From Brandon Smith
We all knew it was coming; the alternative economic media has been warning about it for years. Eventually, monetary intervention and bailout after bailout by central banks always leads to devaluation of the currency and inflation in prices. Helicopter money always ends in disaster and at no point in history has it ever produced positive long-term results for a society.
The federal reserve has created trillions in fiat dollars over the course of a single year (on top of the tens of trillions created in the past decade), all in the name of offsetting deflation. This deflation was not caused by the pandemic, it was caused by the government response to the pandemic. The shutdowns of “non-essential businesses” and the lockdowns in general ended up being useless in slowing the spread of COVID-19.
All the information, all the facts and all the science supports the anti-lockdown crowd. Conservative run states that removed lockdowns and mandates months ago are seeing falling infection and death numbers and local businesses are on the mend. The problem is, government authorities don’t seem to care about this. It appears that their intention is to double down and continue demanding restrictions stay in place for the long haul.
In other words, they are going to find an excuse to keep the mandates going. If no reason exists, they will create a reason. Consider for a moment the fact that COVID-19 is mutating constantly, and like any other virus there are new strains that pop up every year. Just as we have a seasonal flu, we will probably now have seasonal COVID.
Since viruses also tend to evolve into less deadly forms of their original iteration it is unlikely that new COVID mutations will be any more dangerous than they were in the past. But each new strain creates a new rationale for the federal government to proclaim a national emergency and possibly enforce new lockdowns.
This puts a lot of state governments in a difficult position. If they ever shut down again simply because federal authorities demand it, they will be angering their citizens and harming their region’s cash flow and production. Small businesses will go bankrupt by the thousands and the public will be on the verge of rebellion.
On the other hand, if states defy the federal government, there is a good chance that the feds will respond by cutting off taxpayer funds and stimulus dollars to those states. With the combined threats of price inflation and federal financial retaliation, some states may cave and submit to more lockdowns or other mandates. And, by extension, their economies will begin to die once again.
It’s a Catch-22, but it doesn’t have to be this way. There are measures that states and communities can take to diminish inflation and reduce dependency on federal dollars at the same time.
Taking back resource management
The most important action states can pursue in my view is taking back control of resource management within their own borders. For decades the federal government through agencies like the EPA and the Bureau of Land Management have dictated how states can utilize natural resources. Entire industries have faded in the U.S. because of this, whether it be oil production, coal production, steel production, lumber production, etc.
If the federal government tries to punish states that refuse to comply with fiscally damaging pandemic restrictions by taking away stimulus payments and tax dollars, those states should reclaim control of their resources and ignore federal agencies. They should also take away federally controlled lands within their borders to make up for the loss of tax dollars. It’s only fair.
With resource production back in the hands of the states and their local businesses, these economies will have a chance to become more independent and the need for federal money will diminish.
Incentives for local manufacturing
Aggressive taxation along with overpowered labor unions have made manufacturing businesses difficult to maintain in the U.S. States have the power to change this.
If we define price inflation as too many dollars chasing too few goods (I realize this is only one aspect of inflation, but it is important), then increased production of raw materials and manufactured goods should help to decrease inflation pressures. Why is production in the U.S. continuing to stagnate when it should be quickly expanding?
Many of the products Americans purchase are made overseas, and with continued dollar devaluation, this means that prices will keep rising. Weaker dollars translate to higher costs in exchange for foreign made goods. So, why not make those goods here?
Availability reduces price increases, localized manufacturing reduces dependency on foreign goods and increases employment. But how can states bring manufacturing back? I suspect it is more simple than many economists realize: Just offer protection from federal taxation to any manufacturer that is willing to open up shop within your state. If the government is going to try to punish you anyway just for refusing to comply with pandemic rules, then you might as well take it to the next level and punish the government back.
This should create ample incentive for new businesses in particular to start production within certain states as profits would be much higher. Their ability to compete with major corporations (which get unlimited special treatment from the federal government through stimulus measures) would also grow.
Create a commodity-backed currency system
While labor and wages are a sensitive issue, the market, if left to flow naturally, will determine what fair wages and fair prices should be. That said, in the midst of a monetary crisis such as hyperinflation or stagflation, the most likely response by the federal government would be price controls as well as wage controls and rationing of goods. The last vestiges of the free market would be eradicated.
As long as states rely on the dollar, and the dollar’s value is determined by the whims of central bankers that do not actually answer to the public, there is no way to fight inflationary damage. However, if states were to offer an alternative currency or scrip that was NOT fiat, that was backed by a tangible resource or commodity that helps to limit money creation, then they could save themselves.
