lewrockwell--2020-09-18--Interview on Radio Voice America

Interview on Radio Voice America

Welcome back to Turning Hard Times into Good Times .
I ’ m your host Jay Taylor .
I ’ m really pleased to have with me once again Dmitry Orlov .
Dmitry was born and grew up in Leningrad , but has lived in the United States .
He moved here in the mid-seventies .
He has since gone back to Russia , where he is living now .
The Five Stages of Col ... Orlov , Dmitry Best Price : $ 4.27 Buy New $ 1.99 But Dmitry was an eyewitness to the Soviet collapse over several extended @ @ @ @ @ @ @ eighties and mid-nineties .
He is an engineer who has contributed to fields as diverse as high-energy Physics and Internet Security , as well as a leading Peak Oil theorist .
He is the author of Reinventing Collapse : The Soviet Example and American Prospects ( 2008 ) and The Five Stages of Collapse : Survivors ’ Toolkit ( 2013 ) .
Welcome , Dmitry , and thank you so much for joining us again .
A : Great to be on your program again , Jay .
Q : It ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I know we had you on [ the program ] back in 2014 .
It ’ s been a long time—way too long , as far as I ’ m concerned .
In that discussion we talked about the five stages of collapse that you observed in the fall of the USSR .
Could you review them really quickly , and compare them to what you are seeing , what you have witnessed and observed in the United States as you lived here , and of course in your post now in Russia @ @ @ @ @ @ @ stages of collapse as I defined them were financial , commercial , political , social and cultural .
I observed that the first three , in Russia .
The finance collapsed because the Soviet Union basically ran out of money .
Commercial collapse because industry , Soviet industry , fell apart because it was distributed among fifteen Soviet socialist republics , and when the Soviet Union fell apart all of the supply chains broke down .
Political collapse : obviously there wasn ’ t really a functional government at all for a period @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of American consultants running around and privatizing things in a fashion that created a lot of incredibly corrupt , super-rich oligarchs who then fled with their money , a lot of them .
Surprisingly , social and cultural collapse didn ’ t really get very far until Russia started regaining its health .
Some of the other Soviet socialist republics are in the throes of full-on social and cultural collapse , but Russia avoided this fate .
Now , what ’ s happening in the United States right now is that the financial @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
The Americans are running this completely unprecedented experiment where they basically are blowing the hugest financial bubbles that they possibly could in just about everything : obviously in finance itself , but also in medicine , in real estate , the stock market—and all of that is directly connected to the printing press .
The printing press in the United States now monetizes half of the entire federal spending , and the United States every year now borrows twice the amount of money that the federal government earns in a year .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s gone off the rails and is heading straight into a ravine , but for now this is just being papered over with this fake printed money .
The big surprise as far as the sequence of collapse stages in the United States is concerned is that social and cultural collapse have already happened .
That is , the United States , from a social and cultural perspective , are pretty much one hundred percent defunct .
There ’ s no getting back to normal .
And so once the financial realm @ @ @ @ @ @ @ importing everything that the United States needs—which is just about everything at this point , as the US doesn ’ t really make anything any more—the other stages of collapse will swiftly follow .
And as far as political collapse—well , we have to wait until the November elections to see how that ’ s going to turn out .
Shrinking the Technosp ... Orlov , Dmitry Best Price : $ 5.59 Buy New $ 9.50 Q : Yes .
There ’ s a lot of concern about that here , for sure @ @ @ @ @ @ @ either way , whoever wins the election…that social collapse , and lack of seeing things together as a nation is dividing us ; it ’ s really like nothing I ’ ve ever seen in my life .
Well , Dmitry , since Nixon removed gold from the dollar back in 1971 , and by extension the international monetary system , that allowed the United States then to start printing money , as you pointed out .
The US is unprecedented…modern monetary theory [ MMT ] now [ I suppose ] is in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ military…Kissinger went off and signed a deal with Saudi Arabia basically guaranteeing that all the world ’ s oil at that time would be paid for in dollars , and when you think about all the countries around the world that have to import oil , that meant that virtually every country in the world needed to find dollars .
That put a bid under the dollar and allowed the dollar to be a “ strong ” currency even though it had nothing backing it .
But as you point out , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ everything…almost all its deficit spending is being financed by printing money because foreigners are no longer— [ not ] to the extent they were , anyway—buying Treasuries .
So do you see the possibility of the dollar losing its hegemony and giving way to some other form of currency ?
A : Well , yes .
The other forms of currency already exist .
Lots of countries are trading using commodity exchanges and currency swaps .
So a lot of countries really just don ’ t need the dollar .
Iran , for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ dollar at all to sell its oil , which it does : it ’ s a major oil producer .
Other countries will follow suit .
The thing about making the dollar “ attractive ” really has to do with the ability of Washington to overthrow regimes it doesn ’ t like in various parts of the world , to basically scare everyone into submission .
But now if you look at where the revolts are happening , the more or less successful revolts , they ’ re happening in France ; they @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is part of the EU ; [ there have been ] huge demonstrations in Berlin , and of course various cities in the United States itself are now basically ablaze .
There is permanent revolt happening in various parts of the world .
So this is chickens coming home to roost , and the collective West is no longer an entity that can scare the world into submission .
That , coupled with the fact that the dollar is being debased at an ever increasing rate through money printing and deficit financing basically @ @ @ @ @ @ @ very abruptly , the way pyramid schemes generally do , within a single news cycle .
Q : Yes .
It ’ s interesting to note , from my perspective , that China is the largest gold producer now in the world .
They don ’ t export any of their gold ; they keep it for themselves .
Russia is also a very substantial gold producer , and I notice from what I can see that both countries are building their gold reserves very dramatically .
Do you think that that is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ confidence , or their view that the dollar ’ s days are numbered ?
A : Well Russia no longer has any dollar reserves at all .
It has opted for gold .
China is getting rid of its US Treasuries at an ever-increasing rate .
The plan is basically to have trade conducted not in the dollar but in the countries ’ own currencies using various types of currency swap agreements backed by gold .
This is how international trade was done before .
Until the US dollar came off the gold @ @ @ @ @ @ @ [ for example ] the Mexican silver dollar , things like that , that were backed by metal .
So we ’ re back to that scheme , and this is perfectly normal .
We ’ ll be able to look back on this curious interlude , from the seventies until 2021 perhaps , [ and ] look back on it as an aberration .
Everything is Going Ac ... Dmitry Orlov Best Price : $ 15.96 Buy New $ 17.95 Q : Yeah .
It certainly has been .
The idea , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ international gold-backed system you have more of an even playing field .
In this case the United States has been able to use its military strength coming out of WWII , and other advantages that it had at that time to basically dictate to the rest of the world .
But we were already living beyond our means to pay for the Vietnam War and start up socialism in the United States , or an extension of socialism under President Johnson .
We were already living beyond our means ; the gold was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wanted his gold and he was entitled to it under Bretton Woods .
But then we decided that we were… we were the bully , I guess : we were the country that had the power and the ability to dictate to others what to do , and that ’ s what Nixon did , Nixon and Kissinger .
And so now , yeah , it seems that we have used our power .
I think the countries that wouldn ’ t accept the dollar in trade were vulnerable : Gaddafi and before @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s right .
But can I just say that the United States has now run out of countries it could attack with impunity , [ countries ] that are sufficiently rich to be looted , and sufficiently weak so that they can be attacked militarily without huge casualties , huge losses .
The thing about the US military is that it is willing to kill but it is not willing to die .
The United States is completely out of people who are willing to die for other people ’ s money @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the turning point , I think , in the Vietnam War , when the young people resisted .
We ’ ve had a pretty good life here in the United States for quite a while , and I guess we ’ ve softened up to the point where that ’ s taken place .
I would just observe that historically gold flows to countries that are doing well , that are gaining wealth .
It flows away from countries when they are in trouble , when they ’ re running into financial trouble @ @ @ @ @ @ @ example , in its closing days , its waning days , was I believe using its gold to try to prolong the regime at that point in time .
Would you say that things are definitely improving in Russia ?
And since you ’ ve moved back there now , what are your thoughts about the Russian economy and the Chinese economy ?
Both those countries are building up their gold reserves .
What are things really like in Russia—because what we hear here is nothing except ‘ Putin is evil ; he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ him politically… ’ and so on and so forth .
Paint a picture of what things are like in Russia now , economically , because we ’ re certainly not getting a straight story here .
A : Well , Russia is a society , a culture that thrives on adversity .
It kind of goes along with the huge territory and the harsh climate .
The Russians , they don ’ t do very well when things are fine , but when they ’ re confronted with a situation that they have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ turns out that they ’ re incredibly active and incredibly effective .
And this is what ’ s been happening .
The 1990s have basically convinced Russians that things can ’ t go on as they had before .
When Putin came to power he started making changes , and the transformation of Russian society and Russian culture I would say has been very thorough .
For instance , Russia was notorious for its bad roads .
Well , now most of the roads in Russia are up to the German autobahn standard @ @ @ @ @ @ @ cars , but now Russia makes all of its own cars , virtually all of it , and makes lots of cars for export .
It ’ s just that the brand names are western , or Japanese , or Korean brand names , but they ’ re all made in Russia .
Q : Interesting… Communities that Abide Heppenstall , Jason Best Price : $ 19.99 Buy New $ 20.00 A : And because of the sanctions regime—the sanctions regime has been an absolute blessing to Russia .
