Capital Controls and Other Mischief

I wrote in a previous blog that the government would be coming for our 401Ks and IRAs and now that appears to be happening. That's going to hurt a lot of people, but even more thefts of our money are on the horizon.

This stuff isn't hard to predict once one awakens from the State-induced slumber. Official government policy appears to be loot everything in the shortest possible time, so in addition to grabbing retirement accounts, they will do lots of other nasty stuff. For example, we will be required to pay higher taxes (sales tax, value-added tax, financial transaction taxes, “global-warming" taxes, etc.) The tried-and-true technique of hyperinflation will be used to extract money from us through stealth (as if one can't tell!). Eventually, there will be a currency devaluation where over a weekend--or a "banking holiday"--the currency will be declared to be worth one half or less of its current value.

Capital Controls Coming
Traveling outside of the U.S. we have met a lot of people who are very aware of the things I've described and it is refreshing for us to be able to talk openly about topics that get a negative or defensive reaction from mainstream Americans. And while it is good to meet people who are awake and are moving themselves and their assets to friendlier jurisdictions, their growing numbers will create a defensive reaction on the part of the U.S. government: it will pass laws to prevent money from leaving the country. These are called “capital” or “foreign exchange” controls (and they are usually imposed before a currency devaluation.)

What Can One Do?
Here are some ideas:
Open a Goldmoney account
Get out of the U.S. (or the U.K., etc.) and travel around, perhaps acquire residency status somewhere and think about acquiring another passport
Open a foreign bank account
Buy foreign real estate

Longer term:
Never, ever again vote for a Republican or Democrat. That system is being used to enslave us.
Pay no more taxes than what are legally required (losthorizons.com).
Boycott multinational corporations, especially Wall Street banks.

Remember that taking these steps will be characterized as “unpatriotic”, so be ready for that. The U.S. is basically at the same point right now as Nazi Germany in 1933, and Americans' sloppy sentimentality for their country isn't just a frustration; it may well turn quite dangerous for those who question it. You should hurry.

Isla Boca Brava

Public transportation in Panama appears crude to western sensibilities, but our experience is that it works very well. From Cerro Punta, a small town in the corner of Chiriqui province, we bussed down to David, then caught a bus to Horconcitos (another tiny town), and hired a taxi to the Gulf of Chiriqui. A short water taxi ride later we found ourselves in a tropical paradise called Isla Boca Brava.

Because traveling in Panama can have its disappointments, we weren't sure what this trip to the island would be like and we had committed to a week here, so we were wary. But when we saw how beautiful and peaceful was the place with a nice room besides, we felt a huge weight fall off and the peaceful feeling never wore off for the next ten days.

In the jungle on this island is a troop of howler monkeys that make a throaty and fabulous racket. Some mornings they were right outside our window! Needless to say Isla Boca Brava is a rustic gem of a place, and it won't stay secret for long. The travel guides haven't caught up to the fact that the road to the gulf has been paved and getting here is easy, and I predict that in the next five years this area will change dramatically as people come in and invest money.

Well worth going.

Zip Line in the Boquete Rain Forest

We did a tourist thing, the Boquete Tree Trek, a zip line that "zips" among the trees in the rain forest. Very, very cool!

I'll post more pictures soon.

This video was taken by the guide as he zipped down the longest cable in the park (400+ meters). All of us Groses have already gone ahead and are waiting on the landing. You can see us just barely at the end filming YOU filming US!



Update, January 31st, 2010: I said I'd post more pictures...

Observations on Panamanians

In this cultural immersion we have observed a few things, though we can't usually say WHY they are, and of course, these observations are subjective too...but here they are:

• The women wear really, really tight pants (sorry, no pictures). But nudity seems forbidden; we never see men going shirtless. In fact, people are usually pretty well-dressed.
• There are dogs everywhere. They are usually used for guard duty. Locals seem reluctant to neuter them. They don't neuter their horses either.
• Panamanians are not sentimental about animals. They treat them in ways that gringos find appalling. We've been told they think Americans—who dote and fawn on their pets and animals generally—are crazy.
• There is trash everywhere. The gringos carry their trash with them until they can throw it away in a trash can. The Panamanians throw trash on the ground or out the window.
• Everything—except their buildings—is on the verge of breaking. The method of construction here is cinder block, rebar, and cement; wood isn't used because it gets eaten by termites. In the town of David we passed by a trailer being propped up by a milk crate, a common scene.
• Everything is imported from China, which appears to be a country without a single shred of conscience, but is good at making money. (I know I've just abused 2 billion people, so I'll have more to say about China later. We will ALL have more to say about China later.) Panama seems to be a dumping ground for products that are so poor in quality they were rejected by more modern nations. Panamanians are sweet but naive, and they are poor so they go for the cheapest solutions, something at which China excels.
• Panamanians are not good at capitalism, which has both good and bad angles. On one hand, they often offer poor service, or they are out of something for too long, etc. But on the other hand they are not out to smother the competition because that wouldn't be nice to the competitor who might be a family friend. Community is more important than competition.
  
