Students For Liberty

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Students For Liberty Bimonthly Memo & 2013-2014 Midyear Report Alexander McCobin

December, 2013 Dear friend of liberty, Happy Holidays! Now that it’s December, I have the pleasure of updating you on all of SFL’s successes in the first half of the 2013-2014 school year. And, frankly, the growth SFL has undergone, even in just one semester, has been tremendous. I don’t want to use adjectives or rhetorical flourishing to diminish the meaning of the basic data that represents this, though, so I am just going to go straight to the highlights of what SFL has accomplished in the fall of 2013:

SFL grew to include 1,194 groups in our network!

We ran 30 SFL Conferences for over 3,500 students in North America, Europe, the Spanish-speaking Americas, Brazil, and Africa!

We trained more than 300 student leaders around the globe.

In conjunction with the Atlas Network, SFL published 350,000 copies of our fourth book, Why Liberty, to distribute to students around the world for free.

SFL’s website had 84,188 views in November 2013, 70% higher than the 58,875 views in November 2012.

SFL launched a new program called Young Voices, the purpose of which is to inject the libertarian voice of this generation into the mainstream media. While only a few months old, Young Voices is successfully placing op-eds in major publications such as Forbes, the Chicago Tribune, the Huffington Post, Daily Caller, among others, and booking articulate students as guests on top TV news programs. Check out the selection of media clippings at the end of this report for a sampling of placements.

At one level, these numbers speak for themselves. SFL is the first libertarian student

organization to ever reach the four-digit mark for the number of student groups. (And the year is not over yet!) Whereas people were skeptical of our ability to run a single libertarian student conference for one hundred attendees in 2008, we just ran 30 on four continents for thousands of students in a semester. And our network of students and leaders continues to climb to unprecedented heights. There is great reason for optimism about this generation.

But on another level, I want to highlight the meaning of these achievements in terms of SFL’s theory of social change. SFL’s activities are based upon a simple premise. There are two things that change the world: people and ideas. The libertarian movement has the right ideas. We have tomes already proving this. The libertarian movement lacks the right people to promote those ideas. By educating young people about the ideas of liberty, we are able to identify those with the strongest leadership potential, invest in them through leadership training programs, resources, and networking

Students For Liberty

2 A Free Academy, A Free Society

info@studentsforliberty.org • www.studentsforliberty.org • 1101 17th St., NW, Ste. 810 • Washington, DC 20036

opportunities, and provide them with the support both when they are students and graduates to effect significant change in the world, through politics, academia, journalism, business, their local communities, and every other meaningful area. The growth of groups in our network, individuals who are part of our leadership training programs, events that we run, and resources we offer indicate that we are having a significant impact. And now, Young Voices is amplifying that impact by exposing the world to our ideas and the growing libertarian student movement. Change is coming. Change for a freer world. And Students For Liberty’s students are leading that change.

Given SFL’s continuing international growth, let me give you a fuller perspective on our work, region by region.

North American Students For Liberty Already our most active region, North American Students For Liberty has continued to grow at a significant rate. The 16-person Executive Board is overseeing seven regions with 127 Campus Coordinators who have not only completed extensive training, but are meeting regular benchmarks including starting new groups, running events on campuses, and introducing the ideas of liberty to more young people. SFL has organized nine Leadership Forums for 118 students to strategize the growth of the student movement for liberty in their areas and distributed 443 activism kits across the US. Over a seven-week period in October and November, SFL ran 18 Regional Conferences in the US and Canada for a total of 2,765 attendees:

Michigan – 136 attendees

Philadelphia – 144 attendees

Florida – 149 attendees

Northern California – 95 attendees

Colorado – 145 attendees

Dallas – 141 attendees

Chicago – 159 attendees

New York – 187 attendees

Tennessee – 126 attendees

Arizona – 156 attendees

Boston – 109 attendees

Northwest – 103 attendees

Austin – 185 attendees

Pittsburgh – 143 attendees

Southern California – 202 attendees

Carolinas – 231 attendees (Attendees at the 2013 Carolinas Regional Conference)

New Orleans – 214 attendees

Canada – 96 attendees

SFL’s leaders are doing more than just talking amongst themselves, though. They are active advocates for liberty in their communities. Take the West Virginia University Students For Liberty and College Libertarians as an example. This past September, the Morgantown City Council passed an ordinance restricting street vendors’ areas of operation throughout the city, limiting operations during the day to activity 50 feet from any brick and mortar business, and banning them outright at night. The justification offered is concern for public safety, but the impact of this is obvious: protection of established businesses at the expense of entrepreneurs. In defense of the economic freedom of food

Students For Liberty

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vendors in their area, the WVU Students For Liberty and WVU College Libertarians coordinated efforts to protest what the city was doing. Not only did they bring out the beloved local Hot Dog Man as part of the protest, they helped raise money to help overcome the damage that had been done to his business by the ordinance and received over 500 signatures for a petition to repeal the ordinance in just a few hours.

