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Fairy Tales & Mythology

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Words are how the truth comes to us. They’re also how it can be taken away. Seen only as symbols and grammar, truth and lies are made from the same raw material. Your only hope is discernment. Your life depends on it.

Tolkien and Lewis regarded the fairy tale as a perfectly suited literary vehicle for expressing eternal truth. Lewis credits Tolkien and a mutual friend with helping him see that his love of myth and fairy tale blinded him to, yet prepared him for, the Gospels. He reluctantly came to believe the Gospels were eyewitness accounts of a “true myth”.1

“I wrote this story for you, but when I began it I had not realized that girls grow quicker than books. As a result you are already too old for fairy tales, and by the time it is printed and bound you will be older still. But some day you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again.”2

Mythology or History?

Another term used as a pejorative is mythology.

All mythology is presumed myth as the victors decide what is official history. The history of the defeated is, by definition, written by outlaws. A generation later the history of the defeated is mythology or conspiracy if it’s remembered, at all.

It’s helpful to think of mythology as collections of potential truths inconvenient to the succession of political power. Likewise, “History” is as likely to be the glorification of bureaucrats and technocrats as an accurate re-telling of the facts.

A series of time-related truths, thoroughly vetted and discerned, is not mythology or conspiracy; it’s history.

Trivium & Quadrivium

The subjects of history and philosophy were considered to be so demanding, yet so important, that they weren’t even presented to the student until after they’d studied the subjects of the trivium (Grammar, Logic, Rhetoric) and, ideally, those of the quadrivium (Arithmetic, geometry, music, astronomy).3

“These seven heads were supposed to include universal knowledge. He who was master of these was thought to have no need of a preceptor to explain any books or to solve any questions which lay within the compass of human reason, the knowledge of the trivium having furnished him with the key to all language, and that of the quadrivium having opened to him the secret laws of nature.”4

“… When a few were instructed in the trivium, and very few studied the quadrivium, to be master of both was sufficient to complete the character of a philosopher … The candidate, having reached this point, is now supposed to have accomplish the task upon which he had entered – he has reached the last step, and is now ready to receive the full fruition of human learning.”5

“Some day you’ll be old enough”

The ability to grasp eternal truths and history and bring them to bear on decisions is a high achievement of a classical education. Only philosophy, by attempting to comprehend meaning, imposes greater demands for greater rewards.

“Some day you’ll be old enough” to start reading fairy tales again to glean eternal truths. Someday you’ll be educated enough to distinguish real history from stories convenient to political power.

Words are how the truth comes to us. They’re also how it can be taken away. Seen only as symbols and grammar, truth and lies are made from the same raw material. Your only hope is discernment. Your life depends on it.

  1. A 1931 letter to childhood friend Arthur Greeves, Lewis credits Tolkien (and mutual friend Hugo Dyson). Paragraph reworded and reordered from an article written by Bruce Edwards (https://erlc.com/article/c-s-lewis-051101). ↩
  2. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis ↩
  3. Cathedral Schools of the early Middle Ages (527) on which the curriculum of Medieval universities were based (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cathedral_school) ↩
  4. Hist. of Philos. Vol ii. P. 337 ↩
  5. The symbolism of Freemasonry: Illustrating and Explaining its Science and Philosophy, it’s Legends, Myths, and Symbols. By Albert Gallatin Mackey, M.D., 1869. ↩
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Investors File Criminal Charges Against Kenneth Johnson and Pamela Del Real, FBI and IRS Notified

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As promised by investor Lt. Col. Thomas Baker, the forensic reconstruction of Galt’s Gulch Chile has been completed and was hand-delivered to the FBI and the IRS on June 8th, 2015. Informed by the reconstruction, investor David McLeod filed criminal charges against Kenneth Johnson and Pamela Del Real in Chile (Docket number RUC 4710-2015) on May 20th. More US civil suits against Johnson are likely to follow.

On a phone call with Cathy Cuthbert, she described the forensic recontruction as a wellspring of previously unknown facts and details about what actually transpired around GGC. Timelines, Contracts, Accounting, Wire Transfers, Corporate reports, Recorded conversations between Johnson and investors, Videos, Credit reports, etc. showing Johnson to be at the heart of the problems surrounding GGC he has blamed on others. In other words, despite Johnson’s claims of working for the investors as a developer the reconstruction shows that the “service” Johnson has been providing them is similar to that which the bull provides the cow.

Readers of this GGC series will find it no surprise that Johnson used investor funds to spin a complex web of deceit involving multiple entities, off-shore trusts, multiple bank accounts, share swaps with Mario Del Real and others, inflated prices, ridiculous late fees, absurdly negotiated prices, etc. all while using corporate bank accounts like a personal checking account.

It’s tempting to leave Jeff Berwick out of discussions about GGC now that he’s so publicly apologized. Unfortunately, his involvement in cutting Cobin and German out, starting a different entity into which to take title (IGGSA) and trying to get the New Zealand trust and offshore structures in place is quite evident in the reconstruction documents. There’s little doubt Ken Johnson was the instigator of the most serious problems with GGC, and continues to make all things worse with his presence and current behavior. However, to say Berwick wasn’t right there at the beginning is to not tell the story, correctly, at all. As mentioned in Part 3 my hope is that Berwick will externalize his contrite heart into some modest assistance to ongoing recovery efforts or investors in extreme need. With the introduction of these new charges, with more to follow, the publicity surrounding the aftermath of GGC is not going away, anytime soon.

Note: The criminal charges filed by David McLeod, and some documents of the forensic reconstruction I was able to coax from the recovery team, have been added to the free E-book, “The Creature from Galt’s Gulch”. I will continue to add such elements to the book as I receive them and within the boundaries of preserving the privacy of the investors.

Justice Provided by the People Involved

As described by Cathy Cuthbert and Thomas Baker, the breadth and depth of the forensic reconstruction they’ve put together is quite impressive. It’s not only a meticulous investigation and gathering of documents but they’ve formatted the whole thing into a package that makes it accessible to outside parties.

I’m not sure what may have transpired between Tom and Ken but the USMC motto of “No better friend, no worse enemy” might echo in Johnson’s mind for some time to come. That is, if Johnson is able to comprehend what has just happened to him. The agencies he’s just been reported to will hound him for the next decade. Half of that decade will be spent defending himself against the criminal charges that were filed against him in Chile on May 20th, by David McLeod. And, there’s more to come. A rather obvious tip to Johnson would be: The next time Tom makes an offer of either “Friend” or “Enemy” . . . go with the former choice. Who knows? Maybe the recovery team would still let Johnson wiggle out of his fraud if he’d just hand over the land the investors paid for.

The FBI white collar crime fraud division will find that most of the investigative, forensic accounting, and reconstructive work has been done and hand-delivered to them by the recovery team. With so much work already complete perhaps the agency will bump the case to the top of their case-load so they may stand in front of their logo at a news conference and receive some good publicity.

The Del Real Factor

Johnson is solely responsible for inviting a local Chilean, Mario Del Real, into GGC affairs. And yet, investors have been made to suffer Johnson’s endless complaining about problems he’s had with Mario and his daughter, Pamela. That’s because Johnson performed a bizarre GGC stock swap with Mario hoping to make big money on the value of water in an Andes Water company called Rio Colorado. By the time the smoke had cleared Mario owned most of IGGSA and his daughter was the general manager of the company! In other words, Johnson was no longer the dominant share holder of GGC and had lost all control over the entity that holds the land. What great “Development” work, Ken!

(To understand more about this failed deal see Chapter 7, “The Rio Colorado/GGC Share Swap”, in the GGC E-book.)

If you’ve read my “Stolen Car Metaphor” at the end of Part 7 you know my take that Johnson’s epic fail with the Del Real share swap is merely the lamentations of a thief who bungled and lost the proceeds of a previous theft. The fact that Johnson’s audience for these lamentations are the victims of the first theft is exactly the kind of behavior I find consistent with Dr. Robert Hare’s psychopathy checklist.

Any deal Johnson made with stolen shares of stock can, and should be, overturned. Therefore, whether the Del Reals colluded with Johnson, or are merely his victims, is a matter for a judge to decide (Yes, there is no longer any way to resolve GGC disputes without involving state agencies, unfortunately). Pamela Del Real’s resume (She’s now the general manager for IGGSA) shows substantial accounting expertise. Such expertise will make it impossible for her to plead ignorance if there was any foul-play on the Del Reals part.

Johnson’s Latest Ploy, Revealed

Johnson has now revealed his latest ploy and what’s behind his re-occupation of the GGC hacienda and grounds. And, surprise, surprise, it’s a variation on his usual … lies mixed with just enough truth to confuse and divide his listeners against themselves while holding out a carrot and stick for those who either cooperate or resist.

More specifically, Johnson is trying to confuse and divide investors against lead investor Josh Kirley hoping they’ll put pressure on Josh to relent in his legal actions which have locked up Johnson’s sale and pillage of IGGSA assets. He also wants the investors to help him get rid of his “Del Real” problem. The carrot Johnson offers is the same old title to land he’s been promising investors, and not delivering, for the past two years. The stick is his continued presence and purported counter-attacks on investors who “continue to attack him”. For those not familiar with Johnson-speak, the word “attack” describes the actions of anyone who points out to Johnson another of his own broken promises.

If only the investors will help him convince Kirley to relent, and help him get rid of the Del Reals, then Johnson can deliver, at long last, the coveted Titles to actual land the investors have been pestering him about, all this time.

E-mail Between Host and Parasite

A recent e-mail exchange between Josh Kirley (The host) and Ken Johnson (The parasite) is an excellent illustration of what actually went wrong with GGC. It’s also an excellent example of what happens when “The creature” is confronted with truth.

My thanks to Josh Kirley for making this e-mail exchange available:

On Thu, May 28, 2015 at 12:27 PM, Josh Kirley <joshkirley@gmail.com> wrote:

“Ken,

For two years, you keep sending out the same emails. Always full of juicy drama, promising the release of more information in the future. This behavior is unprofessional. It inspires no confidence. Why can’t you just do your job?Try building something. Try living up to your responsibilities. Produce something. Be accountable. If you are GGC’s Minister of Propaganda, who is the Project Manager? Your accusations are baseless and defy all logic.

Tell me if you can refute the accuracy of the following facts. I swear to their order and authenticity.

1) You are wholly responsible for bringing the del Reals into this nightmare.

2) You pleaded with me to give 1 to 2.5 million dollars to Mario del Real for his Rio Colorado Project. You personally vouched for Mario, insisting the Rio Colorado deal was a “No Brainer” and a “Homerun”

3) I told you that I had my suspicions about del Real and would get back to you after performing some due diligence.

4) Once I told you that I was not willing to put money into a second Chilean investment, you totally reversed course.

5) You refused to provide me with del Real’s Ruta number, or even his full name, intentionally stonewalling my attempts to research his background.

6) You told an entire room full of defrauded investors at the second festival that your deal with del Real was a “totally separate” matter between you and him.

7) You told all of us that your alliance with del Real was “none of our business” and would have no impact on our contracts.

8) When I offered to pay, out of my own pocket, to have del Real looked into for you, you refused my help, saying that you feared if I looked into del Real, he might “get spooked” and walk away from your deal.

9) Weeks later, you came back to me, begging for a million dollars. You said that you were double crossed by del Real and you needed me to buy back the shares that you gave to him.

10) When I would not bail you out, you predictably changed your characterization of my relationship to the project from savior to saboteur.

I’m sorry if I cannot respond to each of your lying emails. But, I have to give priority to my day job. I suggest you do the same. Maybe start by paying employees, repaying loans, and living up to the contracts you signed.

Josh Kirley”

The Parasite Responds

“Josh,

As you know, you are lying about most all that you discuss. There are communications between you, Monica Wehrhahn, Ken Carpenter, Alison Sherman, the Del Reals and more. Do you think that those just disappear because you are now pitching your false storyline to yet another news outlet? This has always seemed to be a publicity stunt for you, just as GGC always have been for Jeff Berwick.”

Johnson then goes on a bizarre rant about Jeff Berwick and BitcoinATM, Wire Transfers, Cafayate, Argentina (If you can believe it) and ends with:

“We are working on completing what Mr. Aguirre was unable to complete, or was unwilling to complete. We are working to fix the $1m+ damages that those labeling themselves “rescuers” of GGC have inflicted upon the farm, buildings and property. We don’t spend our time pitching a false story line for our own publicity, as Mr. Berwick and yourself seem to focus on quite a lot.

Ken”

Notice that Johnson does not dispute, nor even address, any of Kirley’s questions or statements. This is the way e-mail “Exchanges” and “Dialogues” go with Johnson. For readers who may have wondered . . . “Why don’t they just ask Johnson if [Insert simple question here] the above exchange with Josh Kirley is your example. Josh speaks the pure truth and asks sincere questions and, in response, Johnson doesn’t respond, at all.

The last paragraph is classic Johnson-speak. For readers who don’t understand the dialect his e-mails usually end with a payoff like this if you know how to read Johnson-speak. That is, you take all accusations as a literal description of what Johnson, himself, has done or is doing. In his last paragraph, therefore, we learn that Johnson has caused more than a million dollars of damage and is pitching false story lines for his own publicity.

Johnson’s Assaults

I’ve spoken with two people who were physically assaulted by Ken Johnson. The first was a young man Johnson tried to push around (Mentally and physically) during Johnson’s employment with The Dollar Vigilante. This young man would not tolerate Johnson’s nonsense and was the first person to speak up to Berwick about his suspicions about Johnson poisonous behavior. If Berwick had listened it’s anyone’s guess how Galt’s Gulch Chile might have played out without the involvement of Ken Johnson.

