It’s 10:00 am. Friday morning and I am making a trip to a local Agriculture supply store to purchase some canning supplies. When I enter the store I see a large sign that says “Ammo purchase line begins here” with a large arrow pointed to the left.
I look to the left and I indeed see a line. The line goes from the sign up an aisle and around the corner and disappears in the direction of the gun section. The food storage section that I am looking for is right next to the section and I have to cross the line twice to get to it.
I pick up plastic bags for the vacuum sealer and make my way out of the tangled mess of people. I pass the ammunition counter on my way out and it looks as sparse as the toilet paper aisle of our local grocery store a year ago. A large sign displays the various types of ammo that the store is out of stock of and another larger sign tells the customer that sales are limited to one box of one caliber of ammunition per customer per day.
It reminded me of a similar time 30 years ago in a country far away from the United States called Venezuela. It was February of 1990 and the government had just experienced it’s first attempted military coup. Radical elements within the military had tried and failed to remove the democratically elected leader of the country. For months afterward, Venezuelans purchased basic essentials out of fear and rumors that circulated in the aftermath. I can remember the lines for the basics such as flour and milk. When such supplies were found, the price was often inflated well beyond the actual value of the product.
People were also divided. There were those who felt the military was correct in attempting to remove the Venezuelan president. Yet others were fiercely loyal to the government. Lines were drawn in communities and families were divided.
The United States is experiencing now what I saw thirty years ago. Fear, rumors and two distinct viewpoints have polarized the country and created an “Us vs. Them” mentality. There seems to be no middle ground any longer as the factions jockey for power in the national government. An attitude of vengeance and retribution fills the air as each side invokes “justice” as they define it.
They sound a lot like Venezuela 30 years ago and we all know what happened there. A charismatic individual was able to sway power, effect radical changes to the government and economy and destroyed a country that once prided itself in being the most stable democracy in South America.
If you are a smart American, you are preparing yourself for the worst and hoping for the best. That means you are taking your assets and converting them into something stable, that won’t lose value as the world potentially crashes around you.
My mentor of 30 years ago was right. Now is the time to own gold, silver and anything else that will retain it’s value. For this generation, that is cryptocurrency. The internet and virtual assets are the center of everyone’s economic health. You can even purchase virtual shares of silver instead of owning the real thing. The only problem is, where is your fortune when the power goes out?
In a previous post, I quoted an article written by Jeff Remsburg entitled “Crypto Poised For A Breakout”. In this article Remsburg indicated that approximately 25% of the FIAT money printed by the United States over it’s entire existence was printed last year. Think about it. The US economy is HUGE with trillions of dollars invested in it. Creating that large of an amount of currency with no way to support it other that “The good faith and credit of the United States” is a recipe for disaster. Conditions are ripe for a fall and the writing on the wall is that the dollar is going to collapse unless changes are made. The problem is those in power no longer care. It’s about seizing and keeping power so they can benefit from it. The country can’t sustain itself with the current quid pro quo and nobody seems to care.
I believe there is hope with the concept of cryptocurrency. Removing the government from controlling the currency that we use as a unit of exchange is part of what is necessary to stop the bleeding. It’s not the cure, but it’s a start.
It has it’s flaws, but it’s better than a group of people with ulterior motives printing more money to pass out free money in order to stay in power.
Just the ramblings of a 50 something introverted entrepreneur. Take it for what it’s worth.
