Cold Storage: Financial & Food Security
Cold Storage: Financial & Food Security
The importance of bitcoin and beef in achieving security in one's life.
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The Wuhan Virus showed us that the world can change overnight. And while many people have moved on with their lives (thankfully), that does not mean we should forget the lessons learned during the "pandemic."
We should remain vigilant because it does not take another virus of suspicious origins for pandemonium to break loose again and for virtually bankrupt governments to, once again, seize money, power and freedom away from their citizens.
As Winston Churchill said, "Never let a good crisis go to waste."
Each crisis is an opportunity for governments to exploit the fear of their citizens and provide them with a solution that grants the government a tighter grip.
Keeping that in mind, it's prudent to increase your resiliency to crises, either legitimate or manufactured, because, unfortunately, the next one could be right around the corner.
You don't want to be the person who has to wait for hours in a grocery store line just to get in and have all the shelves picked over. Nor do you want to be the person who has all of their wealth stored with a bank that has shut their doors "temporarily" to a government mandate.
Bitcoin: Financial Security
While those in the West have been largely insulated from severe financial shocks since 2008, in the rest of the world, it seems like every day there is a new financial crisis underway.
A recent example that comes to mind is Lebanon, a country that has suffered economic catastrophe for the past three years.
As the financial sector and the currency have imploded, the country has collapsed, with many people living in hunger, taking to the streets to protest as they suffer from the devastating effect of hyperinflation.
Reuters reported, "The Lebanese Pound has lost more than 98% of its value since the country's financial sector imploded in 2019. It was changing hands at around 80,000 pounds per greenback on Thursday, dropping from 70,000 pounds just two days earlier."
Although savings have been wiped out by the rapid devaluation of the Pound, some depositors have US Dollars with banks, which they are desperate to access, but many "zombie banks have frozen depositors out of tens of billions of dollars in their accounts, halting basic services and even prompting some customers to hold up tellers at gunpoint to access their money."
So while some people may have been prepared because they had a stronger currency to protect their purchasing power against a potential hyperinflationary event, those who trusted a third party to custody their wealth cannot access it in a time of great need.
It's incredibly sad to read about people suffering under an economic collapse, especially knowing that bitcoin could tremendously improve their situation.
We are relatively fortunate here in the US and the developed world more broadly, we are not free from the risk of a financial crisis. The US Dollar's demise is not imminent as some may lead you to believe; however, it is inevitable.
People have called for the dollar's collapse since the 1970s when Nixon ended the gold standard. That has yet to happen, but we are fifty years closer to that expiration date on the US Dollar and all fiat currencies.
It's extremely concerning that the US Government's National Debt is over $31 TRILLION, not including the unfunded liabilities, which are over $100 TRILLION. The only way to pay back these debts is via a massive currency devaluation because the US Government is unlikely to default explicitly on those obligations.
Thinking about the situation ahead of us, we are reminded of the following quote from former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan.
The government will make good on its obligations, but it will simply print currency to do so, which will continue to destroy the dollar’s purchasing power.
The dollar and fiat currency devaluation we experienced in the developed world this decade is only a taste of what's to come. All government currencies have failed throughout history, as the temptation to corrupt the money supply is too strong to resist. World reserve currencies typically last 100 years, and we are 80 years into the dollar's global reign.
As we advance into uncharted territory, we must remember that the greatest threats to our wealth are confiscation and devaluation, which are common historically.
It was less than 100 years ago when the US Government outlawed private ownership of gold. On April 5, 1933, President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued Executive Order 6102. To avoid imprisonment, people had to turn their gold in to the government at the official rate of $20.67/oz. There was no longer a way for individuals to protect themselves against the devaluation of the currency due to fractional reserve banking.
The following year the US passed the Gold Reserve Act of 1934, which devalued the dollar by increasing the price of gold from $20.67/oz to $35/oz. To be abundantly clear, the government took people's rights to save hard money away by force and then devalued their paper savings the next year.
Bankrupt governments, which can describe nearly any of them at this point, act desperately and use force against their citizens to steal if necessary. However, the path of least resistance is currency devaluation.
By expanding the money supply, governments and central banks steal from currency holders and redirect that purchasing power to those who receive the newly issued currencies.
