Slavery In the United States

One of the more interesting concepts which I have recently entertained is that of modern-day slavery in the United States. According to folklore, the Civil War and the Reconstruction Congress brought to an end the practice of human slavery. Not only did Lincoln issue his Emancipation Proclamation, but also, after his death, an Amendment, the Thirteenth Amendment, was added to the Constitution which states,

“Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.”

A very nice piece of work, that one. The only people who were to be legally enslaved were those who had been convicted of a crime. It seems reasonable on the face, but much hinges on the definition of a crime. Turn-about may have seemed fair play, in an age when participation by people of certain States in the War Between the States was a crime. Logically, then, once a person commits a crime, he is liable to be enslaved.

However, the politicians had grander plans in mind, and they then cooked up the Fourteenth Amendment. It begins,

“All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. “

Without doubt, those who voted to adopt that Amendment considered its language quite salutary. Bobby Burns, however, would have shaken his head sadly, thinking of mice and men, and the citizens thus made never dreamed that they had been Grubered, long before they ever heard of Gruber^[1].

Consider the concept of fiefdom, and the Divine Right of Kings. (Yes, that ancient doctrine which fanned the flames of the American Revolution, growing from the arrogance of King James to the haughty disregard for the rights of Englishmen by the German Georges!) In days of old, when knights were bold (supposedly) and serfs sought protection from various and sundry bandits, it was the practice to bind oneself to a local poobah for protection. He would provide the bodyguards, and the serf would serve him for life. Not only that, the serf would serve the descendants of the noble (weren’t they, though!) and the serfs descendants also would be bound by the oath of fealty. Eureka — citizenship!

Of course, it did not start in the Middle Ages. The system was at work from the dawn of history. All it took was one person with bigger muscles than his fellows, and the stage was set. In fact, I posit that slave-making is an older profession than prostitution. (Short course. Prostitution makes no sense in any society where women are chattel and can be had for the taking. Prostitution grew out of religious fertility rites; a man went to the temple of the fertility god or goddess, paid for the privilege of the rite, and that was that. Wherever the fertility rites were practiced, it made more sense to go to the temple than to engage a sole proprietor. Better benefits since the thinking was that society would be enriched by better crops, etc. More bang for the buck, so to say. Union rules, and all that. But I digress. My point is that slave-making is the oldest profession.)

Over time, the relationship formalized. Nation-states and kingdoms made extensive use of the principle of fealty. If you were born in a kingdom, you were a citizen (subject) belonging to that king. To leave the kingdom was an act of treason. You didn’t go visit faraway places without both an invitation (a visa) or permission from your liege (a passport?). Think Iron Curtain, with no West to run to. Even the English yeoman was a slave; those who attempted to leave the island without the king’s permission were imprisoned, and possibly tortured and executed, if they were caught. Merchant seamen voyaged under royal charters. It helps to explain why exploration of new lands was mainly left to barbarians like the Viking (fealty only to the boat captain). It also helps to explain why it was that the New World was seen as a good dumping ground for criminals and other societal rejects (like religious dissidents).

With that as a background, I come to the early 20th Century. In 1903, a young man of 21 years, my grandfather, left the province of Vojvodina in Austria-Hungary after apprenticing in Budapest as a tailor. He was fortunate in that he was able to afford an exit visa. He landed at Ellis Island with $2 in his pocket. As soon as he could (1908), he filed a Declaration of Intention to become a citizen of the United States. In that declaration he states that he renounces forever “all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty, and particularly to Francis Joseph, Apostolic King of Hungary, of which I am now a subject”. He had been born a liege subject of the Hapsburg family. He was still their slave. What is striking to me is that the Declaration which he signed, he signed as his own Declaration of Independence. Or so he may have thought.

Consider this. Every person born in the United States, whether to a citizen or non-citizen, becomes on birth subject to the jurisdiction of the United States. It does not require any effort; in fact, in order to become free from that jurisdiction, a person must file a renunciation of citizenship. Then, if the person has any possessions whatsoever (or even if he has no possessions whatsoever!), he must file with the IRS to see if he has to pay the exit tax. That’s right. The Expatriation Tax.

On the IRS website, we read, “The expatriation tax provisions under Internal Revenue Code (IRC) sections 877 and 877A apply to US citizens who have renounced their citizenship and long-term residents (as defined in IRC 877(e)) who have ended their US resident status for federal tax purposes.” Also, “The Internal Revenue Service reminds practitioners that anyone who has expatriated or terminated his U.S. residency status must file Form 8854, Initial and Annual Expatriation Information Statement, and its Instructions. Form 8854 must also be filed to comply with the annual information reporting requirements of IRC 6039G, if the person is subject to the alternative expatriation tax under IRC 877 or IRC 877A. A $10,000 penalty may be imposed for failure to file Form 8854 when required.” $10,000 for failure to file, whether liable for tax or not!

Just a few days ago, I read the interesting information that Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London, England, had settled with the IRS over his inheritance taxes. Yes, it seems that Boris was born in the Land of the Free and never renounced his citizenship. Ergo, even though a citizen of Great Britain and Mayor of London, he had failed to file his annual tax returns.

So now you know. If you were born in the United States, Uncle Sam owns you. If you leave without filing the required tax form, you have committed a crime. Under tax treaties around the world, his long skinny arm can reach out to grab you by the neck anywhere you try to flee. Birthright citizenship is a scam. You are his slave. Welcome to Gruber’s world.

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[1]n.b. For those yet unenlightened, MIT economist Jonathan Gruber, frequently referred to as one of the architects of the Affordable Care Act (aka “ObamaCare”) who stated that the health care tax created by the act would be collected through the insurance companies and passed on to the people in higher insurance premiums because "the American people are too stupid to understand the difference”.