The government has been talking about fiscal responses and solutions to the nightmare the coronavirus pandemic is wreaking in our nation and world.  Those responses include multi-trillion dollar price tags.  Given the panic and hysteria that we see from across this nation, does anyone really know whether such responses will help, or just postpone the inevitable collapse of an economy that has been propped up, for too many decades, by destructive credit policies?  Is it possible that the coronavirus is simply the proverbially, “straw that finally broke the camel’s back?” 

A couple of weeks ago, in a knee-jerk response, the current administration offered a $1 trillion “mini solution” and the markets tanked as it was being announced.  Then, a week ago, the President suggested the idea of stimulus checks of $1,000 to every American, with a price tag of approximately $1 trillion dollars.  But Trump had no more gotten that idea out of his mouth, when others were suggesting that wasn’t enough.  Now, that “measly” trillion dollars has ballooned to $3-4 trillion and the individual stimulus checks are several thousand dollars for most citizens.  And if I were a betting man, I’d wager we still haven’t seen the upward limit of the free money that is going to be printed up and distributed to a populace in need. 

There is no doubt that our families, neighbors and citizens are in need. Consider that 80% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck, and millions of our neighbors have now lost their jobs for an indefinite period of time because of the closure of their employers by our government.  The ability for these unemployed families to even pay for toilet paper (if it were available), but more importantly bread, eggs and milk, is not just limited, but unlikely.  

▪️Is Government Liable? 

So, if the government, in its estimation, believes that shutting down businesses is the best course of action to protect lives, then it seems that government is liable for making the affected workers (and perhaps businesses) whole.  Without debating the decision itself, I believe under any other circumstances, this would likely be the conclusion of any court were it to be adjudicated in front of a judge. 

There has never been a scenario like this in our history, of which I’m aware.  But the bigger issue is this.  Even if the government is liable to the individuals it is harming by its efforts to protect lives, how does our government cover its liability?  In an ordinary situation between two parties, if one party harms another, the offending party must make the offended party whole, OUT OF ITS OWN RESOUCES.   

In this case, the government is the offending party (in an effort to save lives, which I happen to agree with).  The unemployed citizens are the offended party.  So what are the government’s resources?  Resources equal assets.  But one cannot ignore liabilities when discussing resources.  In the case of our nation, not only do we have a current national debt of $23,000,000,000,000 (that’s trillion), but we have additional unfunded liabilities for things like Medicare, Medicaid, and such, that total over $150 Trillion in debt.  We don’t have the ability to pay the $23 trillion in current debt, so do you think we can pay the $150 trillion that is coming due in the upcoming years?   

So where are the trillions going to come from to cover these stimulus checks and bailouts that are forthcoming?  Yes, I’ve read that some of the amounts extended by the Feds will be in the form of loans, but that begs the question.  Where do all the trillions of dollars come from?  The answer is they will come from the same unsound credit policies as the Feds have used for years to cover their previous trillion dollar deficits.

▪️Your Rich Uncle 

Consider this though.  If you were living lavishly for decades off of a credit card that had an unlimited credit line from your rich uncle, and your uncle finally stepped up and said, “No More!” what would that do to your lifestyle?  Particularly, what would you do when the uncle demanded you pay the credit card balance, when you had no ability to do so?  Can you say BANKRUPTCY?   

In this case, the “rich uncle” for America has been the exceptional privilege America has profited off of as the world’s reserve currency.  Other nations and investors have extended credit to us for decades because we were perceived to be a better risk than any other option out there.  But more and more, our stellar credit status has been dropping.  And again, if I were a betting man, I would wager that this vast Ponzi scheme that our Federal government has been engaged in for years, with the help of both political parties, is about to come to an end.   

Am I a doomsday prophet?  No. I’ve been writing about this coming collapse for years. And it’s not because I have the mental wherewithal to figure it all out, but rather because there are people much smarter than me who have been warning of this for decades as well.  But no one is listening.   

▪️Where is the Hope? 

