They say we are the land of the free. A moment’s thought show this to be lie. If you want to see how socialized – how unfree – our society and economy is, just note the myriad of rules and regulations that are being momentarily dropped or suspended to fight the pandemic. You can also approach it from another direction: look at how many of the problems we are facing now are the result of the nonsensical rules and regulations tying people’s hands in all areas of life. The most insane one is the way hospitals are facing staff layoffs and bankruptcy in the middle of the pandemic because non-essential procedures are considered taboo.
Every day sees a new round of arbitrary rules. The rules are supposedly based on data, on evidence, only the data turns out the next day to be flimsy, disputed or even wrong. But the expectation is that doctors are scientists and are ethically neutral in their decisions. The truth is, doctors are humans and think within a framework of presuppositions [a worldview] as everyone does. Even freshman are taught in science class to be careful their preconceived ideas don’t taint the data analysis.
Economically, we are almost back to mercantilism, the hobgoblin of the late Middle Ages. The governor’s favorites are granted special permission to be open – sports facilities as long as they’re golf clubs, designated car dealerships, abortion clinics but not pro-life establishments. Remember the monopoly status granted to the King’s friends? But perhaps the clearest indication of the Medieval mindset is the current view of money. Just like then, we (the Fed) are working from the premise that dollars have value; flooding the economy with paper with numbers printed on it is supposed to maintain or restore wealth. It didn’t work for Spain when gold was the medium of exchange, it surely won’t work for fiat money created out of debt!
As always when the government takes control of things, some people are more equal than others. What started out as an ill-conceived, heavy-handed attempt to solve a medical problem has quickly turned into an attack on the middle class. Stimulus packages are protecting big business and their owners; Amazon and Bezos are making money. The fix is in for stocks. But truly small business owners, usually middle class, are unemployed, their savings have been wiped out, and many will have to start over. Socialists have always hated the Middle Class; they declared war on it under the cover of a microbe.
The stimulus packages (both fiscal and monetary), the government’s attempt to solve the economic problem it created by locking down, is very misguided. The amounts are minimal, totally inadequate for their stated purpose. Many of the businesses are not getting anything. But worse, the helicopter money does not make people whole again. Instead, it just shifts costs to others, due at a later time. Nothing, no amount of money, can change the fact that two months’ worth of labor, of creating value, has passed, and we’ve been idle. But the IOU’s we’re passing out (for such is paper currency) will ultimately need to be redeemed for real value: some people will be able to collect, others will be left holding the bag.
Askance Eye Miniblog 