As we know from the past few years, in the US the money supply was increased by over 40%. That means that 40% of dollars in circulation were created after 2020, which explains the cost of living crisis we are now experiencing. While currency devaluation has lowered the standard of living one can achieve compared to pre-2020, most people either don't seem to care or have no recourse against the government for its theft of your purchasing power.
Governments and central banks also manipulate the masses with propaganda to mislead people into believing that the higher prices can be blamed on another cause, such as "greedy corporations" or "the Putin Price Hike," a topic we wrote about in “The Fiat Cave: An Allegory of Monetary Deception."
As currency devaluation continues, governments will take more coercive action to financially repress their populations. It's not implausible and may be likely, that we will read or even experience situations such as the Lebanese currency crisis in the developed world.
We should be prepared for governments to take confiscatory measures against our wealth, such as instructing banks to halt withdraws or the next Executive Order 6102 attacking non-state money, such as gold or bitcoin.
As more and more people understand that fiat's demise is inevitable, there will be an increasing desire for people to convert their fiat currency into hard money, which will put further pressure on fiat currencies.
Governments will seek to limit the selling pressure on their currencies and impose measures to prevent that. It's worth noting, however, that it's much easier to set restrictive measures at the institutional level versus the individual level.
In practice, this could mean that governments mandate that institutions purchase a certain amount of US Treasuries to relieve the Central Banks' need to print currency to fund deficit spending. Or, as mentioned above, governments will unilaterally prohibit banks from allowing its citizens to make withdrawals.
While restrictions were imposed at the individual level in the 1930s, we'd argue it's much harder today. Perhaps the government could have tried to ban private ownership of bitcoin when it was more fringe; however, now bitcoin is deeply embedded into the financial and political system.
Many "important" entities and individuals own it and are incentivized to not impose draconian measures against bitcoin. But let's say the government did want to ban bitcoin. How could that possibly be achieved? It's a digitally distributed monetary network. That would be like saying governments globally will coordinate to shut down the internet.
Governments can do nothing except go door to door and threaten people's lives for their bitcoin keys.
Bitcoin is a digital vault to protect your savings against devaluation and seizure.
It's the best protection against money printing. As fiat currencies continue to be created at an increasing rate, we will continue to see the prices of everything rise around us: our everyday goods and services, our financial assets, and our real assets.
However, Bitcoin will likely be the fastest horse in the race, benefitting from its global nature, hard-capped supply, decreasing issuance schedule, and early stages of technological adoption.
The issue of depreciating fiat currency is not exclusive to one country. It's a global problem that requires a global solution: bitcoin. No other asset has the properties to serve that role. Bitcoin is not only the best store of value but also the most accessible store of value.
Bitcoin is competing with all global stores of value, estimated to be roughly $900 TRILLION, and for comparison, bitcoin's market capitalization at the time of writing is $464 BILLION.
Bitcoin's far from reaching its total addressable market, which will become more clear as people fight to protect their savings from governments and central banks gone mad.
However, it's still the early stages of bitcoin adoption, and it's still quite volatile in fiat terms, but that merely reflects the instability of the fiat financial system - a system of rampant speculation, massive leverage, and central planners seeking to manage interest rates for a global economy of greater than 7 billion people. The "crypto" industry is no better. It's filled with scammers and fraudsters like Sam Bankman-Fried.
All of this causes noise, diluting the signal of bitcoin. However, bitcoin is the premier store of value asset, which is becoming clearer by the day.
Bitcoin's exponentially increasing adoption and decreasing supply schedule make it the most compelling option for long-term wealth preservation and growth.
Equally as crucial as owning bitcoin to protect against fiat devaluation is securing bitcoin to protect against confiscation.
To achieve financial security, bitcoin must be properly secured, which means holding your own keys, and not relying on a third party such as an exchange or brokerage to custody your bitcoin.
Before bitcoin, aside from storing gold in your backyard or having some cash under the mattress, it was not feasible to be your own bank. You could maintain savings outside the financial system; however, cash is prone to devaluation, and gold lacks portability that may be needed in times of crisis.
So, overall, trusting a custodian was a requirement to store your savings. But as we know, these institutions are not worthy of our trust.
