We have certainly embarked down the road of a police state. Federal agencies are tracking people who travel on trains or in the air. If someone buys a ticket for cash, they government is notified. They are looking for the slightest thing. I went to the airport to pick up a friend who comes over to the States maybe four times a year. I ended up waiting for nearly 3 hours. They took the person and searched everything. The agent then handed them to someone else and said “see if you can find something! I found nothing.”  Finally, they escorted them out to me and then began interrogating me saying that frequent trips set off a “red flag” and then asked what I did simply because I was there to pick them up. I am not easily intimidated and can hold my ground. So they backed off and released them.

I was flying back to the States from Europe over the July 4th holiday. My ticket was originally booked for JFK in New York. I then remembered the travel would be horrific so I switched to Philadelphia. When I landed, I was met by two IRS agents. Apparently there was sting they set up at JFK looking for American coming home for holidays who do not pay taxes here. I said you can check I pay my taxes here and do not live overseas. That was not good enough. They though I was tipped off to their sting in NYC and sent two agents to intercept me in Philadelphia simply because I switched planes.

I took the train from Brussels to London after meetings there with government so I was dressed in a suit and tie. Everyone else on the train were tourists. I was the only called aside by British customs. They asked how much money did I have on me. I showed them my US passport. That was NOT enough. They wanted to see my ticket where I bought it and how I paid.

When I returned from our Berlin Conference last year, I dressed casual in jeans. But traveling alone I was again singled out. Again they wanted to know how much cash I had on me. The hunt for money is getting really bad. You cannot train on a train in Europe without them looking for money. In Italy, they confiscated a stack of bonds from a passenger on the train to Switzerland. A staff member left Switzerland on the train for a meeting in Lichtenstein which goes through France. The train was stopped in France and police search bags looking for cash.

In the USA, now even the DEA is searching all travel records on trains and in the air. They target people who buy one-way tickets or pay cash for a ticket. We should just legalize drugs and that would end the crime and the confiscation of citizens. Now everyone is a suspect for the slightest thing.