Could we win peace by defunding war?

Paying your taxes is probably illegal if your government uses it to fund war. Withholding your tax could be an obligation under law.

Talk about the 'audacity of hope'... A few weeks ago I participated in a podcast with Chris Coverdale, a British lawyer and peace activist who worked out that ordinary British taxpayers can legally deprive the British government of tax revenues and withhold their taxes unless the government can guarantee that their money will not be used to fund war or terrorism. These same legal principles we're about to look at, should be applicable in most developed nations around the world.

Paying Taxes is Illegal in Most Countries of the World - with Chris Coverdale and Alex Krainer

The UN Charter, which is the cornerstone of international law, sets out that all international disagreements must be solved peacefully, and that there must be no recourse to war. But more specifically, the two key pieces of international law relevant to funding of war and terrorism are:

1. Terrorism Financing Convention, formerly “The International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism” (1999), and

2. The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (1998). 

In Ratifying these two treaties and enacting the Terrorism Act 2000 (TA2000) and the International Criminal Court Act 2001, British Parliament made it a criminal offence in the UK to pay money to a person or organization if one suspects that some of the money might be used for the purposes of terrorism or war. The Rome Statute makes it clear that this law applies to all persons including heads of state. Article 27 reads as follows:

"This statue shall apply equally to all persons without any distinction based on official capacity. In particular, official capacity as a Head of State or Government, a member of a Government or parliament, an elected representative or a government official shall in no case exempt a person from criminal responsibility under this Statute, nor shall it, in and of itself, constitute a ground for reduction of sentence."

Furthermore, under "Funding Arrangements," the TA2000 states that, 

"A person commits an offence if he enters into or becomes concerned in an arrangement as a result of which money or other property is made available or is to be made available to another, and he knows or has reasonable cause to suspect that it will or may be used for the purposes of terrorism."

In plain English, if a person suspects that another person might commit or cause acts of terrorism or illegal act of war to be committed, he or she could become criminally liable as an accomplice in any such acts if they provide them with any money that could help perpetuate  such illegal acts, and it doesn't matter if the one person is an ordinary tax payer and the other person the king himself.

In still plainer terms, if I think that Chuck III might commit an act of terror, and I give any money to Chuck III, I could be breaking the law and end up prosecuted for that act of terror as an accomplice: that is the law of the land in Great Britain. But it’s not just Britain: the Rome Statute has been ratified into domestic law by 128 nations around the world, and the International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism by 188 nations (out of 195). 

If the people knew…

The main reason why these legal provisions are only ever used against targets designated by governments and their agents and never against government agents like heads of state, tax collectors, Prime Ministers or Defence Ministers, is that the general public isn't aware of the broad powers contained in those provisions. Another reason is the mistaken belief that if kings or Prime Ministers do something, then that something must be legal and justified, somehow.

Distracting us with propaganda

This is why our ruling establishments invest so heavily in propagandizing the public and convincing us that every target of every war or regime change operation is bad, illegitimate, or outright a madman who brutalizes his own people and somehow threatens our own way of life. While those justifications might work in the court of public opinion, they are irrelevant in the court of law.

In a little known 2013 case referencing the TA2000, the UK Supreme Court ruled that Government's actions could indeed be illegal and qualify as terrorism:

“As a matter of ordinary language, the definition [of terrorism] would seem to cover any violence or damage to property if it is carried out with a view to influencing a government or IGO in order to advance a very wide range of causes. Thus, it would appear to extend to military or quasi-military activity aimed at bringing down a foreign government, even where that activity is approved (officially or unofficially) by the UK government.” - Regina ‘v’ Gul UK Supreme Court 64

UK's Supreme Court furthermore underscored that TA2000 "does not exempt, nor make an exception, nor create a defence for, nor exculpate what some would describe as terrorism in a just cause. ... Terrorist action outside the United kingdom which involves the use of firearms or explosives, resulting in danger to life ... is terrorism."

Why are we ALWAYS at war?

That being the case, British taxpayers would be on good grounds to suspect that the money they pay to the government would likely be used to fund terrorism and illegal wars. Since 2001 British Governments have used £750bn of taxpayers’ money on military activity waging illegal wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and Syria, which resulted in over 4 million casualties and which drove as many as 20 million people into destitution and exile. And how much is £750 billion? It is more than £10,700 per man, woman and child living in the UK - that's how much poorer the average Briton is for the wasteful, destructive, illegal actions of their government.

And that's only the last 23 years; since 1946, the UK has taken an active part in at least 83 international conflicts around the world and very close to none of them were legal under international law.

How do you shaft the tax man?

So... the next question is: how do you go about shafting the tax man? That is, how do you make sure you aren’t breaking any laws by paying your taxes? Simply saying, "y'all are bad and I'm not giving you any money," is a good shortcut to serving prison time.

Instead, Chris Coverdale advises creating a trust, paying your full tax bill into the trust and making it available to the tax collector, but only on condition that you can receive their explicit reassurance that the money won't be used for any illegal activity. Apparently, is next to impossible for government officials to provide such assurances and they admittedly don't know how to deal with the challenge. 

A million points of friction to stop wars

This kind of tax revolt might prove to be an effective and legal way to defund wars and terrorism. More details are available on ProbityCo: Witholding Tax Lawfully website, where Chris Coverdale specifies the six legal steps British citizens can follow to make sure their taxes aren't funding any illegal activities.

Hopefully, similar legal advice will become available for all UN member nations which ratified Terrorism Financing Convention and the Rome Statute. At the very least, this action could seed the system with a million points of friction and force a discussion of illicit government activities out into the light of day. At best, it could bring the age of permanent warfare to a grinding halt.

Resources

Below are links to further resources to explore:

• ProbityCo - Chris Coverdale’s website

• UN Declaration on Principles of International Law

• Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court -

• United Nations Charter

• Terrorist Financing Convention (formerly, "International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism")

• Terrorism Act 2000

• International Criminal Court Act 2001

Alex Krainer – @NakedHedgie is the creator of I-System Trend Following and publisher of daily TrendCompass investor reports which cover over 200 financial and commodities markets. One-month test drive is always free of charge, no jumping through hoops to cancel. To start your trial subscription, drop us an email at TrendCompass@ISystem-TF.com

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