COVID-19 as the past 18, asks us "Can you hear me now"?

[Daniel Smyth]

While the phrase "Can you hear me now?" is from a cell service carrier, I wonder what would have happened if Ros Perot would have used that line in another presidential run. Ross Perot warned us all about the dangers of the NAFTA. While this agreement was focused first on Canada, the US, and Mexico, so many trade agreements have realized that "Giant Sucking Sound" Ross Perot warned us about.

Not that I am working for a political discussion, but facts are, because of our vast trade agreements, we no longer manufacture or grow so much that once made the US the most productive economy in the world.

I am the guy driving that truck you may have seen that sported the bumper sticker that read " Hungry? Eat your foreign car!". I still only drive made in USA vehicles, just it's not so easy to spout off that everything I have in made in the USA. Sad, really!

As I look to what my government would never tell us, about what is next, I think about so much in other nations that we Americans really cannot live comfortably without. With the trade ships at a halt because of the Virus scare, Truckers have less to truck. While we seem to have plenty of food, we really have no clue where some of our food comes from. How long before we just stop seeing so much on the store shelves because we don't do that in the USA?

We have supplies. We have food to feed us. We have fuel right here in the USA too! How long before the general public feels the pain? Lots are feeling the pain, but I feel the shoe has yet to fall from the foot.

I am just one person. Just trying to get by and make a living. I bet you are the same. We cannot change so much, so it's not a debate I am asking about. It's not political. It's the same Global Economy idea that ushered in the great depression, as regular people as well as businesses got into trading on a margin of 10% or less. When the house started to fall, it took so many. But did we really learn?

I look forward to what comes next. We will all get along as Americans do. I wonder what will be found broken, and what will be done to fix the problem for the next catastrophe we see. This is an exciting time, if you think about it. Without a World War, our nations, states, cities, and households are in a lurch. Some issues are more real for some than others. Some, like with the great Depression and the 2008 government bailout of private banks and financial institutions, will make huge gains on this main event.

We are in the position of helping our future generations, if we can remember what we each went through. Everyone will have a different story. Everyone will have a different idea. It's an IDEA that got us here where we are today. Ideas and discussion, along with reflection, will help us in the future. I am living for the future, because others did so for me. And, I am actually interested in what comes next!