But don’t take my word for it.
This article really knocked me for a loop. You would figure that a safe deposit box would be one of the safest possible places from thieves, you know? But it’s not safe from the biggest thieves ever, those lovable G-men.
Forget Social Security, the biggest Ponzi scheme ever, or the confiscatory income tax rate. Forget all the indirect taxes levied through corporations or goods we buy, like gasoline, and don’t think about the cap-and-trade thing being discussed in Congress. One can at least pretend for sanity’s sake that this is all legit and although perhaps excessive, legally the Government’s purview. But it’s hard to ignore when these people start stealing out of people’s safe deposit boxes.
Sure they just started doing this in Britain (here), but in light of how they’re the closest along to being an all out surveillance society, I really just sort of expect that from them. But for that to be happening here… 4th Amendment anyone? And there isn’t any gooey gray area either, this is people’s property. Any dolt from the 18th or 19th century would understand this issue and that it ain’t good, no debate necessary.
Banks apparently aren’t a safe place to keep valuable items. And not just cash money anymore; I always figured until today that even in a worst case scenario like a bank run, you could always get the stuff out that you had stored in the safe deposit box. Like, say, your personal gold stash that you keep as a hedge against the dollar collapsing, or important documents, or jewelry. But now your local, state, or federal government can just waltz into your local bank branch and steal all your shit you keep locked there, and auction it off for the general budget like in California. Maybe it’ll take’em a week, like in the British article, to break into the box with diamond tipped drills, if your bank goes for good boxes, but they’ll get it in the end.
I understand that Florida is next in line behind California when it comes to budget crunches on account of the depreciating home market/bubble. Not reassuring. Draw your own conclusions, and be especially careful if your state or city is contemplating defaulting. This is getting extremely ugly.
I am appalled. I had no idea banks let government folks just walk off with safety deposit boxes.
I mean, hell, part of the reason I wanted a safety deposit box was to keep things out of everyone’s hands – including the feds.
Disgusting.
Per the boyfriend – this is eminent domain, not 4th amendment. Although pointing to the amendments is ALWAYS sexier