Here’s another example: Campus Coordinator Dannelly Rodriguez recently spoke to a group from Trevor Day School in NYC about the city’s “stop and frisk” program and how it violates constitutional rights. Outreach efforts by SFL leaders like Dannelly are not just educating people about the ideas of liberty, but teaching them how to become more effective advocates for the ideas and leaders of change in their communities. European Students For Liberty European Students For Liberty was the second region established in SFL’s network. Its growing size and activity reflects the hard work and investment of the students involved. Halfway through the school year, ESFL has expanded to 221 student groups in its network. To support these groups, ESFL has 12 Executive Board members, 64 Local Coordinators (Europe’s counterparts to the US Campus Coordinators – a team that is 300% larger than it was last year), distributed over 15,000 copies of Why Liberty to 45 groups in 20 countries across Europe, and ran 9 Regional Conferences with 1,190 attendees in:

Maastricht, Netherlands – 80 attendees

Munich, Germany – 195 attendees

Belgrade, Serbia – 280 attendees

Paris, France – 120 attendees

Stockholm, Sweden – 110 attendees

Krakow, Poland – 110 attendees

Sofia, Bulgaria – 140 attendees

Rome, Italy – 95 attendees

Manchester, United Kingdom – 60 attendees

In particular, the Belgrade Regional Conference hosted 280 attendees, the largest SFL Regional Conference to date. And while Belgrade and the other conferences were a huge success, there were many other exciting developments across the continent.

Recently, over 120 people gathered in the Czech Republic to discuss the importance of the rise of Bitcoin. ESFL’s Local Coordinator in Denmark has been featured prominently in the Danish press for his fervent free-market views. We were also able to launch operations in countries where we previously had no presence. The Paris conference was the first official SFL event in France and has launched a flurry of activity since under the leadership of ESFL Executive Board member Baptiste Favrot. And this semester we saw remarkable growth in Spain; in a matter of just three months, ESFL went from zero to 21 Spanish groups. These are just a sampling of the exciting things happening on the continent, and an indication of more to come.

Estudiantes por la Libertad (Spanish-Speaking Americas)

This past spring, SFL launched Estudiantes por la Libertad, the Regional Executive Board for the Spanish-speaking Americas. An inaugural Executive Board of nine students from countries as diverse as Argentina, Venezuela, and Nicaragua, attended a leadership retreat at Universidad Francisco Marroquin

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in June to plan the growth of the student movement for liberty in the region. Their first two priorities: launching a Local Coordinator Program to train more leaders and organizing the first Estudiantes por la Libertad Conference in Santiago, Chile.

The Local Coordinator Program has been a tremendous success with 35 students participating in the first wave of the program (selected in June, 2013), and over 100 more applying during the second wave (applications closed in November, 2013). The first Estudiantes por la Libertad Conference was held in Santiago, Chile from October 25 – 27 for 100 attendees, with speakers including Alberto Benegas Lynch, Guillermo Cabieses, Walter Castro, and Gabriela Calderón.

Estudantes Pela Liberdade (Brazil) Estudantes Pela Liberdade ran its Second Annual National Conference for 250 attendees in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. After selecting a new, nine-person Executive Board and 26 State Coordinators, SFL-International began training its leaders in preparation for its first Leadership Retreat to take place this January.

(Attendees at the 2nd Estudantes Pela Liberdade National Conference)

Indian Students For Liberty

Prior to this year, SFL had almost no presence in India. Today, SFL has 17 Charter Team members who have been organizing events and starting new groups at the country’s many colleges and universities. We are in the process of planning the first Asian SFL Leadership Training Seminar for January 2014. More than 20 students from across Asia will join Indian SFL and SFL-International leaders to develop strategic plans for growing the student movement for liberty in Asia. African Students For Liberty While Students For Liberty has had leaders in Africa for two years now, we weren’t sure if SFL would be capable of supporting a wide-ranging student movement for liberty in Africa. Beyond the high costs of working in Africa, lack of infrastructure compared to the US and Europe, and other similar concerns, we weren’t sure how many students would be interested in the ideas of liberty or introducing SFL to the continent. These concerns were overcome on July 26 and 27 when we ran the first West African Students For Liberty Regional Conference at the University of Ibadan in Nigeria with 352 participants—our largest ever first-time conference, and much larger than the 150 students we had planned for. Even with a group of 25 Ghanaian students being held up at the border because they couldn’t afford the bribe required to enter the country, the conference was a remarkable success and has laid the foundation for more expansive work by SFL in Africa. With 36 Charter Team members in Africa starting new groups and identifying future leaders to run more events like the West African Regional Conference, I am much more optimistic about the future of SFL in Africa than I have ever been before.