The second assault was that of a 70-year-old Salesman that worked for GGC who didn’t fare so well in the “Encounter”. Sandy “Clarence” Sandfort was grabbed by the lapels and thrown over a couch by Johnson when he learned that Sandy was about the leave Chile after all of Johnson’s promises had remained unfulfilled. Sandy was severely bruised and Johnson had almost managed to break a few of Sandy’s ribs. He was so shaken up by Johnson’s assault that Berwick had to fly in the next day and negotiate an NDA and payoff to keep Sandy quiet about the assault. Johnson later broke the terms of that NDA by talking about the assault with a third-party. Hence, Sandy’s retelling of the assault to me.

and Taunting . . .

Tatiana Moroz, who worked for Ken Johnson and wrote the GGC theme song, shares her experiences with GGC and with sociopaths in the liberty movement. Most of what involves GGC is in the first 25 minutes of the video, but, the ladies (With Julia Tourianski, BraveTheWorld.com, and Gigi Bowman, gigibowman.com) go on to tell other fascinating stories around the theme.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KqQW5a4dJMk

Contrast the story Tatiana tells in the above video with the excitement she started out with and you’ll get a feeling for the roller coaster ride that was GGC. Tatiana perfectly captures the cognitive dissonance felt by most who’ve followed the promise, and then the reality, of GGC in the hands of Ken Johnson.

Favorite excerpts:

“This nonsense [Sociopaths in the Liberty Movement] is disgusting and ridiculous … and what’s gonna happen, here, is that people are going to leave and they’re not going to want anything to do with it (True Liberty) and all we’re going to be left with is the dirtbags who think this kind of behavior is ok. … And I’m sick and tired of the people that are trying to call attention to the sociopathic behavior within our own movement getting trashed.”

Tatiana’s right, of course. Natural law doesn’t evaporate around people who wish to retain and use their liberties. If anything, we must be more mindful of universal human truths because we are the people exploring the boundaries of liberty. A tolerance for lies, manipulation, sexual assault, and broken contracts is not “What’s up!” in Liberty. Anyone claiming that such tolerance is “Cool” is not a libertarian. They’re just another asshole in disguise.

John Cobin Interview

I had the pleasure of interviewing John Cobin about GGC for 1.5 hours, last week. The interview was mostly for my E-book about GGC. However, of interest, here, is the remarkable consistency of Dr. Cobin’s story with everything he’s said from the very beginning. Cobin is abundantly forthcoming about every meeting, document, e-mail and conversation he’s had with respect to GGC. My reaction to the interview was to tell him that it was a pleasure to speak with someone involved in GGC that looks better and better with each discovered and documented fact about the project.

Cobin said the impression he got from Jeff Berwick and Ken Johnson was that, they alone, might be able to supply the funding for GGC. He had no idea that they would, almost immediately, take his extensive research and information about Chile and GGC and cut him out of the deal. Although he concurs with the possible psychopathy of Johnson he puts Berwick in the same category in terms of the way they defrauded him. And yet, I had the impression that, even now, he would be forgiving of Berwick if approached in some meaningful way to make restitution.

Cobin said Johnson came after him, very agressively, in a libel suit in Chile. Guess what happened when the court date arrived? Johnson was a no-show! I won’t compare a libel suit with a podcast debate, but, I’m becoming quite familiar with Johnson’s cowardice in the face of someone determined to tell the truth. So far, Johnson’s been a no-show on two podcasts about GGC that he, himself, dared me to participate in.

For those interested in Chile I highly recommend the interview James and Johnathan conducted with Dr. Cobin on Monday over at Borderless. Cobin proves himself to be THE reliable source for all of Chile and much of the rest of the “Expat” world, as well. Cobin’s book, “Life in Chile” greatly increased the effectiveness of my 21-day country-vetting trip to Chile in 2012. I look forward to reading his latest book, “Living in Chile” when I can come up for air over the summer.

GGC Theatre

Johnson has been roaming around the property making absurd videos in an attempt to document the damage done by the recovery team. Perhaps the investors share my hope that Johnson continue making these videos as they are helpful in documenting what Johnson, himself, has done.

One of the things Johnson harps on in the videos are the “Damages” done by the recovery team causing a poor yield from the wells. In fact, such poor yields were caused by Johnson’s complete ignorance and inept handling of the well work around the property. Despite the pleadings of the local workers Johnson put Manuel Hermosillo in charge of the wells and the work was terribly bungled. And yet, somehow, the investors end up blamed, yet again, for Johnson’s incompetence. Such GGC Theatre might be a useful prop to help Johnson influence the Chilean locals who have no idea what’s going on with GGC. To those who’ve read the first thing about GGC, however, they are just that much more documentation of Johnson’s failings.

Message to local Chileans:

Johnson’s accusations of others are a reliable confession of his own failings. There is truth in many of the disasters he documents but your messenger is the culprit, not the victim. Johnson’s “Investment” into GGC remains at zero while 76-investors and buyers have given $10.45 million dollars for the purchase of everything you see associated with GGC. 72 of the investors have been begging Johnson to leave for over a year.

What happens next?

First, most of the predictions made in Part 6 seem to be coming true. That includes Johnson hinting that he wants to sell water rights, again. Happily, he’s unable to do so with the current injunctions in place.

Johnson has some time while the ocean water recedes in preparation for a tsunami of new legal problems.

Some think Johnson will stick it out to the end because his claim to be “Working for” the investors is his only defense against the legal actions that have been filed against him. But, Johnson also claims he controls or owns everything (Vacillating between claims of control or ownership) depending on his audience and the phases of GGC. How could someone who owns everything be an employee? How could a trustee (Controls everything) claim to be a trustee of beneficiaries who have been begging him to leave for the past year?

Perhaps Chile, and the local populace of Curacavi, will no longer tolerate Johnson as the criminal charges pile on. If he’s made to flee then we may see more pictures of his backpacks of stolen money while he’s on the run. I think he still has a Paraguayan passport from the passport scandal he was conducting at TDV. Still, all these charges filed with state agencies will haunt him wherever he goes. As of today, Johnson has put a digital data noose around his own neck that will follow him around the globe.

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Podcast Discussions about Galt’s Gulch Chile

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The Jetsetter Show with Jason Hartman

Jason Hartman and Terence Gillespie discuss Galt’s Gulch Chile and many ways to optimize the path for expatriates in Chile and Colombia. Jason has a wonderful transcription posted just below the link for the podcast:

JS 101: What Happened with Galt’s Gulch, Chile?

Borderless Network Podcast

In this episode we have Terence Gillespie on the show to discuss what happened with Galt’s Gulch Chile and some of the lessons that can be learned from what happened there.

Show notes:

The background on Galt’s Gulch Chile (0:50)
Who is Terence Gillespie (4:13)
Why does he care (5:18)
Was Galt’s Gulch a libertarian project? (6:36)
At what point in time did this deal fall apart? (9:40)
How was this theft possible? (11:42)
How much of the blame should go on the investors? (13:15)
What caused the change is perception in August 2014? (17:15)
What was Jeff Berwick’s role in this fiasco (22:30)
What is going to have to happen in order for this to turn into a successful project? (27:35)
Will the $10.5 million be recovered? (32:09)
Affinity Scam
Was GGC a fraud from the beginning? (34:54)
Lessons learned from GGC (36:36)

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GGC Part 7 — Jerry Folta’s Legal Action against IGGA

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Part 1: What Happened and When?

Part 2: Root Cause of Problems?

Part 3: How Might Problems be Avoided in the Future?

Part 4: What’s the Deal with Berwick and GGC?

Part 5: Feedback from the Recovery Team

Part 6: Johnson Re-Occupies Galt’s Gulch

 

E-mail Sent to Jerry Folta

From: Terence
To: jerry@foltas.com
Date: Mon, 04 May 2015 21:14:41 -0700

Jerry,

My name is Terence Gillespie, the author of the GGC
series Parts 1 – 6, starting here:

https://mcgillespie.com/galts-gulch-chile-story-timeline-references/

I’m writing to request a comment from you on an apparent snippet
of an e-mail exchange between yourself and Wendy McElroy that
Kenneth Johnson cut/pasted into the comments section of a recent
Panama Post article.

————————————
On May 1, 2015, at 5:04 PM, Wendy McElroy wrote:

Are you suing Ken J?

On Fri, May 1, 2015 at 5:08 PM, Jerry Folta wrote:

Absolutely not. Cathy, as is her way, got it wrong.”
———————————-

Here are my questions for you, Jerry:

1) When you wrote, “Cathy . . . got it wrong” did you mean that it was actually lawyer, Héctor Hernán Herrera Flores, who filed on behalf of entity “Jumpin’ G’s SpA” against Inmobiliaria Galt’s Gulch S.A. per this public document?

CORTED DE APELACIONES DE SANTIAGO
Sec: Civil Folio: 00240284
Procedimiento:
Jdo: 18 CIV Rol : C-007863
Fecha: 02–04-2015 Hora : 12: 42
Materia : C01

2) Is “Jumpin’ G’s SpA” your entity or one in which you have an interest?

3) Why did you use that entity in the “Promesa de Compraventa y Prestamo” with IGGSA for a 25 acre lemon orchard lot?

4) Who is required to respond to the action, Pamela Del Real or Kenneth Dale Johnson?

5) Why not use arbitration, which your contract allows, instead of a much more expensive civil action?

I’m writing an article about this filing as I think it’s applicable to the series, and more importantly, justice and restoration to investors such as yourself. Please respond within three days so that I may include your view on the matter.

I’m sorry for any losses you’ve had with respect to GGC. All private correspondence between me and you will be kept private, if you prefer. However, the questions I am sending you will be in my article. Please mark clearly any information in your reply that you would prefer to be kept private.

Thank you,

Terence GIllespie
McGillespie.com

Jerry’s Response

Hi Terence:

Jumpin’G’s SpA is owned by a Trust that I set up for the benefit of myself and my heirs. The current General Manager of IGGSA according to public record is Pamela Del Real. Arbitration is inappropriate because she became General Manager as a result of fraudulent actions. The approach I’m taking hopefully provides flexibility going forward in clarifying the legal ownership of GGC.

Once ownership is legally clear it is hoped all buyers/investors, including members of the Rescue Team, will take title to their properties (as well as GGC equity for First Round Founders) and GGC can be completed.

Jerry

Inference & Analysis

Prior to sending the e-mail, above, to Jerry, I published a detailed inference about it’s meaning with respect to GGC investors and Folta. Having now received Folta’s response to my questions I’ll supplement that public inference by adding comments to the original under the heading “To Which I Add/Clarify”. Here’s what I originally wrote:

Defendant: Galt’s Gulch S.A. . . . Don KENNETH DALE JOHNSON,
El Promitente comparador (Jumpin’ G’s SpA)

$450,000 US.

Here’s how it works GGC Investors: Jerry’s entity filed a civil suit against Inmobiliaria Galt’s Gulch S.A. on 4/2/15. Johnson lets the suit go through without protesting and Jumping’ G (Jerry Folta) “wins” the suit, by default.

Now, if Josh Kirley’s suit goes in favor of the GGC Investors then Jerry Folta is first in line to get paid. How? Because Folta takes the judgment and turns it into a lien against Inmobiliaria Galt’s Gulch S.A. Now, guess who has to get paid first when the entity (Land) is sold? Correct: Folta.

If Josh’s suit goes the other way then Johnson “pays off” Jerry’s suit for $1 or whatever.

Folta and Johnson have been playing both sides against the middle the whole time. This is just more of the same. I highly doubt $450,000 was ever given to Johnson by Folta. This is just a way for Jerry to recoup his losses with Johnson before the other 75 investors.

Now, do you see why Folta is technically telling the truth when claiming he’s not “suing” Ken Johnson? No, it’s his entity that has filed the suit. And if you question Folta about that then he’ll still deny it and even that is true. No money changed hands and he’s already agreed in advance on the sham with Johnson.

It’s a LIEN disguised as a CIVIL SUIT!

Welcome to the world of fiat money, invoices, bills, and yes, civil suits. Just because there’s a number on a suit between two supposedly “warring” parties does not mean any money has changed hands or that anything is really owed.

To Which I Add/Clarify

Folta’s action is filed against “Inmobiliaria Galt’s Gulch S.A.”, referred to as IGGSA. The original entity created by Cobin, et. al., was “Galt’s Gulch Chile S.A.. Therefore, Folta’s action is against Johnson’s personal entity into which he fraudulently conveyed receipt of GGC properties purchased with investor money. This fraudulent conveyance is the primary and largest fraud, performed by Johnson, that caused all the “controversy” about GGC.

Even if Johnson shows up to contest the action it could still go in Folta’s favor.

This is a legal, not a moral, inference that I’m making about Folta becoming first lien holder in line. Morally, all investors are equally entitled to restitution. Legally, it may not make Folta first in line but it would make him among the few investors with a state judgment in their hands, unless others decide to file such actions. Also, the lien would be against an entity holding stolen property. Whether or not the Chilean courts would recognize or consider this fact is anyone’s guess. That probably depends on the decision regarding Josh Kirley’s separate action currently awaiting a judgment

My hope is that neither Jerry Folta, nor any investor, would be foolish enough to go along with such a scheme with Johnson. Also, as written in my e-mail to Folta, the last thing I want to see is any investor losing more money to Johnson.

As described in Part 6 under the heading of “Litigation Pending”, I have since learned that Folta did purchase a Promesa (Option) for a 25-acre lemon orchard lot. I have no reason or evidence to believe that Jerry did not pay real money for this lot (Or an option for such a lot, anyway). My inference that Jerry is “Playing both sides against the middle” is based on his continued support of Johnson amidst an avalanche of evidence and eye-witness testimony that Johnson’s a crook. It’s also based on Jerry’s strange and veiled  responses to specific questions from the recovery team and a rather misleading response to an e-mail from Wendy McElroy (A private e-mail made public by Johnson, I might add).