Such a move would have to be undertaken by a state-run bank, much like the bank that North Dakota utilizes to aid industry and agriculture. As long as issuance of the currency is backed by a commodity or precious metal like gold (or with inherent intrinsic value like the Morgan silver dollar). A backed currency’s value would be preserved even as the dollar sinks. Commodity-backed currencies would flourish as citizens and investors (even international investors) search for safe havens.
Essentially, states and communities would be decentralizing their economies so they are no longer slaves to the demands of people that do not have their best interests at heart.
There is, of course, the issue of aggression against states that take these measures, but we should remember that this is exactly what the Founding Fathers did in the years leading up to the American Revolution. They did not simply declare their independence, they made themselves independent through localized economic tactics.
Without economic independence, no other freedoms are possible. I believe it is time for Americans and free-minded states to once again focus on localization. The future of liberty in our nation depends on it.
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States could reject Federal aid, but the purging of certain individuals would have to occur to succeed.
A State would have to be very committed, and expected to fight with no quarter violence.
“If the federal government tries to punish states that refuse to comply with fiscally damaging pandemic restrictions by taking away stimulus payments and tax dollars, those states should reclaim control of their resources and ignore federal agencies.”
Spot on! A soft secession. Would take a Governor and legislature with some balls though. Not sure how many there are that would be willing to give up the feds cash. I think it could be the start of a new trend in states’ rights.
Crazed globalists are advancing their Reset Agenda. Their insanity is seen in politics, banking, medicine, food, manufacturing, on and on.
As of now they of course will not bare the costs of their insidious plans. They are insulated by vast wealth.
At what point will the fight be brought to their homes?
Until they feel equivalent pain we have much to be concerned about.
Leaving them no safe space is one of our best defenses.
Yes Steve, exactly right. But when the inevitable crash comes it will be the paper billionaires who lose their virtual wealth. So an independent state would prevail – economics 101. My Chapter 13 explains all this and even in tiny Britain we are preparing for localisation – a word which will be more prevalent as this crisis progresses.
You won’t get within a hundred miles of there homes. They have the power, money and security to not be worried about being safe. If the war is brought to your door then its too late. You can’t win a war by defence.
Tell that to the Russians.
And Afghanis.
Both seem to have stumbled onto a strategy based entirely on defense that works.
Not true. They went on offense. Russian tanks and tank crews were destroyed by the bushel in WWII. The Russians attacked the French coalition intelligently and took their food. The Russians burned down Moscow and would not negotiate. I’m pretty sure the Taliban attack offensively. The elites are not going anywhere to face a deadly environment near you. I don’t see how your comment makes sense. Fighing in one’s homeland is not necessarily defensive fighting in the sense of defensive strategy/tactics/operations. In “War is a Racket” we are told to fight only for our homes and the 2nd Amendment.
From History Channel “Napoleon retreats from Moscow”:
“During the disastrous retreat, Napoleon’s army suffered continual harassment from a suddenly aggressive and merciless Russian army. Stalked by hunger and the deadly lances of the Cossacks, the decimated army reached the Berezina River late in November but found its route blocked by the Russians. On November 26, Napoleon forced a way across at Studienka, and when the bulk of his army passed the river three days later, he was forced to burn his makeshift bridges behind him, stranding some 10,000 stragglers on the other side. From there, the retreat became a rout, and on December 8 Napoleon left what remained of his army to return to Paris with a few cohorts. Six days later, the Grande Armée finally escaped Russia, having suffered a loss of more than 400,000 men during the disastrous invasion.”
It could be . I see 2 areas of mandatory action necessary to make it work.
1) Red Staters must purge themselves of Leftists and their beliefs and leave no doubt that it is in the Leftist’s best interest to move away within 90 days. Failure to do so would necessitate harsher sanctions.
2) The reintroduction of honest money as the only means of purchase and payment.
The problems are:
The US Fed has (at the best of their owners) purposefully ruined the currency be removing it from any sort of gold backed or gold reserve unit and turning it into a unit of debt. Ditto for every other currency across the globe.
The government (From the township, village, boro, city, county, state, nation) spends too much wrecked currency on too many various programs that no one would support if hard dollars were needed. Because the entire mess runs on debt, and no one anywhere expects debt to be repaid (only extended, pretended, and forgiven/defaulted) all the grotesque growth in government just sort of slides along. “I’m still getting mine” is the phrase most accurate.
Nobody of any note or import cares. All those people are sure that they are going to be fine, and it is all the little people (you deploreable TBP schmucks) who are going to get screwed.
