It's an Interesting Time

We live in a time of uncertainty. The COVID-19 virus has clearly brought that home for most of us. But we've been living in such times for quite a while now. For example, 9/11 was a terrible time, as was the great recession of 2008. And don't forget all of the hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, and wildfires. Many of us may not have been impacted by these natural disasters, but those who suffered through them undoubtedly put them on a par with 9/11, the recession, and COVID-19.

But we are still very, very fortunate. So many other countries of the world live in tumultuous times on a regular basis. Consider the ongoing civil war in Syria, for example. Those poor folks have lost everything -- loved ones, homes, possessions, and just about everything else. And there is no end in sight to the fighting there. And consider so many of the African countries who live with disease and hunger on a daily basis. Again, there is no end in sight for many of them. At least we believe that this current epidemic will run its course and come to an end. We will then probably develop a vaccine to protect us from future outbreaks. Life will pretty much return to normal for most of us.

What interests me about such difficult and trying times is how people react to them. Right now, we have so many people rising to the occasion to make things better not only for themselves but for others. There's a great deal of innovation going on out there right now as well, with people converting distilleries into temporary factories for making hand sanitizer for example. And what about those folks that are producing make-shift face masks. And people from all walks of life are really doing some innovative things with technology, from teachers to entertainers to news personalities, among others. We have folks helping others wherever you look. That is really great.

But trying times also bring out the worst in some people. The worst people, in my opinion, are those who try to profit from disasters. I'm talking about people who price gouge, or who sell worthless products to gullible folks. Then there are the scammers who devise criminal schemes for personal profit. All of these people should -- when caught -- automatically be given the stiffest sentence such crimes allow, with no hope of parole. And then there are the folks who do nothing but complain about regulations put in place and even openly defy these regulations. They aren't much better than the criminals among us.

Every cloud has a silver lining, and we are seeing so many of these. The worst is still to come, I have no doubt of that. Some of us will undoubtedly lose loved ones. When this thing is over, will we be changed? Will we live our lives differently? Has this event taught us what is truly important in life? Or will we simply return to life as it was a few months ago?

Hopefully, we will learn. I encourage everyone to live prudently in the upcoming months. Strive to put enough money in savings so that should such a disaster occur again, you can weather the storm. Financial experts encourage all people to have savings to enable them to live at least 6 months should they lose their jobs, fall ill, or encounter some other disaster.

I wish all of you good health and good fortune.