It has caused Russia @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on its own territory .
So now it makes its own [ passenger ] jet aircraft , for instance .
It ’ s made itself pretty much immune to those sorts of sanctions .
And the latest thing that Russia is doing is basically getting rid of the necessity to export oil and gas .
Instead of exporting raw materials , Russia is going to make all of the products—for instance , all of the plastics—that it needs .
So it will stop importing plastics , and instead of exporting gas , for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ plastics and other products made with these resources .
Now this does not bode well for all of the countries in the world that depend on continued Russian raw materials exports .
Basically a lot of industry in Europe is going to have to shut down because of Russia [ doing this ] .
In terms of politics , Russia has a very effective government that is quite popular .
The election that was just held , a lot of the government candidates from the main party won comfortably .
Putin wins with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the vote .
The next candidate to Putin is somebody by the name of Zhirinovsky who has been in politics for a very long time ; he ’ s pretty old these days .
He ’ s head of the Liberal Democratic party .
He gets something like 7 % of the vote .
Why ?
Because Putin is not enough of a Russian nationalist .
And then everybody else , including figures like Navalny , who , if you read the New York Times , is “ Russia ’ s premier opposition @ @ @ @ @ @ @ well , he has maybe 2 % of the insanity vote—you know , basically the people who vote for him are people who believe in reptiloids from planet Nibiru and people who are permanently disgruntled .
So there ’ s no hope for him at all .
That ’ s the position in Russia now .
Russia didn ’ t really suffer from the financial crisis of 2019 ; it didn ’ t really suffer any consequences economically from the coronavirus , the coronavirus scare .
Some measures here were taken , but @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in adversity , the need to work from home has , in Russia , generated a lot of these new arrangements that make it possible to work from home .
It turns out that one of the biggest problems with Russian corporations is that a lot of their staff is [ has been ] in Moscow .
Now , because of coronavirus , a lot of their staff is moving back to Russian provinces where life is cheap and good ; places that are uncrowded .
They can work from there , they @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s a win .
And some other things that were an absolute win for Russia : when the EU imposed sanctions on Russia in 2014 , Russia imposed counter-sanctions on food exports from the European Union , and this has given a huge boost to Russia ’ s agricultural producers .
So Russia is now an agricultural superpower .
It ’ s the largest grain exporter in the world ; it ’ ll basically end up feeding half the planet pretty soon .
So these are all extreme positives , and Russia @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Q : And producing , manufacturing their own things .
This is of course what the United States gave up when it decided to do what it did with the dollar and so forth .
That ’ s very interesting .
Another thing I ’ d like to ask you , but we don ’ t have time , is what Russia would look like post-Putin .
But maybe some other time , if we can get you on .
Reinventing Collapse : ... Dmitry Orlov Best Price : $ 3.92 Buy New @ @ @ @ @ @ @ left yet , Dmitry .
Recently I ’ ve heard you talk about what ’ s going on in America , the demolition of the family , morality—you alluded to it when you talked about social problems that we ’ re having here now .
We seem to have… during the USSR , of course , the Christian religion was persecuted—in most totalitarian nations , I think , that ’ s what happens— Q : So that was part of the propaganda we were given then .
So you ’ re saying that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ free to operate , then , during the Soviet days ?
Q : Okay .
Well , my impression is that it ’ s alive and well now .
A : It is definitely alive and well now , doing better than ever .
A fact that a lot of people don ’ t appreciate is that Stalin was a seminarian , and as soon as he got the excuse , which was the beginning of World War II , he reopened the churches .
Q : No ?
!
Well that ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the US , I guess .
But in any event , the Church is alive and well now .
To what extent do you think that that is helping Russian society ?
I mean , you talk about the family : we ’ ve got here Black Lives Matter and Antifa , they ’ re openly against the traditional family , the mother and father and so forth .
They ’ re openly against the Christian religion here in the United States .
To what extent do you believe that that ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to have a common view of what is right and what is wrong ?
A : Well , it ’ s not just religion .
It has to do with how nature works , human nature , what is natural .
If you ignore nature then you go extinct .
That ’ s how nature deals with it .
It ’ s not a problem that any of us have to solve because Charles Darwin will solve it for us .
So all these Antifa types that are anti-family , well , fine @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in another generation .
They ’ ll just age out and leave no trace .
Q : All right , just one other thing before we let you go because we are basically out of time , but one of the things you have written about is how to prepare for times when things become difficult .
First of all , what do you think the US landscape may look like ?
Nobody knows for sure , I guess , but just looking and projecting what you see now , in the US @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , what do you see for the US ?
And then , what should people do , how should we be preparing to deal with it ?
A : Well , I don ’ t see much hope for anything beyond the county level in the United States .
I think cities will be incredibly unsafe .
I think it will all have to do with becoming sufficiently rural , and sufficiently self-sufficient , in order to ride it out .
There won ’ t be much of an official structure to rely @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a community is—there ’ s been a lot of emphasis on integration and inclusion , etc.—and that ’ s not going to be helpful moving forward , because people have to recognize each other , they have to not deal with strangers , they have to avoid having to deal with strangers .
So that ’ s going to be a dominant in America moving forward .
It will basically splinter ; society will splinter into small groups , and the only ones that will hold together will be the more cohesive and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ... Orlov , Dmitry Best Price : $ 16.28 Buy New $ 21.34 Q : I know that in our previous discussion you had suggested that America might split up into different countries , but you ’ re suggesting even smaller political groups than that ?
The county level ?
A : Yes , I think that the county level is about the right level at which politics is not a complete waste of time .
Q : All right .
Well we ’ ll have to leave it at that .
Dmitry @ @ @ @ @ @ @ much for spending your time with us .
It ’ s very , very helpful to our listeners , I ’ m sure of that .
All the best to you and your family there in Russia .
It ’ s very interesting to hear some things we haven ’ t heard before about Russia .
The Best of Dmitry Orlov

Welcome back to Turning Hard Times into Good Times. I’m your host Jay Taylor. I’m really pleased to have with me once again Dmitry Orlov.
Dmitry was born and grew up in Leningrad, but has lived in the United States. He moved here in the mid-seventies. He has since gone back to Russia, where he is living now. The Five Stages of Col... Orlov, Dmitry Best Price: $4.27 Buy New $1.99 (as of 03:30 UTC - Details)
But Dmitry was an eyewitness to the Soviet collapse over several extended visits to his Russian homeland between the eighties and mid-nineties. He is an engineer who has contributed to fields as diverse as high-energy Physics and Internet Security, as well as a leading Peak Oil theorist. He is the author of Reinventing Collapse: The Soviet Example and American Prospects (2008) and The Five Stages of Collapse: Survivors’ Toolkit (2013).
Welcome, Dmitry, and thank you so much for joining us again.
A: Great to be on your program again, Jay.
Q: It’s really good to hear your voice. I know we had you on [the program] back in 2014. It’s been a long time—way too long, as far as I’m concerned. In that discussion we talked about the five stages of collapse that you observed in the fall of the USSR. Could you review them really quickly, and compare them to what you are seeing, what you have witnessed and observed in the United States as you lived here, and of course in your post now in Russia.
A: Yes. The five stages of collapse as I defined them were financial, commercial, political, social and cultural. I observed that the first three, in Russia. The finance collapsed because the Soviet Union basically ran out of money. Commercial collapse because industry, Soviet industry, fell apart because it was distributed among fifteen Soviet socialist republics, and when the Soviet Union fell apart all of the supply chains broke down.
Political collapse: obviously there wasn’t really a functional government at all for a period of time in the nineties. Lots of American consultants running around and privatizing things in a fashion that created a lot of incredibly corrupt, super-rich oligarchs who then fled with their money, a lot of them.
Surprisingly, social and cultural collapse didn’t really get very far until Russia started regaining its health. Some of the other Soviet socialist republics are in the throes of full-on social and cultural collapse, but Russia avoided this fate.
Now, what’s happening in the United States right now is that the financial realm has become this incredible Potemkin village. The Americans are running this completely unprecedented experiment where they basically are blowing the hugest financial bubbles that they possibly could in just about everything: obviously in finance itself, but also in medicine, in real estate, the stock market—and all of that is directly connected to the printing press. The printing press in the United States now monetizes half of the entire federal spending, and the United States every year now borrows twice the amount of money that the federal government earns in a year. So basically this thing looks like it’s gone off the rails and is heading straight into a ravine, but for now this is just being papered over with this fake printed money.
The big surprise as far as the sequence of collapse stages in the United States is concerned is that social and cultural collapse have already happened. That is, the United States, from a social and cultural perspective, are pretty much one hundred percent defunct. There’s no getting back to normal. And so once the financial realm goes and it becomes impossible to continue importing everything that the United States needs—which is just about everything at this point, as the US doesn’t really make anything any more—the other stages of collapse will swiftly follow. And as far as political collapse—well, we have to wait until the November elections to see how that’s going to turn out. Shrinking the Technosp... Orlov, Dmitry Best Price: $5.59 Buy New $9.50 (as of 01:20 UTC - Details)
Q: Yes. There’s a lot of concern about that here, for sure, about what things might look like either way, whoever wins the election…that social collapse, and lack of seeing things together as a nation is dividing us; it’s really like nothing I’ve ever seen in my life.