When you have people, entities, and representatives of entities, involved in legal filings things get murky and one can play lots of legalistic and semantic word games with the truth. There are so many combinations of possibilities for casually, but inaccurately, describing Folta’s action that anyone who doesn’t get the language exactly correct can be easily (And maliciously) accused of “not knowing what’s going on” or, in Cathy Cuthbert’s case, “… as is her way, got it wrong”. My e-mail to Folta was more specifically worded. As you can see by Folta’s response, Cuthbert was closer to the truth than one might gather from Folta’s dismissive, and unforthcoming, e-mail response to a straightforward question by Wendy McElroy with the same general intent. So, why didn’t Folta just explain the details?

And, what about Folta’s legal action might “clarify legal ownership of GGC?” If the judgment is turned into a lien against IGGSA then it most certainly is a lien disguised as a civil suit.

The Big Picture in Simple Words

Can the booty of a theft be liened?

Someone steals money from my partner and I. The thief uses the money to buy a car and puts his corporation on the title. Then the thief meets another thief who transfers the shares of the corporation into his name. Upon finding out about the car my partner panics and files a lien against the shares of the corporation. Now, what happens when the car is found and I try to get my money back? I can sell the car and split the money with my parter, right? Or, if we want the car we can keep it in our partnership, right?

Key: The GGC investors and Folta are the partners. The first thief is Johnson. Sarrazin and Ramirez sold  the car. The second thief is Mario Del Real. Jerry Folta is the lien-holder. The GGC investors and Jerry are the rightful owners of the car.

The moral and legal answer should be that nothing downstream of the original theft matters. And, in the case of Jerry Folta’s legal action, a lien on the shares of the corporation formed by a thief with money he stole is merely a stopgap measure in case the original owners of the money gets shafted because everyone is so confused about the theft and the shares of the car.

It’s a little more complicated than that but I’ll expand on the metaphor in future updates.

Folta is hedging his bets in case the money won’t or can’t be returned to the original owners but the shares of the corporation may be returned to thief number one, Johnson. Actually, the second thief could keep the “car” and Folta’s legal action would still hedge his bets if his legal action prevails.

Anyway, That’s GGC in a nutshell, folks.

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The Outlier’s Handbook

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The world discards ideas and people that present multiple standard deviations away from “normal”. And yet, Reality has always been phenomenal and noumenal. To ensure you’re able to thrive in the artificial chaos of this generation you’ll need to be an outlier, in many ways. Here’s “The Outlier’s Handbook” to optimize your trajectory.

The Outlier’s Handbook

(Thriving in Artificial Chaos)

Table of Contents

Part 1 — What Outliers?

“Let Your Reasonableness Be Known to Everyone”

  • Ockham’s Razor: Benefits & Limits
  • The Bookends of Normalcy Bias & Cognitive Dissonance
  • “This Book Goes Too Far!”

What Outliers?

  • Outliers Defined
  • You Know You’re An Outlier If . . .
  • Outlier Benefits
  • Outlier Costs
  • Personal Secession and Other Outlier Mindsets

Part 2 — It’s Your World, Boss!

This Is Where You Live

American Roulette

  • The Constitution is Safe!
  • A Bank with Social Services Around It
  • Democracy: The God that Failed
  • The Corporation
  • The Deep State
  • Fascism, American Style

Lifecycle of Nations

  • “Poverty of Nations” Report Card
  • Imperial Collapse Playbook

Danger, Will Robinson!

Technocracy: The Trojan Horse of Global Transformation

Regional Bloc Head Mercantilism

  • Gee, Maybe Nation-States Weren’t So Bad, After All
  • Solutions Amidst Global Fascism
  • Change Happens Like This, Now

Part 3 — The Usual Suspects

Call Them As You See Them

Origin & Story of Rulers and Authorities

  • Angelic Gen 6 View: Consistency & Insights
  • So, Who are “They”?
  • The “New” Face of Evil (Follow the Blood)
  • Long Term Trends Require Spiritual Unity
  • The Minions
  • A Working Structure of Oppression

They Walk Among Us

  • Serial Killers
  • How Can You Spot One?
  • Political Ponerology
  • 7 signs you might be dating one
  • Protection From Them
  • Speech Patterns
  • I, Psychopath
  • The Hidden Cost of Killing Psychopaths
  • Beware the Backlash

Elements of Their World View

Their Goals

  • ”Ye Shall Be As Gods”

Their Methods

  • The Moral Code of Evil
  • Inversion
  • Undisclosed Adhesion Contracts
  • Counterfeit Money
  • Controlled Markets
  • Technocracy
  • Stacked & Interlocking Pyramidical Structures
  • Consolidation
  • Democracy
  • Eugenics
  • Perpetual Fear
  • Long-Term Planning
  • With Methods Like This, Who Needs the Occult?

Part 4 — Acquiring Immunity

Move #1: Acquire Personal Immunity

Personal Matters

  • Purpose is Everything
  • Managing Outlierhood
  • Growth
  • Ethical Time Travel

Health Matters

  • First Do No Harm
  • Clean Food, Water, Air & Place
  • Nutrient Dense Diet
  • Gut Flora, Probiotics and the Second Brain
  • Optimal Exercise
  • Stress & Breathing
  • Life Extension & Blood Sugar Management
  • Sensible Health Insurance
  • Putting It All Together

Spiritual Matters

  • Intelligent or Random Design
  • Oneism (Monism) vs. Dualism
  • CINO’s & MINO’s
  • Christianity Leads To Science, Islam leads to Murder
  • Gandhi or Jesus?
  • Get Blessed
  • Get Uncursed
  • Supernatural Immunity: The Mind & Way Of Christ
  • The Whole Council of God
  • Spiritual Warfare
  • Practical Examples of Spiritually Based Solutions

Locational Matters

  • The Best Place to Live
  • Where Not to Live
  • Should you relocate?
  • The World is Yours
  • The Illusion of Ownership
  • Mobility
  • G.O.O.D Project – Lessons Learned

Family Matters

  • Instrument of Recursive Perfection
  • Spouse Choice
  • Children
  • Extended Family
  • Friends Worth the Title are Family
  • Community

Legal Matters

  • Natural Law
  • The Constitution is Safe!
  • Jurisdiction Matters
  • Where is the Agreement?
  • It’s Hard to Be a Free Man
  • Unraveling Your Liberty

Financial Matters

  • Money is for Immunity & Purpose
  • Business as Extension of Purpose
  • Tax Penalties for Fear and Poor Planning
  • Mortgage Slavery, Repealed
  • Austrian Economics is Real Economics
  • Investments in Immunity & Purpose Have the Highest ROI
  • Asset Protection

Political Matters

  • Terms of “State” & “Government”
  • The Diversion Of Left – Right Thinking
  • The Votes that Matter
  • Optimal Government = Perfect Self-Government
  • The Chief Asset Of The State: Fear & Belief In It’s Necessity
  • All Matters of Liberty Are Related
  • Caveat Viator: Libertarianism and Anarchy are Aspects of a Complete Worldview
  • Govern Thyself Perfectly and Hold Death Dear

Perspective Matters

  • The Most Valuable Commodity on the Planet
  • Philosophers On Donuts
  • Terms of “Freedom” & “Liberty”
  • Equality & Authority
  • Freedom & Structure
  • Peace Does Not Flow From Passivity
  • Proof and Truth
  • You Can’t Beat Everything with Nothing
  • “Let’s Just Split the Difference and Find a Middle Ground”
  • Stoicism
  • The Opportunity in Uncertainty
  • If Swamp Rats Can’t be Exterminated Why Can You?
  • What About America?

Doing Matters

  • Tony Robbin’s Best Trick
  • Think Spiritually, Act Locally
  • Getting Things Done
  • Low Hanging Fruit
  • Tragic Flaws of Conventional Prepping
  • Expert Tips
  • How To Lose Without Fighting (An Outlier’s Not To-Do List)

Part 5 — Ants & The Human Mosaic

Change The World in Four Moves

  • Humans as an Ant Army
  • Move #1: Immunity
  • Move #2: Specialize
  • Move #3: Move
  • Move #4: Cooperate
  • Humanize the Best Attributes of Animals & Insects

Part 6 — Problems: Solutions

Move #2: Specialize & Pick One

Personal Concerns

  • Training Disguised as Education
  • Shortening Attention Spans
  • Media Agitprop

Health Concerns

  • Eugenics
  • Vaccines Vs. Immunity
  • Socialized Medicine
  • Food Fascism & GMOs
  • Fluoridated water
  • Nuclear Waste & Meltdown Disasters
  • Geo-Engineering
  • Disease(s) Cured

Spiritual Concerns

  • Psychopathy
  • Moral Relativism
  • Odious Debt (Slavery)
  • Wars of Conquest
  • False-Flag Attacks
  • End Times Decoder Rings
  • 501c3 Churches

Locational Concerns

  • Agenda 21
  • Scientific Control Grid
  • Power Grid Fragility

Family Concerns

  • The State as Great Father
  • Broken Families

Legal Concerns

  • Patent Squelching
  • Webs of Undisclosed Adhesion Contracts
  • Drug Wars
  • Licensing
  • Militarization of Police
  • Surveillance State
  • Monopoly
  • Bonus: Beating Traffic Tickets

Financial Concerns

  • Fractional Reserve Banking (The Theft of Human Labor)
  • Disappearing Middle-Class A.K.A Unemployment
  • Currency Wars
  • US Bankruptcy
  • World Banking Systems
  • Institutional(ized) Theft
  • Market Manipulation
  • Global Cooling, Warming …Climate Change?
  • Technocracy

Political Concerns

  • Collectivism
  • Globalism

Part 7 — Appendices

  • In Case of Emergency: Read First!
  • Four Ways to Parse Solutions
  • Reading List for Outliers
  • Outlier Creeds
  • Sovereignty & Law
  • Agorist Manifesto in 95 Theses
  • Agorist Road-map Kyle Bennet
  • 100 Ways To Leave Leviathan
  • Wayne & Barry’s Guide for World Rulers
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GGC, Part 6 — Johnson Re-Occupies Galt’s Gulch

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I’ve spent the last two days responding on the comment section of an article written by Rebeca Morla at the Panama Post. Though I find the article represents mostly Johnson’s point of view I sympathize with any journalist under deadline having to come up to speed on the Galt’s Gulch Chile project. I was informed by a comment on Doug Casey’s International Man forum that Rebeca used this series to prepare her article. I look forward to more articles from her and the post in the future. Also, James Guzman followed up with a brief article on GGC, as well. The only thing I might change about Guzman’s article is his reference to the rescue team’s entrance to the property, last October, as an “armed capture”. That probably comes from Berwick’s article referring to it as a “SWAT Raid”. My understanding is that there were no guns and no violence involved in the recovery team’s entrance to the property. I make that distinction because it’s important to libertarians and because Johnson’s recent reoccupation did, in fact, involve the use of a firearm. As I’ve pointed out in previous articles, Johnson is no libertarian and should not be confused, in any way, with the principles of Ayn Rand’s “Atlas Shrugged” from which the name Galt’s Gulch is derived.

With Mario Del Real already in control of “El Penon” (GGC Parcel #1 of 2) farm workers working on “El Lepe” (The second and largest parcel of land that comprises Galt’s Gulch Chile and it’s offices, hacienda and lemon trees) reported, last week, that, under threat of violence by three hired thugs (One concealing a gun), Ken Johnson has taken back occupation of “El Lepe”. Below is the narrative from farm managers Renzo and Ken Carpenter as sent out to investors on Wednesday, April 22nd.

Friday, April 17th at the farm:

  • Farm worker, Jaime Olivares, while cutting espino trees saw Manuel Hermosilla walking inside the property. When confronted Hermosilla said that he would kill Farm Manager Diego.
  • The Farm Managers made a complaint with the Curacaví police against Hermosilla for entering the property and making his death threat.

Monday, April 20th, at the farm:

  • At 8:30 pm, Ian Thornton and three thugs with a pistol, arrived at the gate and said to Diego and Coto, “Open the gate. We are coming in, one way or another.” Diego let them in.
  • Ian confiscated their telephones.
  • Coto, from a hiding place, was able to communicate with Renzo who was in town on farm business. He alerted Renzo as to what was happening.
  • Renzo phoned the police. By the time the cops arrived, Ian had put new chains on the gate so Renzo and the cops could not enter the property.
  • Renzo called Ian from the gate. Thornton said to him, “You have two options, cooperate or go to jail for the things you sold.”
  • Former developer Johnson arrived around 11 pm, inspected the house, and left with the IMac Desktop computer.
  • Thornton offered Renzo work if he would cooperate.
  • Thornton said that no employee would be paid this week, but would be paid starting next week.

Tuesday, April 21st, Morning, Santiago:

  • Former developer Johnson arrived with two police officers at Kenny’s apartment in Santiago.
  • Police showed proof of GGC ownership of the Jeep to Kenny.
  • Kenny explained to the police that the jeep was voluntarily loaned out and the keys handed over to him. He gave the cops the keys.
  • The police ask for a GPS and computer, but Kenny told them that he didn’t have any registered company property. Johnson called his lawyer who advised him to tell the cops to take only the jeep.
  • Johnson said that Del Real is about to go to prison and anyone aligned with him is in trouble.

Both the farm and the jeep are in improved condition from when The Recovery Team took possession of them. We have photographic evidence of that. The employees were paid up to date, and we were current on all bills.

Thursday, April 23rd:

The GGC Recovery Team received a report from Curacaví this evening that Johnson presented one of the farm managers with a criminal complaint for selling various “antiques” and old equipment around the premises to raise money for salaries and operating expenses. The farm managers were interrogated by Johnson’s lawyers and the PDI (Chilean FBI equivalent) for hours.

NOTE: As of May 3rd, 2015 there are no criminal charges on the court website. Johnson may have had a lawyer write up charges but it’s doubtful he would spend the money to file them.

