Stop Pulling the Wagon

Pancho Villa and His Army of the North

Recently I was thumbing through some old Mexico Revolutionary currency I have and came across the below 20 Peso Currency Note which reminded me of a colorful and  interesting piece of historical trivia .  It inspired me to write the following, hopefully poignant bit of possible conjunction of purpose by rulers and leaders with similar goals. 

Pancho Villa had a long and colorful career and there are many stories and contradictions in his biography.  There are numerous  books available and even a Google search is rich with different accounts of his life.  Records of his early life are at best sketchy and often contradictory.  It does appear that in his formative years he worked at various jobs from mining to being a Mule Skinner to soldier in the Mexican Army.

He was an early supporter of Mexican President Francisco Madero,  a successful General, a ruthless Revolutionary Leader, a “Bandit”, for a time supported by America, later renounced by President Woodrow Wilson, pursued by American General Pershing (unsuccessfully), Train Robber, “Robin Hood”, “De-facto” Governor General of the State of Chihuahua,  Commander of his Army of the North, etc. etc..  His complete history is diverse to say the least.

Historically many considered him a hero of the Mexican Revolution, others a vicious outlaw who considered himself a sort of Robin Hood.  He led his armies to many victories including the famous battle for Zacatecas against a seemingly overwhelming Federal Army force.  He also robbed trains for the Silver Bullion they carried and in at least one case his forces killed all but one person on a train including a sizeable number of innocent civilians.

So, depending on your sources and viewpoint he was either a “good guy” Robin Hood or a vicious, heartless “Bandit” killer.  After the Revolution was over the Mexican Government “retired” him to a large Hacienda Rancho which they gifted to him.  He was assassinated in July 1923 in his 1919 Dodge on his way back to his Rancho.

I give to you this very brief and limited biography by way of introduction to an often reported story of how he sometimes raised money to pay for his “Army”.  His troops wanted to be paid in gold and silver because Mexico was “awash” in paper money of little value.  Pancho Villa and his troops would ride into a town or village, go into the local bank and demand all their gold and silver but then tell the “victims” of their visit that “We are not bandits and are not stealing from you.”  “We are paying for your gold and silver with this money” and then leaving the banks with bundles of currency printed under the authority of his “Army of the North” for the State of Chihuahua.  They created virtually bales and bales of this currency and it was, as you can guess, worthless.  You could say it was Pancho Villa’s way of “laundering” money – bad for good.

I find some humor in this story because at one time the United States was on a Gold and Silver Standard and currency was issued and payable at the United States Treasury in real Gold and Silver.  The United States went off the Gold Standard in 1933 and officially ended the Silver Standard in 1935 though they continued minting 90% Silver coins until 1964 and “Silver Certificates” were then discontinued and no longer redeemable in Silver the following year.  What followed was a “fiat” currency and coinage backed up by a Federal Reserve system. 

Now, the United States is considering a “digital” currency which would be “loaded” on a credit card like instrument for wallet or purse.  This digital currency would be monitored electronically and under the complete control of the government who could leave you “penniless” with a few keystrokes on a computer by a bureaucrat should you anger the government in any way.  I wrote about this in a previous article: “A Joe Biden Digital Currency Future?”  If this happens there would be a date certain that all remaining paper currency in circulation would be de-monetized and no longer “legal tender”, i.e. as worthless as Pancho Villa’s State of Chihuahua paper notes.

So.  What is the difference in what Pancho Villa did and what the U.S. Government is in the process of doing?  Has our own Federal Reserve System and Treasury simply studied history and set a path to “rob” the citizenry using a method perfected by Pancho Villa?

Not so funny:  Could there be a time in the not too distant future when a well armed FBI or IRS “Army” rides up and knocks on your door to tell you it is no longer legal for you to own gold or silver (which you control) because the government needs it in the interests of “National Security”.  But, not to worry, they are not stealing your gold and silver and will pay you for it with “Digital Dollars” (which they control).  Hmmmmm.  You think it can’t happen? 

Something to think about.

Bob Bandy – September 2022