Have you ever experienced skeptical looks from people that think you must be some kind of conspiracy nut-job? Have you ever talked till you are blue in the face trying to help someone else understand that everything IS NOT kosher with our economy and that many first-world countries are on a very slippery slope toward a major collapse? Have you ever tried to explain why the prices of gold and silver do not seem to be tracking along a logical path and reacting logically to economic cycles? Have you ever been baffled that otherwise intelligent people just can’t seem to grasp the need for diversification beyond the easy path?

Well, welcome to my world.

Take for example, the rather stagnant price of silver and gold, despite the ever increasing volatility of the financial markets. Historically precious metals have served a role as a store of value in times of extreme market volatility. At least in theory, as financial instrument prices swing wildly in the face of uncertainty, you would expect more money to rush into gold and silver, thus driving up prices through the laws of supply and demand. Seems totally logical, and there is amble evidence that this has played out in the past. BUT…. what if some big and powerful entity is manipulating the prices in a way to prevent the natural cycle. OH NO, there he goes with that conspiracy stuff. Nut-job, nut-job, nut-job.

Bankster Manipulation

Well, unfortunately for us little guys, manipulation of the prices of silver and gold is EXACTLY what some of the biggest financial institutions in the world have finally admitted to. Well damn, there was a conspiracy after all. Deutsche Bank not only agreed to settle a lawsuit accusing it of manipulating the silver fix, but also agreed to help the plaintiffs pursue similar claims against other banks as part of the settlement by providing instant messages and other communications, reports ZeroHedge. And so the former cartel members are turning on each other. The culprits include the likes of Deutsche Bank, Bank of Nova Scotia, Barclays, HSBC Holdings and Societe General. Turns out these guys met twice a day to fix the prices and manipulate and rig the precious metals markets to their advantage.

And they FINALLY got caught red-handed and are starting to cave in to demands for some level of restitution.

Of course, it is a bit of a rarity these days that these Banksters are even being called to task for their foul play.

This outing of the price fixing by these big banks only occurred because a handful of precious metals dealers and brokers took them to court in a lawsuit. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is charged with policing the precious metals markets. Somehow when the CFTC conducted a five year investigation into silver markets and pricing from 2008 – 2012 they found no wrongdoing. Imagine that… think it has anything to do with the “fox guarding the hen house”? At the time the CFTC was headed by Gary Gensler who was an ex-Goldman Sachs bankster.

So much for conspiracy theories.

Too Big To Fail – Banksters Above The Law

Of course, this whole precious metals price manipulation is just the tip of the iceburg when it comes to Bankster shenanigans. It seems that mega-banks have an easier path to wrong-doing in the United States where the government officials and judicial system seems to follow very much of a hands-off policy when it comes to addressing the sins of the “too-big-to-fail” banks. Strangely enough, for the most part the U.S. Department of Justice has failed to prosecute even one “too-big-to-fail” bank for the high level of criminal fraud and mortgage fraud and mismanagement that sent the U.S. and world economies into the severe recession of 2008.

Why take a hands off posture in the face of such misbehavior? There was an interesting TV documentary by Martin Smith on the PBS stations called “Untouchables” where he pretty much lays out the problem and how we got to this point where unscrupulous banksters are pretty much immune from punishment. This is worth a watch for the basics of how we got to this point of judicial neglect.

Watch the The Untouchables

The next question to ask is why actions and decisions made by the Department of Justice have essentially gutted the “rule of law” when it comes to trying to control the actions of the mega banks that are considered “too-big-to-fail”. The next bit of research to focus on is a piece called “The Veneer of Justice in a Kingdom of Crime” presented by BestEvidence.

This telling expose digs in deep to the legal history of how global mega banks systematically overthrew the power of the executive branch of the US Government to effectively regulate the “too-big-to-fail” banks. I won’t go into the details here, you can check it out for yourself, but suffice it to say that the big banks can do pretty much anything they choose for self-preservation, and their self-preservation does not necessarily mean YOUR self-preservation. If it comes down to you or them…. Unfortunately I have to lay my bet on them under todays stacked deck.

Frankly, following this trail reads like a far-fetched work of fiction, but trust me, this threat is real and your assets and maybe your freedoms can fall prey to the actions of the Banksters and no one will be there to protect you.

So if it is hopeless and the banksters have won, what can we do? First, I didn’t say the banksters have won the war. Yeah, they have won this battle, but in the long run the corrupt and mismanaged typically fall on their own swords. When? Who knows? But when they eventually do fall, the real question is who they will take with them. What we can do right now is figure out how to be a little less vulnerable to their control over us? Just a few thoughts:

1. Keep some liquid assets out of the banking system. At current interest rates you are giving up very little to have a stash outside the traditional banking system.
2. Move some assets into politically diverse countries
3. Move some assets into hedge assets like precious metals or real estate. In the face of devaluation or out of control inflation these assets should hold more value than paper assets
4. Consider a 2nd residency or better yet, a 2nd passport for mobility

If you would like to check out the North Coast of the Dominican Republic as part of your insurance against the out of control banksters, come down for one of our free North Coast Discovery Tours where you can meet others that have elected to spread their risks across borders.