LiveOffshore

Transcending Locality for the Sovereign Individual

The 21st century will force individuals to rethink the conventions of the last 500 years. We've been taught all throughout our lives to identify with our local nation-state. Nationality has been forced on us like an identity badge. This is reinforced by such things as compulsory government schools (public education), wars, taxes, national debts, national holidays, oaths of office, political campaigns, national currencies, international sporting events, flag waving, and national anthems.

With globalization, such allegiances are beginning to change. Politicians have spent the western nation states into oblivion with their reckless welfare programs, government schooling, weapons programs, and social safety-net programs. The western nation states are withering under the consequences of their grossly inflated currencies and unfunded liabilities.

Today, the emerging democracies in the Caribbean, Central and South America, Eastern Europe, and even some Asian countries have discovered that they can attract capital, smart people, business, and even tax dollars through tax competition and citizenship programs. The western nation states can't compete very effectively. Their bloated budgets require high rates of taxation. To fight back, they resort to blacklisting and intimidation by using such organizations as the OECD and strong-arming smaller countries into information sharing agreements.

People are beginning to sit-up, take notice, and act.

Citizenship in the western democracies is quickly becoming a liability. For instance, the US Government bases its tax system on citizenship. This means that the US Government has a claim on the income of every American no matter what country he or she lives in. Almost every other country bases its taxation on residency.

It is becoming increasingly practical to live the life of a sovereign individual where a person can determine their country of residency and negotiate private tax treaties similar to what is now being done is Switzerland. National identity is starting to become a relic of the past.

The 21st century will see unprecedented opportunities for the sovereign individual to become a "portable professional". It is now possible to make a living from pretty much anywhere in the world. Internet access has opened up a world of opportunity for virtually anyone to make a living.

Increasingly individuals will move from high-tax jurisdictions to low-tax jurisdictions and stick it to the western governments. Productive people will find economic freedom.

The Portable Professional

The available technology that allows the portable professional to make a living is astonishing.

Laptops

The most highly developed computer is the laptop or notebook computer. The laptop allows you to work without being anchored to an office. Portability and good performance make notebooks an essential part of the daily lives of millions of people, from university students to business travelers.

Internet

The Internet gives you access to the World Wide Web (WWW). The Internet is greater than any library in the world. You can research information faster, more accurately, and cheaply. The Internet gives you the ability to access the mass markets, niche markets, and global markets.
You can sell products, information, and services.

The rise of blogging, especially in the United States, has opened up news reporting, commentary, and analysis to anyone. The American presidential elections of 2004 showed the power of bloggers to critique, analyze, deconstruct, and mock the conventional media coverage.

Online Software Applications

The search engine company, Google, has recently made software available that lets you do word processing, create spreadsheets, build web pages, have an e-mail account, instant message, organize your schedule with their calendar, and more. You can do all of this from the Internet without having to download information.

E-Commerce

It is literally possible to live in Central America and sell to a global customer base, all from the Internet.

Google Checkout™ is a checkout system, integrated with your website. This system will charge credit cards, process orders, and stick the money in your account.

Other payment systems exist such as PayPal, e-bullion, and e-gold.

Virtual Offices

Virtual Offices allow you to have your own business or personal presence in the most prestigious cities in any continent worldwide at very affordable prices.

Most virtual offices offer fax, voicemail, re-mailing, and telephone services. Many offer conference rooms, Internet access, and video conferencing so that you can maintain a professional appearance without the enormous cost of owning such infrastructure.

Voice Communications

If you have access to broadband, you can have a global telephone presence with such technologies as Skype and Vonage. Phone calls are very low cost or even free.

Encryption

Personal privacy is one of those freedoms and rights that many people take for granted. We consider our business transactions, conversations, mail, and other communications to be private. If another person needs to know our business, we make a point of telling them. So it almost always comes as a shock when our private information is exposed.

Public Key/Private Key Encryption allows you to securely move your files, sensitive data, e-mail, personal, and business information securely over the Internet to those people that are authorized to access such information. Encryption keeps sensitive data from being used and exploited by the wrong individuals and gives government snoops additional headaches.

Books

An Organizational Guide to Telecommuting >> This book helps you to decide whether or not to move your office to the home.