Well, Dmitry, since Nixon removed gold from the dollar back in 1971, and by extension the international monetary system, that allowed the United States then to start printing money, as you pointed out. The US is unprecedented…modern monetary theory [MMT] now [I suppose] is in play. That along with the US military…Kissinger went off and signed a deal with Saudi Arabia basically guaranteeing that all the world’s oil at that time would be paid for in dollars, and when you think about all the countries around the world that have to import oil, that meant that virtually every country in the world needed to find dollars. That put a bid under the dollar and allowed the dollar to be a “strong” currency even though it had nothing backing it. But as you point out, the US is now having to borrow most everything…almost all its deficit spending is being financed by printing money because foreigners are no longer—[not] to the extent they were, anyway—buying Treasuries.
So do you see the possibility of the dollar losing its hegemony and giving way to some other form of currency?
A: Well, yes. The other forms of currency already exist. Lots of countries are trading using commodity exchanges and currency swaps. So a lot of countries really just don’t need the dollar. Iran, for instance, doesn’t use the dollar at all to sell its oil, which it does: it’s a major oil producer. Other countries will follow suit.
The thing about making the dollar “attractive” really has to do with the ability of Washington to overthrow regimes it doesn’t like in various parts of the world, to basically scare everyone into submission. But now if you look at where the revolts are happening, the more or less successful revolts, they’re happening in France; they’re happening in Bulgaria, which is part of the EU; [there have been] huge demonstrations in Berlin, and of course various cities in the United States itself are now basically ablaze. There is permanent revolt happening in various parts of the world. So this is chickens coming home to roost, and the collective West is no longer an entity that can scare the world into submission. That, coupled with the fact that the dollar is being debased at an ever increasing rate through money printing and deficit financing basically means that this is going to end very abruptly, the way pyramid schemes generally do, within a single news cycle.
Q: Yes. It’s interesting to note, from my perspective, that China is the largest gold producer now in the world. They don’t export any of their gold; they keep it for themselves. Russia is also a very substantial gold producer, and I notice from what I can see that both countries are building their gold reserves very dramatically. Do you think that that is a policy due to their lack of confidence, or their view that the dollar’s days are numbered?
A: Well Russia no longer has any dollar reserves at all. It has opted for gold. China is getting rid of its US Treasuries at an ever-increasing rate. The plan is basically to have trade conducted not in the dollar but in the countries’ own currencies using various types of currency swap agreements backed by gold. This is how international trade was done before. Until the US dollar came off the gold standard it was basically various currencies, [for example] the Mexican silver dollar, things like that, that were backed by metal. So we’re back to that scheme, and this is perfectly normal. We’ll be able to look back on this curious interlude, from the seventies until 2021 perhaps, [and] look back on it as an aberration. Everything is Going Ac... Dmitry Orlov Best Price: $15.96 Buy New $17.95 (as of 07:10 UTC - Details)
Q: Yeah. It certainly has been. The idea, of course, is that with an international gold-backed system you have more of an even playing field. In this case the United States has been able to use its military strength coming out of WWII, and other advantages that it had at that time to basically dictate to the rest of the world. But we were already living beyond our means to pay for the Vietnam War and start up socialism in the United States, or an extension of socialism under President Johnson. We were already living beyond our means; the gold was leaving, and De Gaulle of France wanted his gold and he was entitled to it under Bretton Woods. But then we decided that we were… we were the bully, I guess: we were the country that had the power and the ability to dictate to others what to do, and that’s what Nixon did, Nixon and Kissinger. And so now, yeah, it seems that we have used our power. I think the countries that wouldn’t accept the dollar in trade were vulnerable: Gaddafi and before that in Iraq.
A: That’s right. But can I just say that the United States has now run out of countries it could attack with impunity, [countries] that are sufficiently rich to be looted, and sufficiently weak so that they can be attacked militarily without huge casualties, huge losses. The thing about the US military is that it is willing to kill but it is not willing to die. The United States is completely out of people who are willing to die for other people’s money.
Q: Yes. We saw the turning point, I think, in the Vietnam War, when the young people resisted. We’ve had a pretty good life here in the United States for quite a while, and I guess we’ve softened up to the point where that’s taken place. I would just observe that historically gold flows to countries that are doing well, that are gaining wealth. It flows away from countries when they are in trouble, when they’re running into financial trouble. I think the USSR, for example, in its closing days, its waning days, was I believe using its gold to try to prolong the regime at that point in time.
Would you say that things are definitely improving in Russia? And since you’ve moved back there now, what are your thoughts about the Russian economy and the Chinese economy? Both those countries are building up their gold reserves. What are things really like in Russia—because what we hear here is nothing except ‘Putin is evil; he’s poisoning people that compete with him politically…’ and so on and so forth. Paint a picture of what things are like in Russia now, economically, because we’re certainly not getting a straight story here.
A: Well, Russia is a society, a culture that thrives on adversity. It kind of goes along with the huge territory and the harsh climate. The Russians, they don’t do very well when things are fine, but when they’re confronted with a situation that they have to do something about, suddenly it turns out that they’re incredibly active and incredibly effective. And this is what’s been happening. The 1990s have basically convinced Russians that things can’t go on as they had before. When Putin came to power he started making changes, and the transformation of Russian society and Russian culture I would say has been very thorough. For instance, Russia was notorious for its bad roads. Well, now most of the roads in Russia are up to the German autobahn standard. It used to have really bad cars, but now Russia makes all of its own cars, virtually all of it, and makes lots of cars for export. It’s just that the brand names are western, or Japanese, or Korean brand names, but they’re all made in Russia.
Q: Interesting… Communities that Abide Heppenstall, Jason Best Price: $19.99 Buy New $20.00 (as of 05:53 UTC - Details)
A: And because of the sanctions regime—the sanctions regime has been an absolute blessing to Russia. It has caused Russia to start making everything that it needed on its own territory. So now it makes its own [passenger] jet aircraft, for instance. It’s made itself pretty much immune to those sorts of sanctions. And the latest thing that Russia is doing is basically getting rid of the necessity to export oil and gas. Instead of exporting raw materials, Russia is going to make all of the products—for instance, all of the plastics—that it needs. So it will stop importing plastics, and instead of exporting gas, for instance, it’ll be exporting plastics and other products made with these resources. Now this does not bode well for all of the countries in the world that depend on continued Russian raw materials exports. Basically a lot of industry in Europe is going to have to shut down because of Russia [doing this].
In terms of politics, Russia has a very effective government that is quite popular. The election that was just held, a lot of the government candidates from the main party won comfortably. Putin wins with something like 73%-75% of the vote. The next candidate to Putin is somebody by the name of Zhirinovsky who has been in politics for a very long time; he’s pretty old these days. He’s head of the Liberal Democratic party. He gets something like 7% of the vote. Why? Because Putin is not enough of a Russian nationalist. And then everybody else, including figures like Navalny, who, if you read the New York Times, is “Russia’s premier opposition candidate” or something like that, well, he has maybe 2% of the insanity vote—you know, basically the people who vote for him are people who believe in reptiloids from planet Nibiru and people who are permanently disgruntled. So there’s no hope for him at all.
That’s the position in Russia now. Russia didn’t really suffer from the financial crisis of 2019; it didn’t really suffer any consequences economically from the coronavirus, the coronavirus scare. Some measures here were taken, but again, along the lines of thriving in adversity, the need to work from home has, in Russia, generated a lot of these new arrangements that make it possible to work from home. It turns out that one of the biggest problems with Russian corporations is that a lot of their staff is [has been] in Moscow. Now, because of coronavirus, a lot of their staff is moving back to Russian provinces where life is cheap and good; places that are uncrowded. They can work from there, they can work remotely now. So that’s a win.
And some other things that were an absolute win for Russia: when the EU imposed sanctions on Russia in 2014, Russia imposed counter-sanctions on food exports from the European Union, and this has given a huge boost to Russia’s agricultural producers. So Russia is now an agricultural superpower. It’s the largest grain exporter in the world; it’ll basically end up feeding half the planet pretty soon. So these are all extreme positives, and Russia is a prosperous and stable country.
Q: And producing, manufacturing their own things. This is of course what the United States gave up when it decided to do what it did with the dollar and so forth. That’s very interesting.
Another thing I’d like to ask you, but we don’t have time, is what Russia would look like post-Putin. But maybe some other time, if we can get you on. Reinventing Collapse: ... Dmitry Orlov Best Price: $3.92 Buy New $1.99 (as of 10:45 UTC - Details)
Just a couple of minutes left yet, Dmitry. Recently I’ve heard you talk about what’s going on in America, the demolition of the family, morality—you alluded to it when you talked about social problems that we’re having here now. We seem to have… during the USSR, of course, the Christian religion was persecuted—in most totalitarian nations, I think, that’s what happens—
A: It wasn’t. That’s a fake.
Q: So that was part of the propaganda we were given then. So you’re saying that the Church, the Orthodox Church was free to operate, then, during the Soviet days?
A: It was.
Q: Okay. Well, my impression is that it’s alive and well now.
A: It is definitely alive and well now, doing better than ever. A fact that a lot of people don’t appreciate is that Stalin was a seminarian, and as soon as he got the excuse, which was the beginning of World War II, he reopened the churches.
Q: No?! Well that’s really news to us here in the US, I guess. But in any event, the Church is alive and well now. To what extent do you think that that is helping Russian society? I mean, you talk about the family: we’ve got here Black Lives Matter and Antifa, they’re openly against the traditional family, the mother and father and so forth. They’re openly against the Christian religion here in the United States. To what extent do you believe that that’s an important aspect of a society, to have a common view of what is right and what is wrong?
