A Letter from The Netherlands
from Jeroen Nouwens
2010 January 31
I want to thank you for your excellent educational contributions. Your lectures, speeches, all the articles on Freedom Force, and the fine documentaries have done a lot to open my eyes. I have yet to read or, for that matter, buy The Creature from Jekyll Island, but it’s on the top of my list.
For me personally, my journey into The Reality Zone didn’t start immediately after 9/11 (I was barely twenty back then). It sadly took a few years more, when I finally found out that the Web offers a lot more videos besides ugly accidents, death, and porn. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. Everything has its value. Anyway, in those days, I used the Web mainly to search for information related to literature, but I rarely delved into political stuff, except when, for example, I read Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four.
Of course, many have read that book. I doubt that many really understand it, though, because this world would look a lot better if people did. I myself read it first at a young age (under ten), along with Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, both works having shaped my worldview dramatically, but I didn’t learn the whole picture from them. They pointed me in the right direction, however.
It was not until running into documentaries (among which yours) about the Federal Reserve System that I woke up. Not that I immediately knew everything, but it was like I became aware of a sledgehammer looming above my head, poised to flatten me. It was easy to step aside when I spotted it, though. As you know, the truth sets you free.
Finally, I understood inflation, the phenomenon that has always fascinated me since I was a young boy, but never enough to read books about it. Maybe for the better: there’s tons of brainwashing crap out there. Anyway, before I understood it, I could not see the logic of it. I’ve always loathed paper money. I instinctively treasured coins. This may sound weird, but so be it.
Well, after learning about the evils of central banking, paper money, and unholy taxations such as the Income Tax, I really got going on my way to learn MORE. Starting in 2007, I watched dozens of political videos a day on the Web; and when I graduated and became unemployed again (late summer 2008) I watched more and more. A few led me astray somewhat, but there was always Ron Paul – and my own brain. Surprising what a human brain can do if it thinks things through. So I’ll admit there was a short while when I thought FDR did some great stuff. Hahah. I still have to laugh about that. Later, enter Austrian Economics. That put the dots where they were needed.
In the end, before this becomes a gargantuan letter that disappears forever somewhere in your mailbox, I want to say I have done my best to spread the message of truth, mostly on the Web. I did that starting late 2007, warning people what was going to happen. I got little real support, though became a well-known and highly respected presence on a little site that’s called Milk and Cookies. I mean, just about everybody hated GWB, but people still didn’t (and don’t) understand enough. So, most ended up voting for Obama. Unbelievable. Now, I have stopped spreading the message on that site and am focusing more on where it’s more effective. Still, it’s only getting worse and worse. I am just one voice, and a tiny one. Here, in the Netherlands, being Libertarian is frowned upon and utterly misunderstood, if it’s known at all. The mindset of folks here is thoroughly socialist, with fascistic policies pretty much the norm. I’ve learned to adapt, though. I haven’t got a business of my own, am poor as dirt, so if you’re not strong, you’ve got to be smart to survive. Maybe I am not that smart, but I can try to be.
My ambition is to become a professional writer, and one that hits hard where it hurts. Though it’s next to impossible to make it as a writer (you got to remember English is not my native language, too), I will try.
I’d like others to advise to study the works of Thomas DiLorenzo, Thomas E. Woods, Jr., Judge Andrew Napolitano, Peter Schiff, and there’s others, too, but the above are all top tier. John Stossel is also one to trust, and Max Keiser. As I said, others as well. Besides, most probably know of these people a long time already. Maybe some haven’t read Louis T. McFadden’s speech in the House, 10 June 1932?
Well, this is the first time I write to Freedom Force and a bit late. You know, I have been a member for a while. Better late than never, I guess. Everything needs its time. Even revolutions. It won’t happen here in the Netherlands anytime soon, unless that National Socialist Wilders gets elected, but that would be a wrong revolution. I have my fingers crossed that the American people wake up. I’ll promptly emigrate, which is what I always wanted to do until I learned what’s really happening. I mean, no one would go live in Nazi Germany, right?
Oh, that reminds me: go visit Making the World Safe for Hypocrisy, a GREAT blog. And thanks again for your impeccable message, presented in (no kidding) impeccable language. Your respectability finally also made me see that Alex Jones is right. I’m following his show for perhaps more than a year now. I still think he’s a bit pompous now and again and has time to kill, so uses lots of words. But all right, the guy’s right. Maybe if I suck up to the Dutch queen here, I can get her to go on his show. It would be hilarious. I bet she doesn’t have a sense of humor, though. Ah, too bad.
Peace,
Jeroen Nouwens