Recovery Team Reaction

These are bullying and intimidation tactics. Former developer Johnson knows full well that the money was used to pay workers wages and operating expenses of an unprofitable farm. What does this say about him, that this swindler who defrauded a group of international investors of $10 million would use the cops to intimidate his former employees, the very men he, just a few hours before, terrorized with Santiago mafiosi? What does it say about Jerry Folta who bankrolled Johnson? And what does it say about Chile?

Regarding Johnson’s reoccupation, Cathy Cuthbert writes:

“The second Johnson Reign of Terror begins, *yawn*. At least we don’t have to worry any more about Diego and Renzo being knifed in the middle of the night.”

“We were well aware that something like this might transpire since for about four weeks, we’ve had evidence of Johnson’s goons casing the farm, and noted several amateurish attempts to gain inside information and stir up dissent among the Recovery Team.”

“While Johnson and Thornton celebrate their Pyrrhic victory, Uriah Heep-like as is their habit, we are reminded of that priceless scene from Tin Men.

The facts are these:

  1. The expenses of the unprofitable farm are off our backs. All the legal fund money will go to legal fees at this very important juncture.
  2. The harvest season is essentially over so there’s no income now, anyway. This is the least profitable time of year and excellent timing for us.
  3. Johnson’s prodigious liabilities are intact and increasing.
  4. The Recovery Team is relieved of management responsibilities, giving us more time to concentrate on the upcoming litigation.
  5. Former developer Johnson now has a golden opportunity to prove he can keep his commitments.

We achieved our goals during our tenure at the farm. We blocked former developer Johnson from misappropriating this year’s harvest income. We paid the farm workers their back pay, pension and health contributions that Johnson owed. We acquired valuable information for our criminal discovery. We’ve made friends and contacts in Curacaví. We demonstrated to the community that we are willing to pay debts. We improved the condition of the farm after years of neglect.

The most important news is that Diego, Coto and Renzo are safe. Whether they continue to work on the farm or find other positions, we thank them for their service to us and wish them well.

The most important take away from this update is that our litigation plans are not affected by this violent act. In fact, we’re better off.”

Let Johnson Meet His Obligations, for a Change

Johnson used investor money to purchase the property and received title to it in his own personal entity (Inmobiliaria Galt’s Gulch SA) and not the entity created by the originating partners to receive title (Galt’s Gulch Chile SA). He’s been responsible for paying all bills, taxes, salaries and maintenance costs of the property from the date of the sale and up to the present day. When the recovery team visited the property, last October, the place was in shambles and the recovery team took it upon themselves to bring all bills, taxes and salaries up to date and clean the place up. From the standpoint of the fraudulent legal title under which the property is currently being held, the recovery team was under no obligation to make such payments. Such remains the case, today.

Of course, Johnson’s MO is to have his cake, eat it, charge others for it, demand someone pay for a new cake and the cost to refrigerate it, refuse to acknowledge that there ever was a cake, accuse anyone within sight of having stolen five cakes, and assaulting the bakers wife! Will this translate into Johnson claiming that Mario Del Real is responsible for all GGC obligations because thief #2 (Real) stole the booty from thief #1 (Johnson)? Johnson’s recent history shows that, if one can imagine it, Johnson can do it, claim it’s the truth or accuse someone else of doing it. The least likely of all things to occur is that Johnson will keep his word to anyone or anything he’s talked about.

No Honor Among Thieves

Johnson appears to have been out-swindled by Mario Del Real who somehow ended up with a significant portion of the shares of Johnson’s personal entity and, therefore, ownership of GGC. Johnson is suing Mario Del Real regarding this transfer/sale. Though he claims to be active in the suit, records show there has been no activity on it since November of 2014.

The investors have been requesting, then demanding, that Johnson share accounting and legal documents with them for 205 days, now. Johnson has been putting them off by returning their requests with either accusations or document fragments that are available to the public. Using Jerry Folta as an intermediary, Johnson recently tried to get the recovery team to pay his accounting bill of $8000 to get access to the records the team paid for, long ago. Here’s an example of the kinds of “deals” Johnson tries to make behind the scenes with his investors: The GGC team was to pay the accountant, in full, and in return would receive an income statement and balance sheet. The full accounting detail of all transactions would then be sent to Johnson and denied to the recovery team!

Well, the GGC team did not take the “deal” as they had already gathered the documents and conducted their own painstaking forensic accounting of what has transpired. As outrageous as the “deal” offered to the team was, an important thing to note is that Johnson doesn’t even have a copy of his own books!

Johnson’s Law

The cost of filing a completed criminal complaint in Chile is ~$50,000 US. Johnson somehow managed to get one filed and But, Johnson has not filed anything with the Chilean courts, recently.  The complaint he showed up with at the GGC gates on April 20th, with two policemen in tow, was likely a prop drawn up by a lawyer (Johnson doesn’t speak Spanish).

Johnson’s “complaint” was that the farm workers were selling off his property to pay farm worker salaries and pensions. One must understand that Johnson’s priorities leave the payment of expenses such as farm worker salaries downstream of just about everything.

Cobin made a comment on a podcast in early 2014 wondering when Johnson would run out of lawyers willing to work for him as Johnson seems to have trouble paying his legal and accounting bills. That could mean his current lawyer either won’t be around for long or is expecting a form of compensation other than money.

Johnson is Probably Furious and Broke

If Johnson is the psychopath he’s widely speculated to be such predators are infuriated by exposure of their crimes and schemes. They become physically ill upon losing control to their “Inferiors” (Everyone other than themselves). One theory is that Johnson was so infuriated when the recovery team took over physical control of the property, last October, that he couldn’t stand himself until he took it back. As trivial and adolescent as this may seem to an outside observer such motivations are quite real and possible to a psychopath.

Johnson presents as positive for most items of Dr. Robert Hare’s psychopathy checklist. As such, it’s not irresponsible to use the metaphor that we are all mere projections in the twisted video game Johnson sees through his eyes that he calls his life. There’s a certain threshold of destruction and pain that can only be inflicted by those incapable of feeling empathy for their fellow man and many of those directly involved with GGC believe Johnson is there.

Ironically, Johnson’s occupation of the land is of minor importance to the recovery team. It may even give the team the ability to retain the moral high ground while letting Johnson pay “his own” bills, for a change. Any money that johnson uses to pay a bill would have come from the investors, anyway. In that sense, any bills he pays might be viewed as a form of recovery.

Johnson, like socialism, may also be running short of other people’s money, about now, and need a place to stay. Since he used investor money to pay for the property they should send him an invoice for the rent he’s now accruing by occupying the property and blocking such income to investors. His rental rate could be set at the same rates he quoted for a per-night stay at the hacienda in the sales brochures ($150 per night). Every month Johnson occupies GGC would incur rent due of $4,500 US.

Water Rights?

Johnson may have something up his sleeve in attempting to sell-off (Again) the most valuable asset of the GGC land: Water rights. Although the injunction, which blocks any sale until all legal actions against the property are resolved, is still in place, Johnson’s current lawyer has experience in the area of water rights. It’s not outside of the realm of possibility that Johnson has worked a deal with the lawyer to do this. The criminal complaint Johnson filed, that enabled him to show up at the gates with two policeman, can cost as much as $50k US to perfect. Johnson may have worked some backroom deal with the lawyer to work, pro-bono, with the promise of a share of future water rights. This is mere speculation on my part, but possible, considering what is of remaining value of El Lepe outside of free rent for Johnson.

Johnson Surfaces to Contact Wendy McElroy

Johnson “surfaced” in March to contact libertarian writer, Wendy McElroy, who purchased an option on a GGC parcel with her husband, Brad. Though Wendy is no fan of Johnson she thought perhaps talking with Johnson would facilitate some progress in negotiations without further involvement of State entities. For Johnson’s part, he’s received nothing but the bad press he deserves since Wendy’s exposé, last year. Perhaps Johnson thought he might turn that around if he could be seen as reasonable to a talented writer and GGC option owner. McElroy broached the possibility of further exchanges with Johnson to investors and I have no information about how it might have been received or if any progress was made.

No doubt Wendy’s exposé saved some number of potential new investors from losing money in GGC. She was not, however, responsible for the drop-off in GGC sales, as previously speculated. A forensic accounting of sales receipts shows a precipitous drop-off of investment money in January 2014 after Berwick stopped marketing GGC in October of 2013. So, after deals already in the pipeline were closed … sales slowed to a trickle. As described in Part 4 of this series, Berwick’s marketing efforts were the prime mover in bringing investor money into GGC. When Berwick stopped marketing, people stopped investing. Wendy’s articles exposed the reasons why Berwick stopped marketing but she did not cause him to stop. Berwick followed up the next day with an article of his own confirming Wendy’s information and adding his own take on the state of GGC and why he stopped marketing efforts.

Farm Status

The lemon trees need 50 Liters per second (LPS) to thrive and are now only receiving 1.5 LPS. Receiving so little water will greatly stress the trees and is a bad indictor for next years harvest.

The office and Hacienda were in great shape prior to Johnson’s reoccupation with pictures to prove it. In fact, it might have been about time to start renting it out for supplemental income to support the farm. Now that Johnson’s on site and blocking access to the investors, again, Johnson will most likely let the property fall back into decay. For all of Johnson’s lies the place was approaching biohazard status as the recovery team came on site, in October. We can only hope that Johnson’s hyped “Animal sanctuary” has also lost it’s credibility and more dogs won’t be dropped off to starve to death while Johnson feeds salmon filet’s to his own dog.

Litigation Pending

There are two civil suits pending from investors:

  1. Josh Kirley’s suit which questions the procedures with which “El Lepe” was purchased from Ramirez, by Johnson. The Chileans are meticulous in their paperwork and Johnson showed the wrong ID for the deed of purchase. However, he did show the correct ID (Passport) in the closing. This civil case has already been heard and is awaiting a decision.
  2. Jerry Folta’s civil suit, filed on 4/2/15, on behalf of Jerry’s entity (Jumpin’ G SpA) against Johnson’s entity, Inmobiliaria Galt’s Gulch S.A., for $450,000. Folta paid $450,000 US for the purchase of a 25 acre lemon orchard lot. It appears to me that Folta’s suit is positioned to become an uncontested judgement that will be turned into a lien against Johnson’s entity. Such a lien would put Folta in line before other investors should the company that holds the property be sold. Should Kirley’s suit start fraudulent sales to unravel Folta’s at the front of the line to block the sale or be paid off first.

I should mention that Johnson’s suit filed against Mario Del Real is about the theft of already stolen property. The first theft was performed by Johnson as he took investor money and used it to take ownership of the land in the name of his own personal entity and not the entity formed by Cobin, Eyzaguirre and Berwick with which receipt was to be taken. Therefore, Johnson’s suit against Real involves the dispute between thieves of previously stolen property.

Civil lawsuits are not issued a date to be heard in Chile. This is Chilean style justice and cases are  heard as the judge gets to them or sees fit. The general public does not know when a case “is about to be heard”, despite Johnson’s public warnings.

Folta’s Follies

Jerry Folta has been playing both sides against the middle since GGC started unraveling. He pretends to support Johnson while filing civil suits against him. When questioned, he says the other investors don’t understand what’s going on and that he’s not suing Johnson. Technically, it’s Jerry’s entity (Jumpin’ G SpA) filing against Johnson’s entity (Inmobiliaria Galt’s Gulch SA). Is that what investors don’t understand? That the civil suit is filed between entities and not people? If so, Folta’s playing word games with the investors. Folta’s contracts are convoluted, as well, with all sorts of meandering language and terms.

If Folta still supports Johnson and yet files such lawsuits against him, then they’re both playing games such as what I’ve described as a lien disguised as a civil suit. What normal business relationship involves sending invoices to each other in the form of civil lawsuits? Perhaps a relationship in cahoots to use any form of fiat they want to make things go their way: Fiat loans, invoices, liens, mortgages, and even civil lawsuits, in whatever manner they agree to use them to protect their interests. It will take more digging to unravel such alleged constructive filings, completely, and I have not done so.

Short-term Predictions

My predictions are that the same sorts of things that happened before, when Johnson was “in charge” and blocking farm access to the investors who paid for it, will happen again:

  • Johnson will make no improvements, whatsoever, to the property.
  • Johnson will conduct no maintenance, whatsoever, to the property.
  • Johnson will string along, exploit and burn any employees or creditors who didn’t learn the folly of trusting him the last time around.
  • The place will be slowly returned to biohazard status as a result of Johnson’s squatting and “living” habits.
  • No bills will be paid so the electricity, and any other utilities, will be shutoff per the policies of the local Chilean energy provider.
  • Johnson will spend his days trying to figure out how to sell-off anything of value he possibly can: Water rights being the crown jewel and trickling downwards from there.
  • Any money Johnson receives as a result of one of his sell-off schemes will go directly into his pocket and to no one else.
  • And, last but not least: Even Jerry Folta will get further burned by Johnson.

When Johnson sends public updates about GGC I’ve found the best way to glean any actual truth they may contain is to invert every assertion and work from there.

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Patagonia, Chile
Banking

Two Paragraph Expat Guide to Chile

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Rent and K.I.S.S.

All the land development talk in my Galt’s Gulch Chile series seems pretentious. Then again, merely telling the average person you’re flying to Chile has a good chance of causing eyes to glaze over as if one is doing something exotic. Flying to Chile is not exotic; it’s merely something that’s possible the instant one decides it is.

If there’s a storm headed your way it’s time to cut the crap-talk about some castle you own and get to a motel room anywhere the storm isn’t. Why be grandiose about the simple and elegant act of leaving to let the storm pass? In fact, why say anything at all except to make a few calls to shutoff utilities and keep any promises you’ve made to others before leaving town? With mouth firmly closed, just hop a flight and get a room.

Engaged Withdrawal is Not Passive

The point of all this ex-pat business is to contribute to the solution through engaged withdrawal. Having gone through much of the advanced work of ex-patting my family I can vouch for the truth that engaged withdrawal is not a passive undertaking (Hat tip to Wendy McElroy for this link).