Students For Liberty

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If the success of Estudiantes por la Libertad, African Students For Liberty, and Indian Students For Liberty isn’t enough to illustrate the success of SFL’s international expansion to areas where few thought we could succeed, let me give you a specific example of the work of SFL’s Charter Team members in Tanzania. Isack Danford joined SFL’s Charter Teams Program in the summer of 2013. A longtime fan of liberty, he had no outlet to further his education or learn how to organize for liberty until he learned about the Charter Teams Program. In just two months since he completed the Charter Teams Program training, Isack has begun to transform the student advocacy landscape in Tanzania. Through dedicated solicitation within his country, Isack has received significant support in the form of donated chairs, a table with drawers, a filing cabinet, and a typewriter. He has used these resources to establish a regional network of Liberty and Entrepreneurship Clubs. He has launched five groups across the country as of this writing, with more to come before the end of the school year.

(Attendees at the first African SFL Conference in Ibadan, Nigeria in July, 2013)

What’s Coming Up

This memo is far from comprehensive. There are more successes, more activities, and more plans in the SFL network that I am looking forward to filling you in on in future updates. In addition to the established regions listed above, SFL has another 71 Charter Team members in places as diverse as Australia and Kazakhstan building the student movement in their regions. And we have a plethora of other activities taking place in our established regions ranging from webinars in North America to the launch of SFL’s new liberty and art magazine, Ama-Gi.1 However, I do want to alert you to two important events that are coming up in just a few months: The Seventh International SFL Conference is taking place in Washington, DC from February 14-16, 2014. With an estimated crowd of 1,600 attendees, the conference will feature a live taping of John Stossel’s Fox Business program, STOSSEL, the presentation of SFL’s Alumnus of the Year Award to Free Africa Foundation president, Dr. George Ayittey, and a Keynote Speech by Ethan Nadelman (president of the Drug Policy Alliance). For more information about the conference, including registration details, please visit: http://studentsforliberty.org/event/2014-international-students-for-liberty-conference/. The Third Annual European SFL Conference will be taking place at Humboldt University in Berlin, Germany from March 14-16, 2014. Celebrating the 25th Anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, the conference will feature speakers including French businessman and philosopher Christian Michele, Europe’s first “ethical” hacker Marco Ricca, Dr. Tom Palmer of the Atlas Network, Michael Tanner of the

1 Available at http://studentsforliberty.org/ama-gi-magazine/.

Students For Liberty

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Cato Institute, and many more. For more information on the conference, including registration details, please visit: http://esfl.info/ESFLC2014. In addition to these region-wide events, the North American SFL team is planning over 20 more Leadership Forums this spring. Estudantes Pela Liberdade is planning for four Regional Conferences across Brazil. The first East African Regional Conference will take place in Tanzania. The first Students For Liberty Leadership Seminar will be held in New Delhi, India. The list goes on, but I will stop here to simply say, there is a lot coming up. And I encourage you to get involved either by checking out our website to find activities in whatever part of the world you would like at www.studentsforliberty.org/regions/. A great many thanks are due to those who have made all of this possible. To SFL’s leaders, thank you for the incredible amount of work, energy, and dedication that you invest in the student movement for liberty; you are the ones driving our growth. To SFL’s many donors, thank you for providing the resources SFL needs to empower today’s youth; you are providing the means for this movement to exist. To SFL’s alumni, thank you for continuing to be part of the student movement for liberty, even after graduating; you are the backbone to the future of SFL. To SFL’s partner organizations, thank you for all that you do and working with SFL to fill our niche in the movement; with your collaboration, we are able to do an even better job building the student movement for liberty and preparing the next generation of leaders of liberty. And to all of the students in SFL’s network, thank you for everything you do; we are the libertarian generation, and your involvement in the student movement for liberty is changing the world. Thank you to everyone for being part of this movement and working together to create a freer and more prosperous future.

Sincerely & For Liberty,

Alexander McCobin

Co-Founder & President, Students For Liberty amccobin@studentsforliberty.org

P.S. SFL is able to do such critical work because we have the financial support of incredible individuals like you. If you would like SFL to train more leaders, start more student groups, organize more events, and have an even bigger impact, please make a tax-deductible donation to SFL today. You can donate either by visiting our website at www.studentsforliberty.org/donate, mailing a check to Students For Liberty, 1101 17th Street NW, Suite 810, Washington, DC 20036, or calling us at 202-733-2409. P.P.S. You can support particular SFL projects and students needs at www.GiveTheGiftOfLiberty.org. SFL’s crowd-funding platform lists projects ranging from $200 to run a Leadership Forum in Boston, to $5,000 for SFL’s Free Speech Week this spring, to $10,000 to run the first SFL Conference in India next year. Whether you contribute a portion of the goal, or cover the whole amount, your donation will go a long way toward changing students’ lives.

