Void for vagueness and your bank account

Ah, intriguing title no?

Today I was going to the bank to alter a bank account of mine and found to correct the problem I had to open a new account.

As I got from the bank my new account user literature I perused a very long contract.

I had heard long ago that there was a catch to every bank account signature card - you were actually signing a contract!  I had heard that many tax cases end in dismay for the tax protestor as soon as the prosecution shows the judge a signed signature card from a defendant's bank account.

So I thought I would peruse this contract for the catch - it wasn't hard to find at all.

If you sign the signature card or open or continue to have your account with us, you agree to these rules. 

 ...

This agreement is subject to applicable federal laws and the laws of the state of Washington (except to the extent that this agreement can and does vary such rules or laws). The body of state and federal law that governs our relationship with you, however, is too large and complex to be reproduced here

This is a clause that binds the signer "by reference".  The document doesn't even call out what the applicable laws are - but trust me, I am sure there are many of them!

Note that it admits right out there that these laws are so large and complex that they won't even reproduce them in the document - they don't have enough paper!

American's are so programmed to sign whatever anyone puts in front of them - me included!  This contract potentially could be signing your life over to another in voluntary servitude for all the average person knows.  In fact, I bet there are very few people on earth who really know all the implications of this very common contract.

There is much I could point out here.  Things like the fact that there are many laws on the books that are not applicable to a US or State citizen at all - unless you contractually obligate yourself.  People just assume that if it's in the law books, it applies to everybody.  Not true at all!

But the main thing I will attack with this short post is the void for vagueness doctrine.  Basically, if  you can't understand a law, then how in the world can you follow it?  The link I reference here is interesting in that the dictionary definition says it only applies to penal statutes.  This is silly.  This applies to ANY contract including ALL law - because law is by definition a community contract.  If you can't understand a contract of ANY kind, you cannot obey it.  Asking anyone to obey unintelligible language is un-reasonable on its face.  It cannot be enforced with any righteousness at all.  This is also true for anyone not sufficiently competent to understand basic English grammar.  Literacy is a requirement to live without lawlessness.

So we note that this contract not only does not call out what laws are applicable, it clearly admits that those laws are just too large and complex to even reference in the contract.

Why would any sane and informed person (like myself say) ever even sign such a contract?

Well I did.

Hmmm..... why?

Because I am too lazy to bother with it.  I want my bank account and I don't have the time to figure out how to protect my rights in the process.

This is true of everyone that has a bank account, an SSN, a drivers license and even a birth certificate.

And this my friend, is why we are all slaves - really.

Esau, oh Esau... is there an Esau in the waiting area?  NEXT....