A Reward for the Unprepared
Andy Snyder|March 31, 2020
We’re doing good work.
We’re so proud of the ideas we’ve brought you and the folks who are bringing them.
The world could use a few more oddball thinkers these days. As our Joel Salatin would say, we need to hear more from the “weirdos” on the planet.
Thanks to a Washington Post article last week… that’s exactly what’s happened. Millions more folks got to hear from Joel.
The rag of record picked up on some of the “controversial” words Joel penned about the coronavirus and turned them into quite a story.
It was good.
Even if it wasn’t the paper’s intent, the piece showed the world there’s a different way to think… a different side of every story.
A few lines from the piece (which you can read here) beg to be shared again this morning.
They’re from Joel…
Every day I’m thinking, “How can I question the orthodoxy?” Not just to be argumentative, but to lay another idea on the table. What’s wrong with that? It doesn’t mean that I’m right. It doesn’t mean that I’m wrong.
It sounds simple.
Many of our readers already get it. That’s why they come to us. And it’s why we are proud to feature Joel’s unorthodox take on protecting yourself from COVID-19 in our Practical Health Today this week.
But we dare you to find a place where the “weirdos” rule. We dare you to show us a place where the alternative lives alongside the “traditional.”
Tune in to the news… open the newspaper… or go online. Just pick your party and you’ll pick your news.
It’s sad… scary… and deadly.
As Joel says, we must make a habit of questioning the orthodoxy.
If That’s the Case…
Right now, for instance, the nation’s attention is on the $2 trillion “stimulus” package passed into law last week.
The nation cheered. Stocks rallied. And hope came back.
Hoorah!
But we say we should all hang our heads and weep.
There’s no need to wait for the November election – if we even bother to have it. Socialism has come to America.
Let us prove it…
The aim of the “everything for all” crowd has long been to punish the savers and reward the spenders. That’s why the socialist mantra is “From each according to his ability, to each according to his contribution.”
But saving and investing stand as a huge rock in the path.
Fortunately, when the people own the means of production… there’s no reason to save for tomorrow what could be spent today.
Enter the CARES Act… the $2 trillion stimulus package America can’t afford.
It takes from the savers and gives to the spenders.
Rewarding the Unprepared
We’ve made our career telling the world how to be self-sufficient. We’ve spent decades teaching folks to invest. We’ve long warned of the dangers of not having a stash of emergency cash.
And yet, here we are… wondering if we shouldn’t have traded this self-sufficient farm for one hell of a nice boat.
With each passing week, Washington makes it harder and harder to convince folks of the value of making a buck.
The Fed cut rates… it cut ’em some more… and now it’s going into the market to buy as much debt as the law will allow.
The pressure has gotten so strong and the winds so fierce that, as of last week, some investors are now willing to lose some money… as long as they get a promise they won’t lose more.
Negative interest rates, we’ve long said, are a prudent investor’s worse nightmare.
But that’s okay… prudence be darned. Washington doesn’t want us to thrive on our own.
After all, the government cheered and Congress stood shoulder to shoulder (despite legal mandates to close our businesses so we don’t accidentally do the same thing) as they celebrated the notion that they are once again putting money into the accounts of the unprepared.
The media was happy to report who gets what size check in the mail.
The equation is simple. The more prepared we are… the less we get.
But the bigger news here is the size of the corporate checks.
Oh boy… they’re big… and they’re plentiful.
Bailouts or Bail Out?
Boeing, for example, was in big trouble before this mess. Its engineers failed to do their job, and people died.
Even so, Washington just used your dime to ensure the firm stays out of bankruptcy court.
But the airlines won’t get a free ride.
“I’ve been very clear this is not an airline bailout,” Steve Mnuchin says of the mess. “It is support to the airlines for national security reasons that the taxpayers are going to be compensated for.”
The people, if we dare to say it a different way, will now own the means of production.
It’s a big win for stealth socialism.
But if the government says it’s not a bailout… then why is it a bailout?
Why did travel agencies – companies that were on the cusp of dying of natural causes – get a lifeline? Why are they able to access the $25 billion in loans and guarantees aimed to keep, as Mnuchin said, the nation secure?
Because it’s all hogwash.
There’s more…
Dig deeper in the act and we see it’s now easier than ever to, well, dig deeper.
Yes, it turns out the deal exempts harbor dredging operations from previous spending caps.
What that has to do with the virus, we’re still not sure.
But we are sure it’s another stealth win for the state.
But perhaps the biggest win for folks oh so eager to own the means of production is something that’s far less stealthy. It’s a takeover project that’s been going on for decades, ruining families, destroying wealth and reshaping the American culture all along the way.
Yet again… the American farmer gets a bailout.
The Money Nobody Wants
This time it’s $9.5 billion in emergency cash and a $14 billion replenishment of the Commodity Credit Corporation – an Ag Department creation launched during the Great Depression to help stabilize the nation’s farm economy.
It’s been 90 years since Washington barged in… and farms have lower chances today than ever of standing on their own.
Good work.
We know of no farmers who like these programs. And we know of no farmers who can survive without them.
But indeed, the people own the means of food production in America.
Put the right colors on top of the right numbers and we paint quite a clear picture.
From airlines to health insurance and from farms to harbors… whether we know it or not, the production is in the hands of the people.
Don’t vote in November and risk your health.
Socialism is already here.
It’s a stealthy beast.
But give us our pen and we’ll find it.
P.S. Head over to our health newsletter, Practical Health Today, for Joel’s take on how to get out of the coronavirus crisis. It has nothing to do with the government and everything to do with taking your health into your own hands.
For more coronavirus coverage… plus all the latest research and ideas on health solutions that make it simple to put yourself in charge of your health, check out Practical Health Today.
Andy Snyder
Andy Snyder is an American author, investor and serial entrepreneur. He cut his teeth at an esteemed financial firm with nearly $100 billion in assets under management. Andy and his ideas have been featured on Fox News, on countless radio stations, and in numerous print and online outlets. He’s been a keynote speaker and panelist at events all over the world, from four-star ballrooms to Capitol hearing rooms.
