News that commercial morel-pickers need state approval in the yukon, travelers being told to pass through the territory as quickly as possible, forced closures of restaurants and bars. What do these three share in common? They are all a reflection of an attitude. And that attitude is anti-business. Is it just an unusual outlier that nearly all governmental staff were considered essential while nearly all businesses were considered non during this “trying time” or was this merely a reflection of an attitude of condescension ?
But this is not going to be another whine session about our current deplorable state but rather an attempt to find a way forward for those of us stubborn oddballs who wish to remain productive in a culture of dollar-fixated blindness. Because, we in the business world also risk falling into the welfare pool along with all of those in the grade A and grade B pools, by virtue of the acceptance of freely distributed govern-men aid, handed out as one might hand a sqalling brat a soother.
Recall the disasters which often result from giving the petulant screaming child whatever she wants and realize that adults can become spoiled as well when they do not have to produce in order to consume over long periods of time. Small child: small problem….
We need a solution and we need it now and it has been a problem which has bedeviled my mind for long enough. In fact the problem has many facets from having productive work confiscated by the state to licensing and regulations designed solely to protect govern-men friendly businesses from competition.
We are living in a state of control by currency and perhaps “it was ever thus” but one glaring difference in this day is we are controlled by fiat currency instead of fixed-value currency. By this I mean that the value of a dollar deflates as the supply is increased at will by the central bankers of the world, who hold more power than any government on earth. Imagine building a house using a measuring tape which changes every time you look at it and you begin to see the extent of the problem we all face!
Breaking free of their stranglehold need not be as difficult as you would think, were people to consider some alternatives and begin putting them into practice. The oldest and best is barter: simply swapping one product for another. Look around for opportunities. They are everywhere. I recently swapped a Honda generator and a canvas wall tent which was too big for my purposes for a nearly-new four stroke yamaha outboard. No money changed hands and the transaction was done in a few minutes and both of us benefitted. Best of all no overlord benefitted!
Since money is the bit in our mouth being used to control us, limit the use of it. “Starve the beast”. We who run our own businesses are being used every day of our lives as tax collectors for the state, making the current situation even more difficult to understand! Why stop the free flow of wealth to the state which businesses generate? To save the public from infection? Or is this the result of an attitude of hostility to business without consideration of the consequences?
Either way, if we are to survive this insanity, we are going to have to get busy… in the words of the ever-eloquent Greta… “now!”, and find a new medium of exchange, avoiding wherever possible the use of that cursed instrument, the dollar.
And the only possibilities of which I’m aware are self-sufficiency, gold and silver, bitcoin, and barter.
And yet there is one more, the currency of brotherly kindness. Simply helping each other without much worry or thought given to reward, taxation or licensing. In fact, perhaps this was how things were to be done all along.
Recently I came upon a traveller, broken down by the side of the road. Discombobulated trailer tire, no wrench, miles from any help, and with a timeline of 24 hours to get thru the yukon to Alaska. I left him with instructions of how to find my place when he reached town and sure enough, he returned the wrench and insisted on giving me 20 bucks of ugly fiat money. I’ve already gotten rid of the cursed thing through another channel. Passing on the love seemed the best course of action!
So do Keep the Faith, and please help to Starve The Beast!
Skulltripper 