Two Paragraph Expat Guide to Chile

Forget about all this talk of land development and ownership. Motels, Hotels, Apartments, houses and cabana’s dot the entire country, have already been developed, and are yours for the renting. Your best second home is a rental anywhere you want to be. Keep it that simple and you won’t even be limited to Chile.

Nine out of ten Chilean ex-pats end up in NE Santiago (Las Condes) so just rent there for a few months and make scouting trips on the weekends. When the 90 days is up on your visa fly to Argentina for the weekend and reset it. That’ll get you out of the US for six months with your “measly” first passport. You have one, right?

It’s Your World, Boss

The world is yours the instant you recognize it is. The nagging urge to “own” things, perhaps stronger in the American psyche, is best kept at bay when conducting one’s life across multiple nation-states.

I recall streaming the movie “Inglourious Basterds” [sic, indeed] from netflix to the ipad and realizing the adjoining cabana could be rented for my kids, along with the one we were in, for less than our US mortgage. With that thought, the fear of being trapped in proximity to the endless artificial problems of the state’s creation started to melt away. My second thought was that all this was achieved for the price of a plane ticket, rental car and a hotel room.

As Billy Joel Sang in “NY State of Mind”. . .

“Hop a flight to Miami Beach, or to Hollywood”

to which I add:

. . . or to Panama, New Zealand or to Chile.

 

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Jeff Berwick, Acapulco
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Jeff Berwick and Galt’s Gulch Chile: A Regrettable Summary

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This is part four of a series offering constructive criticism of the Galt’s Gulch Chile land development deal. To come up to speed on the story, see part one: GGC Story, Timeline & References. For the root cause of the current problems, see part two, “The Creature from Galt’s Gulch“. For what might be done to make future deals successful, see part three, “Contracts are Good for Libertarians, too“.  Or, forget about all this and see my short, “Two Paragraph Expat Guide to Chile“.

“I did not invest in this fraud, but I listened to all Jeff’s blogs. It seemed clear to me listening it was HIS project and we were being asked to buy land based on Jeff’s brilliance and honesty which he portrays non-stop. He sure ain’t shy selling his brilliance. Jeff clearly wrote this new piece as an attempt to totally distance himself from the project from the get-go and any liability certain to come. I never heard any disclaimer on any of his posts/blogs about his being only distantly associated with this project. He portrayed himself as the owner and operator of it or at least that is how I heard it.”

“JJ” commenting on Berwick’s first Mea Culpa Communique.

I agree with JJ’s assessment of Berwick’s writing and media appearances with regard to GGC. Berwick continued to market GGC until the problems Johnson started causing from the beginning made it impossible to refrain from making a public statement. If Berwick’s reputation is to survive this fiasco he’ll have to do more than write another article for his website describing what others are doing to recover the project and monies stolen.

Berwick may also consider rehab and detox from a clear case of “Next Deal-Itis”.

Next deal-itis

In Berwick’s own words (9:40 – 10:17):

“At that moment in time with my business I was so busy and I didn’t have the proper help I needed. And I really wanted someone to kind of help me manage all these businesses that I had started up which is a problem that I sometimes have. I’m sort of a serial entrepreneur and sometimes I start too many things and I don’t do a good enough job in taking care of some of them as is what happened with Galt’s Gulch, to an extent. I didn’t take the proper care I should have for a project of that size and I put too much faith into one person who turned out to be a horrible person, in my opinion, and completely incompetent at running a business like that.”

After shaking hands with Cobin, Berwick hopped a flight and left “the details with his team”. Except there was no team except Johnson with whom Berwick had a long list of experiences that would have screamed “Danger!”, “Incompetence!” or “Psychopath!” had he been listening. The “details” he left in Johnson’s hands was a foreign land development project that would easily have overwhelmed the most disciplined, talented and honest of land developers.

Does anyone care if Berwick had too many irons in the fire, wanted to get on to the next deal having incompetently dealt with the current one, or that he was moving on to use his platform to bring money into a project into which the death-seed of Johnson had been firmly planted?

Berwick is a match for Robert Ringer’s “Builder-owner” Archtype:

“Builder-owners, bless their hearts, are a unique species. Not only do they not necessarily mean what they say, most of the time they don’t even mean what they think they mean. They live in an entirely different world from the rest of us—one that revolves almost entirely around “the next deal”—and they speak a language all their own. By now, though, I had learned to translate “builderese” doublespeak into English pretty well. For example, “I’m always willing to listen” more often than not really meant, “I’m desperate. Make me an offer.””

Yet Berwick takes it to a whole new level. He doesn’t even mean what he thinks he means when he’s not saying anything at all!

“At the time I thought that my silence on anything related to GGC over the last year would give enough people hints as to my happiness/involvement in the project that many would get the point. Unfortunately many didn’t.”

Perhaps that was due to Berwick’s appearance on Bloomberg during his “Year of Silence”. Does Berwick expect investors to be mind-readers watching his every move for silent cues?

“He’s a fantasy writer, nothing more. He writes about the fantasy of being a badass anarcho-capitalist. It took me a while to realize what big crooks they (Berwick and Johnson) were, but they rubbed elbows with so many people I trusted and respected. Hell, now, whenever anyone I listen to or respect interviews Berwick, I feel my gut drop.”

— Former TDV consultant who “Narrowly escaped involvement with GGC”

Here’s a tip for those who suffer from “Next Deal-Itis”: The fastest way to move on to your next deal is to set up your current deal, properly.

Johnson Superman?

To focus on Berwick I pose the following question about Johnson:

What would Johnson had to have been for Berwick’s actions to have lead to a successful outcome for GGC? In other words, if Johnson had none of the deficiencies attributed to him, what attributes, skills, and experience would be necessary to develop GGC, alone?

Here’s a conservative list:

  • Experienced Land Developer.
  • Fluent in Chilean Spanish.
  • A “People-Person” par excellence.
  • Able to make complex decisions quickly, and alone, in a foreign country.
  • Able to handle his personal and business affairs with complete integrity.
  • A work-a-holic (In a good way).
  • In constant communication with all partners and agencies he was working with.
  • Experienced with money management and Chilean bank and currency conversion quirks.
  • Knowledge of local business customs.
  • Knowledge of local contracting services.
  • An extraordinarily talented project manager with impeccable self-discipline.

When reporting on “Simon Black” ceasing activity on “Sovereign Valley Farms”, Cobin speculates that “Black’s” undoing was the inability to find a land developer in Chile with the  rare combination of talents, listed above. The talent, experience and character to manage the GGC project Berwick left Johnson to manage is rare, by all accounts. Finding it is the lynchpin of the success of such an undertaking. Berwick somehow concluded that he could fly away from such a complex land development project, to which his name was attached, and be a “silent” and detached marketer.

Marketing is King?

At the very least, Berwick’s behavior hints he values marketing over development rather than seeing both as crucial to the success of such a project. Development work, if Johnson ever did it, is full-time, tedious, and demanding. If Johnson had actually proceeded he would soon resent Berwick’s absence and detachment from the avalanche of real-world “details”.

If this is the kind of “builder-owner” Berwick aspires to be he has a role model in Donald Trump who’s been failing forward to his next project for the past 30 years. The bankruptcies are never personal, but corporate, so the association with failure is never clear.

A Regrettable Summary

In summary, Berwick has revealed himself to be an unworthy steward of precisely the kinds of “deals” he wants to do. What little Berwick did right with GGC wasn’t done in time to make a difference. Yet, Berwick doesn’t appear to want to “Do” anything but make a few calls and write another article on his blog hyping the next bing thing for his readers.

For Berwick’s reference I admit that passive partner “unicorns”, described below, do actually exist and appear from time to time. They tend to appear having done a remarkable amount of real-world due-diligence and with impeccable credentials.

Passive Partner Unicorns

A valid passive partner is a unicorn that appears when:

  1. One’s reputation is so established that the reputation, itself, is a contribution to a business (A great example of this is Arnold and Sylvester’s contribution to Planet Hollywood: All they had to do is show up and let their name be used. Was it worth it to Planet Hollywood? Yes, that’s why they made the deal).
  2. One has the ability to bring capital into a project (Berwick was apparently able to do this for GGC).
  3. One can remove a major obstacle (Usually legal and artificial) from the path of the project (Payoffs, bribes, political manipulations, ad. nauseam).

For those doing the day-to-day work the important contributions of such unicorns may be frustrating. However, such contributions are often the deciding factors of success. The only real-life example I can think of, possessing all three attributes, is Doug Casey. That Mr. Casey is one of the few who’ve managed to create a “foreign” bastion of liberty is no accident.

Berwick will read this reference to Casey and retell his story about not heeding Casey’s advice to “Think very carefully” about what he was doing with GGC. Perhaps it’s best if Berwick cease all reference to his superiors. Consider referring to them only in private prayer during a sabbatical of priest-like transformation and the physical work required to provide restitution to those he’s deceived.

Berwick was able to attract investment capital based on his supposed involvement and recommendation of GGC. If he doesn’t keep his publicly made promises the days of anyone seeing Berwick’s involvement in a project as a positive factor, are over.

Berwick’s Way Out

The way out of this mess for Berwick is to keep the promise he made on Michael W. Dean’s radio show, Freedom Feens, on September 6th, 2014 at 38 minutes into the broadcast:

MWD: “The really big question, and I hope this doesn’t make you uncomfortable, but, apparently you encouraged people to invest in this. If you and them can’t be made whole through private arbitration or through the courts, with this guy, are you willing to do anything to help make those people whole?”

JB: Yeah, absolutely …. yes, I’m going to work the rest of my life, if I have to, to make this right.

MWD: “That’s excellent and very honorable.”

Berwick must also make good on his promise to John Cobin. Why? Because there’s not a libertarian on the planet who will trust Berwick until they know he’s made good with Cobin (And they’ll be asking Cobin about that, not Berwick). The GGC investors and participants don’t owe Cobin a dime. I’m referring to a personal promise Berwick made to Cobin. It was Berwick’s responsibility to fulfill that promise. If what Berwick had in mind was to be built in to the sales structure of GGC then Berwick should have done so prior to the first peso being accepted into escrow on lot options. Of course, there was no escrow as Johnson was using investment capital like a personal bank account. Berwick is just as responsible for that as Johnson as it’s something a normally functioning 50/50 partner would discover a few hours to a day after it started happening.

Cobin has been admirably forgiving to Berwick and will likely remain so. Those less forgiving than Cobin, however, will be watching his every move. If Cobin isn’t satisfied then he’ll remain the elephant in Berwick’s “International” room, for a long time. Berwick either makes it right with Cobin or he’s made the equivalent of a conscious choice to cut himself off of future capital to pay for his white linen suits, cigars and booze.

Berwick Isn’t Working with the GGC Rescue Team

In all references to the GGC rescue team Berwick is careful to point out he has no affiliation with them nor is he working with or assisting them, in any way. It seems odd for Berwick to be at arm’s length to the GGC team but that’s the way he puts it. I point this out because he’s already using the word “we” when reporting on the team’s success.

In fact, neither his promise to investors or to Cobin have anything to do with the work of the GGC rescue team. If Berwick thinks it does then he should be working with the team, full-time. Otherwise, he’s fallen back into sales-speak and is, once again, leveraging the efforts of others and claiming they’re his.

Berwick’s promise to Cobin was made before the property that became GGC was purchased. It’s not the GGC team’s responsibility to fulfill Berwick’s personal promises to Cobin. The same goes for his promise to work the rest of his life, if he has to, to make things right with the investors who invested in GGC because Berwick encouraged them to.

Do people who lost money on GGC because of Berwick have to be working with the GGC team, directly, to be made whole? In other words, do all the people Berwick mislead now have to work together, themselves, to fulfill Berwick’s promise to them? What about investors like Wendy and Brad who refuse to involve the state, in any way? They have every right to do so and yet are still covered by Berwick’s unconditional promise.

The GGC Rescue team is already doing the arbitration and court work Berwick says he’s got nothing to do with. What will Berwick be doing, personally, to fulfill his promises?

Did Berwick Lose Money on GGC?

See if you can tell after reading what he wrote about that:

“They told me to just take my losses (my total losses of expenses, loans and money taken by Ken that I had given to him in exchange for a separate deal that he reneged on is approximately $500,000).”

“A separate deal that he reneged on” isn’t GGC money. So, what were Berwick’s direct losses on GGC? Based on what Berwick has written I don’t think it’s possible to know.

Public Apologies are Not Restitution

Public apologies are an excellent first step in what Berwick refers to as “Penance“. Yet, Apology is the easy part of penance. What follows should be consistency and the work of restitution. The work of restitution comes when one stops talking and starts restituting.

Those who’ve lost money on GGC surely hope the “work” Berwick is referring to doesn’t begin and end with another apology or article about what the GGC team is doing. The direct relationship between words and deeds may be too much for Salesman Berwick to comprehend. If so, the tragedy for Berwick has only just begun with the publicity of his regrettable behavior with regard to GGC.

Berwick refers to at least one investor with a family now living in his car having invested his life savings in GGC. Why wouldn’t such an investor be living in Berwick’s “house on the hill” in Acapulco?

Berwick is a young man and I’d prefer to err on the side of optimism for a future that is completely dependant on his own thoughts and actions. This period of that life requires a priest-like transformation and fulfillment of his personal promises. The appropos demeanor and perspective is that of Paul Newman in “The Verdict” where Newman’s character knows his entire life depends on the outcome of the case he’s working on. In desperation, Newman repeats to himself the prayer-like mantra of: “There are no other cases. This is the case!”

Hey, Jeff! There are no other cases. This is the case!

Fielding softball “International Man” questions on Bloomberg on behalf of the libertarian crowd is a walk in the park compared to keeping real-life, publicly made promises.

