how DOES credit work?

  • Credit is exchanged for goods and services
  • Because the person using the credit is either provided with cash, or a card or paper they can use when purchasing goods or services, it must be paid back. The borrower gains the use of the borrower’s money or credit. Just like borrowing a fiver from a friend, the borrower will expect that money back. Because the borrower is taking a risk that you might not pay, or “default,” and because they may not get their money back for years, they charge interest. This is additional money that is paid on top of what is initially borrowed.
  • The amount of interest paid by borrowers is regulated by laws
  • If you borrow money from a lender, use it it obtain something (whether that be cash in your checking account, a house, a car, etc.) you are considered “enriched” by the loan. It means that you benefited from the transaction. If you refuse to pay the loan back after benefitting from the transaction, this is called “unjust enrichment,” because you are enjoying the benefits of the loan at the cost of someone else. It would be like always borrowing cigarettes from someone on break, and never giving them a pack of cigarettes back to say thanks. A real jerk move.

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So THIS is why Sovereign Citizens don’t pay bills!

  • SCs do not recognize legal authority
  • SCs think that any money not backed by gold is fake money, set up by a secret government that seeks to usurp the law of the people
  • Credit is a system of promises, not backed by gold standard, and heavily regulated by law. It is often valided by social security number, which SCs think is a conspiracy
  • Because of this, SCs think that they have no need to pay back what they borrow
  • SCs will also sometimes harm or even kill people, including law enforcement, who attempt to make restitution for their bad debts
  • The US Court System DOES NOT recognize these shenanigans, and WILL prosecute and jail SCs. So much for not recognizing legal authority
  • Image source is from the State of New Jersey Office of Homeland Security https://www.njhomelandsecurity.gov/analysis/sovereign-citizen-extremists