Sunday 18 August 2024

A What-If Story

 Lets say that you went out and bought a grocery (maybe a Whole Foods....maybe a Piggly Wiggly).  In the first five years.....you had a general profit of around $250,000 a year....after balancing the books and paying your taxes.  Then along came Covid, some changes in law, and you noted that weekly theft numbers went up.  

You had theft insurance but upon discussing the matter with the insurance folks....you came to realize that one single submission for one single month....would trigger a 75-percent increase in the yearly cost of insurance.  So you avoid triggering the insurance rate increase.

What you do?  Well....you go into the system and add 2-percent onto the cost of all products sold.  In the beginning...it's  not a big deal.

About a year into increased theft.....you notice that the weekly rate has doubled.

So you go in and rig up a 7-percent increase in the cost of groceries.

You go and add cameras. You add 7 security guys (adding more expense, so you trigger another 7-percent increase on goods).

More measures are taken.....you add another 1-percent to 3-percent onto the cost.

Then one day, you notice some person claiming intellect and wit....running for president....has said price-controls have to occur.  You add up the woes, weekly pressure, and increasing theft....wondering....how quick could I sell this 'load-of-crap'  grocery before price-controls arrive and destroy my model.

Your nephew 'Micky' comes up....business graduate of some stage university.   He wants to give you advice on how to properly run a grocery.  You eyeball his words....knowing that he has zero insider knowledge on how things work in today's world.  

What happens after November's election?

One of two things....you either keep running a theft-prone business with a ever-increasing pricing scheme, or you fold up because some idiots with no understanding will price-control you out-of-business.  

In the real world.....you opt for a 3rd option....making it a private operation that you can  only enter if you pay for a membership (with a active credit-card).....and agree to a full-up frisk at the end of the shopping experience....promising one-third off from what other groceries are offering.

What's This Election Really About?

 Well....it goes to the 2020 results....where Joe Biden got 81.3 million votes, and Donald Trump got 74.2 million votes. Can such a numbers game be reaccomplished...by Kam and Donald?

In this talk....I'll also point out via third-party activity....they took around 1.8 million votes.

The odd factor?  Combined with the three....there are around 157 million votes.  In the 2016 election...how many voted?  137 million.  Yeah.....there's an odd upswing.  Typically....every four years, you can figure there is a bump-up of five to seven percent.  It's about twice the normal bump-up.

People having left the Trump vote since 2020?  People claim this....but there's  no solid proof.

Switching out from Biden to Harris improving the numbers?  I would suggest that the economic program, current economic woes, migration/immigration problems, and the socialism chatter...are making her campaign less likely to achieve 81 million votes.  

Clean-up of the voting listings?  Well....that adds to lesser votes in general.

All of this chatter affecting the Senate races? That's now an issue as well.  I'd say Ohio, Montana, Nevada, and West Virginia will flip from Democrat to Republican....if the Trump vote stays near or more than 2020.  Arizona in the mix?  Based on polling, I'd say it's 50-50.

I just don't see 157 million votes being achieved in 2024.  A humble guess....at least 10 million votes will disappear, and people will ask....what happened?