A: Well, it’s not just religion. It has to do with how nature works, human nature, what is natural. If you ignore nature then you go extinct. That’s how nature deals with it. It’s not a problem that any of us have to solve because Charles Darwin will solve it for us. So all these Antifa types that are anti-family, well, fine: they won’t be around in another generation. They’ll just age out and leave no trace.
Q: All right, just one other thing before we let you go because we are basically out of time, but one of the things you have written about is how to prepare for times when things become difficult. First of all, what do you think the US landscape may look like? Nobody knows for sure, I guess, but just looking and projecting what you see now, in the US, where you lived until just recently, what do you see for the US? And then, what should people do, how should we be preparing to deal with it?
A: Well, I don’t see much hope for anything beyond the county level in the United States. I think cities will be incredibly unsafe. I think it will all have to do with becoming sufficiently rural, and sufficiently self-sufficient, in order to ride it out. There won’t be much of an official structure to rely on, and the more mixed up a community is—there’s been a lot of emphasis on integration and inclusion, etc.—and that’s not going to be helpful moving forward, because people have to recognize each other, they have to not deal with strangers, they have to avoid having to deal with strangers. So that’s going to be a dominant in America moving forward. It will basically splinter; society will splinter into small groups, and the only ones that will hold together will be the more cohesive and homogenous ones. Collapse and the Good ... Orlov, Dmitry Best Price: $16.28 Buy New $21.34 (as of 05:53 UTC - Details)
Q: I know that in our previous discussion you had suggested that America might split up into different countries, but you’re suggesting even smaller political groups than that? The county level?
A: Yes, I think that the county level is about the right level at which politics is not a complete waste of time.
Q: All right. Well we’ll have to leave it at that. Dmitry, I want to thank you so much for spending your time with us. It’s very, very helpful to our listeners, I’m sure of that. All the best to you and your family there in Russia. It’s very interesting to hear some things we haven’t heard before about Russia.
A: I’m glad.
Q: Thank you, Dmitry.
Reprinted with permission from Dmitry Orlov.
The Best of Dmitry Orlov


What a Joke

Regarding the events surrounding the corona , John Mauldin writes : I truly believe that something affecting all of us so deeply should be kept in the scientific realm to the extent possible , not the political .
Let ’ s see how well he performs .
He begins by noting he only wants to look forward , and not backward : It is relatively easy to look back and see what happened , but I am more interested in future responses .
Of course , he would want to do this , given that he pounded the table for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ – both economic and health – perhaps in human history ( absent war , of course ) .
Some examples of his handiwork back in March : KASARO Peel and Stick ... Buy New $ 69.99 ( $ 69.99 / Count ) Without radical action ( some of which is already happening , some places , but not enough ) , this pandemic could cost many lives and potentially launch an economic depression .
I am not exaggerating when I say this .
I really mean it .
Of course , it was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and launched the economic depression .
I really mean it .
I ’ m saying this strongly because as recently as this week , I ’ m still hearing from lots of readers who don ’ t get it .
Of course , it was those readers who “ got it , ” and not those like Mauldin who chose the purposeful destruction of millions of lives and thousands of businesses .
But enough of that .
Let ’ s not look back – the call of every criminal in history .
Let @ @ @ @ @ @ @ says today .
What have we learned : First , the median age of fatalities seems to be around 80 .
Deaths below that age level are highly associated with one or more conditions like obesity , hypertension , heart disease , diabetes , a weakened immune system , etc .
Deaths among those under 20 are quite rare .
The estimated Infection Fatality Rate is close to zero for younger adults but rises sharply with age , reaching about 0.3 % for ages 50–59 , 1.3 % for ages 60–69 , 4 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ % for ages 80–89 .
…according to CDC data , only about 6 % of COVID-19 deaths were from COVID-19 alone .
All the others had at least one comorbidity associated with them and , on average , all US deaths had 2.6 additional conditions .
In many countries , 50 % to 60 % of COVID-19 deaths are from care facilities .
In some countries , it approaches 80 % .
Without getting into the weeds on the data , I will take his numbers as a given .
In other words @ @ @ @ @ @ @ deadly – than a normal flu season .
The older you are and the more risk factors you have , the more likely it is that your body will succumb to an additional complication .
What a breakthrough in science .
iCustomRug Ergonomic A ... Buy New $ 41.80 So , what does he have to say about all this ?
With the benefit of hindsight , I am sure that we would ’ ve made different choices in terms of our response to the disease .
What would these different responses include @ @ @ @ @ @ @ economy ?
Don ’ t add trillions in new debt ?
Don ’ t destroy hundreds of thousands of small business ?
Don ’ t increase the suicide rate ?
Don ’ t decrease the number of doctors ’ visits for cancer screenings , heart disease , etc.
?
Nope , none of these : It would ’ ve been nice to have a stockpile of N95 masks and other PPE gear .
Yes , that would have been the right call ; it would have made all the difference in the world @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the “ what have we learned ” based on the “ scientific realm ” comments from Mauldin , noted immediately above .
He continues with solutions that have nothing to do with the facts he cites : more hospital beds and billion spent on vaccines .
He now insists , praise be to God , that we can not have another lockdown , even if case numbers ( nonsensical as this statistic is ) rise .
He also notes that until this recent event , public health guidelines when facing a flu @ @ @ @ @ @ @ been implemented : no stay-at-home orders , no closing businesses , no forced isolation and quarantine , no restrictions on movement .
Jolly good , John .
Maybe ask yourself : what ’ s different this time ?
EdenseeLake Floating W ... Buy New $ 26.99 He also notes that , believe it or not , other health issues have gone untreated during this time : heart disease , cancer , tuberculosis , etc .
The cost in lives will far exceed anything from the corona .
Of course , had he been @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he would have realized this at that time .
He advocates for the continued use of masks and social distancing .
Mauldin should spend three minutes to understand the completely unscientific basis underlying these measures , along with the negative health effects brought on by their implementation .
Instead , he wants more study on the exact distancing necessary .
Is it six feet ?
Is it 50 % capacity at restaurants ?
What nonsense .
He writes positively of the experience in Sweden , but…not so fast .
The measures taken there @ @ @ @ @ @ @ population .
Nothing to offer here .
I read Mauldin because he provides a window into the thinking of many important actors .
Many times over the years , his cognitive dissonance has poured over the pages – perhaps never as obvious as it has been on this episode , where even his daughter ’ s stroke when the lockdowns were first announced wouldn ’ t shake him from his view regarding the deadly consequences of his policy views .
The Best of Bionic Mosquito

Regarding the events surrounding the corona, John Mauldin writes:
I truly believe that something affecting all of us so deeply should be kept in the scientific realm to the extent possible, not the political.
Let’s see how well he performs. He begins by noting he only wants to look forward, and not backward:
It is relatively easy to look back and see what happened, but I am more interested in future responses.
Of course, he would want to do this, given that he pounded the table for the most purposely and voluntarily destructive policies – both economic and health – perhaps in human history (absent war, of course). Some examples of his handiwork back in March: KASARO Peel and Stick ... Buy New $69.99 ($69.99 / Count) (as of 05:55 UTC - Details)
Without radical action (some of which is already happening, some places, but not enough), this pandemic could cost many lives and potentially launch an economic depression. I am not exaggerating when I say this. I really mean it.
Of course, it was the radical action that cost many lives and launched the economic depression. I really mean it.
I’m saying this strongly because as recently as this week, I’m still hearing from lots of readers who don’t get it.
Of course, it was those readers who “got it,” and not those like Mauldin who chose the purposeful destruction of millions of lives and thousands of businesses. But enough of that. Let’s not look back – the call of every criminal in history. Let’s just look at what Mauldin says today. What have we learned:
First, the median age of fatalities seems to be around 80. Deaths below that age level are highly associated with one or more conditions like obesity, hypertension, heart disease, diabetes, a weakened immune system, etc. Deaths among those under 20 are quite rare.
The estimated Infection Fatality Rate is close to zero for younger adults but rises sharply with age, reaching about 0.3% for ages 50–59, 1.3% for ages 60–69, 4% for ages 70–79, and 10% for ages 80–89.
…according to CDC data, only about 6% of COVID-19 deaths were from COVID-19 alone. All the others had at least one comorbidity associated with them and, on average, all US deaths had 2.6 additional conditions.
In many countries, 50% to 60% of COVID-19 deaths are from care facilities. In some countries, it approaches 80%.
Without getting into the weeds on the data, I will take his numbers as a given. In other words, nothing much different – even less deadly – than a normal flu season. The older you are and the more risk factors you have, the more likely it is that your body will succumb to an additional complication. What a breakthrough in science. iCustomRug Ergonomic A... Buy New $41.80 (as of 05:55 UTC - Details)
So, what does he have to say about all this?
With the benefit of hindsight, I am sure that we would’ve made different choices in terms of our response to the disease.
What would these different responses include? Don’t shut down the economy? Don’t add trillions in new debt? Don’t destroy hundreds of thousands of small business? Don’t increase the suicide rate? Don’t decrease the number of doctors’ visits for cancer screenings, heart disease, etc.? Nope, none of these:
It would’ve been nice to have a stockpile of N95 masks and other PPE gear.
Yes, that would have been the right call; it would have made all the difference in the world. And it has absolutely no basis in the “what have we learned” based on the “scientific realm” comments from Mauldin, noted immediately above.