How The Hungarian Disease Is Spreading Across Central Europe By Marek Tatala & Fred Roeder In September of this year, Polish prime minister Donald Tusk announced his intention to undo pension system reforms and seize parts of the mandatory private pension funds. If implemented, this plan will lead to a pension fund nationalization a la Hungary under Victor Orban and Argentina under the Kirchners. The law would undo the successful achievements of the Polish transformation since 1989, which was achieved through privatization and not nationalization. The European Commission and IMFturn a blind eye to these dangerous developments. A potential chain reaction of further nationalizations needs to be stopped.

Nationalizing Polish pensions funds would not lead to sustainable fiscal consolidation and will undo Poland’s efforts over the last two decades to become a success story of growth and prosperity.

The Polish government aims to directly nationalize half of the current assets of the private pension system and will push the pension funds to invest in short term investments, which is an indicator that the government would like to keep an option to seize the remaining half of private pension assets.

Currently the Polish pension system has two pillars: the Bismarckian pay-as-you-go first pillar, that is funded by payroll contributions, and a second pillar consisting out of private pension funds. The government’s pension reform proposal includes a plan to introduce a default option for Poles to participate only in the first pillar of the pension system. Polish citizens will have to actively join the second pillar.

Behavioural psychology teaches that most people won’t sign a special declaration for joining the private pension system. This would lead to marginalization and future liquidation of the pension funds.

Even from a fiscal standpoint the nationalization will not add any structural improvements to the Polish public finances but actually worsen Poland’s debt problem: Seizing private pensions will only temporarily lower the public debt and increase unfunded liabilities in the long term. Funded pension systems are much more capable of coping with demographic changes: declining birthrates don’t have any negative impact on funded pension systems but are catastrophic for Bismarckian unfunded systems where the generation in working age pays for the pensioners. With 1.3 children per women Poland faces a huge transformation of its demographic structure

– Moving away from a funded pension system will threaten the sustainability of the entire pension system.

According to economist and former Vice Prime Minister Leszek Balcerowicz, unfunded pension liabilities already exceed 193 percent of Polish GDP. Abolishing the private pillar of the pension system will grow unfunded liabilities. Taxpayers and future generations will have to bear the financial burden of Tusk’s populist decisions.

The attitude of the European Commission (EC) and of the IMF is so far very surprising. It seems that the EC is applying double standards in direct interactions with the EU member states. On the one hand it has praised Latvia for raising the contributions to the funded pension pillar. On the other hand it is so far silent about the Polish government proposal to nationalize the private pension funds’ assets.

By its behavior of not raising red flags to the Polish government and stopping a second Hungary, the EC risks jeopardizing its role as a fiscal guardian.

There is a danger that this Orbanization of the pension system policies may spread all over Europe if not counteracted. The governments in Central Eastern Europe are under pressure to slow down fiscal consolidation or retreat to fiscal stimuli. The Hungary-Polish bad example risks giving more power and additional arguments to the populist voices in the region. This is why we have to stop the Polish government proposal now and defend the private pension savings of the people. Marek Tatala is an Economist at the Polish think tank FOR, which promotes economic liberties in Poland. Fred Roeder is a German health economist and Director of the international youth advocacy group Young Voices. He is a fellow at the Montreal Economic Institute and teaches economics at several universities in Eastern Europe.

Waiting on the platform Egypt’s trains are running again, and Sara Labib is ready for her country’s future By MINDY BELZ Nov. 15, 2013 The trains are running again in Cairo, and Sara Labib is optimistic: “Now I can travel from Cairo to Alexandria to see my family.” Egypt has been at a standstill, she said, “especially with curfew. It’s very difficult to cope with.” Since the latest round of unrest and government upheaval began in June, daily life for Egyptians—rich, poor, and in between—is a series of negotiations. The rail shutdown stalled over 1 million passengers a day, but the country’s interim government said trains posed security risks and halted service for over two months. Egypt is the largest country in the Middle East, and 60 percent of its people are under age 25. Unemployment among youth aged 15-24 runs at 25 percent and higher. Rail service shutdowns and other upheaval only makes it worse. Sara Labib has a job but at 23 acutely feels the disadvantages of her age bracket. Born in Alexandria, Sara spent high-school and college years studying in Europe. She just finished a master’s degree in economics and international law in Belgium. Despite the uncertainty and violence in Cairo, she returned to make it her home again this year. Sara works as a law intern while lending her intellect to the important political developments in Egypt as part of a new nonprofit called Young Voices. She closely follows daily developments in the interim government’s faltering progress toward a new constitution and elections, using her “small platform,” she says, to speak up for Egypt’s youth. She is a faithful chronicler via her own blog (tabulasara.blogspot.com/), plus writes for U.S. and international think tanks and makes television appearances. “To be honest this is a time where people are tired. People are tired of hoping,” she told me. But politics remains “the first thing we talk about” when she gets together with friends. A generation of young men and women are coming of age in the Middle East’s post–Arab Spring turmoil. Crony political networks have managed to secure power across the region—

