Ragnar's Guide to the Underground Economy

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Summary: Ragnar's Guide to the Underground Economy
Review: Uncle Ragnar has come out with another terrific masterpiece! I virtually read this book cover-to-cover and put it down once for dinner. Nothing Mr. Benson had to say surprised me with the American mindset of today. He teaches you how to play the game, which most people aren't willing to do. It takes a lot of sacrifice to learn and then keep your mouth shut. I'm not admitting to anything here, because "others" will read this review, but I will say that if you're a "protester" you will love this book and how it lays out in detail the means of survival, which is something most Americans should know anyway. This stuff they won't teach you in high school. I've always said it's good to learn another trade skill. This book definitely disproves basic barter books which lend credo to the "money" system. The money system is fiat and we all know that. The reason "money" was used to replace "barter" and "scrip" was because the government [vis a vie the banks] wanted to set up shop to keep control of our lives. Substituting fiat money for something of real value [your labor] is in ingenious way of not only equating your labor with value [as the taxman sees it] but puts us all on an even keel with the economic "store of value". Ragnar does play in the money supply, but that's part of today's game. I can't wait for him to write an epic on bartering, where one human being will be forced to trade [like Karl Hess] in order to avoid complete taxation and NWO tactics. Five stars for this work! It's a great stepping-stone to underground living. I can't help but agree more ... if you're going to do this kind of thing, you're definitely NOT going to tell anyone you're doing it!

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Summary: Good advice but a little short
Review: While I agree that people should learn a secondary trade to have something to fall back on if the economy goes down the tubes, I do not like to place honest hard working people in the same category as "underground" merchants. This book is excellent for those of us who mindlessly followed the law for years and are fed up with unions, work permits and filing taxes. However, the REAL underground economy is much darker than simple tax evasion or "collecting syrup from maple trees" (a good idea nonetheless). What would have greatly enhanced this book would be sections on how to obtain things like apartments, used vehicles, and guns through shady channels. An especially good section would have been "How to contact and conduct business with smugglers and assorted "dealers." Otherwise, another good read from Uncle Ragnar.