Page 6 - Discover Summer 2022
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Editor’s Note









                                                              By Tim Ernandes



         The nine most terrifying words in the English        money. In view of the fact that we are locked
      language are, “I'm from the government, and I'm         into deficit spending, and have been for some
      here to help.”                                          time, it’s appropriate to ask from where that
                                                              money would be coming. Of course, it could
         ~Ronald Wilson Reagan
                                                              only be borrowed, or printed. History is
         Amusing though it may be, it’s become                replete with examples of governments that
      anything but a laughing matter. Government              printed money without any substance behind
      causes a problem, then steps in to solve the            it, resulting in runaway inflation and financial
      problem, and then offers solutions to correct           collapse.
      the problems that are caused by the solution to
                                                                 A young person of my acquaintance
      the problem.
                                                              recently complained that in spite of all
         They told us “It’s only two weeks, just to           the bloviating about raising the minimum
      flatten the curve.” I recall them saying that it        wage, people are no better off now than they
      wouldn’t stop the spread of COVID-19, just              were before the minimum wage was raised.
      slow it down a little to ease the burden on the         Obviously, the rampant inflation rate and
      hospitals. Then it was another two weeks, then          other government ‘assistance’ have caused
      a month… and then even more.                            prices to rise to the point where they have
                                                              offset any gains. It’s really a simple concept:
         We have since learned that the masks that
                                                              you can’t create wealth out of thin air.
      we were required to wear in public places
      could not possibly have slowed or stopped the              In the meantime, once-prospering
      spread. Aside from it being nearly impossible           businesses that have managed to stay afloat
      to have the masks hermetically sealed to our            are hampered by the lack of an available work
      faces, we learned that the openings in those            force. While the White House crows about
      masks were too large to prevent the virus from          new job creation, the fact is that we still have
      entering or exiting. The packaging for the blue         at least one million fewer people working
      masks that were commonly used clearly states            than we had prior to COVID. Most of that
      that they will not prevent the transmission of          “new job creation” was merely the government
      COVID viruses.                                          allowing businesses to reopen their doors, and
                                                              lifting of restrictions.
         Many businesses were shut down. Some
      survived, but many didn’t. Our helpful                     It is also government’s contention that
      government applied a solution: give people              people are not taking the available jobs


      4      Discover Smith Mountain Lake  SUMMER 2022
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