He continues with solutions that have nothing to do with the facts he cites: more hospital beds and billion spent on vaccines. He now insists, praise be to God, that we cannot have another lockdown, even if case numbers (nonsensical as this statistic is) rise.
He also notes that until this recent event, public health guidelines when facing a flu pandemic were exactly opposite of what has been implemented: no stay-at-home orders, no closing businesses, no forced isolation and quarantine, no restrictions on movement. Jolly good, John. Maybe ask yourself: what’s different this time? EdenseeLake Floating W... Buy New $26.99 (as of 05:55 UTC - Details)
He also notes that, believe it or not, other health issues have gone untreated during this time: heart disease, cancer, tuberculosis, etc. The cost in lives will far exceed anything from the corona. Of course, had he been calm and rational six months ago, he would have realized this at that time.
He advocates for the continued use of masks and social distancing. Mauldin should spend three minutes to understand the completely unscientific basis underlying these measures, along with the negative health effects brought on by their implementation. Instead, he wants more study on the exact distancing necessary. Is it six feet? Is it 50% capacity at restaurants? What nonsense.
He writes positively of the experience in Sweden, but…not so fast. The measures taken there might not be applicable to the US population.
Conclusion
Nothing to offer here. I read Mauldin because he provides a window into the thinking of many important actors. Many times over the years, his cognitive dissonance has poured over the pages – perhaps never as obvious as it has been on this episode, where even his daughter’s stroke when the lockdowns were first announced wouldn’t shake him from his view regarding the deadly consequences of his policy views.
Reprinted with permission from Bionic Mosquito.
The Best of Bionic Mosquito


lewrockwell--2020-09-18--I See a Ray of Light

I See a Ray of Light

Amidst the rush among the media , medical and political establishments to have a corona vaccine delivered to the American people before the end of the year comes this report that should give us all pause .
This really should be one of the biggest scandals in public health , but it ’ s given little attention – mainly because of the high-profile nature of the people and organisations involved .
The United Nations has been forced to admit that a major international vaccine initiative is actually causing the outbreak of the very disease it was supposed to wipe-out .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ Organization ( WHO ) will regularly boast about supposedly ‘ eradicating polio ’ with vaccines , the opposite seems to be the case .
Their decades-long campaign to eradicate polio is now killing scores of innocent young people living in poor countries .
To Keep or Not to Keep ... Timothy and Chuck .
Bal ... Best Price : $ 8.50 Buy New $ 58.97 Now it seems that health officials are beginning to admit that their plan to stop ‘ wild ’ polio is backfiring , as scores of children are being @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pathogen derived from a live vaccine – causing a virulent polio to spread .
This latest pharma-induced pandemic has broken out in the African countries of Chad and Sudan , and the culprit has been identified : a vaccine-derived polio virus type 2 .
Officials now fear this new dangerous strain could soon ‘ jump continents , ’ causing further deadly outbreaks around the world .
Shocking as it sounds , this Big Pharma debacle is not new .
After spending some $ 16 billion over 30 years to eradicate polio , international @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the disease in Pakistan , Afghanistan , and also Iran , as the central Asia region was hit by a virulent strain of polio spawned by the corporate pharmaceutical vaccine distributed there .
Also , in 2019 , the government of Ethiopia ordered the destruction of 57,000 vials of type 2 oral polio vaccine ( mOPV2 ) following a similar outbreak of vaccine-induced polio .
It ’ s important to note that the oral polio vaccine being pushed on to the African population by the Global Polio Eradication Initiative ( GPEI ) is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation .
All of this should be a cause for concern , especially with western governments and transnational pharmaceutical giants all rushing to roll-out their new Gates-funded experimental coronavirus vaccine for the global population .
Currently , the first experimental COVID-19 vaccine is being tested on the African population through GAVI Vaccine Alliance , another organization funded by the Gates Foundation .
A large round of human trials will take place in South Africa , locally managed by the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg—yet another Gates-funded @ @ @ @ @ @ @ should prompt media and health advocates to ask hard questions about the efficacy and safety of the much-hyped COVID ‘ miracle ’ vaccine .
I believe the American people are starting to realize something stinks about the corona narrative .
Just two or three weeks ago , surveys indicated that two-thirds of adults would eagerly take the corona vaccination when it is available .
But reports I ’ ve read over the last few days say that at least half of the American people would firmly reject the vaccination .
I ’ ve @ @ @ @ @ @ @ scandalous nature of Bill Gates ’ pharmaceutical experimentations .
Durden ’ s report above is merely the latest in a long string of Gates-funded vaccinations gone badly .
Resistance to Tyrants : ... Runyan , Mr. Gordan E Buy New $ 5.99 It is no secret that Bill Gates is a rabid eugenicist and the son of a rabid eugenicist .
He openly brags about using pharmaceuticals to significantly reduce the earth ’ s population .
That ’ s not the record of a man who wants to save lives .
The only @ @ @ @ @ @ @ kind of an authority on medical healing is due solely to the fact that we live in a money-crazed culture in which politicians and the media elite give super-rich scumbags like Gates slave-like obeisance .
If Gates declared himself to be an expert in alien life forms , those same politicians and media elite would fall all over themselves saying it was true .
In this column last week , I said : President Trump has tasked the U.S. military with the responsibility of distributing a domestic vaccine and says he expects the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
( What a coincidence ! )
He has also exempted the final stages of the drug ’ s testing regimen so as to have it ready this year .
A new vaccine takes years to develop and test .
But this drug is going to be ready in a matter of months .
And the drug ’ s manufacturer ( s ) is being granted zero liability for any harm resulting from the drug .
Typically , after many years of laboratory testing and a new drug is ready for mass testing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the guinea pigs .
With the corona vaccine , however , America ’ s families are going to be the guinea pigs—including our children .
We already know about the recent horror stories that have been caused by Bill Gates ’ pharmaceutical trials in Africa and India , including a polio epidemic and the sterilizations of unsuspecting women and girls .
And anyone who has studied the modern history of vaccines is acquainted with the billions of dollars that the U.S. government has doled out to the victims of vaccinations .
We are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ autism and crib death with the rise of vaccinations .
Yet no one will have a clue as to what chemicals will be in the corona cocktail .
We are just supposed to trust Trump , Gates and Fauci and be good little slaves and take the shot .
Regular readers of this column know I am not shy about saying that I believe Donald Trump is a Trojan Horse .
If a Democrat president were using military troops to deliver a vaccine to the American people , conservatives and Christians would be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that Trump is playing 5G chess with the bad guys and always does right even when it looks like he ’ s doing wrong .
Of course , Freedom 101 tells us that that kind of blind faith in ANY elected politician is a recipe for disaster .
And on this Constitution Day 2020 , let me again quote Thomas Jefferson : “ In questions of power , then , let no more be heard of confidence in man , but bind him down from mischief by the chains of the Constitution.
” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Lee Best Price : $ 12.38 Buy New $ 15.79 National elections are the perfect cover for subversion and subterfuge against our Constitution .
All people can see or talk about is the left-right paradigm being played out by whatever actors happen to be on the political stage at the time .
This year it ’ s Donald Trump and Joe Biden .
The public theater of a national election successfully masks the nefarious agenda being carried out by both parties behind the curtain .
Again , this is why I know Trump @ @ @ @ @ @ @ even be close ) .
How can his robotic supporters say no when their political Superman tells them to take the corona vaccination ?
But in the midst of this very thick fog , I see a ray of light .
A man I have known both professionally and personally for many decades , a man who is a stalwart supporter of Donald Trump , Dr. Don Boys , recently wrote the following : World scientists are working feverishly to develop a vaccine for the Chinese coronavirus [ I personally reject that characterization @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are suggesting that it might be available before the end of this year .
I don ’ t mean to be critical , but they haven ’ t found a vaccine for AIDS after throwing billions of dollars at it for more than 30 years .
And there is no vaccine even for the common cold that ’ s been around for millennia .
If and when a vaccine is available , there are definite indications that everyone will be required to get it .
Virginia has already made that decision .
And @ @ @ @ @ @ @ After we live through the pandemic and the arguments about masks and lockdowns , now we face the most dangerous part of the battle—telling the do-gooders what they can do with the vaccine .
Mr. Trump will make the biggest mistake of his presidency if he tries to force every American to accept the jab .
Trump declared , “ Our military is now being mobilized so at the end of the year we ’ re going to be able to give it to a lot of people very , very rapidly.
” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Samuel Goldwyn , “ include me out.
” Forced vaccination for the Chinese coronavirus will be divisive , dangerous , and deadly !
I heard Trump say that the vaccination would not be required , but I don ’ t trust his health advisors at the federal health agencies .
Those agencies are snake pits of corruption run by political hacks with medical degrees .
None have ever looked a COVID-19 patient in the eye , and few have ever looked a patient in the eyes .
I wonder if Mr. Trump will @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the following for not getting vaccinated : will we be safe from losing a job ; losing our insurance or Medicare ; have our children taken from us ; or be required to have some identification to permit us to buy or sell ?
How I Found Freedom in ... Browne , Harry Buy New $ 14.99 Many federal health officials ’ eyes glaze over when they think and speak of financial benefits for COVID-19 research and treatment .
Hospitals have been making huge profits from Medicare patients , as revealed by Senator @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on Fox News .
He reported that hospitals are paid more if Medicare patients are listed as having the Chinese coronavirus and three times the normal price if they are put on a ventilator .
