From: "Timothy C. May" <tcmay@got.net>
Date: Mon, 7 Oct 1996 16:20:11 +0800
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: Re: Put up or shut up!
In-Reply-To: <v03007801ae7e303a52fe@[207.167.93.63]>
Message-ID: <v03007806ae7e5a192957@[207.167.93.63]>
MIME-Version: 1.0
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At 1:40 AM -0400 10/7/96, Black Unicorn wrote:

>Interesting that if the transition to crypto anarchy includes any phase
>of conflict between the state and the individual, failing to properly
>protect those assets may result in their seizure anyhow.  If they are
>attachable now, as you seem to suggest, then they are attachable then.
>
>I know that Mr. May has, in past, been a asset protection "naysayer," but
>this falls into a general, and disturbing, pattern.

Please call me "Tim," not the stuffy, formal, "Mr. May."

It is not that I am a naysayer, it is that the proposals I have read about
or seen discussed here have not been convincing to me, in my particular
situation. I've even done some on-site research in the Bahamas and Monaco,
and neither seemed a good solution. (And a friend of mine travelled to
several other Caribbean islands, plus the Channel Islands, Guernsey, etc.
He had several schemes he was working on, but the laws in some of his best
prospects changed and his plans fell through.)

My primary concern is *tax avoidance* (I emphasize "avoidance" over
"evasion"), not the "judgement-proofing" or "insurance settlement-proofing"
most of the published books emphasize. (This is where someone will say,
"Ah, but that's because they're the _published_ books, the ones available
to Joe Doe in Barnes and Noble. The _real_ stuff is contained in
self-published books, the kind the media conglomerates won't touch. Send
$295 for this informative pamphlet....")

It turns out that I would save nothing in taxes by moving some of my liquid
assets to some particular coral atoll. (Unless I lie on my 1040, which is
always an option.)

If Black Unicorn would do things differently with my money, fine. But I
have seen nothing that is very convincing to me.

And I've seen a lot of "creative" ideas that just don't fit my situation.
The "perpetual tourist" notion, pushed by Duncan and others, doesn't fit my
notion of living in one place. Nor do I want to bounce around Europe for
years and years. (A great place to visit, but....) Nor am I much interested
in protecting an asset as comparatively trivial as my vehicle by setting up
a Nevada corporation which then leases me back the vehicle as part of my
Amway distributorship, blah blah. Too much paperwork and "IRS alerts" for
too little gain. And so on.


>I'll wager, though I have no data to back it up, that most of the people
>in this forum who are uncertain about the safety of their assets don't
>bother to engage in the most basic of asset preservation tactics, namely:
>geographic diversification.
>
>Surprising considering the perfectly legal options which would protect
>many of them.

Well, I get pretty tired of these vague claims that float out, with no
particulars ever presented. (I know, I know, if I want particulars I should
hire you...sorry, not in my plans.)

(Not directed at Black Unicorn, but at others: Please, let's not start a
thread about how stupid Tim is with his money, about how all true goldbugs
know how to convert their assets into 17 Kruggerands which they they bury
in the backyard, about how foolish Tim is to ignore all the helpful free
advice from fabulously successful fellow list members who have figured out
how to avoid taxes, protect assets, and live the carefree life of the
Perpetual Tourist! If your plan works for you, that ought to be
enough--yoiu don't have to sell me on it. And please, no more advice about
selling short against the box.)


--Tim May


"The government announcement is disastrous," said Jim Bidzos,.."We warned IBM
that the National Security Agency would try to twist their technology."
[NYT, 1996-10-02]
We got computers, we're tapping phone lines, I know that that ain't allowed.
---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:----
Timothy C. May              | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money,
tcmay@got.net  408-728-0152 | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero
W.A.S.T.E.: Corralitos, CA  | knowledge, reputations, information markets,
Higher Power: 2^1,257,787-1 | black markets, collapse of governments.
"National borders aren't even speed bumps on the information superhighway."