“The masses will never again accept the mindless serfdom of the Old Order; and given these demands that have been awakened by liberalism and the Industrial Revolution, long-run victory for liberty is inevitable.” ~ Murray Rothbard

Americans are accustomed to a high standard of living.  They are willing to give it up for a short period of time in order to “flatten the curve” (i.e., listen to their government rulers).

When things that are deemed non-essential are shut down for a month or two, most people can handle it for this duration.  Even though you can’t go out for a haircut or go out to the movies, you can still watch Netflix at home.  You have the internet.  You have food on the table.  Life for many right now doesn’t seem too bad.

Many people are being paid to sit at home and do nothing.  With the legislation passed by Congress, many people are receiving wages that are higher than they would have been had they kept working. These people are being paid to do nothing.  There is not much incentive to stop doing nothing until the money dries up.

Welfare can “work” for a limited number of people.  If there are 150 million people working while a couple of million people collect welfare, this is sustainable as long as the majority of people put up with it. It is economically sustainable.

It doesn’t work when most of the country is on welfare.  It cannot be sustained without a massive decline in living standards.

Right now, millions (soon to be tens of millions) are being incentivized to not produce.  This cannot last.  Work ethic will be revived when the welfare state dries up, which will be quickly.

The federal government was already set to run a $1 trillion deficit this year.  Congress has provided (not out of its pocket) funding for over $2 trillion in addition to this.  I don’t know if all of this money will be spent this year, but a majority of it should be.  This doesn’t account for what else we get over the coming weeks.

We could be looking at a $3 trillion deficit this year.  But it could even be worse than that.  Tax collections (sometimes called tax revenues) are going to plummet.  Maybe Walmart, Amazon, and Netflix will be paying higher corporate taxes, but most companies will see a massive decline in profits.  For many, there won’t be any profits.  They won’t be paying taxes.

And the tens of millions of people who were forced out of work will essentially not be paying payroll or income taxes.  There is going to be a major decline in tax collections at every level of government.

The federal government can create money out of thin air through the Federal Reserve.  State and local governments do not have this luxury.  The Fed has indicated it will buy municipal bonds, but how long can this last?  This will not be enough to prop up state and local governments for long.  State and local governments will be forced to scale back significantly.

For all of the people cheering on the lockdowns and the government “assistance” that goes with them, they are not counting the economic costs.  This economy is going to hit them across the head like a brick.

I think fears of the virus will end up being similar to fears of climate change.  Many people will speak in politically correct terms about it and say they are doing their part to fight it.  But their actions won’t really reflect what they say.

The politicians have gotten away doing things with the virus that they weren’t able to get away with regarding climate change.  Many people would recycle and drink out of paper straws, but they wouldn’t significantly alter their life because of climate change.

When the economy gets worse, I think many people will no longer enthusiastically support government shutdowns, even if it is being reported that the virus is still going strong.

The basis of our living standards is productivity.  It is a basic economic point, but it is not widely understood.  You can’t have a small number of people producing while a large number of people live off of that productivity and contribute nothing.  It doesn’t even really work if it is half and half of the working age population.  Our society is not that far advanced.

If the market were allowed to operate freely, things would adjust quickly, even with fears of a virus.  Maybe some people would self-quarantine, and that should be their choice to do so.  Maybe some businesses would even temporarily shut down on a voluntary basis, but at least they could weigh the costs and the benefits.

Where the market is relatively free to operate, people adjust and productivity continues.

I shop at Publix grocery stores, and Publix has been great.  The workers are there to work and satisfy the customers. Toilet paper has started to appear on the shelves.  We can be thankful that the government has not yet taken over the toilet paper industry.

I went to Olive Garden the other day to pick up food.  There were many other cars there doing the same.  I waited in my car and someone came out with a tablet. She asked my name and punched it in.  There was a number corresponding to my parking spot.  A few minutes later, someone came out and handed me a couple of bags of food. They did not function this way a month ago.  The employees adjusted quickly to their new roles.

It’s not to say that everything is wonderful in a free market.  You may get bad service.  But if that company wants to stay in business, it will have to quickly start satisfying consumers.

The government is our major threat right now.  The destruction of the currency is the biggest threat of all.  This is being overseen by the Federal Reserve, which is essentially an arm of the federal government.

Creating money out of thin air does not produce food or toilet paper.  It doesn’t produce any service other than redistributing wealth and distorting the market economy.  Monetary inflation doesn’t increase the number of goods and services available.  If anything, it reduces it.

There are going to be severe economic consequences for years to come based on the current actions of the federal government and the Fed.  Real wages are going to drop.  I hope that most Americans come to understand that the virus didn’t do this to us.

Americans clamored for their enslavement, and politicians were more than happy to provide it. Now we will all pay the price.