even where revolution led to dramatic changes in Egypt, Tunisia, and Libya. They are too slow to tap into their largest age demographic, their country’s young people. Median age in Egypt is 24.8 years old, compared to 37.2 years in the United States. As Sara points out, “I am 23 and most government members are older than 60 years. They are the ones drafting the constitution I will live under.” Too often the older leaders take Sara’s generation as the face of terrorism, the source of violence. While there is some truth to that—the Arab Spring began with a 26-year-old street vendor setting himself ablaze in Tunisia—millions more are like her: They have multiple degrees, speak multiple languages (Sara is fluent in Dutch, Arabic, and English), work hard, and stay current, all while navigating rail closures, street curfews, and food shortages. In short, they are powerhouses willing to broker present hardships toward better futures. They also think differently than their elders. Sara appreciates the muscle of the internet and social media to transmit and shape public opinion. She’s connected via smartphones with 3G (even in Cairo) and Wi-Fi to a vast network of Cairo residents plus Egyptians overseas. She’s looking to a constitutional process for her future, not a crony system based on whom she knows. You will find Sara Labibs not only in Cairo, but in Baghdad, Tripoli, Damascus, Kabul, and Tehran. They deserve attention, nurture, and a way into the political process. This is where international organizations, including faith-based groups and churches, have vital roles to play. Young Voices started last year to “empower young, eloquent, liberty-minded people,” said its Berlin-based director Fred Roeder. Sara is just one of its stars. Coptic and evangelical churches, both in Egypt and abroad, function as more than centers for religious worship and study, Sara told me. Many, including Kasr el Dobara Church in Cairo just off Tahrir Square, serve the city’s youth all day long. It has sports facilities and provides meals every day. It and others offer job services and language classes. Besides a good witness, these programs offer young Egyptians a bridge to older society and its gatekeepers. Nongovernmental organizations, as well as U.S. aid efforts, should focus on reviving the hope of young strivers like Sara.

Natural gas in Vermont? No fracking way, say green groups

By Yaël Ossowski

Published November 20, 2013

No drilling, no pipelines, and no natural gas.

If environmental groups in Vermont get their way, this could be the new slogan of the Green Mountain

state.

That’s the message of their latest campaign to oppose the extension of a Vermont Gas Systems pipeline

intended to transport shale gas from Canada to New York.

Vermont already became the first state in the union to ban the process of hydraulic fracturing to recover

natural gas in 2012, but this latest move to block the pipeline specifically because it is natural gas follows

a new message that may surprise many in the environmental movement.

“At a time when climate change demands we do everything we can to move away from fossil fuels,

building a new gas pipeline in Vermont moves us in exactly the wrong direction,” said Sandra Levine, an

attorney with the Conservation Law Foundation, in a media release Monday.

She joins a coalition of groups headed by the Vermont Public Interest Research Group, one of the most

influential lobbies in the state, to gather signatures and oppose the pipeline project which would expand

Canadian gas to Vermont homes.

Other opponents have raised other points in order to halt the transport of gas across Vermont territory.

Democracy Watchdog in Honduras Alleges Foul Play from Partido Nacional Isolated Intimidation, Threats toward Electoral Observers By Rachel Rodriguez on Monday, November 25, 2013 EspañolDuring the presidential elections in Honduras on Sunday, national and international observers were met with intimidation from the winning Partido Nacional. That is according to a variety of reports from CESPAD (Centro de Estudios para la Democracia), a democracy watchdog based in the nation that compiled witness concerns. They also reported manipulation of the voting process by members of the electoral tables (MER, Mesas Electorales Receptoras). Peaceful voting began early morning on Sunday with enthusiastic participation from citizens, and by noon, CESPAD had not received significant reports of violence. Later in the day, however, they learned of a handful of complaints of conflicts relating to exchanges between members of the MERs and the national and international observers present. These conflicts, they allege, stemmed from ambivalence and corruption: the late arrival of voting materials, delayed opening of the tables, political propaganda in illegal proximity to the voting centers, officials working without proper photo identification, and cases of aggression towards observers by members of the Partido Nacional. Elena Toledo, a Honduran pro-democracy advocate not affiliated with CESPAD, believes the allegations are true. “I was in the [polling area] where we received all the complaints and results, and these actions and worse went on. You have no idea.” On the other hand, Ana Quintana of the Heritage Foundation was an observer who visited numerous voting centers throughout Tegucigalpa, and she disputes this narrative. “I personally did not see or hear of the [Partido Nacional], or any party for that matter, repressing observers or voters. Rather, my experience has proven the opposite. . . . The Supreme Electoral Tribunal should be commended for their efforts before, during and after the electoral process.” Grace Garcia was one of four international observers from CESPAD and from the WLF (World Lutheran Federation) who alleges that she was denied entrance to a voting center located in a United Nations school in Tegucigalpa. Upon

