What You Should Expect Now…
We all knew that something would happen – eventually – to interrupt the nearly 11 years of a bull market that seemed to know no bounds… but what would it be? Certainly, a novel global pandemic closing down businesses unlike any time before in history was not at the top of the economic prognosticators’ lists.
And yet that was all it took for America to voluntarily give up our roaring economy. Admittedly, there was essentially no choice as initial medical projections forecasted anywhere from 1 to 2 million Americans passing away. So logically, we did what was necessary in order to save as many as possible. But as we grapple with how to feasibly and responsibly restart our economy, unpacking what happened so unbelievably fast over the last 30 days is essential.
America has changed. The world has changed. These changes are irrevocably forever and touch every part of our daily lives. From our federal and state government structure, to our constitutional protections and rights, our medical delivery systems, the facilitation of economic transactions, our entertainment and leisure activities, even our very money and position in the world – everything will change…
From a pure economic perspective, the reasons we must reopen as quickly as possible are many. Apart from Americans not having enough money to maintain their lives, local cities’, counties’ and state governments’ tax bases have all but run dry. State and local taxes, ‘SALT’ to a tax attorney, are comprised mostly of state income taxes, state sales taxes, property taxes, and local gas taxes. With over 30+ million people recently unemployed already, collection of state income taxes is severely jeopardized. Simultaneously, with all restaurants, bars, malls, theaters, and non-essential businesses closed, the vast majority of sales-taxable transactions have abruptly ceased. And with ‘stay-at-home’ orders, people are not driving, practically zeroing out local gas tax collections too.
The magnitude of budget shortfalls comes at a time when the on-the-ground state and local governments are needed more than ever to implement the mass population virus testing that both medical and economic experts agree is required in order to be confident in returning to business as usual. It is inescapable that some states will require some kind of federal bailout or face insolvency. Either would cause substantial issues with our federalist division and balance of power between the federal and state governments.
Additionally, medical experts pinpoint that tracking the exposure of others to those who are determined to be infected, referred to as “contact tracing”, is of paramount importance. Apple and Google have announced forthcoming APIs changing their respective operating systems to enable a digital footprint of all those your phone has been in close proximity to.
But this leaves the data collection in Apple’s and Google’s control. Doctors have pointed to the potential use of medical id cards that certify you have tested negative but ultimately that is useless when you could become infected the minute after your test. Naturally, this leads to doctors wanting real time data, like checking temperatures before we enter a restaurant or store, just like they did at Apple stores in China, but this is totally impractical on a mass scale.
So, how could we get real time biological data on a mass scale instantaneously? A vaccine (to be developed) that comes with a scannable microchip has been suggested… or just a microchip that has your health data – always updating in real-time with your latest test, your current temperature, your recent contacts (contact tracing) should any one you have been near test positive or should you test positive, where said microchip is read as you walk through a metal-detector-like scanner flashing green if you pass all the medical parameters for being out in public, but blasting a red siren should you fail for any reason – at which point you return to quarantine.
This microchip solves another problem to – that of dirty money. As cash could be a virus courier, the elimination of physical currency is now inevitable. [On March 26th, Bill Gates’ Microsoft Technology published patent WO2020060606A1, for a new cryptocurrency that is based on your biology rather than the electronically distributed blockchain.]
Once this happens, all income to you and payments made by you will be traceable and reportable to the government with 100% accuracy.
Becoming unsettled with the weight of realizing that in the name of medical necessity in less than 30 days, we are seeing the logical suggestion of 100% physical tracking, real-time biological data reporting in order to be ‘greenlighted’ for shopping, eating out, going to a movie or a ball game, where all of your income and spending will become digitized to eliminate all ‘dirty’ cash?.. While that is quite a lot to digest, America, astonishingly, also relinquished something else for the sake of our protection and “for our own good” in less than 30 days.
Although America was founded on the central principle of religious freedom and our First Amendment explicitly prohibits the government from infringing upon the free exercise thereof, churches across the country were subject to closure orders, – deemed non-essential – while curiously, liquor stores were deemed essential and remained open. The constitutional mess this has created is immense with churches proving shockingly weak as few among them stood up to defend the First Amendment. While a rational stay-at-home health mandated order is perfectly logical, the First Amendment does not temporarily go away because a local mayor, or commissioner, or governor, or even a president says so. The First Amendment is a never paused religious freedom cornerstone found in the Bill of Rights – and resolution to this conflict remains forthcoming.
Finally, this modern-day global pandemic exposed something else. America is highly susceptible to a biological weapon and now, the world knows it. Further, the world as a whole was grossly unprepared for a pandemic, from medical supply stockpile shortages, to limited infrastructure capacities, to ineffective international coordination regarding containing the spread across borders, there will be a logical call for a stronger world governing organization, perhaps an emboldened/empowered United Nations. Many countries will happily cede their sovereignty for the ‘greater good’ of humankind. Under current leadership, America will reject that call but it seems inevitable that at some point, that too will change.
To tie this together then… while each singular step of change seems necessary for our common protection and is actually quite logical – in the final analysis – we will have given up our privacy absolutely and much of our freedom, all ironically in pursuit of our own preservation. And even though the saying “desperate times call for desperate measures” proves right… I still need shocker absorbers to process it all…
Rebecca Walser
Rebecca Walser earned her juris doctor degree from the University of Florida and her Master of Law degree in taxation from New York University. She is a frequent national media contributor.
Rebecca Walser is a tax attorney, a certified financial planner, and the author of Wealth Unbroken, who specializes in wealth management for clients all over the United States.