After the US and the US dollar blow up, any state that wants to get real will be able to do so. Declare null and void all previous loans and guarantees, including pensions. Declare all public union contracts void, and ban all such contracts in the future. Require any currency in circulation to be gold/silver backed, and ban fractional reserve banking. It could be done in one legislative afternoon.
The next week would be taking a cleaver to the State code, and getting laws down to (literally) a few dozen. Written so that even the illiterate shitheads populating the stated]s can understand them, and exacting swift (a few days) judgement. If they can’t prove the case in a few days, they better not bring it.
That would be almost all that a state full of decent people would need to get a real good start on building a solid future.
You left out constitutional open carry of firearms. Without that, when you pare back most of current law, you will still need consequences for bad behavior…
“An armed society is a polite society. Manners are good when one may have to back up his acts with his life.”
” There are no dangerous weapons; there are only dangerous men.”
– R. Heinlein
Oil, I would go you one better: a prohibition of any regulation (up to and including howitzers) of any sort or style of weapon, along the the absolute right to self defense anywhere, any time. And no firearms for cops, only for sworn volunteer posses.
Central Banks are the root cause of all the economic problems we are facing –
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32sxryPWf_s
Uh, how about the state legislatures use the Constitutional power given to them under Article V to call a Convention of States and have their delegates propose amendments to abolish or replace the current (illegitimate) FedGov with one that they create strict state oversight over.
That is what George Mason had in mind (1787) when he proposed a second method of changing the Constitution controlled only by the state legislatures with no input from Congress. He feared a future FedGov tyranny.
All it takes is 17 states to block the Article V convention and then it still takes 38 states to ratify any Constitutional changes. The way the country is split today, there is no changing the Constitution by either method. Breakup is the only viable solution and that still leaves you will large dem controlled cities in most of the rep controlled states and large rep controlled areas in dem controlled states.
The states gave up any control they had over the central government when they ratified the 17th amendment.
What’s the problem with some Democrat blue pimples like Atlanta in a Republican red state like Georgia if the Conservatives move the functions of government to Warner Robins and start over? Why can’t red states function with some blue Democrat cities scattered about like ghettoes or homeless parks? Just make bypasses around the Democrat shitholes.
I guess if the welfare was cut off, most of the dems in big cities would flee to where they could continue to mooch off of government.
Uncle’s fake $ is the only thing holding it together anymore.
Suppose for a minute a state talks about or even moves on leaving fUSA. As soon as the Social Security checks get cut or threatened that state will back right down. Look at Florida. How much would its economy crater without having SS payment roll in to the boomers monthly?
He who has the gold (or the money printing presses) makes the rules.
We all know the last can is being kicked down the road by DC. So what I see, bearing in mind that we have troops in DC and an entire federal government that (predominantly) refuses to appear in public without bodyguards…
The center cannot hold.
That means it will break apart, maybe not now, but certainly later if the corruption continues to grow. Looking forward to paper billionaires melting down before I die though.
I am so pumped that TX looks like it is going constitutional carry!!
I fear a convention of states would be a complete disaster and finish the republic for good. The intellectual level and desire for freedom has been diminished in the average person so they have no idea who they are, why they are, or where they are. Democrats are now communists and there are far too many of them to make article V work.
Another problem with Article V is the delegates would be chosen by politicians and most of them have been bought.
It keeps happening. Who, then, does benefit?
Perhaps the solution is to round whoever those people are up and get rid of them.
Just how the hell are you going to do that? Just what is the game plan?
Destroy the helicopter.
Brilliant treatise on Inflation / Deflation.
The states that choose to leave the Federal fold in one way or another will be much better off for it. It will be time for the citizens of those states to come together in a cooperative effort to supply their own needs. What could be more human. It will be a time of great creativity and innovation. It will also preserve freedom for future generations who will see how their parents lived in freedom and will want to preserve it. This is the last line of defense that we have against the neoliberal totalitarians who now run the country. We must stand on our own.
Correct me if I am wrong, but theoretically it isn’t really Federal money, it’s ours. Maybe if we stopped sending it to D.C. in order for them to skim their vig and send it back to the States to do the same, why not find a way to just keep it where it belongs?
There is a way, if one is up for it.
When the Feds decided that S.C. was to be the World Nuclear dumping ground our Goobernor stood up to the Feds. Then they sweetened the pot and he let the waste in . He said he couldn’t stop them. I told him in person that a few hundred National Guardsmen at the borders would have had the Feds running like little chicken shits .
The waste has yet to be transferred to Yucca Mountain as promised.
It is time to man the bulwarks of the red states and guard democracy from the barbarians of neoliberalism.