Government Intervention and Opportunities Lost

A way to protect, or a way to enslave? How much of our private freedom and our economic prosperity are we about to surrender to a government?

How much of our wealth are we willing to allow our rulers to confiscate for this ill-defined concept of "common good"?

Common good is a topic difficult to explain and a weapon in the language of populist politicians. Going against the argument of common good, instantly turns the debate against you.

I am sure that by just the above quote, some readers will instantly see my post as an argument going against their interests. Well, I am not a populist, and I am not fond of manipulating the public opinion. In fact those that tell you truths, are not going to hide behind populist quotes.

What I try to define is firstly how much common good is available in the wealth of our economies and how much the governments are able to transfer without affecting the economy.

Yes, there are society needs, and often we have problems that require a large part of our gross product to be put into use. There are weak people in our societies, that we need to take care of. There are social goods and services that governments need to administer. Depending on the state of each economy, there are limits though.

What exactly is the limit for each government? Taxing by 80% what they call the rich is bellow or above the limit? A business that is healthy and produces profit to the businessman should be identical valued to an 8-hour shift or should be valued more?

And from the second point of view, should successful businesses offer just the minimum wage to their employees or share some more of the profit, since their employees had been productive and increased the wealth of the business?

I have a decade of business and working experience, and I tell you this:

The moment you are employeed and the moment you see your first paycheck in your bank account, you lose all your dreams and all your skills. You become a tool in a machine and conform to that idea.

You stop trying to find better and if the wage covers your needs to survive and live the minimum of your dreams, then you comply with that. Of course 90% of the population complies and is happy to achieve a wage a little above the standard. But the opportunity cost, the chances we miss, are way too much to stop considering.

I've been in situations getting paid the minimum wage, and getting paid tripple the wage. I almost complied too, and what would I have gained, was to have a certain life, perhaps some small dreams accomplished too and no time or intention at all to look further.

After getting involved with cryptocurrencies, I was reminded of this, I had to remove all this conformity that had taken me over, and took some risks. I quit my job in the beginning of 2019 as I already had enough to live without a job for years. And when I was moving towards proceeding with my business plans, after enough planning and progress, then it was when the lockdowns started. Since my plans had to do with seasonal business in the tourism sector, I could not begin last year when everything went into a standstill, and I also lost this year too, as still nothing is moving in this sector.

I won't go into details about my plans, but I thought it was required to explain how much this situation has negatively affected me, as this is two years we are talking about that are lost for me. Maybe in another post I will explain better what I lost and how I plan to proceed. And all of this because our goverments decided this is the best course of action. To intervene and shut down the economy.

But don't worry a stimulus package with fresh printed trillions will save the economy. The FED will help and the EU Central Bank will increase money supply threefold or maybe even a hundredfold.

It worked great in Zimbabwe, didn't it? And Maduro is also printing so much money. He has solved all the problems of his country with a magic stick. Print more money and let businesses die for a while.

And now we wait for the re-opening of the economy. Under new rules, higher costs with covid regulations at place, economies in ruins and a plan to increase taxation. 80% taxes for the rich they say. Sure, and turn every economy in a social paradise as well. The way it worked for the USSR, Cuba, Venezuela and North Korea.

Have the government control the means of production. Make western economies resemble the USSR and put 100% of the population on the minimum wage. This will be equality according to liberals and those longing for the glorious communist past.

I see any government intervention to the economy as a fallacy. A government should run more on voluntaryism and less on forced taxation.

What is ingrained as a long-standing belief that the government is there to serve and protect is what would have been ideal. The problem is that the government is there to protect its own interests and the more the governments grow, the less personal and financial freedoms we enjoy.

The "common good" in this case, is science fiction in my eyes. The common good protected by two wasted years and an opportunity cost that some, the wisest ones, managed to cover by investing correctly. I covered part of the cost I have too with investments in cryptocurrency. I did not invest in stocks because crypto is what I understand better. The stock market and companies like TESLA and APPLE are much more irrational than BTC, BCH and ETHER.

What exactly is the common good in the short term does not correspond with the long run. The worse is yet to come, and I don't mind facing it, as long as the governments stop intervening, taxing and policing entrepreneurs that have in their DNA the habit of creating value for the economy.

It was a long rant but I feel some things had to been said. In a small community is where big ideas can apply and grow stronger.