arrival, officials told the group to leave, even though they had documentation stating their legal right to attend as observers. “They told us that we couldn’t be there, and they made us leave so that we would observe from outside of the enclosure. They did not give us one explanation as to why,” said Garcia. Soon after, they were approached by activists who claimed they would “call their gang members” if they did not disappear. Another observer from CESPAD, Carlos Mutate, experienced similar treatment by activists when he reported electoral fraud at a voting center located in the Clara Barton pre-school in the city of La Ceiba, Atlántida. The observers present believe they saw the placement of 100 pre-marked ballots in a polling collection box and were quick to report what they saw to officials who then seized the urn in question. Mutate claimed the accused, well known members of the Partido Nacional, then approached him and told him to “think twice about being here.” Among other reports of intimidation from Partido Nacional members, in and around voting centers, observers in other parts of La Ceiba witnessed the late arrival of voting materials, the arbitrary change of location of some of the voting centers, and the failure of members from the electoral tables to properly monitor voters cell phone usage near the ballots. Regarding the accuracy of these claims, Gina Kawas — a policy liaison and Young Voices Advocate in Honduras — notes that CESPAD’s sponsors include Oxfam, Trócaire, and several European organizations. They support “resistance movements” in the Americas, and she is concerned that they have a predisposition towards defending the LIBRE party. Graham Brown, of the Dreams of Cities blog and a resident in Honduras, keenly interested in its development, says there’s little to report, “apart from lots of banners and flags.” CESPAD has not crossed his media radar and is unlikely to garner traction. “Outside of Tegucigalpa, most people I’ve met seem uninterested in the elections, or at least they haven’t talked about it with me.”

Forfeiting Credibility: Civil Forfeiture Hurts Law Enforcement, Too Rebecca Furdek | Dec 02, 2013 “I’ve always paid my taxes and have never been arrested or charged with any crime in my life. I am a successful small-business man. But in January of this year, I woke up to find that my business’ entire bank account — more than $35,000 — had been wrongly seized.”

These are the words of Terry Dehko, who since 1978 has owned Schott’s Supermarket in Fraser, Michigan. His daughter, Sandy, began working with her dad at the store when she was 12, and now helps him run the business. Last year, the IRS conducted an audit of the store, and on January 22nd of this year, Terry woke up to his entire bank account – $35,000 – suddenly vanished. While the money disappeared, Terry was never charged with a crime.

The Institute for Justice, after taking Terry’s case and threatening to file another suit in Michigan against the federal government, recently scored a victory for innocent property owners such as Terry. The IRS quietly retreated, and Schott’s Supermarket is as thriving as ever.

But justice for Terry Dehko does not mean justice for all similarly harmed Americans, or to the reputation of law enforcement itself. And why did this happen to Terry in the first place?

It’s a regime called civil forfeiture, and it could happen to you.

In civil forfeiture, government doesn’t even accuse people – but rather “stuff” such as real property, cash, and cars - of being guilty of a crime. This perverse practice often is used for eyebrow-raising lavish perks for local law enforcement agencies. More seriously, it severely undercuts the historical assumption in American jurisprudence of “innocent until proven guilty.” Civil forfeiture is a prime example of an unjust imbalance of state power against individuals, and through such, harms the overall credibility of law enforcement.

Civil asset forfeiture is a decades-old regime, instated during the Reagan Administration through the Comprehensive Crime Control Act of 1984 as a way to bolster the then-new war on drugs. Law enforcement, through this regime, can seize one’s cash, car, or even home on suspicion of the property being associated of a crime, without ever charging the corresponding owner.

And it’s growing. Last year, the Department of Justice seized over $4 billion in assets, a far cry from the mere $27 million obtained at the outset of the program in 1985. These funds are used directly for forfeiture-related expenses and, far more broadly, for other general law enforcement purposes.

