Cyber Cat Voodoo

There are a lot of sweeping assumptions about how people are using the stimulus to hoard more for themselves or to buy whatever. The problem is not only that people are getting money; it’s the fact that they are just sitting around and getting money. Some people interviewed have said that’s what they’ve heard about others. The real issue is that these stimulus payments have de-motivated some from finding a job because their skillset is such that they are making more by accepting the payouts instead of going back to work.

This is the real reason we are seeing supply chain issues everywhere. It’s not the lack of truck drivers, who make pretty decent pay. It’s the dock workers and laborers who are making more by just accepting the stimulus that are the real cause of this. Can I blame them? No. They have households to run and families to feed as well. They feel their decision to stay home won’t impact anything since it’s just them. But when a lot of people stay home, the impact is real.

Over time, the government has caused a real issue by forcing people to stay home for a virus that has a 99% survival rate. They did not allow people to continue to earn an income and instead locked down the country for an entire year. We are seeing that this was absolutely the wrong thing to do. Rather than allow people to continue working, they scared everyone into staying home and staying inside. Then when the financial troubles came along as an inevitable result, they started paying people and printing more money. They stopped allowing landlords to kick people out of their home, which created a bad situation for them. They started paying more and more as they printed more money, enabling people to NOT go to work thanks to a government-subsidized living. Ultimately, it’s the working people who suffer because regardless of being out there and earning their keep, we are seeing supply-chain shortfalls everywhere.

The government printing more money is only going to cause more inflation which will deepen the problem as companies continue to raise prices to keep up with the same demand with fewer laborers and now restricted supplies coming in. Grocery stores are having trouble keeping their shelves stocked. What used to be a few items here and there not arriving is now noticeable in wider swaths. Manufacturers are seeing shortages on vital parts that might be sitting on a ship somewhere anchored and waiting to offload because there aren’t enough dock workers to keep up.  

If we continue to give people money, the problem will only get worse at a quicker pace. Cutting off stimulus payments is the only way to guarantee people are going to go back to work. They may not like their jobs and they may not get paid as much but their presence is absolutely needed. And the majority of companies cannot be expected to pay more to their workers and pay their fair share of taxes. They will be out of business sooner rather than later. People these days make the mistake of thinking money grows on trees. It doesn’t. When the government keeps printing more money, it doesn’t fix the issue. A thriving economy only comes with hard work and a reliable workforce.

Thanks to years of mismanagement, we are steadily heading down the path of becoming a Venezuela. Will it ever get that bad? Who knows… I hope not, but at the same time if policy doesn’t change and people at the top are allowed to continue to get richer while damning the people they represent, we will easily see the US become the next Venezuela within a generation. Beware of any government that deflects real issues and distracts the people from the real issues by throwing money to the winds; they aren’t doing it to help you get by.  Term limits are not a thing and corrupt government officials only agree on one thing- raising their own salaries significantly year over year. Some are louder than others, choosing to flaunt their virtue signaling while they scorn the people they’re supposed to represent (AOC really is ridiculous in that dress). Politicians that turn into career policy-makers have lost sight of what it means to represent people in a Republic. They want a Democracy. They can easily disguise their misguided intention that way. Also, you have a right to ask where the extra money in these stimulus packages goes. I read somewhere in the last year that the money didn’t add up between the bill and the stated payouts per person in the US.