The Price of Bread Can Bring Revolution

 Some of you may know that we raise cattle from calving in the spring to butchering fat steers in the fall.  Our costs for this little cattle operation went up enormously in 2021 because the price of corn went up about 40% and we feed our fat steers tons of corn every year to get them fat.  Throw in the drought which raised the cost of hay by 50% and dried up our pastures to nothing, and there was little money to be made by raising cattle in Buffalo, MN in 2021.  In fact we lost some thousands of dollars in actual expenses versus income.

I also help a local farmer with spring field work and fall harvest doing field work.  I recently heard from him the cost of fertilizer went up by 400% from last year to this year.  Last year a ton of nitrogen was $425.  This year he's being quoted $1650 per ton.  In his words these price increases are "unsustainable in the long term."

If you think beef and cereal went up at the grocery store last year, just wait until these cost increases make it to the meat market, milk market and bread market this year.

Maybe you were pleased that your employer saw fit to give you a raise of 5% in your wages this past year.  Awesome!  But if gasoline went up 50% and groceries went up 30% did you really end up with more money in your pocket from your raise?  Or at the end of the year did you actually end up with less money in your pocket?  I think you know the answer.  That's why inflation is such an unseen "tax" on your income.  Clearly it doesn't affect the rich who only eat and drive the same amount as you do.  But it does affect the working class and middle class a great deal.  How long can this go on before the people rise up and say, "Enough!"

Politicians can get away with an astonishing level of corruption and incompetence, and their citizens will tolerate it. But if enough people struggle to put food on the table for their families, trouble is coming.

Any politician with half a brain understands this lesson. Sadly it's not clear if the people in charge today even have half a brain.

Inflation has been rising for nearly a year. None of the so-called experts saw it coming. Even when inflation was obvious, their approach was to gaslight people and deny it.

Then they told us that inflation was "transitory".

Then when they finally admitted it was a problem, they said they'd consider doing something about it in a few months.

After its two-day meeting this week, officials from the Federal Reserve are expected to announce that they're FINALLY going to take some action to combat inflation... in MARCH.

So just sit tight another month and a half. 

Unfortunately, any action the Fed takes at this point is "too little, too late".

Today's inflation is the result of a number of factors- demand, supply, and money.

On the demand side, the federal government literally deposited cash in people's bank accounts, fueling a surge in consumer spending.

Yet on the supply side, they closed businesses, told people to stay home, and compelled companies to fire millions of heretical workers.

The end result is fewer goods and services being produced, at a time when people have more money to spend and the appetite to do so. This is what has caused rising prices.

Yet on top of this mess, the Federal Reserve has been supercharging inflation by shoveling money into the US economy by the trillions.

Now they're promising to reduce their money printing and promise to have a few tiny, symbolic interest rate increases.

Sorry, but this won't really move the needle, especially when it comes to food.

Most people would be surprised at how labor intensive agriculture is. Certainly there are a number of crops (especially grain) that are fully mechanized throughout the entire process- planting, maintenance, harvest, and distribution.

But many key food products require significant manpower at some point in the chain.

Meat, for example, is very labor intensive because of the number of people required to run a pack house operation.

And many staple fruits and vegetables require an army of harvest workers to hand pick the produce.

So now, because of Covid (and the government response to Covid) pack houses in the US are struggling to maintain staff. And finding enough harvest workers in America has become borderline impossible.

There's also a major problem in US agriculture that so many farm costs, from fertilizers to fuel to even packing materials (like cardboard and plastic containers) are soaring. And these costs are all obviously passed on to consumers.

Container ports also continue to be a major bottleneck, as meat, fruit, vegetables imported from overseas are literally rotting off the coast of California.

Increasing interest rates by 0.25% is not going to fix any of these issues. It won't clear the ports, and it won't bring the workers back.

Fortunately it's not 1789 anymore. And even though capitalism is on the ropes, there's enough of it remaining for now to prevent dire food shortages.

Talented people around the world are working very hard to ensure that quality food is being grown and delivered to consumers, despite every obstacle the government puts in their way.

So I'm not suggesting that food riots are imminent.

But rising prices? Absolutely. And that's going to have serious implications for political leadership.

Here;  The Lessons Of History - The Price Of Bread Can Bring Revolution (prophecynewswatch.com)

Remember a few things;  If the politicians and Federal Reserve screw up our money system enough, the $1 million we worked hard to save these past 30 years possible won't be enough to buy a used Prius.  All savings would be wiped out.  Also remember that the Bible is very clear that massive inflation will be part of the Last Days.  Hopefully it won't happen until AFTER the rapture.  But it clearly says that inflation will be so bad that men will work all day long just to get enough money to buy the food they need to sustain their lives.  Meanwhile, the rich folks of those days will still have enough to not only buy their food but also still have enough to buy oil and wine...which will be a luxury, in those days, for the working class.

The rich folks will meet their demise at the very end but the poor and middle class will be wiped out first.

So, as followers of Christ we continue to understand why Jesus told us to lay up our treasure in heaven where bugs, rust and inflation will never destroy them.