Johnson’s Way Out

The way out for Johnson is his next deal. Just like he did with the last one, before meeting Berwick, Johnson will disappear from Chile and reappear somewhere else on the globe with a new story and a rapidly moving mouth. Here’s Johnson in 2010 talking to a child about wind turbines:

Johnson’s whereabouts are unknown (As of 1/8/14). My guess is he’s in Paraguay holed up in a hostel with a backpack of booty stolen from GGC.

From Johnson’s point of view GGC was a resounding success. After all, where did all the money go that no one can find? Whatever Johnson got is money he didn’t have or earn. His living expenses were paid for the three years he was tying GGC capital in knots. How many three-year cons does Johnson have to pull for the string of victims to pay his expenses for the next 20 years? GGC was a big score for him. One or two more and Johnson can live off the booty for the rest of his life . . . if he can stop his mouth from moving.

What, no talk of justice for Johnson?

Most probably, not. Or, perhaps you’re empathizing with Johnson and tempted to cite his anguish and fear. And, what about the persecution of being on the run and being hounded by state officials or the GGC team trying to bring him to justice?

Nah, Johnson doesn’t feel any of that. To the extent you believe he does you’re ripe for being fooled by the next “Johnson”. If you want to understand a psychopath you don’t get there by empathy. You get there by studying them like a spider in a jar. What you’ll learn is that the only way to win is to not play with them. If you have them in a jar, don’t let them out.

Postscript

As light-hearted as Ayn Rand tried to make the fictional “Galt’s Gulch” it felt stiff to me. The biggest thing it had going for it was the reflective shield that made it invisable from the air. If one has withdrawn into the right country the best camoflauge is to blend in and be the gentleman, or lady, you are. Beautiful manners and graceful comportment make life wonderful and increase the liberty of those who rise to every occasion to show them. Excellent company doesn’t grow on trees but, the odds of finding it increase when you become the excellent company you seek.

Manage your engaged withdrawal, well, and you won’t be alone for long.

This is the last of the GGC series unless there are further developments that warrant commentary. If anyone connected to this incident may offer corrections, omissions, or suggest additions to what has been written, please contact me.

Galt’s Gulch Chile — Story, Timeline & References

See Part One to read this series from the beginning, Galt’s Gulch Chile — Story, Timeline & References. Or, forget about all this and see my short, “Two Paragraph Expat Guide to Chile“.

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Contracts are Good for Libertarians, Too

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This is part three of a series offering constructive criticism of the Galt’s Gulch Chile land development deal. To come up to speed on the story, see part one: GGC Story, Timeline & References. For the root cause of the current problems, see part two, “The Creature from Galt’s Gulch“.

Contracts are Good for Libertarians, Too

Is it news to anyone that conflict can arise even among those with similar political and economic philosophies? Agreement in these areas doesn’t guarantee the same on strategy, tactics, management, work habits, personality, style, etc. Contracts —and the time it takes to iron them out— can provide insight into these unique aspects of potential partners. You are “working together” the instant you begin to capture thoughts on a scratch pad. While clarifying business goals it’s wise to reflect on an important question: “Can I work with this person, this team?”.

Partners worth having know that contracts don’t resolve conflicts or solve problems, people do. And yet, those same partners would welcome the clarity that a contract can bring. The offer to put one in place won’t chase quality partners away. It will attract them to those who take their time and vision seriously enough to write things down.

Even the best contracts are for clarity at the beginning and clarity at the end. Clarity at the beginning is the shared vision of the partners and what each is expected to contribute and receive while working towards that vision. Clarity at the end is the shared vision for when and how to end or sell what’s been created. In between, it’s the talent, work, and enlightened self-interest of the people involved that creates, works, produces and resolves all things. Even a hint of invoking some penalty clause in a contract destroys the creative atmosphere.

Slow is Fast

The GGC deal soured due to the psychopathic behavior of a partner in a key role. Would a contract have prevented that? No, but slowing down and taking the time to document the supposedly shared vision of Cobin, Eyzaguirre, Berwick, and Johnson might have revealed that they didn’t share the same vision. Or, it might have flushed out Johnson revealing him to have no credible experience. Even an experienced land developer would face a steep learning curve to work his craft in Chile. That learning curve would be over and above speaking Chilean Spanish, fluently.

Berwick was able to attract investment capital only to fund Johnson’s incompetence and theft. Slowing down to draft a contract may have revealed Cobin to be the best candidate to do the accounting and disburse funds for the project. It might have also enabled the partners to learn from the best practices of other land developers. Money for such projects is typically disbursed in increments upon reaching milestones. Even upon reaching such milestones funds are only released by signature of all partners. These standard practices are in sharp contrast to the way money appears to have been “controlled” at GGC: Johnson using investment capital as his own personal bank account.

The Contract and Natural Law as Rules for Self-Government

Most deals are conducted successfully with no escalation to any party other than those involved in the original contract. The public learns only about projects that attract the attention of the media. The public does not learn about the billions of successful deals conducted with only the original parties because those deals involve no conflict. Stories with no conflict are stories that don’t get written.

Detractors accuse anarchists of not being able to deal with one another in the absence of government. What such detractors don’t realize is that anarchists welcome the presence of government in its superior and necessary form: Self-government. It is the absence of self-government usually at the heart of conflict.

Rules Without a Ruler

Unless the physical laws of the universe are suspended there will be rules governing any deal. The rules are those of natural law and those in the contract. Anarchy is the absence of rulers, not rules.

Ideally, the contract contains only pertinent rules for the agreement that aren’t already covered by natural law. These rules,  combined with the looming presence of the self-government of the parties, are ample ingredients for resolving all conflicts without involving the state. If natural law, the contract, and the self-governance of the partners and participants is not enough then the penalty will be as expensive as involving the state in the affairs of the project. That expense begins with the cost of making the contract state-compliant.

Mediation First, State Courts as an Avoidable Alternative

“…unity in what is necessary, liberty in what is not necessary, in all things charity.”

—Archbishop of Split (Spalato) Marco Antonio de Dominis in his anti-Papal De Repubblica Ecclesiastica in 1617.

Many libertarians, and all anarchists, believe the state to be unnecessary. Unfortunately, a project in which all partners are united in this belief is rare. A practical alternative is to make the contract bind the parties to arbitration first and state agencies only as a last, and penalized, resort. Even a partner insisting on “state protection” would prefer the more efficient alternative of arbitration to resolve contractual issues rather than “escalate” to the state, immediately. An added bonus to this approach is the screening of partners, in advance, who probably wouldn’t abide by arbitration no matter how fair or cost-effective its track record. A drawback is the contract has to be drafted in compliance with the national legal system. The most common types are:

  • Civil – Chile and most of South America
  • Common – Most of North America
  • Plural – Civil and common – Puerto Rico, Scotland, Louisiana
  • Sharia – Egypt
  • Civil and sharia – Morocco, Jordan
  • Common and Sharia – Malaysia, Pakistan

Bitcoin & Alternative Currencies

Johnson and Berwick made a big deal out of GGC being the first real estate deal to accept bitcoin as payment. While most libertarians welcome the use of alternative currencies they present a problem in maintaining state “valid” contracts: Most jurisdictions require “consideration” be provided in state currency. Therefore, it may be necessary to stipulate an exchange rate for all non-state currencies.. A payment of X-bitcoin, for example, would be deemed as equivalent to having given Y-amount of state currency for the sake of consideration.

Privacy is Not Partner Leverage

Libertarians place a high value on privacy and need not be left out of business opportunities, as a result.

Privacy is a means to protect oneself against unscrupulous characters, usually the state or litigious opportunists (Or do I repeat myself?). It’s not “license” to misbehave or a weakness to be exploited by partners. If you’re so private that your desire to remain so could be used against you as leverage then either use a nominee or represent yourself on behalf of an entity you’ve created to hold the proceeds of the partnership. If you can afford it, do both and make the nominee your lawyer. If not, then represent yourself as the executive of the entity. That’s enough hiding, the partners your dealing with can’t use it against you and you can transfer or sell your interest in the partnership, as needed.

On Berwick’s second trip to Chile he made a point of asking Johnson to confirm their partnership in the presence of a “financial advisor”. That’s the kind of thing someone with a partner agreement wouldn’t need to do. Therefore, I infer that Berwick and Johnson had no partner agreement to document their verbal agreement. Such would also explain the ease with which Berwick describes himself as slipping in and out his affiliation with GGC. I suspect Berwick was attempting a kind of lazy man’s privacy and flexibility by conducting business with nothing written down. Johnson would have seen this as a moth sees a flame.

Documented agreements facilitate recognition by third parties. If either partner would balk when asked to write things down it’s a sure sign of problems down the line. Ideally, recognition would only be made to a private mediator empowered by the agreement. Having such an agreement should in no way be seen as involving the state in disputes. Quite the contrary, the agreement outlines the relationship and clarifies expected behaviors between the parties to keep things running smoothly. It also specifies the resolution of any problems accomplished by a private third-party. Such agreements are an important means of keeping the state out of one’s business. If all else fails, the clarity with which you’ve outlined the agreement might help state agencies exceed their usual incompetence in handling complex matters.

Libertarian Version of 1 Corinthians 6

Contrary to popular belief, the state has no stable of magicians able to create unity or to judge complex matters, fairly. To the contrary, state agencies are inferior to a random sample of unbiased mediators. As the disciplined and fair actions of the GGC rescue team have demonstrated, the state is even likely to be inferior to a biased sample of those directly involved in the conflict!

In refusing to involve the state to resolve their part of the GGC dispute, John Cobin, Wendy McElroy and her husband, Brad, have shown remarkable integrity. They’ve demonstrated, at great personal cost, the high-caliber of behavior, the meticulous self-governance, required to resolve the most complex and intractable disputes without involving state agencies.

Johnson used investor capital in a maze of land and state entity swaps so it will be impossible to rectify the situation with no state involvement , whatsoever. The best course of action for GGC participants is probably to give their proxy to the GGC rescue team who, in turn, may attempt to overturn the various entity swaps of Johnson’s theft.

Perfection?

I find John, Wendy and Brad’s behavior admirable because it is the kind of excellent behavior necessary to keep the state forever out of private affairs. More such behaviors are described in 1 Corinthians 6. In quoting the passage, below, I’ve made five replacements to make it accessible to a larger audience. The original words are next to the replacements for reference. The spiritual beliefs of the reader are of no importance in making the point.

1 Corinthians 6: 1 – 8

“When one of you has a grievance against another, does he dare go to law before the state/unrighteous instead of those who love liberty/the saints? Or do you not know that those who love liberty/the saints will judge the world? And if the world is to be judged by you, are you incompetent to try trivial cases? Do you not know that we are to judge angels? How much more, then, matters pertaining to this life! So if you have such cases, why do you lay them before those who have no standing in liberty/in the church? I say this to your shame. Can it be that there is no one among you wise enough to settle a dispute between the brothers, but brother goes to law against brother, and that before statists/unbelievers? To have lawsuits at all with one another is already a defeat for you. Why not rather suffer wrong? Why not rather be defrauded? But you yourselves wrong and defraud — even your own brothers!”

Libertarians or anarchists working towards a world where people may conduct all the transactions of life without the involvement of the state might consider this passage. I find it hopeful and instructive. Hopeful, because it hints that such a world is possible. Instructive, because it describes some of the excellent behaviors necessary to make it so.

See Part Four, Jeff Berwick and Galt’s Gulch Chile: A Regrettable Summary, for:

  • Next-Deal-Itis
  • Johnson Superman?
  • Marketing is King?
  • A Regrettable Summary
  • Passive Partner Unicorns
  • Berwick’s Way Out
  • Berwick Isn’t Working with the GGC Rescue Team
  • Did Berwick Lose Money on GGC?
  • Public Apologies are Not Restitution
  • Johnson’s Way Out
  • Postscript

Or, forget about all this and see my Two Paragraph Expat Guide to Chile.

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The Creature from Galt’s Gulch

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Chile is on the short list of ex-pat locations for my family. We’ve been vetting countries for the past eight years and are far along in the process with second passports and visa’s in hand. Such documents are probably a luxury but exploring that question is for another day. In this article (Part Two) I offer perspective and constructive criticism of the Galt’s Gulch, Chile (GGC) land development fiasco. To come up to speed on the story, and for reference while reading this article, see Part 1: Galt’s Gulch Chile — Story, Timeline & References.

Root Cause

This fiasco has little to do with the Randian, libertarian, or anarcho capitalist ideals referred to in the marketing hype. The social, political and economic philosophies, purported to be at the heart of GGC’s failure, are only now coming into play in the attempted rescue of the project. What killed the deal was what kills most deals: The psychopathic behavior of a partner in a key role and the inability of the other partners to recognize and eject him in time. A contributing factor was Berwick’s silence, yet continued marketing hype, despite direct knowledge of egregious mismanagement and theft. Another contributing factor was the support of Johnson by investors who, understandably, needed more time and evidence to be convinced of the extent of Johnson’s misdeeds.

I’m being quite careful in my use of the word “Psychopath“. I am not a mental health professional or qualified to make a clinical diagnosis. However, “psychopath” is the word Berwick uses, in public articles and radio interviews, to describe Johnson. After studying all public documents my layman’s opinion is that, to Berwick’s credit, he is correctly naming Johnson’s pattern of behavior and that it is consistent with the testimony of multiple eyewitnesses.

Not Guilty by Association

The world is full of successful “libertarian” projects. What distinguishes them from GGC is that the political-economic philosophies of the participants were not the primary marketing lure of the project. Because Galt’s Gulch dared to use a famous Randian catchphrase the fact that it was taken down by a psychopath, like most deals are, is becoming associated with the philosophies of those involved. In fact, the philosophies and aspirations of the investors and participants in GGC had no bearing on its failure. They simply failed to spot Johnson’s egregious behavior, in time. According to eyewitnesses (John Cobin, Jeff Berwick) Johnson had no grasp, whatsoever, of libertarian principles prior to his involvement in GGC. It remains unclear what principles, if any, might explain Johnson’s predatory, aggressive and anti-social behavior.