This is what prompted the minor scandal recently when so many hospitals were listing suicide , heart deaths , etc.
, as COVID-19 deaths .
One man died in an auto accident , another died of a heart attack , another died of gunshot wounds , yet all three were listed as having COVID-19 .
Follow the money @ @ @ @ @ @ @ yours .
However , it is not only local hospitals reaping the profits of death but federal health officials who are embedded with the Centers for Disease Control ( CDC ) , the National Institutes for Health ( NIH ) , and the World Health Organization ( WHO ) .
The CDC is the federal agency responsible for directing , developing , and deciding on safety and efficacy .
In simple terms : does it work , is it safe , and is it really necessary ?
It is a fact known by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ vaccines are not safe for everyone .
Many people have died or been harmed for life because of a bad reaction to drugs or vaccines .
No health expert on earth will guarantee you that you will be safe by getting a vaccination .
Drug and vaccine manufacturing companies are protected by law from being held legally accountable for any harmful reactions .
Wonder why that is true if they are safe .
If force is used to vaccinate everyone , it will make criminals out of Trump ’ s best supporters and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
One of my readers said if Trump ’ s federal troops try to force him to be injected with mercury , he will inject the injecter with lead .
Both mercury and lead are lethal .
Forced vaccinations mean many will be shot , really shot !
Since I believe the vaccine may be worse than the disease , I will refuse to be vaccinated , although I ’ m convinced Trump ’ s advisors will recommend draconian measures to force me ( in a free society ) to capitulate .
I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I were given the right answers to these questions : does the vaccine contain mercury , formaldehyde , or any human cells ?
What evidence is available that it will work ?
What proof is there to know it is safe ?
What are the full results of the tests ?
If you have a negative reaction such as being paralyzed , who pays , and how much ?
Why can ’ t we have religious objections since they are available in other matters ?
And this former Republican legislator , longtime fundamentalist @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ) evangelist , conservative Christian author and Republican loyalist concluded his missive with this sentence : I hope Mr. Trump will promise not to force free citizens to have a chip implanted or number tattooed on the hand or forehead .
As I said : I see a ray of light .
The Best of Chuck Baldwin

Amidst the rush among the media, medical and political establishments to have a corona vaccine delivered to the American people before the end of the year comes this report that should give us all pause.
Writing for ZeroHedge.com, Tyler Durden reports:
This really should be one of the biggest scandals in public health, but it’s given little attention – mainly because of the high-profile nature of the people and organisations involved.
The United Nations has been forced to admit that a major international vaccine initiative is actually causing the outbreak of the very disease it was supposed to wipe-out.
While international organisations like the World Health Organization (WHO) will regularly boast about supposedly ‘eradicating polio’ with vaccines, the opposite seems to be the case. Their decades-long campaign to eradicate polio is now killing scores of innocent young people living in poor countries. To Keep or Not to Keep... Timothy and Chuck. Bal... Best Price: $8.50 Buy New $58.97 (as of 07:20 UTC - Details)
Now it seems that health officials are beginning to admit that their plan to stop ‘wild’ polio is backfiring, as scores of children are being paralyzed by a deadly strain of the pathogen derived from a live vaccine – causing a virulent polio to spread.
This latest pharma-induced pandemic has broken out in the African countries of Chad and Sudan, and the culprit has been identified: a vaccine-derived polio virus type 2. Officials now fear this new dangerous strain could soon ‘jump continents,’ causing further deadly outbreaks around the world.
Shocking as it sounds, this Big Pharma debacle is not new. After spending some $16 billion over 30 years to eradicate polio, international health bodies have ‘accidentally’ reintroduced the disease in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and also Iran, as the central Asia region was hit by a virulent strain of polio spawned by the corporate pharmaceutical vaccine distributed there. Also, in 2019, the government of Ethiopia ordered the destruction of 57,000 vials of type 2 oral polio vaccine (mOPV2) following a similar outbreak of vaccine-induced polio.
It’s important to note that the oral polio vaccine being pushed on to the African population by the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) is a consortium which is supported and funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
All of this should be a cause for concern, especially with western governments and transnational pharmaceutical giants all rushing to roll-out their new Gates-funded experimental coronavirus vaccine for the global population.
Currently, the first experimental COVID-19 vaccine is being tested on the African population through GAVI Vaccine Alliance, another organization funded by the Gates Foundation. A large round of human trials will take place in South Africa, locally managed by the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg—yet another Gates-funded institution.
This latest revelation from Africa should prompt media and health advocates to ask hard questions about the efficacy and safety of the much-hyped COVID ‘miracle’ vaccine.
I believe the American people are starting to realize something stinks about the corona narrative. Just two or three weeks ago, surveys indicated that two-thirds of adults would eagerly take the corona vaccination when it is available. But reports I’ve read over the last few days say that at least half of the American people would firmly reject the vaccination.
I’ve documented in this column several times the scandalous nature of Bill Gates’ pharmaceutical experimentations. Durden’s report above is merely the latest in a long string of Gates-funded vaccinations gone badly. Resistance to Tyrants:... Runyan, Mr. Gordan E Buy New $5.99 (as of 05:56 UTC - Details)
It is no secret that Bill Gates is a rabid eugenicist and the son of a rabid eugenicist. He openly brags about using pharmaceuticals to significantly reduce the earth’s population. That’s not the record of a man who wants to save lives. The only reason anyone would consider Bill Gates any kind of an authority on medical healing is due solely to the fact that we live in a money-crazed culture in which politicians and the media elite give super-rich scumbags like Gates slave-like obeisance. If Gates declared himself to be an expert in alien life forms, those same politicians and media elite would fall all over themselves saying it was true.
In this column last week, I said:
President Trump has tasked the U.S. military with the responsibility of distributing a domestic vaccine and says he expects the vaccine to be ready before Election Day. (What a coincidence!) He has also exempted the final stages of the drug’s testing regimen so as to have it ready this year.
A new vaccine takes years to develop and test. But this drug is going to be ready in a matter of months. And the drug’s manufacturer(s) is being granted zero liability for any harm resulting from the drug. Typically, after many years of laboratory testing and a new drug is ready for mass testing on humans, U.S. military personnel are the guinea pigs. With the corona vaccine, however, America’s families are going to be the guinea pigs—including our children.
We already know about the recent horror stories that have been caused by Bill Gates’ pharmaceutical trials in Africa and India, including a polio epidemic and the sterilizations of unsuspecting women and girls. And anyone who has studied the modern history of vaccines is acquainted with the billions of dollars that the U.S. government has doled out to the victims of vaccinations. We are also acquainted with the parallel rise of autism and crib death with the rise of vaccinations.
Yet no one will have a clue as to what chemicals will be in the corona cocktail. We are just supposed to trust Trump, Gates and Fauci and be good little slaves and take the shot.
Regular readers of this column know I am not shy about saying that I believe Donald Trump is a Trojan Horse. If a Democrat president were using military troops to deliver a vaccine to the American people, conservatives and Christians would be in open revolt. But they insist that Trump is playing 5G chess with the bad guys and always does right even when it looks like he’s doing wrong. Of course, Freedom 101 tells us that that kind of blind faith in ANY elected politician is a recipe for disaster.
And on this Constitution Day 2020, let me again quote Thomas Jefferson: “In questions of power, then, let no more be heard of confidence in man, but bind him down from mischief by the chains of the Constitution.” Mitochondria and the F... Know, Lee Best Price: $12.38 Buy New $15.79 (as of 01:10 UTC - Details)
National elections are the perfect cover for subversion and subterfuge against our Constitution. All people can see or talk about is the left-right paradigm being played out by whatever actors happen to be on the political stage at the time. This year it’s Donald Trump and Joe Biden. The public theater of a national election successfully masks the nefarious agenda being carried out by both parties behind the curtain. Again, this is why I know Trump will win (and it might not even be close). How can his robotic supporters say no when their political Superman tells them to take the corona vaccination?
But in the midst of this very thick fog, I see a ray of light.
A man I have known both professionally and personally for many decades, a man who is a stalwart supporter of Donald Trump, Dr. Don Boys, recently wrote the following:
World scientists are working feverishly to develop a vaccine for the Chinese coronavirus [I personally reject that characterization of the virus], and they are suggesting that it might be available before the end of this year. I don’t mean to be critical, but they haven’t found a vaccine for AIDS after throwing billions of dollars at it for more than 30 years.
And there is no vaccine even for the common cold that’s been around for millennia.
If and when a vaccine is available, there are definite indications that everyone will be required to get it. Virginia has already made that decision. And that is the problem before us. After we live through the pandemic and the arguments about masks and lockdowns, now we face the most dangerous part of the battle—telling the do-gooders what they can do with the vaccine.
Mr. Trump will make the biggest mistake of his presidency if he tries to force every American to accept the jab. Trump declared, “Our military is now being mobilized so at the end of the year we’re going to be able to give it to a lot of people very, very rapidly.” Well, Mr. Trump, to quote Samuel Goldwyn, “include me out.” Forced vaccination for the Chinese coronavirus will be divisive, dangerous, and deadly!
And dumb.
I heard Trump say that the vaccination would not be required, but I don’t trust his health advisors at the federal health agencies. Those agencies are snake pits of corruption run by political hacks with medical degrees. None have ever looked a COVID-19 patient in the eye, and few have ever looked a patient in the eyes.
