Great piece from the great Paul Rosenberg. Smuggling as free trade and a boon to mankind. Which may be why the history books don’t like to talk about it?
Great piece from the great Paul Rosenberg. Smuggling as free trade and a boon to mankind. Which may be why the history books don’t like to talk about it?
An interesting article. For a whole book on smuggling in America, see this: http://www.amazon.com/Smuggler-Nation-Illicit-Trade-America/dp/0199746885/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_nC?ie=UTF8&colid=2J7XH794EJ7XQ&coliid=IAE7J573T7M7G
Smugglers are the true heroes of a free people.
How many people know that at least one of the founding fathers was a smuggler? The biggest signature on the Declaration of Independence belonging to John Hancock, is one. He wanted the British to know that he signed the thing knowing how to deal with them.
In 14-8,000 BC, I don’t know what governments may have existed. Clans, tribes, bands of wandering people perhaps, but organized social control of peoples in a given land area? I doubt it. Thus, smuggling was never done; there were no borders; there was no power with laws banning a commodity from entering a geographical area. Thus, no duties or taxes (which are the same thing). By default, trade was free.
And so were people.
I like to imagine what that freedom was like. Survival was the hard part, but freedom was a given, like water in a stream (excuse me, in an unpolluted stream).
But I’m sure I would trade life now for life in 14-8,000 BC.
A substantial part of the Kennedy clans fortune came from smuggling during prohibition.