May 11, 2013
Cash Flow Woes

It was a quiet week on the manhunt front. We could not get any traction at all ourselves, and nothing came in from our surveillance unit. I took the opportunity to let the team have the week off. We could have continued practice and training, but I don't believe it's a good idea to do that without break. Something interesting did occur this week. You may have even heard about it. If you are familiar with the gray work markets you likely know about donnies. If not then let me explain, and start with a refresher.

I can't get a regular job because I am hunted. There are other people like that, and there are some who just don't the government and the regular law. They work under the table or hire under the table and give people like me a chance to make an honest, if not strictly legal living. Then of course there is the black market, which is illegal, dishonest, and oftentimes downright dangerous. For years both of these markets used normal money, and some degree of barter depending upon which circles you travel in. In recent years they have begun using digital currency because the government can't track it if you are careful. They also can't control it. The most prevalent of these digital monies are the donnies--because donies doesn't sound as nice. Just like regular money there are markets attached to donnies and those can cause the value of the currency to vary, wildly, as we've discovered this week.

This year I was receiving 1 donnies--yeah it's both singular and plural, don't ask me--a day working. That was about $60. As the year has gone on the worth doubled. Then this week for a few brief shining hours it was at $220 before dipping down to $40 and staying there. There is no current expectation of it rising again anytime soon. It inevitable will, but perhaps not as high as it was when it was stable, and of course if could do worse and return to a more historic value. The people I was working for where handling the income tax for the employees. I discovered since the last time I talked about the gray markets that we do pay income tax, just not as individuals. Some kind of creative accounting is involved, but as long as the IRS gets its money it doesn't care. Of course not everyone does as they are supposed to so a lot of workers aren't paying their taxes of having it done for them.

The change in price means I may have to look for other work because the business owners are losing money just like I am. I may have to go somewhere that doesn't pay its taxes if I do get let go. Now that I know wasn't being a tax evader I'm not sure I want to become one. It's a tough call. Should I fund the people trying to kill me? When I buy from legitimate businesses I'm funding roads, schools, and whatever good causes taxes go to. It's all give and take, but I want to be good, even though I could be driven otherwise.

Tags: business, donnies, finances, gray market, law, markets.