I wonder if Mr. Trump will assure Americans that we will not experience the following for not getting vaccinated: will we be safe from losing a job; losing our insurance or Medicare; have our children taken from us; or be required to have some identification to permit us to buy or sell? How I Found Freedom in... Browne, Harry Buy New $14.99 (as of 04:57 UTC - Details)
Many federal health officials’ eyes glaze over when they think and speak of financial benefits for COVID-19 research and treatment. Hospitals have been making huge profits from Medicare patients, as revealed by Senator Scott Jensen, Republican from Minnesota, on Fox News. He reported that hospitals are paid more if Medicare patients are listed as having the Chinese coronavirus and three times the normal price if they are put on a ventilator. This is what prompted the minor scandal recently when so many hospitals were listing suicide, heart deaths, etc., as COVID-19 deaths. One man died in an auto accident, another died of a heart attack, another died of gunshot wounds, yet all three were listed as having COVID-19.
Follow the money; after all, it’s yours.
However, it is not only local hospitals reaping the profits of death but federal health officials who are embedded with the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the National Institutes for Health (NIH), and the World Health Organization (WHO). The CDC is the federal agency responsible for directing, developing, and deciding on safety and efficacy. In simple terms: does it work, is it safe, and is it really necessary?
It is a fact known by all informed people that all drugs and vaccines are not safe for everyone. Many people have died or been harmed for life because of a bad reaction to drugs or vaccines. No health expert on earth will guarantee you that you will be safe by getting a vaccination. Drug and vaccine manufacturing companies are protected by law from being held legally accountable for any harmful reactions. Wonder why that is true if they are safe.
If force is used to vaccinate everyone, it will make criminals out of Trump’s best supporters and may put some of us in jail. One of my readers said if Trump’s federal troops try to force him to be injected with mercury, he will inject the injecter with lead. Both mercury and lead are lethal. Forced vaccinations mean many will be shot, really shot!
Since I believe the vaccine may be worse than the disease, I will refuse to be vaccinated, although I’m convinced Trump’s advisors will recommend draconian measures to force me (in a free society) to capitulate. I would not even consider getting vaccinated if I were given the right answers to these questions: does the vaccine contain mercury, formaldehyde, or any human cells? What evidence is available that it will work? What proof is there to know it is safe? What are the full results of the tests? If you have a negative reaction such as being paralyzed, who pays, and how much? Why can’t we have religious objections since they are available in other matters?
And this former Republican legislator, longtime fundamentalist (he would shun the term evangelical) evangelist, conservative Christian author and Republican loyalist concluded his missive with this sentence:
I hope Mr. Trump will promise not to force free citizens to have a chip implanted or number tattooed on the hand or forehead.
As I said: I see a ray of light.
Reprinted with permission from Chuck Baldwin.
The Best of Chuck Baldwin


lewrockwell--2020-09-18--Governments Will Impose New Lockdowns If They Think They Can Get Away With It

This year ’ s stay-at-home orders and lockdowns imposed by governments on their populations represent a watershed moment in the history of the modern state .
Before March 2020 , it is unlikely that many politicians—let alone many ordinary people—thought it would be feasible or likely for government officials to force hundreds of millions of human beings to “ self-isolate.
” But it turns out governments were indeed able to force a sizable portion of the population to abandon jobs , religious practices , extended families , and community life in the name of “ flattening the curve.
” Whether @ @ @ @ @ @ @ or through outright threats of punishment , business owners shuttered their shops and offices , churches closed down , and schools abandoned their students .
Over time , most governments lessened their restrictions , largely out of fear that tax revenues would collapse and out of fear that the public would become unwilling to obey lockdown edicts indefinitely .
Crisis and Leviathan : ... Robert Higgs Best Price : $ 7.96 Buy New $ 7.42 Those fears—not scientific objectivity—have been guiding the gradual loosening of lockdowns and lockdown-related restrictions in recent weeks .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ the USA and in Europe—cases and case growth are far above what they were back in March and April when we were told that high case totals absolutely required strict lockdowns .
If case numbers are higher now than during the previous peak , why no new lockdowns ?
Make no mistake , many politicians would love to impose lockdowns again , and indefinitely .
After all , the power to micromanage the behavior of every business and household in the manner of covid lockdowns is a power undreamed of by even the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s not a power a regime would abandon lightly .
But could they get away with it ?
This is a question every prolockdown politician is asking .
For the extent to which lockdowns have been scaled back and lessened , we can not thank any enlightenment or change of heart on the part of politicians .
If lockdowns now seem to be receding , it ’ s because policymakers fear another round of lockdowns would be greeted with resistance rather than obedience .
In short , the retreat of lockdowns is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the antilockdown public ( which is by no means the whole public ) and the prolockdown politicians .
The politicians have conceded nothing in terms of their asserted authority , but they nonetheless fear greater resistance in the future .
Although they ’ re slowly backing off on full lockdowns for now , governments have been very careful to maintain that they retain the power to reimpose them—including full-on strict and ruthless lockdown—at any time .
In some areas , this has already been done , such as in southern Australia and in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Victoria in Australia , for instance , residents in recent weeks have been subject to strict curfews and even road closures preventing them from traveling more than a few miles form their homes .
Those who dissent—such as a pregnant mother who was arrested for merely discussing an upcoming protest—are brutalized .
Meanwhile , military personnel enforce martial law , dragging people from their cars and demanding they show their “ papers.
” China continues to impose regional and partial lockdowns .
Belgium , meanwhile , insists it may yet still impose “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the UK ’ s Boris Johnson told the nation ’ s residents to follow the social distancing rules now or face harsher lockdowns in the future .
Last week Johnson ’ s government announced strict new social distancing rules , prohibiting any gatherings of more than six people in most cases .
Nor have American politicians abandoned these newfound powers .
In Utah , which did not impose a lockdown in March or April , the authorities are still threatening a possible future “ complete shutdown.
” Governors in states including Texas , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and Michigan have all threatened new lockdowns if the residents don ’ t do as they ’ re told .
The Politics of Obedie ... Etienne de la Boetie Best Price : $ 7.00 Buy New $ 7.00 In many cases politicians have substituted face masks and targeted lockdowns ( of bars and nightclubs , etc . )
in lieu of full stay-at-home orders .
This limits public dissent by limiting the number of businesses and industries where people are thrown out of work and business owners are effectively robbed of their property @ @ @ @ @ @ @ translates into less active dissent .
This permanent embrace of emergency power is to be expected .
Governments have long used crises as an excuse to expand government power , often with the glowing approval of the electorate .
After the end of World War II , for example , the party platform of the British Labour Party explicitly sought to extend wartime economic planning indefinitely .
The idea was that central planning had won the war and now it would “ win the peace.
” This meant a host of boards and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to housing .
But that ’ s just one example .
As Robert Higgs has shown in his book Crisis and Leviathan , using wars and other crises to permanently expand state power is just standard operating procedure for countless regimes .
It ’ s what governments do .
Governments Are Limited Only by the Public ’ s Resistance On the other hand , governments are limited by how much the public is willing to tolerate .
As Étienne de La Boétie has shown , all regimes—even authoritarian ones—are ultimately limited by public @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on their side , regimes become constrained , even in a police state .
Ludwig von Mises built on this notion when he noted in his book Liberalism : Anyone Who Tells You V ... Coleman , Dr Vernon Buy New $ 3.99 there has never been a political power that voluntarily desisted from impeding the free development and operation of the institution of private ownership of the means of production .
Governments tolerate private property when they are compelled to do so , but they do not acknowledge it voluntarily in recognition @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , on gaining power , have usually relegated their liberal principles more or less to the background .
The tendency to impose oppressive restraints on private property , to abuse political power , and to refuse to respect or recognize any free sphere outside or beyond the dominion of the state is too deeply ingrained in the mentality of those who control the governmental apparatus of compulsion and coercion for them ever to be able to resist it voluntarily .
A liberal government is a contradictio in adjecto .
Governments must be forced @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the unanimous opinion of the people ; that they could voluntarily become liberal is not to be expected .
In other words , governments don ’ t refrain from exercising ever more power unless they are prevented from doing so .
But what did he mean by a government being “ forced into adopting liberalism by the power of the unanimous opinion of the people ” ?
Mises was very much a man who understood how states work in the real world .
So it ’ s a safe bet that he didn @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ unanimous opinion ” was somehow magically transformed into a government limiting itself .
Rather , Mises understood that governments are limited by pressures applied by groups external to the state apparatus itself .
These could take the form of widespread noncompliance , peaceful protests , or even armed resistance .
But to think that governments will limit themselves without at least the fear of some form of resistance would be fanciful , to say the least .
And this is likely what is limiting governments in their dreams of ever-harsher lockdowns right @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this dynamic in action in Serbia , for example , where the regime attempted to reimpose a nationwide lockdown .
This proposal was greeted with both peaceful and violent protests .
The state partially retreated and opted instead for much weaker regional lockdowns .
Protests also continue to grow in Germany , and have even cropped up in London .
In the US , of course , protests of various types have appeared since April , and given the volume of anger over lockdowns and business closures expressed across a wide variety of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ see why state and local governments should expect trouble if they try another full-scale lockdown .
One need only step out one ’ s front door in many areas to see countless examples of passive noncompliance and resistance to mask orders and social distancing decrees .
Complicating matters is the low state of public approval of police forces .
It ’ s true that police tend to receive public support when they are seen battling rioters and thugs .
