They didn’t want me to write this article.
They said it would be deemed politically incorrect and could offend a lot of people.
But here’s the thing…
I don’t care.
While my intention is not to offend anyone, I’m not going to trivialize the truth in an effort to placate those who are easily offended.
Especially not this truth…
China Screwed Us
Was COVID-19 spawned in a wet market or in a biotech lab in Wuhan?
Was it released into the world intentionally or was it an accident?
Does it even matter?
After all, new viruses spring up all the time, and the release of such a virus could’ve easily happened anywhere else in the world, including the U.S.
That being said, when this thing was first discovered, China tried to cover it up, then downplayed the seriousness of it while silencing those who tried to sound the alarm –– an important reminder, by the way, of why a free press is integral to a functioning democracy.
The truth is, the Chinese government covered up thousands of deaths, greased the proverbial palms of the World Health Organization with hush money, and, I have no doubt, will seek to exploit this global economic meltdown for its own gain.
Of course, I’m not saying anything that most of us don’t know already. And quite frankly, we’re just as much to blame for letting this happen to begin with. After all…
We Made a Deal With the Devil
Lack of domestic manufacturing has put us in a very vulnerable position.
And deep down, many of us knew that this would happen one day.
While I’m the last person to speak out against unfettered global trade, the truth is, collectively, we decided that cheap, Chinese-made products are more important than secure, domestic supply chains.
Electronics, rare-earth minerals, building supplies, furniture, clothing, food, etc. Nearly all of this stuff comes from China.
Sure, we have a small footprint in most of these areas, but it’s so small that in the event of a major global emergency, this footprint is not large enough to sustain our needs.
We’ve been so caught up in “getting a good deal” that we’ve ignored the fact that cheap stuff from China isn’t necessarily a good deal at all.
You know how it goes: “You get what you pay for.”
The good news, however, is that we may have been given the kick in the pants we needed to become less reliant on other countries for products that keep our economy moving.
Made in China America
Before I go any further, understand that I am not criticizing the good people of China.
Just like us, they want to live in peace, thrive, and be happy.
This is merely an observation of truth: We trivialized the importance of domestic manufacturing.
We’ve outsourced so much of our manufacturing muscle that we’ve essentially pissed away a lot of leverage we once had. But given the new reality of today’s world, this will change.
I’m not saying the U.S. will be the manufacturing behemoth it once was, but some measure of manufacturing is coming back to the U.S.
One area, in particular, that’s likely to see a nice boost is rare-earth mining.
Nearly all the rare earth materials we rely on come from China. And word on The Hill is that the government is likely to attempt to encourage domestic rare-earth production.
Without access to rare earth materials, everything shuts down.
Nearly everything we rely on today requires rare earth materials: transportation, telecommunications, military equipment, and energy production.
If China decided tomorrow that it was cutting off all supplies of rare earths, we’d be sunk. The Chinese government knows it, too.
I’m not suggesting such a thing will happen, as they would have a lot to lose, too.
But then again, I never thought I’d be in quarantine for three months because of a modern-day plague.
The New Normal
The new normal has its pros and cons. But one “pro” is that efforts will finally be made to beef up our ability to not only survive but thrive in the presence of another global threat, such as the one we now face.
And this definitely provides an opportunity to profit from a new wave of domestic manufacturing and production that you can be sure is coming.
In the next few weeks, we’ll be providing more intel for you regarding how to best play this opportunity.
Stay tuned.
To a new way of life and a new generation of wealth…
Jeff Siegel
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Jeff is the founder and managing editor of Green Chip Stocks. For more on Jeff, go to his editor’s page.
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