Amero currency for US, Canada and Mexico and other conspiracy theories

When I began this exploration, I was interested in the Amero Conspiracy which led into research regarding currency and conspiracy theory in general and wound up with some Urban Legends. It's been an interesting journey and yet my foraging has created a somewhat cumbersome site. I hope you will bear with me. I guess I should have written three different Hubs, but what did I know?!

I have decided to begin with my Urban Legend links because this income tax myth has my attention. My sister in law recently claimed not paying income tax was FACT. I guess Republicans are going the way of once frustrated Democrats, looking for a way to avoid supporting the President. These links form Part One.

Part Two deals with Conspiracy Theory, including a fun test to see how vulnerable you are.

Part Three is all about the Amero issue.

And Part Four offers you the ability to explore the latest currency hubs written by experts or at least hubbers with more expertise than I, many of whom have educated me.

Hope this helps you maneuver a bit more easily!

Following the course of an idea reminds me of my days back in the Minnesota Boundary Waters, paddling down rivers and streams. There is a natural flow to the experience.

Moving from the discussion of a possible conspiracy automatically leads me to an examination of conspiracy theory in general, i.e., Turner isn't the first of his kind to accuse the Bush Administration or other administrations of attempted power grabs. There have been many claims of conspiracy in my lifetime, some even accurate: the JFK assassination conspiracy, the Oliver North conspiracy, the 9-11 conspiracy, etc.

Seven of the strangest conspiracies are described at this website:

http://www.oddee.com/item_92285.aspx

More recently, "The George W. Bush presidency, dominated by 9/11 and studded with scandals and attempts to cover up egregious mistakes, has fed the conspiracy frenzy, spurring an unprecedented upsurge in conspiracy theories..." From allacademic research- see link.

Evidently when an overwhelming, irrational event occurs, such as 9-11 or the recent crash on Wall Street, conspiracy theories transform these events into something tangible. The theory explains in human, albeit paranoid terms, complexities that cannot be grasped. Man needs to be able to categorize information into discernable slots in order to regain control of his/her universe.

Harvey Wheeler says, "Whenever secrecy reigns conspiracies flourish — it is their nutrient." Large government with its necessary complexity leaves citizens feeling overwhelmed and out of control. There are too many forks in the river: citizens don't know where they are headed.

Wheeler concludes that politics IS conspiracy. "All “political” history is the history of how various groups, cliques, factions, classes, etc. attempted to get their way — as secretly as possible."

I received a forwarded YouTube video yesterday from a normally reliable friend in which Hal Turner claimed the US government had deposited Ameros in a Chinese bank and would soon be devaluing the American currency to pennies on the dollar in a power grab.

This was a pretty intense claim, probably the most serious conspiracy claim I have ever heard. So I forwarded the email to a couple friends I trust and asked them to look at the site and give me some sort of analysis.

The responses were pretty interesting:

JL said: "The correction in our financial world has been coming for some time. And there are those who will feed on the panic and emotions during the turmoil. Bless you for caring enough to share your concerns."

DG said: "What is amazing is that Obama would be way more likely to go along with that kind of idea. He thinks the US is going down. AND this guy could be a jerk who is making it all up. Is this where you get the facts and logic you espouse? Have you checked him out? I know if it is on the internet it has to be true! Your facts are wacked."

CT said: "Where's the fire? If this was all a Republican (or should I say Bush) ruse to defraud the American people, he will be out of power in weeks, if he isn't already. You know that Obama will ensure nothing like this happens. Heck, he's going to get us out of NAFTA so the chance that the US would take over the Canadian looney and the Mexican peso is really a stretch."

JS is under the gun and he had no time to respond.

It was interesting to me that when I asked for feedback, even from old friends I respect and thought respected me, well, they all responded emotionally and with opinions versus facts.

Anyway, I did my normal Google thing- see my Hub "Presidents weigh in on the Arts and Art Education" for more one this- and here is what I discovered at Wikipedia about Mr. Turner:

"Unauthorized postings of images taken from his (coin designer Daniel Carr) website have been reposted widely across the Internet, often being used as supposed "proof" of the amero coinage. Notably, former Internet radio talk show host Hal Turner ran a full article on his website about the amero coin, claiming to have arranged for a United States Government minted amero to be smuggled out of the Treasury Department by an employee of that organization.

"Following Turner's assertions of federal minting of ameros, a web site marketing the curio coins released a statement debunking Turner's claims of a government cover up regarding Daniel Carr's amero products. The debunking website Snopes also ran a further debunking of Turner's claims, stating:

"'Neither the U.S. Mint nor the U.S. Treasury has a hand in creating these Ameros. These coins are merely collectibles offered to the buying public by a private company in the business of manufacturing such curiosities.'"

Makes sense to me, but I gotta tell you, the more I research online, the crazier the messages become. There are folks claiming Bush has done a power grab and will cancel the 2008 elections, imposing martial law. There are folks claiming we have been under martial law since 1933. There are folks claiming Bush is going to set off another terrorist event in the US and cancel the 2008 elections.

Makes me wonder what really goes on in the hearts and minds of not only those in power but also those on the street. And if, for some stretch of the imagination, these seemingly incredible fantasies are in fact true, how what I value most, my faith, will sustain me in these crazy-making times.