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Roark, where are they creating new land? As far as I know, land mass is shrinking as the ocean rises.
The only way the pie increases in other commodities and services is by the labor of workers. Much of that increase is taken from dwindling planet resources so the pie is shrinking there as well.
The fact is that there is no free market functioning at present and there is a shrinking world filling up with more and more people every day. Even if your free wheeling ideas were based in reality, which they definitely are NOT, they would be immoral since they imply the complete destruction of habitat.

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Most real estate transactions are speculative simply due to the nature of modern markets. I bought land in CR for a place to build a home. Whether it is my intention that the deal was speculative on my part doesn’t matter. The land will either appreciate or depreciate in value over time and, therefor, fall under the zero sum game.

the profit margin of any real estate transaction after other incidentals is the difference between the original price the seller paid and the the higher price the buyer paid to the seller. The piece of real estate did not grow in size or change in any appreciable way so the profit amount was simply a transfer of wealth from one pocket to another.

Bartering animals or food or some other commodity OF EQUAL VALUE for land, assuming standards of valuation are in place, would be the only way to have a real estate transaction which is NOT a zero sum game. Anything which is not barter for equal value is zero sum because it will involve the transfer of wealth from one hand to another.

Workers who create articles or services of value with their hands or minds
can exchange them for other articles and services they need using the currency in play. No transfer of excess wealth would have occurred as long as fair valuation standards exist. The problem lies in the last bit which has been manipulated since the beginning, That is where profit comes from. Profit is the exploitation of one man or many by another.

Edited on Aug 20, 2008 15:01

Edited on Aug 20, 2008 15:08

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This is an old debate. It all boils down to what value people agree to bestow upon whatever form of currency they choose. The currencies of today are divided between paper and electronic transmissions. Lose the faith and lose the value. Technology is moving forward so fast and economies are so much larger now that a call for a gold standard is put out whenever normal business cycles make some people nervous. As long as those nervous people are a minority, there is no need for tying currency to a metal.

Edited on Aug 16, 2008 08:16

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Does anyone ever worry about Arenal blowing its top someday? Slow rising of sea levels is at least survivable.

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Social security should not be taken away since that has nothing to do with citizenship. It has to do with PREVIOUS participation in the US tax system and nothing to do with current status.

I would not consider renouncing US citizenship unless and until I had residency elsewhere.

I would think taxing income earned while living in a foreign county as a resident or citizen of that foreign county and through a foreign brokerage house would be impossible for the US to do. Where is the legal authority? Any ancillary national taxes accruing to the country of origin of any companies in which you invest or trade would be collected by the brokerage on statement.

In any case, this is all hypothetical. I doubt seriously there is a CR brokerage with a decent and reliable trading platform. At least, no one has yet mentioned one.

Edited on Aug 14, 2008 05:04

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Well then, let’s approach this in a practical manner then. What if I set up in CR with my little day trading business using a Costa Rican brokerage (if one exists)? Profits accrue into that CR brokerage account and Uncle Sam has no knowledge of this nor any way to find out if the account is under an S.A.
For that matter, how does the government investigate any stock trading which is done in this manner? Not that I would want to cheat my government out of a single penney, of course…;-}

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I don’t think you mean exactly what you wrote. That does not sound legal or constitutional. As long as a U.S. citizen has no problems with his tax filings prior to renouncing citizenship, there would not be any legal instrument that could be used to prosecute him as foreign national for future tax evasion simply because he is no longer a tax paying U.S. national. Anyone and everyone who renounces citizenship and then continues his life working in a foreign land would be liable then.

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Severing ties with your home country, Canada, to avoid Canadian taxes while having residence in a foreign country means that you relinquish Canadian citizenship? There is some contradiction here or I am not reading this right…I understood that Canada does not tax its citizens while they have residence elsewhere so why sever ties with Canada? U.S. citizens can do the same thing for the same results, I believe.

The problem is to maintain citizenship with the country of birth while not paying taxes on earned income to that country if residing and earning that income overseas. I understand Americans are unique in being taxed no matter where they live. I am just unclear of what kind of income is taxed and at what rate. There are agreements between the U.S. and certain countries which further complicates the issue. Hell, it may be easier to just throw away the U.S. passport and get on with things.

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I really need to adjust my thinking. This had not even entered my mind and I make my living trading stocks here in the States. I guess I just assumed there were no Costa Rican brokers with reliable trading platforms available. I have more concerned with finding a good, reliable and fast internet connection.
On the other hand, is there not an income tax exclusion that might pertain if a US citizen living abroad meets the “physical presence” standards?

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Why can’t you use an American brokerage?

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Maybe a better way to say this is “If you voted for GW not once, but twice, and still believe you made wise choices, I would find it difficult to trust your judgment on other important national and international matters. I don’t mean to insult you. You belong to the other side of the political fence and we will never agree on the constitutional basics. Where I see erosion of our rights, you see necessary changes of those right for our protection. Ben Franklin said:
“Those that would give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither.”

Edited on Aug 09, 2008 09:38

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Personal attacks are quite immature in this kind of discussion. When I read them, I am embarrassed to find myself in such a discussion. Unless they are done with obvious and well crafted humor, which doesn’t happen often, I ignore them.

By the way, as an “intellectually free conservative” opposing us “politically correct libs” you are wrong about every other point in this thread. :-}

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Those people on the other side of the fence, the ones who keep calling us environmental nut cases and liberal extremists and anti American and a whole bunch of other names are never, ever, ever going to stop looking at the world with their wrong minded ideas. This is the way of things. It has always been this way.

I read one report which stated that an individual’s political leaning is genetic. That doesn’t mean you are a liberal if your father and mother are liberals. Some genetic traits are known to skip a generation. But it does mean that strong genetic political tendencies are not going to be changed by civil discourse. (There are those who have little or no political tendencies…the fence sitters).

The fact that the Bush presidency was a total failure in the extreme should be looked at as an indication of just how strongly politics is bred into a population. Enough Americans voted for the same fool a second time even after witnessing the huge screw ups he created….and many probably do not yet see that they were indeed screw ups.

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I have been doing on line business for two years with Banco de Costa Rica without any problems.

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I repeat: Progressives fight for change and new ideas; conservatives fight to maintain the status quo. Not all new ideas are good, of course, but sitting on a log while the world rushes by is a sure way to get trampled.
Social security here and national health care elsewhere are both examples of progressive, socialst achievements. And Costa Rica is a progressive socialist system which I assume is appreciated by everyone here. You conservatives who come here and like it are not being honest with yourselves. If you really prefer a more capitalist and less socialist society, you should stay in the States.

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