UPDATE:
I revised this article to give Brandon Smith more credit as the author and eliminated most of the content in an effort to direct people to his site and other articles. Based on some of the comments, Mr. Smith does not appear to be as well known or appreciated as he deserves. I have been reading his work for ten years and he is both prescient and well educated in the economic conditions that have led to our collapse. Do not shoot the messenger for trying to educate you.
David
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The news cycle moves so quickly these days writing analysis on current events becomes difficult; the moment you publish an examination of the situation people have already moved on to the next disaster. So, today I’m not going to do that. Instead, let’s look at current trends and project what is likely to happen in the next couple of months. In my article ‘How The Pandemic Crisis Will Probably Develop Over The Next Year’ published in early March, I outlined what I believed would be the major developments on a longer timetable. Some of these predictions have already occurred.
Now I would like to tackle a shorter timetable and focus more specifically on the economic side of things, along with the effects of government lockdowns and how they will continue. Yes, that’s right, if you think the “reopening” of the economy is going to be widespread, or that it will last, don’t get your hopes up. I am using a 60 day model because I have observed that the average non-aware person appears to be about two months behind those of us in the liberty movement in terms of seeing the dangers ahead.
First and foremost, the lockdown issue is on almost everyone’s mind, and as I’ve been saying for the past month, it would not take long before people start freaking out about their financial prospects once they realize this thing may not be over “in two weeks” as we keep hearing every two weeks from the mainstream media, state governments and Donald Trump. The “two weeks until reopen” mantra is designed to keep the public placated and docile, and the establishment will continue to use it until people are finally fed up, which is already beginning to happen.
Lockdown protests are sparking up across the country and it’s only going to get worse from now on. Understand though that establishment elites probably expected this, especially in the US, and they are planning to use civil unrest to their advantage.
Do not be surprised if some areas of the country do indeed “reopen” next month, but expect these locations to be primarily rural. Do NOT count on first and second tier cities to reopen, at least nowhere near the activity that they had previous to the viral outbreak. In fact, while rural towns try to go back to normalcy, many major cities will probably double down and increase restrictions rather than loosen them.
Why do I think this will happen? I’ve noticed an odd narrative being pushed in the mainstream media lately that has me concerned. The MSM is aggressively promoting the notion that rural states and counties are about to be crushed by the coronavirus, and looser restrictions in these places are “a danger to everyone”.
Now, if you read between the lines in this propaganda, what I see is not the media reporting on what is happening now, but what they expect to happen soon. In my area of Montana there is no community spread of the virus, and this is common to many parts of rural America. However, what if rural towns reopen while large metropolitan areas remain closed for business? Unless travel restrictions are instituted, expect a FLOOD of city dwellers to pour into rural areas looking for a taste of freedom and some open bars and restaurants.
If your small town is within 1-2 hours drive of a large city, get ready for a parade of yuppies on mainstreet looking for a vacation from lockdown.
This in itself is not a big deal. If people want to drive from the city to spend money in small town America then that’s a benefit to struggling rural communities (and a bizarre 180 degree shift from the norm). But here is what I think will happen next:
After about two weeks of reopening, small towns across the US will have a massive spike in infection numbers and community spread. Viral clusters will develop and some people will die. Does this mean our economy should be frozen to the point of collapse or that medical martial law is the answer? No, absolutely not. But the media is already gearing up for the big “we told you so”, and as rural infections skyrocket state governments and the federal government will start calling for renewed lockdowns even more harsh than before. The rest of the world will say “that’s what those Americans (conservative Americans) get for being selfish and trying to reopen too soon”.
The economy cannot be opened one piece at a time, it has to be opened all at once. Otherwise, you are going to get a huge influx of people to reopened regions and an inordinate amount of infection cases will follow in those areas, exaggerating the spread of the virus. Of course, a full reopening of the nation is not going to happen.
Get ready for a great big fake wrestling match between state governments and Trump in terms of how to handle ending lockdowns. Take note though that Trump flip-flops so much on state power vs. executive power that no one actually knows where he really stands on the issue; this is by design.
I totally disagree with this analysis. I do not see Trump ‘flip-flopping’. What I see is a great president doing the best he can for his people against the headwind of lunatic left. For goodness sake, if you can’t stand with the President by comparison to Pelosi, Schumer, etc -- then frankly you’re words simply are not worth reading.
Work with your state government on a plan to restrict travel out of cities. It would be perfectly reasonable to set up checkpoints to test for the pandemic before letting someone out. Some towns have already set up checkpoints about letting people in.
Don’t be so negative. If I want to read articles slagging off President Trump, I’d just read the MSM. At least I’d know what I’m about to read, instead of getting ambushed here with such garbage.
Consider that the left in its absurdity, causes many not to see nor recognize the faults of Trump.
Many of us have seen the double minded man that is Trump.
Last night is but of one example.