But public support would likely wither quickly were the police unleashed on middle-class suburbanites @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Contagion Myth : Why Vi ... Fallon Morell , Sally Buy New $ 22.49 If American governors and mayors try a new set of lockdowns , just how far will they willing to go to enforce them ?
Will they call in the national guard and open fire on middle-class dissenters ?
If police attempt to break into homes in the manner we have witnessed in Australia , things might turn out quite differently here .
In situations like that , at least some residents will defend themselves with firearms .
Ensuring compliance @ @ @ @ @ @ @ empty the public purse .
As the economy weakens , so will tax revenues , and public welfare programs can ’ t subsist on newly printed money forever .
As local , state , and federal amenities and free money programs come up short of funds , it will become harder to buy off the voters with yet another government check .
Admittedly , governments can always double down on enforcement by imposing strict police states .
This can work in the short term .
But then what ?
Outside of places like @ @ @ @ @ @ @ regimes aren ’ t yet prepared to find out .
But they ’ re not willing to concede defeat , either .
The lockdown state will press the issue as far as the voters and taxpayers are willing to let it go .
Note : The views expressed on Mises.org are not necessarily those of the Mises Institute .
The Best of Ryan McMaken

This year’s stay-at-home orders and lockdowns imposed by governments on their populations represent a watershed moment in the history of the modern state.
Before March 2020, it is unlikely that many politicians—let alone many ordinary people—thought it would be feasible or likely for government officials to force hundreds of millions of human beings to “self-isolate.”
But it turns out governments were indeed able to force a sizable portion of the population to abandon jobs, religious practices, extended families, and community life in the name of “flattening the curve.”
Whether through fear manufactured by the news media or through outright threats of punishment, business owners shuttered their shops and offices, churches closed down, and schools abandoned their students.
Over time, most governments lessened their restrictions, largely out of fear that tax revenues would collapse and out of fear that the public would become unwilling to obey lockdown edicts indefinitely. Crisis and Leviathan: ... Robert Higgs Best Price: $7.96 Buy New $7.42 (as of 05:25 UTC - Details)
Those fears—not scientific objectivity—have been guiding the gradual loosening of lockdowns and lockdown-related restrictions in recent weeks. After all, in many jurisdictions—both in the USA and in Europe—cases and case growth are far above what they were back in March and April when we were told that high case totals absolutely required strict lockdowns. If case numbers are higher now than during the previous peak, why no new lockdowns?
Make no mistake, many politicians would love to impose lockdowns again, and indefinitely. After all, the power to micromanage the behavior of every business and household in the manner of covid lockdowns is a power undreamed of by even the most despotic emperor of old. It’s not a power a regime would abandon lightly.
But could they get away with it? This is a question every prolockdown politician is asking. For the extent to which lockdowns have been scaled back and lessened, we cannot thank any enlightenment or change of heart on the part of politicians. If lockdowns now seem to be receding, it’s because policymakers fear another round of lockdowns would be greeted with resistance rather than obedience. In short, the retreat of lockdowns is a result of an uneasy truce between the antilockdown public (which is by no means the whole public) and the prolockdown politicians. The politicians have conceded nothing in terms of their asserted authority, but they nonetheless fear greater resistance in the future.
Regimes Continue to Threaten More Lockdowns
Although they’re slowly backing off on full lockdowns for now, governments have been very careful to maintain that they retain the power to reimpose them—including full-on strict and ruthless lockdown—at any time. In some areas, this has already been done, such as in southern Australia and in New Zealand. In the state of Victoria in Australia, for instance, residents in recent weeks have been subject to strict curfews and even road closures preventing them from traveling more than a few miles form their homes. Those who dissent—such as a pregnant mother who was arrested for merely discussing an upcoming protest—are brutalized. Meanwhile, military personnel enforce martial law, dragging people from their cars and demanding they show their “papers.”
China continues to impose regional and partial lockdowns. Belgium, meanwhile, insists it may yet still impose “total lockdown.” Back in July, the UK’s Boris Johnson told the nation’s residents to follow the social distancing rules now or face harsher lockdowns in the future. Last week Johnson’s government announced strict new social distancing rules, prohibiting any gatherings of more than six people in most cases.
Nor have American politicians abandoned these newfound powers. In Utah, which did not impose a lockdown in March or April, the authorities are still threatening a possible future “complete shutdown.” Governors in states including Texas, Pennsylvania, Illinois, New York, and Michigan have all threatened new lockdowns if the residents don’t do as they’re told. The Politics of Obedie... Etienne de la Boetie Best Price: $7.00 Buy New $7.00 (as of 05:45 UTC - Details)
(Only two governors, to my knowledge, have said they will not impose future lockdowns. Earlier this month, Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida vowed “we will never do any of these lockdowns again,” and Governor Kristi Noem of South Dakota, which has never imposed a lockdown at all, has also said lockdowns are not on the table.)
In many cases politicians have substituted face masks and targeted lockdowns (of bars and nightclubs, etc.) in lieu of full stay-at-home orders. This limits public dissent by limiting the number of businesses and industries where people are thrown out of work and business owners are effectively robbed of their property. Fewer destitute or jobless voters likely translates into less active dissent.
This permanent embrace of emergency power is to be expected. Governments have long used crises as an excuse to expand government power, often with the glowing approval of the electorate. After the end of World War II, for example, the party platform of the British Labour Party explicitly sought to extend wartime economic planning indefinitely. The idea was that central planning had won the war and now it would “win the peace.” This meant a host of boards and commissions that would control everything from farming to housing.
But that’s just one example. As Robert Higgs has shown in his book Crisis and Leviathan, using wars and other crises to permanently expand state power is just standard operating procedure for countless regimes. It’s what governments do.
Governments Are Limited Only by the Public’s Resistance
On the other hand, governments are limited by how much the public is willing to tolerate. As Étienne de La Boétie has shown, all regimes—even authoritarian ones—are ultimately limited by public approval and obedience. Without public opinion on their side, regimes become constrained, even in a police state.
Ludwig von Mises built on this notion when he noted in his book Liberalism: Anyone Who Tells You V... Coleman, Dr Vernon Buy New $3.99 (as of 04:06 UTC - Details)
there has never been a political power that voluntarily desisted from impeding the free development and operation of the institution of private ownership of the means of production. Governments tolerate private property when they are compelled to do so, but they do not acknowledge it voluntarily in recognition of its necessity. Even liberal politicians, on gaining power, have usually relegated their liberal principles more or less to the background. The tendency to impose oppressive restraints on private property, to abuse political power, and to refuse to respect or recognize any free sphere outside or beyond the dominion of the state is too deeply ingrained in the mentality of those who control the governmental apparatus of compulsion and coercion for them ever to be able to resist it voluntarily. A liberal government is a contradictio in adjecto. Governments must be forced into adopting liberalism by the power of the unanimous opinion of the people; that they could voluntarily become liberal is not to be expected.
In other words, governments don’t refrain from exercising ever more power unless they are prevented from doing so. But what did he mean by a government being “forced into adopting liberalism by the power of the unanimous opinion of the people”? Mises was very much a man who understood how states work in the real world. So it’s a safe bet that he didn’t think the public’s “unanimous opinion” was somehow magically transformed into a government limiting itself.
Rather, Mises understood that governments are limited by pressures applied by groups external to the state apparatus itself. These could take the form of widespread noncompliance, peaceful protests, or even armed resistance. But to think that governments will limit themselves without at least the fear of some form of resistance would be fanciful, to say the least.
And this is likely what is limiting governments in their dreams of ever-harsher lockdowns right now. We’ve already seen this dynamic in action in Serbia, for example, where the regime attempted to reimpose a nationwide lockdown. This proposal was greeted with both peaceful and violent protests. The state partially retreated and opted instead for much weaker regional lockdowns. Protests also continue to grow in Germany, and have even cropped up in London.
In the US, of course, protests of various types have appeared since April, and given the volume of anger over lockdowns and business closures expressed across a wide variety of media, it’s easy to see why state and local governments should expect trouble if they try another full-scale lockdown. One need only step out one’s front door in many areas to see countless examples of passive noncompliance and resistance to mask orders and social distancing decrees.
Complicating matters is the low state of public approval of police forces. It’s true that police tend to receive public support when they are seen battling rioters and thugs. But public support would likely wither quickly were the police unleashed on middle-class suburbanites who fail to follow stay-at-home orders. Contagion Myth: Why Vi... Fallon Morell, Sally Buy New $22.49 (as of 04:23 UTC - Details)
If American governors and mayors try a new set of lockdowns, just how far will they willing to go to enforce them? Will they call in the national guard and open fire on middle-class dissenters? If police attempt to break into homes in the manner we have witnessed in Australia, things might turn out quite differently here. In situations like that, at least some residents will defend themselves with firearms.
Ensuring compliance will also become especially difficult as lockdowns empty the public purse. As the economy weakens, so will tax revenues, and public welfare programs can’t subsist on newly printed money forever. As local, state, and federal amenities and free money programs come up short of funds, it will become harder to buy off the voters with yet another government check.
Admittedly, governments can always double down on enforcement by imposing strict police states. This can work in the short term. But then what? Outside of places like China and Australia, it appears many regimes aren’t yet prepared to find out. But they’re not willing to concede defeat, either. The lockdown state will press the issue as far as the voters and taxpayers are willing to let it go.
Note: The views expressed on Mises.org are not necessarily those of the Mises Institute.
The Best of Ryan McMaken