On a certain level, the regime’s rationale may sound viable. Proponents note that the practice enables law enforcement to confiscate cash or property and funnel the proceeds directly into their efforts. For instance, police in Tulsa, Oklahoma, bolster their “tough on crime” reputation by driving a Cadillac Escalade

triumphantly stenciled, “THIS USED TO BE A DRUG DEALER’S CAR, NOW IT’S OURS!”

However, it’s not that rosy.

First, because one need not be even be charged with a crime (let alone be found guilty) before forfeiture occurs, this turns the long-held American doctrine of “innocent until proven guilty” on its head. Studies have shown that a mindboggling 80 percent of such impacted individuals are, indeed, never charged with a crime.

“The protections our Constitutional usually affords are out the window,” rightfully concludes Louis Rulli, a University of Pennsylvania law professor and national forfeiture expert. Unlike in criminal forfeiture, in which a person must be first convicted before property is confiscated, civil forfeiture requires an individual to come into court and bear the burden of proving that his or her “stuff” is not guilty. The presumption of innocence is nowhere to be found. And litigating is not cheap, so very few property owners, and almost zero low-income individuals, even attempt to regain their forfeited property.

Examples abound of proceeds not faithfully funneled into any semblance of meaningful police work. For instance, the DA’s office in Fulton County, Georgia, recently celebrated forfeiture profiteering with $5,600 on a Christmas party, $1,100 on flowers, and $3,200 on “sirloin beef tip roast, roasted turkey breast and mini crab cakes with champagne sauce.” Police in Pittsburgh used the proceeds for almost $10,000 worth of Gatorade. The Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office recently used forfeiture to purchase nine flat-screen TVs for $8,200.

All of this clearly detriments the property owners, but also has a dangerous effect on law enforcement.

The government acknowledges that factors which build a positive public image of the police include solving problems in communities and helping victims and social cohesion marked by informal police contacts. A doctrine in which the government arrives at doors and kicks people out of their homes, takes modest to large amounts of cash, or impounds cars without ever charging the property owners with a crime does nothing to foster trust. Add this with the rising militarization of the police, especially in the past decade, and our nation is left facing a police force that is a far cry from fostering voluntary “social cohesion.”

Because of the growth of the forfeiture regime, and the resulting increased awareness of this absurd regime in recent years, there is far more than dollars at stake. Morale is on the line. Credibility is on the line. The doctrine of innocent until proven guilty, and the resulting long-held public assurance of this being the rightful relationship of the state to individuals, is on the line. And if law enforcement truly values these dire social and philosophical concerns, they will not forfeit their own credibility for the mere sake of profit.

Bitcoin Charities: Forward Thinking for Future Charities

By M.K. LORDS on DECEMBER 4, 2013

Bitcoin is changing the way we think about money and transactions, and during its

brief existence has changed the way not only businesses operate, but has also been

instrumental in setting new standards for charities. The cryptocurrency gets a bad

rap as being a tool of drug dealers or other unsavory criminal elements, but it has

changed thousands of lives through its application in unconventional charities

(recently dubbed “Bitcoin charities.”) These charities shatter preconceptions of

what a deflationary currency can be used for and how aid gets directly to those in

need. Bitcoin charities run more efficiently, help the individuals assisted be more

self-sufficient, and avoids the high fees and inconvenience of payment systems such

as PayPal.

Sean’s Outpost, Bitcoin Not Bombs, and Fr33 Aid have used Bitcoin to feed, clothe,

and medically aid those in need on the local and global levels. Accepting Bitcoin

makes for swift confirmation times that allow charities to get the funds they need

immediately so they can get to work efficiently. These Bitcoin charities are also

thorough about documentation, something mainstream charities will need to adopt

if they want to survive in the emerging crypto-economy.

It’s easy to straw man cryptocurrencies as currency for criminals, but there’s a

growing narrative that it is not only being used to help people, but vastly outpaces

older forms of aid. When the City of Pensacola discussed outlawing homelessness in

an attempt to hide growing poverty, a man named Jason King reacted by setting up

Sean’s Outpost, a Bitcoin funded homeless outreach charity. The ordinance

eventually passed. When Bitcoin reached $50 in February of 2013 and speculation

over its value increased, King cut to the heart of the matter.

“Hey, obviously this is a very interesting time to be in Bitcoin right now, but if you

guys want to argue over whether this is reality or not, one Bitcoin will feed over 40

homeless people in Pensacola right now,” King said. “If you guys want proof Bitcoin

is real, send them to me, I’ll cash them out and feed homeless people.”

And then he did exactly that; the operation has since expanded and has provided

over 20,000 meals for the homeless in the region. Sean’s Outpost has built a

reputation for being one of the most well documented Bitcoin charities, posting

pictures of the meals and projects fueled by Bitcoin.