Bitcoin can be secured by an individual easily, eliminating third parties and allowing for true financial sovereignty and security. Taking custody of your bitcoin means you are genuinely in control of your wealth, and you will not be pounding on the bank doors to access your money.
Bitcoin in "cold storage" means your private keys are not connected to the internet. This is the optimal way to secure your finances.
Admittedly, there's a bit of a learning curve to securing bitcoin, so if anyone reading needs resources don't hesitate to reach out on Twitter, @macrojack21 or email macrojack@protonmail.com, or leave a comment below.
Beef: Food Security
Financial security is of utmost importance, especially in an increasingly unstable global economic system; however, you can have all the bitcoin in the world stored in the most secure manner possible, but without access to food, what good is that?
The global food supply is a complex web of supply chains and logistics, deeply intertwined and optimized for efficiency rather than resiliency.
Three years after the initial outbreak of the Wuhan Virus, global supply chains have not fully recovered, although they have vastly improved since the initial lockdowns imposed by governments. But, there have been several concerning developments related to food production and logistics in the past couple of years.
As outlined in a previous post, “The Eggsistential Question: Is the Global Food Supply Under Attack"?” we have witnessed a more coordinated attack on animal proteins led by influential people such as the friend of Jeffrey Epstein, Bill Gates.
Not only is the demonization of livestock heating up, but a suspicious egg shortage, which has sent the average price of eggs to over $7/dozen in the US from $2/dozen 18 months ago, is also underway. And finally, hundreds of questionable incidents have occurred at farms, processing facilities, and distribution centers worldwide.
Given the fragility of the global food supply, it's on you to build resiliency into your personal food supply. One of the best ways to do that is by bulk ordering meats, such as beef, bison, pork, lamb, and chicken.
While there's nothing wrong with shopping at a grocery store, it's important to take action to reduce your reliance on them since their supply chain could be disrupted, intentionally or unintentionally, at a moment's notice.
Supplementing your regular cadence of grocery shops with sourcing local meat direct from farmers and ranchers in bulk will help you establish food security. You could find ranchers in your area and work with them directly or place orders through bulk delivery services, should you want to be less involved.
Filling a freezer with meat is an effective way to have more control and security over your food supply while hedging future price increases.
Beef, for instance, can stay fresh in a freezer for up to a year, protecting you against soaring prices, as we have seen with eggs. Additionally, establishing a relationship directly with a rancher, or at least with someone who deals directly with ranchers, means you will have a higher likelihood of having access to food during both good times and bad.
As a consistent customer to a rancher, you will be top of their mind, and they will know and meet your demand. As more shocks to the food system come about, people will likely begin to approach ranchers, who may not have the capacity in the short term to fulfill their needs.
Beyond all the benefits to you as the consumer, by shifting your consumption away from corporate grocery stores to farms and ranches, you are also providing them with more financial security. Your money is directly benefitting, in most instances, a family-owned operation.
When you buy locally, everyone besides the Ruling Class wins.
We advocate for bulk orders of meat, which means ordering a quarter, half, or whole (or more) to meet your family's needs for roughly a year.
You can estimate how much meat your household eats in a week and multiply that by 52 weeks. Once you have a number in mind, you need to ensure you have the freezer space to store the food. The amount of beef will vary depending on the ranch and the cuts in the order, but a ballpark is below for your reference:
1/8 Cow: 60 pounds, 4 cubic/ft freezer
1/4 Cow: 120 pounds, 6 cubic/ft freezer
1/2 Cow: 250 pounds, 9 cubic/ft freezer
1 Cow: 500 pounds, 16 cubic/ft freezer
Food security is paramount, and we want to make sure that people can take action to establish that for themselves and their families.
We are happy to help guide people through the sourcing and buying process and can make recommendations. Feel free to message me on Twitter @macrojack21 or email, macrojack@protonmail.com
We all see and hear shocking stories on the news, social media, and by word of mouth, and think that could never happen to us or that can't happen here.
As the global financial system and supply chain become more unstable, that is an increasingly dangerous mindset to adopt.
Taking the steps above to achieve financial and food security will do no harm to you. You will be better off financially and nutritionally, and if anything, it will reduce the amount of harm that can be inflicted upon you.
Take action today.
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