Natural Law Prevails, Naturally

Much has been made of the irony of anarcho capitalists having to rely on the state for justice when deals go awry. No such thing has yet to occur with respect to GGC. In fact, the state has done nothing to restore funds, order or justice to GGC participants. The only entity to make progress on those fronts has been the GGC participants, themselves. Specifically, the GGC rescue team, a band of investors and members who have a personal and financial interest in restoring order to the project.

On October 23, 2014, the GGC rescue team met with private attorneys and security at the Santiago airport and were able to garner local support of their restorative efforts. What garnered their support, and made the GGC rescue team’s efforts successful, was their restorative intentions and the ground they held: The moral high ground. The locals were convinced the team had given an honest account of the situation and had the intention and means to oust squatters, clean the place up, meet payroll for the farm workers, restore utilities, and bring accounts current. Using private funds the rescue team proceeded to do all that they had promised.

What Do I Care?

I care because I’m a libertarian interested in living in Chile. In public articles and extensive comments about GGC, thus far, I see stories, facts, and the usual name-calling from the uninvolved, but little to no constructive criticism.

I care because this deal is being cited as “proof” that libertarians are unable to trade with one another in peace without resorting to state agencies.

I care because libertarians have long-term concerns about the negative exposure GGC might bring to perfectly great ideas such as not aggressing on one another and letting free markets reign:

“That is why people like me are so pissed off. Berwick has not just defrauded people. He has discredited the anarchist movement, the start-up community movement, and discredited authors like Wendy. He played right into the Marxist stereotype of what a venture capitalist is: the Zeitgeist people and the socialists are going to have a f*)#$& field day.” —Jack O’Brien commenting on Berwick’s first public Mea Culpa “communique”.

I care because the simplicity of flying to another country to live, for a while, is becoming associated with the tar pit of foreign land development. One has nothing to do with the other.

“As long as there are nations, changing your nationality should be as easy as changing your cell phone plan.” —Michael W. Dean, Freedom Feens Radio Show & Podcast.

I care because what every businessman, and especially libertarians, should be learning from this fiasco is that people can’t do anything in peace with a psychopath running the show. Recognizing them in time and screening them out, in advance, is crucial for human liberty and success.

Chile and Me

My first trip to Chile was for seven days in 2011. My wife and I liked it so much I went back in 2012 with a friend and spent 17 days scouting most of the country from Northern Patagonia to Santiago. My libertarian friend and I split the costs of rental cars and hotels and drove wherever we wanted for over three weeks. By the time it was over we’d vetted every place in Chile that would meet the needs of our families.

A Dryer Sonoma, CA — Ideal for GGC’s Demographic

The location for GGC is a dryer version of Sonoma, California. Those familiar with Sonoma know that it can be quite dry in the summer. The location for GGC is dryer than that. Chile is one of four places in the world with a perfect Mediterranean climate. The borders of the country enable the luxury of dialing into that perfection by going north (For hotter and dryer) and south (For colder and wetter). Since my subjective view of perfect climate is a little cooler and wetter than the GGC location (33° 16.287’S, 71° 7.284’W) my preferences are south of Santiago.

Though the location is dry for my taste it’s ideal for the target demographic. Between the ocean and Santiago, and nestled in (Dry) wine country, it would meet the needs of jet-set ex-pats and self-sufficient” preppers, alike. The near perfection of the choice of location is no accident but that of long-time Chilean resident, John Cobin (Not Jeff Berwick, et. al.).

GGC Office - GE
GGC Office – GE

Nothing to See in December of 2012

Much like today, there wouldn’t have been much to see of “Galt’s Gulch” on my last trip to Chile in December 2012. My wife and I had breakfast in Curacavi in 2011 on the way to Vina del Mar and enjoyed a wine tasting tour of the Curacavi. area. In December of 2012, If my friend and I had known about GGC’s marketing existence, we would’ve skipped it, anyway. We were both familiar enough with the road, vineyards and terrain between Santiago and Vina Del Mar. The only point in making such a drive would have been to meet John Cobin. My friend and I wanted to see the entire country, for ourselves, before doing that. Here’s the view from a small plane flying in and out of Curacavi. GGC is 17 kilometers north of the city in the surrounding mountains.

John Cobin is the Real Deal

John Cobin is the talent behind the discovery of GGC’s ideal location, the business plan to develop it, and more: Chile, itself, as one of the best alternatives for liberty in the southern hemisphere. He ranks those alternatives, in order, to be Chile, Panama (A distant second), Colombia (Could be the new Chile in 20 years) and then New Zealand though says one would have to distinguish between economic and social freedoms to make a personal choice.

Cobin moved his family and six children to Chile in 1996 and has written four books about living in Chile. I read his “Life in Chile – 2011 Edition” prior to the second trip and can vouch for its accuracy and expansive detail. Although Chile remains Cobin’s #1 choice he pulls no punches about the difficulties of living there. It’s hard to read, at times, as he dispels romantic notions that are hard to let go of when one is still wallowing in the excitement of the journey to such a magical place. In the end, however, Cobin’s honesty makes Chile even more enchanting because he makes its magic accessible. Cobin has been to every city in Chile with at least 500 people. This volume of exploration, combined with his knowledge of economics and politics, gives him a remarkable grasp of the country and the pros and cons of each area and village.

Any libertarian who had done a half-hour’s research into Chile would have discovered the wealth of information Cobin has made available online for free to those interested in living there. It should be no surprise to potential ex-pats or GGC investors that Cobin is at the heart of all the good parts of the original deal. What I find surprising is there are no public references to investors absorbing Cobin’s material as the low-hanging fruit of their due diligence.

Cobin and GGC

Cobin found the land, made an extensive business plan, was making calls to possible investors (This is how Berwick found out about the deal) and had partnered with Eyzaguirre to formulate a plan to unlock the all-important water rights and subdivide the land. Cobin referred to the project as “Galt’s Gulch, Chile”.

One of the keys to understanding Cobin’s rather perplexing involvement of Berwick and Johnson in his project is Cobin’s recognition of his limitations. He is an academic professional and author and inexperienced with raising the significant amount of capital required for his business plan. Cobin saw Berwick as a plausible means of raising such capital and made a straightforward agreement with Berwick and Johnson to do so. Cobin had them sign over power of attorney so he could act on their behalf to create a holding company and bank account. Cobin and Eyzaguirre were to receive a $250K finders and negotiation fee (Later increased to $285K) for property #1 (El Penon) and 20% of the holding company. Shortly after agreeing to these terms Berwick left Chile leaving Johnson to do the “land development” work of their partnership. Cobin and Eyzaguirre were about to cut through the Chilean maze of unlocking and inscribing the water rights when Johnson went, inexplicably, incommunicado. Contrary to all agreements Johnson created an entity that only he controlled and used money that Berwick attracted as investment capital to take title to the land. Unable to speak Spanish, and with no local or administrative experience, Johnson, predictably, bungled the process for aggregating and inscribing the water rights. Although Johnson cut all ties with Cobin he blames Cobin for “finding a property with no water rights”. Johnson then proceeds to spin a bizarre web of land, stock and company swaps and, with no money to spend, commits to the purchase of a second property for $6 million dollars. This is property #2, El Lepe. Fast forward to today, 12/17/14, and the GGC rescue team is still trying to unravel Johnson’s bazaar web.

The Talent Left the Building

When Cobin was betrayed by Berwick and Johnson the talent to make the project happen, namely Cobin and Eyzaguirre, left the building. Cobin and his partner knew what had to be done to unlock the water rights, subdivide the parcels and assign title to the lots to make them transferable for purchase. They were cordial and on honorable terms with the locals, spoke Chilean Spanish(!) and familiar with the quirks of accomplishing administrative tasks in Chile. Johnson, who Berwick left “in charge” of their purported partnership, had none of these advantages and was a poor candidate to accomplish anything in Chile (Or his native country judging by Berwick’s description of his awful behavior while working for TDV).

From what I can gather it appears the GGC Rescue team will, eventually, have to come to some kind of agreement with Cobin for the original GGC deal on property #1. They may as well accept what Berwick understood from the beginning: Cobin and Eyzaguirre’s insight and expertise are crucial to turning this dream into reality. All agree the project must be renamed as part of the restoration. However, merely throwing more money into the deal without also adding talent commensurate to Cobin and Eyzaguirre’s will not be the ingredients for progress. Even if the right balance of talent and money is struck one can only hope that Johnson hasn’t soured the local taste for gringos.

Freedom Orchard?

Freedom Orchard is what Cobin and Eyzaguirre had to rename their separate land development project after Berwick and Johnson co-opted, and ruined, the GGC name. This is probably a blessing for Cobin as Chileans have a hard time saying “Galt’s Gulch” and Cobin’s original vision was not for the project to be exclusively libertarian but open to everyone. Adding to the confusion is that some of the photos on the GGC website and Facebook page are photos of Freedom Orchard and neighboring farms. Freedom Orchard is a separate property, better located and more fertile, directly south of GGC property #2, El Lepe. Some confusion about the distance between GGC and Freedom Orchard has resulted from not distinguishing between El Penon and El Lepe. Driving North from the freeway one must drive through Freedom Orchard to get to El Lepe, first, and then to El Penon.

Freedom Orchard
Freedom Orchard

Red Hot Chile Radio- Liberty and Life in Chile with Dr. John Cobin

GGC and Freedom Orchard are discussed in the following episodes of “Red Hot Chile”:

  • 8/29/14 – 24:50 – 53:00, 45:45 – How it all started.
  • 9/5/14 – 41:00 – Quick interview of Berwick, 42:30 – Cobin and Berwick discuss the terms of the original deal.
  • 9/12/14 – Cobin Interviews Berwick for most of the show.
GGC vs Freedom Orchard
GGC vs Freedom Orchard

Psychopaths are a Primary Adversary

An important lesson to come out of the GGC fiasco is for libertarians to learn how to spot this human adversary and screen them out of all affairs. With no conscience, the inability to empathize, a parasitic nature, the pleasure they derive from causing pain, and their affinity for seeking power over others, the psychopath has aggression at the core of their being. They can be relied upon only to throw a monkey wrench into every situation with which they are involved. Until they are removed, or screened out in advance, it’s an exercise in futility to attempt to accomplish anything.

Paul Rosenberg provides a great introduction to psychopaths and the importance of avoiding them in They Walk Among Us:

“Here’s the bad news: Predators walk among us, and they are indistinguishable from normal people. These differently wired humans have a predatory advantage, and they use it. This is not a plot from a scary movie; this is real. I am deadly serious about this, though by the end of this column, I will also explain why there is also good news. These predators are called sociopaths (psychopaths in the clinical literature). They rather seldom damage our bodies, but they make careers out of bleeding our souls.”

When …

Every request is ignored, every admonishment reflected back to you, every task left undone, every responsibility shirked and blamed on someone else, every agreement pretended to never have taken place, when you find yourself dragged into a world of complete inversion… consider the possibility that a psychopath is “walking among you”. Learn how to spot a psychopath and the different types and terms for them.

Psychopathy Checklist

I was impressed that Josh Kirley ran a background check on Johnson and that nothing came up that would alert investors. Perhaps such background checks should be supplemented with an informal check against the psychopathy checklist put together by Canadian psychologist Robert D. Hare. Another useful trick is to think of the psychopath’s story as a 3D illusion (An autostereogram) that can only be seen and believed by the victim when the mind muscle that controls focus is coaxed into relaxing.

Signs, Signs, Everywhere a Sign

The most common word Berwick now uses to describe Johnson is “psychopath”. I don’t fault Berwick for not recognizing Johnson as a possible psychopath. In fact, it’s a sign of normalcy to be confused by psychopathic behavior upon first encountering it.

What I fault Berwick for is moving forward with Johnson, or with anyone, who had behaved as badly as Johnson had leading up to the critical decision of partnering with him. A clinical diagnosis, or even a layman’s understanding of psychopathy, was not necessary for Berwick to know to walk away from someone lying about, and assaulting, his employees. No expertise is required to part company with a partner insisting that business begin with the selling of a product they don’t own. Berwick’s inability to put a name to Johnson’s behavior has nothing to do with his bad judgment in tolerating it.

Ken Johnson and Josh Kirley
Ken Johnson (Left), Josh Kirley (Right). Photo courtesy of Josh Kirley

That Johnson had behaved so badly, from any perspective other than his own, was a luxury that most who are first encountering psychopathic behavior don’t get. If Johnson is ever clinically diagnosed he will be seen, in retrospect, as an easy one to spot. Berwick, and libertarians in general, will need a more refined antennae to increase their batting average of avoidance. Berwick refers to the following warning signs prior to agreeing to the 50/50 GGC partnership with Johnson:

  • Johnson’s claim that “he could sell anything to anyone” is an admission of being able to lie with no guilt or shame.
  • Johnson was at odds with everyone in Berwick’s office and physically assaulted one of Berwick’s employees. Berwick would have been familiar with his own employees and, presumably, able to determine whether Johnson was lying or distorting facts about them.
  • Johnson wanted to begin their partnership by selling land neither owned or optioned. Even if they had an option on the land there were serious legal obstacles to overcome to make lots ready for resale. To Berwick’s credit, this was a point of contention that almost lead to a fistfight with Johnson. Perhaps it would have been better for future investors, and Berwick’s reputation, if some kind of gentlemanly fistfight had resolved the matter.