But you may ask, “so if there’s no fiscal solution, where is the Hope?”  

Well, while I don’t believe there is a permanent solution to the fiscal nightmare we are now living through, I do believe there is Hope for each of us individually.  But it will require each of us to think outside the box; to consider options we haven’t considered before; to prepare for what could happen.  And if, by some providential move, we are granted another brief period of reprieve from the inevitable coming economic collapse, we should not be lulled into believing that our genius leaders have saved the day.  When a doctor causes a fatal wound, but he then puts a bandage on the hemorrhaging gash he caused, you wouldn’t then sit back and start enjoying your “bon-bons” believing that the negligent doctor saved the day, would you?  You also wouldn’t congratulate the doctor on a job well done.  

▪️What to do? 

So what should you and I do?  In a minute I’ll share what my first step would be.  But here are a few suggestions: 

I would prioritize the welfare of my family and loved ones, and then my neighbors, if possible. If you could rewind your life 30-45 days, knowing what you know now, what would you have done then to prepare for where we are today?  Likewise, if you took a few minutes to consider where things might be in 30-90 days, if things not only don’t get better, but rather they get exponentially worse, what would you wish then that you would have done today?   

In other words “Prepare.”  The old “ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” should guide your steps.  

Nearly a decade ago a group of my friends and I began meeting over the course of a year or so to “Prep” for the possibility of an economic collapse. We put together checklists and discussed steps we should all take in the event that something like we are seeing actually occurred. At the time many would have suggested we were alarmists or worse. But those meetings were extremely helpful in preparing us for what did finally occur these last few weeks. (See the three hyperlinks above for the documents we prepared then.)

Now I don’t share this to suggest that all the items on my checklists in 2011 and 2012 were addressed. I wish I had some more toilet paper perhaps!  But the “ounce of prevention” philosophy is one I can encourage you to consider as well.  If you’re stuck at home, you now have time to consider what you would do for your family to prepare for what could occur in the future.  

Our nation’s fiscal situation has not improved in the last 8 years. In fact, it has gotten exponentially worse. And that was before another several trillion dollars is being borrowed, printed, or created out of thin air, by the big spenders in Washington. So, if the coronavirus is in fact the straw that’s finally exposing our fiscal foolishness as a nation, what could that next straw be?  I don’t know. But I also don’t want to be unprepared.  

▪️Our Ultimate Hope 

So I mentioned I’d share what my first step would be and here it is. I would turn my heart and mind to God during this dire crisis. The greatest threat to you and me today isn’t the COVID-19 virus. Rather, it’s the universal virus that we all share, one that entices us to replace God our Creator, with our own false gods. The gods of wealth, sports, entertainment, politics, pleasure, career, business, travel, or whatever else might be in the forefront of your life and mine. It’s a universal temptation to elevate something temporal, that does not satisfy, in place of the One who is eternal, and completely satisfies.  

God is speaking through this crisis. In fact, I would suggest this is God’s crisis. Throughout the Bible we see that it is God that brings both “calamity and good” and “He controls the course of world events.”  He does so to get our attention, to disrupt our lives, in order to turn our hearts back to Him. We are a proud people and an even prouder nation. But God resists the proud and even humiliates them. But He also elevates the humble. Could there be any greater example of God humiliating a proud nation and even world than what is happening now as all those “gods” we worshipped are crumbling before us? 

So, if there is one silver lining in all this, it is that we all have time to turn back to Him. We have time to open His Word. We have time to fall on our knees. And as we do, we will begin to hear what it is God is speaking to us individually, so that we can repent and turn to Him. As we do, we will find the Hope and Encouragement that is so desperately needed “for such a time as this.” 

💡“God controls the course of world events; he removes kings and sets up other kings. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the scholars.” Daniel 2:21 

💡“Who can command things to happen without the Lord’s permission? Does not the Most High send both calamity and good? Then why should we, mere humans, complain when we are punished for our sins? Instead, let us test and examine our ways. Let us turn back to the Lord.” Lamentations 3:37-40