• Panamanians make loud noises. They love firecrackers. They honk their car horns often, they install car alarms that go off frequently for no good reason, and they play their stereos loud. Peace and quiet does not appear to be valued.
  
• On holidays Panamanians put stereo speakers out the window and play loud music for all the neighbors.
• There appear to be few rules on the road.
• Panamanians don't queue. Like Italians, they mob.
• Panamanians love sweets. There is sugar in almost everything and they will spend a lot of money for desserts.
• Panamanians don't walk much, instead they drive.
  
• Panamanian children seem to grow up loved.
• Sometimes this guy drives by blaring a loudspeaker. He is selling fruit.
  

Las Turistas de Boquete

The Panama countryside is beautiful. We went for a hike into the high country with our friends and neighbors, Roger and Margaret. It's a rain forest so there is lots of water and waterfalls. I later learned that the tall trees you see us walking through harbor a community of howler monkeys. They were laying low, apparently, when we were there.

We visited a coffee farm, or finca de cafe. Connor and I stayed another day to pick beans ("recogemos los granos de cafe"). For a day's work we earned $5 (that's $2.50 each and I'm sure we were being generously tipped!) Between us we picked 2 latas or tins. The record in a day on this farm was 14 latas by a native man and his son. This particular farm is organic, which matters a lot otherwise we'd be rubbing against pesticided plants.


We also rented scooters one afternoon and rode around the narrow mountain roads above Boquete. The views of the surrounding countryside are pretty incredible, but the roads wash out occasionally, and there are usually pedestrians so drivers have to stay aware (but as you can see I did it with my eyes closed!) Some of the roads are so steep our little scooter couldn't make it and we had to push!

Just the other day we all went horseback riding. It's funny because we usually have a lot of trouble communicating to any depth with the locals and when we told them we were from Texas they immediately concluded we were all vacqueros and took us right to the pampas. In truth, Connor had never been on a horse before and Janet and I had not ridden since childhood. (Alexis is the most experienced.) But we didn't hurt ourselves, though there was a close one when I let my horse ride up too close behind Janet's and her horse kicked almost throwing Janet off. I think by the end they figured out we were a bunch of fakers.

The quest for health food in Panama

Healthy food is important to us. We try pretty hard to eat only organic, non-genetically modified food. Plus, we must avoid gluten grains which are so common in the mainstream American diet we sometimes feel like we are on the outside of society looking in. Over many years we have learned that we do best on the "paleolithic diet": fruits, vegetables, nuts, berries, and meats. On this diet leafy greens are a staple.

What we discovered here in Panama is discouraging. It's hard enough to find healthy food in America, but in Panama it's almost impossible. For one thing, grains (corn, rice and occasionally wheat) are abundant in panama, but vegetables are not, especially leafy greens (it's too warm and humid for lettuce and spinach to grow here.) Starchy fruits and roots are very common, and they are usually deep-fried. I'm not sure of the history where corn and beans became the staple diet of Latin America, but I'm pretty sure it's a distortion created by colonialism. In any case, these starchy foods elevate our gringo blood sugar (and the natives don't look like they're doing so well on this diet either.)

Another issue is labeling. We read food packaging carefully and what we find here in Panama is rather shocking. Almost all packaged food contains sugar, and it is almost a rule to find toxins like monosodium glutamate, hydrolyzed vegetable protein, hydrogenated fats, soy, etc. Because of this we eat as much raw fruits and vegetables as we can find. But that brings up yet another problem.

Pesticides are sprayed all over the place here and they are not regulated. We are talking the really nasty ones that have long been banned in the US. This is a picture of the pesticide wall in the local hardware store. We now realize that virtually all of the raw vegetables we find in the grocery stores are toxic. So, our strategy is to buy all that we can from the one organic source, and to eat few of the vegetables that need a lot of spraying like potatoes, bell peppers, and apples (imported from Washington!)

It's strange because in many ways coming to Panama is like stepping backward into time to the bad old days when farmers stirred chemicals with their bare arms, motor oil was dumped on dirt roads, and racism was institutionalized. Things are like this because this society is so new; it only got a chance to develop after the last dictator, Noriega, was thrown out in 1989. Panama is ripe for entrepreneurism--and there are many opportunities--but it deserves the right kind: that which benefits the people and doesn't exploit them.

Getting fatter down in Panama...hasta luego!

Pictures to share

Here are some pictures we thought we'd share...