Happy Independence Day!  I am celebrating my freedom by sheltering at home while wearing a mask and spending my government stimulus check.  I sure am glad that I’m not ruled by the British Crown.

When the American colonists seceded from the British, taxes were in the neighborhood of 1 percent. Now, the U.S. government is spending almost 1% of annual GDP every week.  It’s for our safety and security of course.

Just in 2020, we have had state and local governments shutting down private businesses. Perhaps we should be celebrating how our great federalist system has held up.

The Democrats have been concerned throughout Trump’s presidency that he is acting like a dictator.  But when the coronavirus panic hit, the Democrats chastised Trump for not imposing lockdowns. Biden recently said that he wants the federal government to mandate mask wearing.

When the lockdowns were in full swing in April, Trump threatened to use his power to open up the economy.  Then the political left all of a sudden found states’ rights.  Momentarily, states’ rights no longer meant slavery to the left.  It gets really confusing.

Then the protests broke out at the end of May.  All of a sudden, mass gatherings no longer mattered.  Social distancing didn’t matter.  We were originally told the coronavirus was racist because there were a disproportionate percentage of black people dying from it. But as soon as the protests broke out, Black Lives Matter was immune to it, at least according to the media. If you are gathering in mass crowds for social justice, then the coronavirus stays away and you are safe.

With the protests came calls to defund the police.  So the radical leftists favor strict gun control, which means only the military and police would own guns.  But then they want to defund the police.

Are you getting all of this?

Now the protests and the rioting and the looting are slowly settling down.  But we are in “a second wave” of the coronavirus as the number of cases has gone up.  More young people are testing positive, but it is reason enough to impose mask wearing and even re-imposing lockdowns.

This is America 2020.

Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve has increased its balance sheet by approximately $3 trillion over the last four months.  The Fed can now buy almost anything, including stocks and corporate bonds. Stocks are back up as a result. Higher stock prices means capitalism and freedom, right?

The federal government has run up several trillions of dollars in debt over the course of just a few months.  It gets expensive handing out free money to most adult Americans.  It gets expensive paying the majority of unemployed people more than what they were making while working.  It gets expensive to bail out major corporations. Whoever said freedom is free?

That $1,200 check from Uncle Sam will sure buy you some nice fireworks for July 4^th. Don’t worry about paying your rent or mortgage.  You don’t have to for now.  Don’t worry about the rising price of food.  I’m sure it will come back down.  After all, we have freedom.

One unfortunate thing about the coronavirus lockdowns is that schools have been closed.  Now little children may not be taught that they should thank the government for making the world safe for democracy. They may not know that the government saved us from the Great Depression and is there to stimulate the economy when it needs a boost.  I’m sure these children will tune into the reliable news media and get the right facts.  After all, unlike China and Russia, the U.S. media is free and independent from the government and will give you the unbiased facts.

I can’t take much more of this freedom.  You should see the excitement on my face underneath this mask.

Happy Independence Day!