Additionally, through Bitcoin donations only, King bought nine acres of property

named Satoshi Forest that will be converted into a permaculture, alternative energy

based homeless sanctuary. While officials try to hide the problems the city is facing,

King and the activists at Sean’s Outpost have shown that issues of poverty can be

solved through direct action and the generosity of Bitcoin users.

Bitcoin Not Bombs, another Bitcoin nonprofit which helps start-ups accept Bitcoin,

has used Bitcoin donations to clothe hundreds of people in California. Through

their Hoodie the Homeless campaign, people could donate Bitcoin for hoodies that

would be given to those facing harsh winter conditions. There was a tremendous

outpouring of support and Bitcoin Not Bombs made sure to get footage of where

the Bitcoin donations went so you were absolutely sure that your Bitcoin clothed

people in need and didn’t line the pockets of CEOs. Davi Barker, the Campaign

Navigator of Bitcoin Not Bombs made an excellent point in his article about the

project.

“One man in particular sticks out in my mind,” Barker wrote. “His name was Doug,

and although he’d never heard of it, the design of the hoodie interested him. After

a brief explanation of what the digital currency was, his eyes lit up as he realized the

potential. Of particular interest to him was the ability to manage an account from a

smart phone, giving financial freedom to those who cannot open legacy bank

accounts. Some of the advantages of Bitcoin for homeless people are obvious. A

major problem homeless people face is robbery. Having no home means having no

security, which means it’s difficult to ever accumulate enough wealth to change

their conditions. Bitcoin is uniquely difficult to physically steal.

Bitcoin not only helps charities reach individuals more easily, but also empowers

them with control over their wealth. Homeless populations face unique

circumstances and greatly benefit from using a currency that provides additional

security and flexibility.

The effectiveness of Bitcoin charities in addressing the needs of individuals is not

limited to local cities or regions, though. Fr33 Aid, an educational organization that

does outreach about medical aid and is run by volunteers skilled in the medical

profession, used Bitcoin donations to get aid to those affected by the recent

typhoon in the Philippines. They fed and cared for thousands of Filipinos, and

photographed their work so that donors could see their donations in action. The

campaign is still active and can be donated to, and more people globally are seeing

the need for wider acceptance and implementation of Bitcoin.

Bitcoin also solves the problems faced by smaller charities when it comes to

processing fees. Teresa Warmke of Fr33 Aid ran into hurdles using PayPal to get

funds to the Philippines. While Bitcoin is still on the verge of breaking into the

mainstream, it is far ahead of other money transfer services. Warmke noted her

problems with PayPal.

“The next day though I was sending over $3K with the first full day of donations

received, plus my matching contribution. This time it resulted in them flagging me

as potentially fraudulent, and then they only allowed me to do an e-check, which

takes about a week longer than usual, or credit card, which carries hefty fees…The

next day, though, they defaulted to credit card for the next payment rather than

transfer or e-check, which resulted them gouging me for a fee to send the donation.

Have I mentioned lately how much I HATE PayPal? Way to gouge people trying to

send money to one of their oldest friends to help folks in the Philippines!”

PayPal ended up refusing to refund the exorbitant fees despite them overriding

defaults on their account set by Fr33 Aid. Bitcoin allows users to select miner fees

which speed up transaction confirmations, but these are optional. This built-in

feature means you can expedite funds for a very small fee or choose no fee if that

suits your needs. Also, there is no entity that can withhold Bitcoin from the needy if

they decide that an account needs to be seized or payments delayed. The speedy

response meant that Fr33 Aid was able to tackle remote parts of the Philippines

that larger aid organizations could not reach. This efficiency adds to Fr33 Aid and

others being on the cutting edge of charities.

Documentation of donations is imperative, especially when it comes to sending

funds internationally. Not all charities do this, however, and in times of national

disasters, even the most seemingly reputable charities have documentation issues

or misallocation problems. The seamless ability of Bitcoin to transcend borders

means organizations get to work immediately without having to wait on slower

payment processing companies. The way in which some charities collect donations

is outdated; Salvation Army still doesn’t accept credit cards despite innovations like

Square that make it easy for people who don’t carry cash. Like cash, older charities

are becoming ancient because of their antiquated methods of collecting funds.

Through meticulous documentation and direct action eased by the nature of

Bitcoin, Bitcoin charities like Sean’s Outpost, Bitcoin Not Bombs, and Fr33 Aid are

laying a solid foundation for future charities. Innovation by Bitcoin charities is

building momentum that will only increase and if older charities don’t jump on the

Bitcoin bandwagon and become more transparent with their donations, they will be

left behind.