See Part 3 of this article for:

  • Contracts are Good for Libertarians, Too
  • Slow is Fast
  • The Contract and Natural Law as Rules for Self-Government
  • Rules Without a Ruler
  • Mediation First, State Courts as Avoidable Alternative
  • Bitcoin & Alternative Currencies
  • Privacy is Not Partner Leverage
  • Libertarian Version of 1 Corinthians 6
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Business

Estate Planning Lessons From “The Art of the Steal”

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The documentary film, The Art of the Steal is a gripping tale of intrigue and mystery in the art world. The film traces the history of the Barnes collection of Post-Impressionist paintings, which was worth billions and became the subject of a power struggle after the 1951 death of the owner. Dr. Albert Barnes collected 181 Renoirs, 69 Cezannes, 59 Matisses, 46 Picassos and many other valuable paintings. Despite his best efforts political wrangling over the collection eventually led to its division and control by the very group of people he wanted the collection to be protected against.

Barnes was a shrewd man. He took pains to hire the best lawyers to erect a trust for his paintings to protect them from every imaginable threat. Ironically, the people, state rats and foundations that would eventually divide, move and control his collection were largely known to Barnes at the time of his death.

For the intriguing story of how they accomplished this I recommend the film.

Barnes drafted his trust in 1922 and modified it many times leading up to his sudden death in 1951. It took 58 years from the time of Barnes’ death before the judges ruling cleared the way for its division which overturned every one of Barnes’ express wishes for his collection and transferred control of what now is $25-$30 billion dollars of art into the very hands Barnes never wanted to to have anything to do with it.

While watching the documentary I was struck both by how long it took the collection to be divided and how short that period was with respect to the magnitude, beauty and importance of the art. It’s reminiscent of what is often said about a Stradivarius Violin: The current owner is merely temporary in the life of the instrument.

Barnes was a great man. As such, we who loathe that his magnificent collection has fallen into enemy hands have no better recourse than to glean from the rubble of this theft every possible lesson of what strategies might have worked in fulfilling Barnes’ true wishes.

The problems started when the Barnes Trust ran out of successor trustees.

Have More Successor Trustees

  • Have Children – Barnes had no children. There’s no guarantee that children will fulfill estate wishes but it would have put a few more options on Barnes’ table.
  • Designate a Lineage of Trustees – Barnes designated five successor trustees. This is the primary reason his collection was protected for the 58 years it was. Even though five seem like plenty it was not enough. More is better and a methodology for adding them, post-mortem, is even better.
  • Have Trustees (Vetted While Grantor is Alive) Designate Successor Trustees – The Trustees Barnes knew while he was alive performed flawlessly. If there was a mechanism in the trust for these trustees to, in turn, vett and add new trustees, this would extend the time and increase the quality of adherence to the original intent of the Grantor (Barnes, in this case).

“Poison Pill” Provisions

To avoid contention between competing trustees “Poison Pills” could be placed in the Trust to squelch trivial squabbles. John Lennon’s estate was famous for ensuring that anyone who contested the terms of the trust be cutout of the trust, as a result. It works!

Map Out Maintenance Strategies Using Corpus of the Trust

At one point, Barnes’ collection was in danger due to problems with the building that contained it. Multiple approved methods of raising money for maintenance could be included in the trust. This would take options away from untrustworthy trustees who see this as a crack in the Trust’s armor. It would also make it easier for good trustees who may not have the business sense to go along with their desire to adhere to the grantors’ wishes.

One option, here, for Barnes would have been a strategic sell-off of some of the collection. As terrible as that may sound Barnes would have been most familiar with his collection. Not everything he chose was untouchable. While alive Barnes might have chosen the order in which a very small number of paintings could be auctioned off for the good of the collection IF that was the only option available to the trustee.

Use Corporation(s), LLC(s) or Complex Structures in Lieu of a Trust

This opens up a whole different can of worms that I’d rather not explore in this article. I only bring it up as an option in reaction to seeing the limits of Barnes’ chosen protective entity: The Trust. The ultra rich typically erect complex structures of multiple entities to protect their wealth while they’re alive. Admittedly, maintaining such structures is much more difficult upon death but perhaps such complexity is necessary in cases like Barnes.

Prohibit Boards as Trustees

The biggest fractures appeared with the Barnes collection when Trustees morphed into boards who created their own rules about how the boards were run. Such boards were free to add members, for instance, that enabled a few members to change the consensus of the board. I’d say the only way to squelch this problem is to prohibit boards of any kind. Groups of people never behave themselves with as much integrity as individuals.

The Nuclear Option

Barnes was a great man. To become so takes a level of determination and single-mindedness that few of the rest of us can probably even imagine. After watching the documentary it occurred to me that Barnes was so determined to keep his collection in tact and out of the hands of his enemies that he never even contemplated a last-ditch option. With the benefit of the hindsight that Barnes’ experience has given me I think his best last ditch option would have been to focus on . . . .

The Creators Not the Creations

In the event that any of Barnes’ parameters were violated he could have put instructions into the trust that all the art in the collection be auctioned off for the benefit of the kinds of artists whose work Barnes so understandably admired. By doing so the actual art in the collection would have been randomly distributed around the world (To be collected by the next Barnes?) and he would have been funding the efforts of new great artists to create more beautiful and inspiring art for Barnes’ desired educational purpose of the art, itself. Not to mention that the existing art would have been put beyond the reach of the contemptible group that now controls it.

I’m not presuming that this is a better use for Barnes’ art than he, himself, imagined. I’m merely pointing out one possible backup option that Barnes probably wouldn’t even let himself consider.

They Ruin Everything They Touch

Greed, power, sociopaths and whatever “Foundations” they hide behind are like water falling on a building: They never stop eroding what they come in contact with. In life it’s often possible to avoid contact, altogether, with these brands of evil. In death, the best one can hope for is to delay the meeting for as long as possible.

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Diet

How To Stop Drinking Wine

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The best way to quit drinking wine is to replace it with something else. For wine you’ll need direct and indirect replacements.

The indirect replacements are for the routines, sights, sounds, textures, tastes, feelings, circumstances and occasions that surround your wine drinking.

The better your choice of replacement(s) for the drink and all these other things that surround your drinking the easier the quitting will be.

I wrote similar words about quitting coffee, last week. And I’m testing their limits by simultaneously giving up wine and coffee. Wine is the tougher of the two because I like wine more. It’s also become more ingrained in my lifestyle and eating habits than coffee ever did.

I thought about calling this article, “How to Give Up Alcohol”, but, I don’t have experience with drinking other forms of alcohol, besides wine. I can’t tell you how to stop drinking alcohol unless its the alcohol in wine your trying to give up. Like every article I write this is about my direct experience. In this case my direct experience is in giving up wine.

It’s possible that some of my experience may be useful for wine alcoholics, but, that would be presumptuous. If you have a more extreme form of addiction than I’m writing about here the additional benefits of an isolated environment, group support and a counselor is probably warranted. It’s never been easier to find an Alcohol Treatment Program near you.

Should you stop drinking Wine?

The biggest stumbling block for quitting anything is knowing if and why you need to quit. In the case of wine you have to be very clear and honest with yourself on your reasons for giving it up. Wine, itself, is not a harmful drink. But, you can make it into one by drinking too much of it.

How much is too much? I’ll give you my answer, but, you’ll have to come up with yours. In terms of health one glass of wine a day is good. Between one and two glasses the benefits drop off, rapidly, according to bodyweight. There is no literature anywhere recommending more than two glasses, regardless of bodyweight. So, if health is your value there’s your answer.

If you exceed the amount good for your health its bad for your body. At that point you can no longer claim health benefits as your excuse for drinking more.

I am giving up wine for the following reasons:

  • It’s interfered with the length and quality of my sleep.
  • Lack of sleep has compromised the clarity of my thoughts and the quality of my writing.
  • I’ve been exceeding the small quantity that’s good for my health.

These are not acceptable tradeoffs for my enjoyment and they’re certainly not Optimal. I won’t be having wine until its just another drink option and I can take it or leave it. Here’s how I think about it: “Wine that detracts from my health and productivity has got to go.”

Being this clear on my why and if is probably the only thing that enables me to actually stop drinking it. Seems to me the more wine detracts from your life the more motivation you have to stop drinking it. I highly recommend being honest here and getting extremely clear on your motivations.

Replacements

Quitting is a transition to something else. With wine its a transition to alternative beverages, routines and choices . With that in mind here’s a few important points to keep in mind about picking and using replacements:

The best replacements usually have a lot in common with what you’re trying to quit. Things we have to quit often involve routines, sights, sounds, textures, tastes and feelings surrounding the thing we’re trying to quit. You need replacements for them, as well. For wine, there is the taste, the wine buzz, the smell, the cool liquid flowing down your throat, the occasions where its served and the mood and social interactions that occur around it. Since we live up in wine country in northern California there are many events that occur on vineyard grounds, as well.

You may need a series of replacements to step into the routines that are optimal for you. That means that your optimal final replacement may not be the best choice to use first. Your body may have to detoxify or have other reactions and compensations it has to cycle through before you can ultimately quit. In extreme cases that may mean moving from something toxic to something less toxic and eventually to something non-toxic.

It may be effective to allow yourself as much of the replacement as you want (Assuming your replacement is not toxic). It may serve as a psychological reward for following through on the quitting.

My Replacements for Wine

My first replacement for wine is sparkling water.

Sparking water is fun, cold, quenches my thirst and is poured out of what looks like a wine bottle. Like wine, I have to make a separate trip to the fridge to find a cold bottle. After opening it I pour it onto a wine glass. When we’re eating out at a restaurant and I have wine I usually pour sparkling water into the empty wine glass. So, there’s a psychological sense that I’m finishing up a good meal and a few glasses of wine at a restaurant when I pour the sparkling water without having had any wine, at all.

My second replacement is a RockStar energy drink. This is similar to the sparking water but comes in a can. Like wine it gives me an energy boost and usually gets my writing started if I’m procrastinating on an article. Many people don’t know that wine gives an energy boost, as well, and that’s part of what’s missing when you stop drinking it.

My third replacement, used in the afternoon, is a nap. I was using coffee and wine as a crutch to power through the afternoon without a nap or a break. I decided not to fight afternoon naps any longer and just take one. The benefits of afternoon naps have been enormous! If fact, I feel it gives almost a full extra day of productivity every day! Wow, talk about a replacement.

My fourth replacement is my ace in the hole: Exercise! Physical exercise is the best way to get high. And when it comes to drinking wine the physical high from exercise completely wipes out desire for anything but water or electrolytes.

I have a RockStar after waking up from my afternoon nap. So far, its been a great way to start my ’second day’. It’s one of those sugar free health drinks that has healthy ingredients. I’m skeptical about the pink, blue and yellow stuff they use in sugar free drinks and prefer stevia. But, for now, I’m enjoying the Rock-Star until I find something better. Leading candidates are pelligrino with a little fruit juice added for taste or some of the exotic teas my wife gets on her trips to China.

Exotic teas will probably become my number one beverage replacement for wine in the future. I don’t think they are the best first beverage, but, they are probably the my optimal replacement. There are an infinite variety of them, they are excellent for a wide variety of health aspects, its fun to make them and experiment with preparation and taste. They are also like wine in the sense that it feels like I’m drinking the earth. Call me nuts, but, I think drinking wine and tea feels like drinking the earth. They make me feel like I’m absorbing all the best minerals and herbs from the leaves and trees and fruit that they were made from.

How Long Does It Take?

It took about three weeks before it didn’t occur to me to have wine with dinner, any longer. That’s longer than I thought it would take and shows how much I associated food with wine.

As much as I was addicted to coffee it was easier to stop drinking coffee than wine. That was another surprise because I craved coffee but never wine. I think wine was actually providing more energy and calories than the coffee was. I was actually using wine like an energy bar. Who knew?!

One of the surprising things for me was how much I slept. Without the energy from the wine I was more tired, even during the day. I could not have a cup of coffee to bridge this gap because I was giving up coffee at the same time. This is all ok with me because one of my goals was to sleep more. I just didn’t expect to be more tired in the afternoons. This may be the temporary adjustment of my body making up for lost sleep. I sleep much better at night, now, and that has enourmous health benefits.

How Will You Know When You’ve Quit?

You’ll know you’ve quit when you can take it or leave it. Wine will take its place among the multitude of drink options available to you depending on the occasion and what you’re in the mood for at the moment.

You’ll be able to have a meal and not automatically think of having wine with it.

You’ll be able to engage in social interactions in a relaxed and enjoyable manner without the wine buzz that used to loosen up your inhibitions.

A few days ago, we were over at a friends house and I was starting to fade. We were late in getting together and didn’t want to leave, yet. The conversation was interesting and another couple had just walked in the door that we wanted to socialize with. This is the point at which I would normally pour a glass of wine. Instead I had one cup of coffee. Luckily, I had already gotten to the point of not needing coffee to start my day and it was just another drink option to me. It was just the thing needed to keep the conversation going for a little while until it was time to go. One cup of coffee and that was it. No coffee needed the next morning and no problems sleeping that night. And best of all, no wine either, which probably would have kept me up all night.

Unlike coffee, wine has never been a drink I couldn’t do without for things like starting my day or thinking clearly or what have you. It’s always been an optional drink added to the existing circumstances. My desire for it was mental more than physical because I never really craved more of it unless I was already drinking it. And that’s just part of my obsessive nature. Most of the time my obsessive nature helps me finish things. I’ve learned to redirect that urge into finishing a bottle of pelligrino instead of a bottle of wine.

Being straight is the ultimate high. Spend time with any 5 year old if you need to prove this to yourself. You’ve always known it. Children don’t need anything but a glass of water and a baloney sandwich to be ecstatic about life. And the only way to experience the full bandwidth of life is to be straight.

The irony is that If I have a glass of wine in a few months one glass will probably provide more enjoyment than three glasses used to. One glass is all I’ll want. And, its all I ever did need. If a second glass is poured I’ll be thinking about sleepless nights and less productivity the next day. Hopefully, I’ll be thinking about that while reaching for the pelligrino.

Copyright © 2014 by Terence Gillespie. Permission to reprint in whole or in part is gladly granted, provided full credit and a live link are given to McGillespie.com

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