I have been surprised and disheartened by the events of 2020.  My outlook for liberty in the long term has generally been positive, but I have to admit that my positive outlook has been shaken a bit in 2020.

I try not to write a lot of sensationalist headlines.  I actually believe that my blog might be more popular if I used more clickbait headlines and outlandish predictions.  I could say that gold is going to $20,000 per ounce by next year or that the New World Order is right around the corner or that hyperinflation will wipe us all out in the next few years.  I don’t write things that I don’t believe, and I am cautious in my predictions.

The reality is that, even when major world events happen, things tend to not change much for most people.  The significant changes we do see are so gradual that we barely notice them.  It is easy to forget that smartphones didn’t exist 20 years ago.

When a new war breaks out, things certainly change for those in the war region.  I am quite sensitive to that.  But for most Americans and people in other first-world countries, things don’t change that much.  If you didn’t lose your job in 2008/ 2009, then the financial crisis/ recession probably had very little long-term impact on you.

With that said, I don’t know that I can say the same thing in 2020.  Things really are different, and significantly so.  I don’t think it is the craziest time in American history.  I believe that event would go to the so-called Civil War.  That was pure devastation, with hundreds of thousands of people dead when the population was a small fraction of today’s United States.

But 2020 has brought major changes to our lives.  For most of us, it isn’t from the coronavirus.  It is from fear of the coronavirus and the general population allowing governments at all levels to react in tyrannical fashion.

I have to say that I am actually worried about our future.  I don’t think life on the planet is going to end, but I do worry about the kind of world that my children will have to grow up in.

First, there are the draconian measures being put on virtually everyone, from businesses being forced to shut down or operate with major restrictions to requiring face masks.  I have already wondered whether we will wear face masks forever.

I don’t want to live in a world where people are walking around wearing face masks all the time. I don’t want to live in a world where it is inappropriate to shake someone’s hand.  I don’t want to live in a world where you can’t attend live concerts or sporting events.  I don’t want my children growing up in such a world.

But now I also have to worry about the economic conditions that are being brought on by the highly disproportionate reactions to a virus.

Extreme Poverty and Economic Decline

I still feel fortunate to live in a first-world country.  I can still go to the grocery store and find most things I am looking for.

I think about people in third-world countries and how devastated they must be.  These are places that were already poor, and I’m sure many people have been brought to the edge of starvation.  Some places like India have brought totalitarian lockdown measures.  This is in a place where most people cannot afford to miss a few days of work, let alone longer.

I think of a place like the Bahamas that relies on tourism.  Think of the workers who previously worked at resorts.  I have no idea how many resorts are still open there.  People who are unemployed aren’t getting $600 weekly checks like Americans were getting from the federal government (on top of state unemployment benefits).  Most countries don’t have the same level of wealth as the U.S.  They can’t just redistribute wealth for a few months and expect everything will be fine.

We don’t hear many stories about third-world countries.  We barely hear many stories about the major hardships within the U.S. The establishment media is too busy selling the coronavirus fear narrative.  They don’t want to acknowledge the devastation that has happened due to the policies of the authoritarian politicians.

The media will keep a ticker going of the number of (highly overinflated) coronavirus deaths, but we aren’t going to get a ticker about the number of suicides, or the number of businesses filing for bankruptcy, or the number of people living with fear and depression due to the propaganda.

While the United States is a relatively wealthy country, there are limits.  You can’t just have bad policy and not have consequences.

This year, we have seen a dramatic rise in the Federal Reserve’s balance sheet.  We have seen trillions of dollars of new debt piled on to the massive debt that had already accumulated. We saw Congress rush through legislation of over $2 trillion that included so-called stimulus checks, expanded unemployment, and business bailouts.  Now Congress is debating another bill. 

The Democrats want to continue the extra $600 per week, thus paying a majority of people more than they were making at their job.  The Republicans do not want this much, but they already sold out the principle several months ago when they agreed to it in the first place.

The Democrats also want a bailout for state governments, because obviously (to them) fiscally responsible states should have to bail out places like California, Illinois, and New York so that they can keep paying massive welfare benefits and six-figure pensions.

There seems to be no end to this madness.  I am not surprised that gold has surged past $2,000 per ounce.  My only surprise is that it took this long.

I really am worried about our future.  The federal government is confiscating resources on a scale that most of us have never seen.  It is probably more than what happened in World War 2, but at least there was a definitive end to that war.

I don’t even know what to tell people at this point.  The best you can do is to try to prepare mentally, physically, and financially.  I still recommend the permanent portfolio, but even here I have my concerns.

If you are already set up well financially, I recommend that any additional savings should go toward gold and debt repayment (half and half seems like a good percentage).  If you don’t have any debt (including mortgage), then save the money.  The gold portion will help protect against the depreciation of the currency.

I will warn you though that this doesn’t make you immune either.  Everyone is vulnerable today.  Gold is good as long as things keep functioning.  It won’t do you much good if food stops getting delivered to the grocery stores.

I don’t think it is going to come to that.  I think the more likely scenario is that we have a severe depression, but life will continue for most people.  It will just be a harder life.  It will be unnecessarily harder because people are acting like fools today and allowing governments to spend recklessly and impose major restrictions that violate private property rights.

I am worried about our world ahead.  It is not all bad news, but I am preparing for really rough times ahead.