Stimulus may be last nail for dollar
(My Eastern New Mexico News column for August 12, 2020 https://www.easternnewmexiconews.com/story/2020/08/12/voices/opinion-stimulus-may-be-last-nail-for-dollar/166356.html)
Government actions have consequences.
Some people were happy with the so-called stimulus checks they got from the federal government. Most of them are excited about the prospects of getting another one.
One such fan of stimulus checks was complaining to me a while ago after realizing prices on some necessary items have gone up a noticeable amount.
Instead of keeping my mouth shut, I said "Remember the stimulus check you were so thrilled to get a couple of months ago? You're starting to pay for it."
I could have added, "Expect it to get worse".
The more dollars created, the less each individual dollar is worth. When a dollar is worth less, it takes more of them to buy things.
Look at the recent price of gold, silver, and Bitcoin. As the U.S. dollar loses value, their prices go up.
It's called "inflation", but most people get it backwards. It doesn't mean things are getting more expensive; it means dollars are getting cheaper. Inflation means you can get more dollars for a roll of toilet paper than before.
People who are unaware of this economic fact might complain about the wrong things and blame the other victims-- manufacturers and retailers-- instead of the guilty party. Government will do almost anything to keep the people from realizing who's to blame.
Don't expect the trend to be a straight line. The value of a dollar will be unstable, going up and down over the short term. Prices will rise and fall because the value of a dollar isn't the only thing affecting prices. Supply, demand, and innovation also affect what things cost. This is why, even though the dollar's value is fading, prices don't always only get higher.
In the long term, the dollar is doomed. It was probably already doomed, having lost over ninety-six percent of its value since the Federal Reserve was created. A dollar today is worth less than four cents compared to a dollar before government policy began its destruction.
The Covid-19 spending, conjuring dollars out of thin air, might be the final nail in the coffin. Or, people may continue to tolerate a "dollar" worth a few cents if enough of them imagine it's worth more. You can't predict what people will do. I never believed anyone would tolerate having the economy shut down and being forced to wear masks, but here we are.
Has anyone told you recently we are living in interesting times?
I feel like a SHTF event is imminent. Notice I don't say I think it is, rather it's just a feeling. Possibly triggered by the upcoming election.
I don't have a crystal ball. I'm almost definitely wrong.
If you can see it coming, it's not going to happen. That's almost a guarantee.
Just like the Coronapocalypse came at us out of nowhere, triggered by unexpected government overreactions to a fairly normal virus, a more serious event will also be a surprise. Consider the Coronapanic a practice run. It should have shown you the holes in your preps if you were paying attention.
I lucked out with the panicdemic because I was ready. Well, maybe it wasn't completely luck; I've prepped for years "just in case", and it finally paid off. I was pretty sure I wouldn't see it coming when it finally happened, and I didn't. But it didn't matter because I stay ready all the time-- and I have done so since well before the Y2K fizzle. I intend to be just as ready, if not more ready, the next time something ...
Sometimes it's good to just listen to people's stories without interrupting, even when you know the stories are nonsense.
My 2nd wife used to tell of a ghost that lived in her house when she was a kid. It was an interesting story even though I didn't believe it. I learned quickly that her family was very prone to believe anything as long as it fit with their magical worldview.
Other people tell me stories about beneficial things political government can do. These stories are no more true-- in the sense of being objective reality-- than ghost stories, but they can still be informative if you want to know which particular superstitions a person is living under.
Interrupt and you'll never hear the whole tale. Listen and you might be entertained by some fantastical tales of magical realms. Just don't bet your life on them being true.
My nature is such that I simply can't see government as a solution to anything. This puts me at odds with most of the rest of my species.
Yes, I think "social media" has become a horror. This doesn't mean I want government to regulate it; it means I think people who don't like it (or are too dumb to know not to take it at face value) should probably stop using it.
The same is true of so many other things I don't like.
Litter/pollution, scammers, sexual predators, abortion, animal cruelty, Hillary Clinton, poverty, drug abuse, pandemics, crime, and all manner of awful things.
I may hate them, but that doesn't mean I want government to step in. Look how often that has the opposite effect anyway; making the original problem worse-- or at least not solving it-- while also creating a host of new problems that never would have existed otherwise (anti-gun legislation being a perfect example).
And even if government intervention doesn't make this specific problem worse this particular ...