Have you not heard him saying “Reopening is up to the discretion of the states governors?
What is he saying and laying claim to with Georgia?
https://apnews.com/a031d395d414ffa655fdc65e6760d6a0
Another excellent article from Brandon Smith.
I wish he had focused upon the coming hyper-inflation resulting from Congress’ creation of trillions of helicopter money and bank bailouts. Perhaps hyper-inflation will be the subject of a future article.
I agree that next Winter we will see extreme numbers in poverty, loss of homes, a collapse in real estate and all commodities and then mass suffering from shutoffs of utilities. I think we will have major rioting in large cities after Christmas, with blood running in the streets starting in the Spring.
Those who are not prepping now will have a hard time catching up.
Economic depressions turn most into preppers but it will be painful for those who are not now cutting back and setting aside what they can. Brandon is right, crime will accelerate.
Buckle up, Buttercup ! You are about to receive one hell of rough ride !!
Yep
The coming food shortages will likely accelerate the panic that has been simmering in the consumer market. When the meat shortages hit, watch for things to get, interesting. A lot more people have been planting gardens, but it’s hard to grow enough food to sustain yourself and your family. It’s even harder to preserve it and store it so that you are able to get through the winter. Plan ahead now because worse is likely coming. The initial shortages caused by the “two week lockdown” are getting worse.
Anyone that is issuing these dire warnings will gladly get laughed at if they’re wrong and they won’t be laughing if they’re right.
Brandon Smith’s warning should not be ignored. Pandemic aside, the economy has collapsed and no amount of printing will fix it.
The article is spot on. I believe the panics are less than 60 days out but they are coming. Whether it is a Phil Niekro knuckleball or a Nolan Ryan fastball you have to swing the bat to hit it. There are currently farmers desperately trying to sell unsold products. Believe me, they will not be planting much if they are taking huge losses now. Those on FaceBook may want to look up Farm Surplus 2 Table or similar groups and start canning now.
President Trump is being consistent in sticking to his constitutional powers. It IS up to state governors to make decisions and take action -- for all that some of this governors are cry babies. President Trump hasn’t acted to stop him -- just told Georgia’s governor that he is jumping the gun. More to the point -- with schools closed and no crowds in big open spaces, there have been no good sitting duck targets for the Left’s false flags. We all know something big is going down behind the scenes right now. It’s the potential for false flags that should keep people from congregating.
Trump has been allowing the governors to control their states as the Constitution outlines. While he was dealt the worst possible hand, he was surrounded by advisors who were and are giving him bad advice. What should he be doing? Masks should be available to everyone after 2 months. Czechoslovakia made masks mandatory and their R0 is now below 0. No one was hurt by this action and it is common sense. If we truly are at war with an invisible enemy, why don’t we have the necessary tools to fight it?
Some of the food supply chain issues are due to the fact that key infrastructure -- like some packing plants -- have been strategically knocked out because they are owned by the Chinese. I predict that issue will not be allowed to run its natural course. President Trump used presidential emergency powers to divert commercial companies into producing ventilators and PPE. Do you really think those packing plants will be allowed to stay closed? The excuse used for closing them was the large number of workers that tested positive for the virus. 80% of those workers will be immune after a brief illness. They will be able to reopen. More problematic is the amount of eggs and milk being dumped. That could lead to some amount of herd and flock culling. However, farmers will hold out and keep going because that is what farmers do.
The silver lining to this situation will be the restructuring of food supply chains. Our supply chains have been brittle and fragile for years. Buy Local initiatives will get a huge boost from this event.
Our supply chains (and most of the world’s) must be restructured. Everyone is to blame: the politicians(Bidens) who were bribed by China, the companies who went overseas to avoid taxes and take advantage of cheap labor and the people who bought MADE IN CHINA instead of buying American.
David,
You may find this interesting: Notice the date, And when was Philip Haney murdered? Feb. 21,2020
https://americantruthproject.org/jihad-influence-in-america-reaches-into-vp-pences-office/
If there is to be but one truth to this whole thing it is that the supply chains MUST be redone. We can NOT rely on just in time process for critical items like food distribution. We can not rely on foreign suppliers for critical necessities.
There has been this theory in certain economic circles that says millions of people all moving to maximize their own personal interests will somehow manage to work to the interests of the collective. In this case, produce sustainability and resiliency. We’ve just seen the empirical evidence that this notion is false.
I would agree in part with your assessment. I don’t think it is true when “the collective” is small enough and structured in such a way that all the component stakeholders of the collective can see the end to end result and their part in it -- and when they have some appropriate level of ownership in the collective.
More pertinent, however, to change the model will require slashing a whole lot of red tape that has been designed around skimming and vote buying (or legislator extortion, which ever is the driver). We have to regulate the lobbying industry down to size, tighten upon insider trading and make sure that politicians benefit in their positions to only the salaries they draw from the office they hold.