by California Lawyer, TF Metals Report:

Hysteria: behavior exhibiting overwhelming or unmanageable fear or emotional excess.” https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hysteria

Here we are, Spring, 2020, and from all quarters, all at once, hysteria abounds. Let’s take stock of some basic facts we can all agree with, then pause, reflect, and calmly restore some perspective. No one on this site is compelled to be here. Anyone on this site has a basic education, can navigate the internet, and has an interest in investments in general, and precious metals in particular. Most if not all on this site have reasonably held political beliefs, meaning, one has reached a political viewpoint from experience, education, and rational thought. Not all on this site agree to a single point of view, about anything, meaning, in short, that everyone’s perspective is totally unique. This site is international, in all time zones, and is at once, through the comments section, a perfect capture of the spirit of the moment.

Now having said all that, it seems easy to see that this site, and through the comments’ section, we can and do have an amazing resource here of capable individuals that can collectively, and carefully, analyze most anything, given the time and effort. Under the circumstances, it sure seems to be the right time, so it seems beyond question that the effort is worth it.

There are five things currently occupying occupying much of my time now that lawyering is on hold, and they are discussed in order:

(1) Coronavirus: some things are universally beyond dispute, while some things are hotly contested. Yes, there is a novel coronavirus that is affecting people in a negative way health wise, including hospital admissions and death. No, it is not a hoax. But, is it a pandemic? Does it deserve HYSTERIA? Does it warrant suspension of basic freedoms, of Constitutional rights, shutting down of government services and massive taxpayer subsidized bailouts? All each of these questions, there is no universal agreement. Some say it is a pandemic, and that we are in the fight of a lifetime. Others say it is overblown and people are behaving irrationally.

If I had more time I would collect the various points of view, and let the reader sort through the various points of view on them all. But here, the focus needs to remain on the provable facts. I rely on Chris Martenson, PH.D in epidemiology, and tend to agree with him. We are living in strange times indeed, and the coronavirus is not to be ignored. Some will get it, have no symptoms and life will go on. Some will get it and succumb, perhaps due to the virus as a causative mechanism of death, perhaps underlying causes and coronavirus just happens to also be present. What is certain, is that infections are overwhelming the ability to treat it, which is a real problem.

With this said, though, is it appropriate for “shelter in place” orders, or “lock downs,” or suspensions of freedoms like associating with others, socializing in bars, restaurants, or even pursuing education, whether for our children or for young adults in college? This is a very difficult question to answer, and I am certain there is no right or wrong answer, as everyone’s perspective is different. Because of the consequences, there simply had to be a massive, and immediate effort to attempt to “flatten the curve” and bring the number of new infections down. If that effort was not undertaken, by private entities, government, and individuals on a “self-quarantine” basis, then there would have been no end to the criticism if indeed the death rate spiked. On the other hand, there will be those that forever criticize the authorities for their oversized and overzealous response to what they say is over blown, a hoax, or minimal, and provably so in comparison to past health statistics showing coronavirus casualties are only a fraction of deaths as compared to medical negligence deaths, car accidents, or the yearly influenza virus. One meme circulating even says that one is more likely to die from speaking bad about Hillary Clinton than from getting coronavirus. Anyhow, my personal take is that while unprecedented, and difficult to say the least, I am in favor of the current extraordinary steps being taken now to quell the spike in coronavirus cases. If this drags on into April, well, my opinion is certainly going to change.

So, analyzing this at a high level, we all owe it ourselves, our families, and loved ones at a minimum, to take this seriously, be careful, and do our best to get through this period of difficulty. We can all revisit it later in April, and hopefully laugh at how quickly the hysteria dissipated if it turns out that coronavirus cases peter out, or some existing medical treatment or new drug proves helpful.

I’ll address the conspiracy aspects of this below.

(2) US financial markets and Federal Reserve actions in light of recent developments: this one is at once critical, depending upon one’s retirement timeline. I’m not too close, but others are and naturally those closer to retirement, or those already living on fixed incomes may be way more interested in this.

I want everyone to look back at the housing bubble, the bursting of it, and the Fed response. For that matter, look back to the Y2K build up and aftermath. In both instances, the Fed stepped in and printed, essentially hyperinflating the currency to stave off systemic collapse. The dollar is the reserve currency, backed by the massive US military-industrial complex, and the tax slaves that enable it. Until that changes, the hyperinflating dollar is NOT the tax slaves’ immediate problem.

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