Believe in a Return to the Gold Standard? According to The FBI, You are Now an Extremist

22nd February 2012

By Tyler Durden for zerohedge.com

Just when we thought the US could not sink any further in its usurpation of civil rights, here comes the FBI to advise all those who tend to think that the broken economic model of the past century is the cause for the global insolvency, that wanton fiat diluation and reckless debt issuance does not ‘fix’ the problem of uber-leverage, and that the gold standard is the proper way to return to monetary stability, will henceforth be considered extremists.

FBI warns of threat from anti-government extremists.

From Reuters: “Anti-government extremists opposed to taxes and regulations pose a growing threat to local law enforcement officers in the United States, the FBI warned on Monday. These extremists, sometimes known as “sovereign citizens,” believe they can live outside any type of government authority, FBI agents said at a news conference.” And the most epic line ever written: “The extremists may refuse to pay taxes, defy government environmental regulations and believe the United States went bankrupt by going off the gold standard.” (emphasis added)

So… apparently the US did not go bankrupt by going off the gold standard? Why did the US “go bankrupt” then? We are confused.

The insanity continues:

Routine encounters with police can turn violent “at the drop of a hat,” said Stuart McArthur, deputy assistant director in the FBI’s counterterrorism division.

“We thought it was important to increase the visibility of the threat with state and local law enforcement,” he said.

In May 2010, two West Memphis, Arkansas, police officers were shot and killed in an argument that developed after they pulled over a “sovereign citizen” in traffic.

Last year, an extremist in Texas opened fire on a police officer during a traffic stop. The officer was not hit.

Legal convictions of such extremists, mostly for white-collar crimes such as fraud, have increased from 10 in 2009 to 18 each in 2010 and 2011, FBI agents said.

“We are being inundated right now with requests for training from state and local law enforcement on sovereign-related matters,” said Casey Carty, an FBI supervisory special agent.

FBI agents said they do not have a tally of people who consider themselves “sovereign citizens.”

Sovereign members often express particular outrage at tax collection, putting Internal Revenue Service employees at risk.

Maybe it is not too late to be a beggar in Greece. At least there one is allowed to think anything as to why the country is completely broke and the population is living under “absolute poverty” without fear of being deemed a “sovereign citizen” and getting arrested at the drop of a hat.

And for those who still care about facts, below is a chart of global debt since the world formally and terminally went off the gold standard back on August 15, 1971: