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Revolutionary Talk - The Cost of Living · Plausibly Live - The Dave Bowman Show Podcast

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  The. Live from the banks of the Sheet
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  Tucket River in the heart of downtown Norwich.
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  It's revolutionary talk here on WREV, 760 AM for Patriots Talk.
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  The phone and text number is 209565.
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  Dave. That's 209-565-3283.
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  Now here's your host, Dave Diamond.
• 0:58
  Well, how was your weekend? Welcome back, my friends.
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  It is revolutionary. Talk with me, your host, Dave
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  Diamond. Telephone and text 209565.
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  Dave. e-mail is dave@powder2parchment.org.
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  That's powderthe#2parchment.org. Got a friend in the studio
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  today. Sorry, the wife's Kitty cat.
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  Well, went to the market over the weekend.
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  We needed some supplies. We needed some things that
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  needed to be, you know, we live people.
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  I mean, I know it's wartime and I know things are going on, but
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  has anybody else noticed how much the prices have increased
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  at the market? Holy Flour through the freaking
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  rough butter, if you can get it, even salt is costing I don't
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  know, at least at least five times more than it did a year
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  ago. We we made a decision.
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  We didn't use the the paper money that they're they're
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  printing. We used we used some of my gold
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  supplies that I've had for years.
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  I've just kept them in the, kept them in the ground.
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  And we, we used that. That was the only thing that
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  helped us. But, you know, eventually that's
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  going to run out. Got to have the salt because
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  without the salt, we can't, we, we, we, we can't keep the meat.
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  It, it, you know, preserves it. And we barely found enough to do
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  a month's worth. My wife was not happy.
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  Missus Diamond was well, let's just say she was in a mood by
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  the time we got back from the market.
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  I enough of a mood that I had to leave.
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  I, I said, you know what? I'm, I'm going to go down to the
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  the Tavern there. I'm going to go down and just
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  sort of blow off a little steam, I guess, which is weird because
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  that's what I do here, you know, every weekday.
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  But I went down there. Holy crap, people.
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  The rum prices were up. Now I like my rum.
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  You know, I'm a former sailor. I've I've been to see, I like my
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  rum. And I was talking to, was it
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  Bill, Bill or Malachi, one of the two of them, I don't
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  remember who it was. The rum was double the price.
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  Why? Well, turns out it's harder to
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  get these days because because the British, the British are
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  blockading us. Can't get the molasses to make
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  it. So I say, well, cider.
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  Then we got apples here. That was at least affordable.
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  You can't get imported spirits anymore.
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  You can't even get them. If you can, you can afford it.
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  Walk down Main Street, talking to people on the street.
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  By the way, I ran into Loyalist Bob out on the street and he
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  bent my ear for a bit. Passed the blacksmith shop,
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  talked to some carpenters, Coopers, everything is up.
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  Iron, nails, tools, everything that I guess we have to import
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  it from Britain, or had imported it from Britain.
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  It's all very expensive now. Missus Diamond is stretching
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  meals. She says I need to anyway.
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  She, she kind of couched it in that language, you know, You
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  know, Dave, you're getting a little Rotunda there.
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  Might do you some good to cut back a little bit and put as
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  much sugar in the, in the coffee that we had.
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  Got a bunch of patches on my, on my shirts now and my coat.
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  Then I thought, well, I'm going to take a drive out to the
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  farmers. I'm going to go out in the
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  countryside. I get friends out there,
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  listeners who are farmers, thought I'd talk to them.
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  Christopher was good enough to invite me in for a, for a glass
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  of cider. He was telling me that he's
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  getting to the point now where he won't accept continental
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  currency anymore. He won't accept the Connecticut
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  dollars no more because, well, they're not worth anything.
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  And despite Congress promising that someday they'll fix that,
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  he doesn't trust them. And so the only thing he's
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  taking is is hard, his hard coin.
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  And of course, you know, that's, that's a problem.
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  A nice conversation about it. What's causing all this?
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  Well, like Christopher said, Congress is flooding the market
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  with this paper money. Now, look, I, I'm not Adam
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  Smith, I'm not an economist, don't have any expertise in that
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  area. Don't pretend that I did.
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  Didn't stay at a Holiday Inn last night.
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  But I do know this. The more you have a something,
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  the less it's worth. They started printing this stuff
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  back in the summer to pay the soldiers.
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  They told the soldiers, this is what we're paying you with.
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  But every time you ask that question, what's this backed
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  with? What do you get?
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  You get, You get these vague stares like backed.
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  I don't know what you're talking about.
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  It's not backed by gold. It's not backed by silver.
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  It's a vague promise of tax revenues in the future.
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  Well, who's how they going to get that?
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  And just like Christopher, we're starting to doubt that long term
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  value of that paper currency. It's not the paper currency
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  that's the problem. It's the backing of it.
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  You understand that, right? If it had something behind it,
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  if we actually had some tax revenues, if we actually had
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  something, some gold, some silver, some national reserves,
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  maybe it'd be worth something. But we don't.
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  That's bad enough. And then of course, you get this
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  blockade going on. The British Navy is out there
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  trying to choke off our imports. Now the good news is, as the
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  blockade goes, the good news is that the Brits don't have enough
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  ships to really pull this off. And it's as you've seen, stuff
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  is still getting through. But it's a risk.
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  There's some increased costs which making it cost more.
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  Supply is dropping. That means prices go up.
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  It's, it's economics one O 1. Our own shipping here in Norwich
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  is is badly disrupted. So we're ending up paying more
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  for essentials that we once got pretty cheaply from the West
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  Indies or even from Britain. Chris Christopher thinks that
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  there's some hoarding going on. He wouldn't give me any names
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  and I'm not going to sit here and accuse someone on the air of
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  doing this, but I am going to say this.
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  If you're a merchant, you're listening to this right now.
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  And if you're doing this, I hope God smites you.
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  I really do. Because basically you're just
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  being, you're putting your profit ahead of liberty.
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  Some merchants, Christopher believes, are sensing shortages.
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  And they they pre bought a bunch of things and then they held
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  them back. They've got them in storage
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  somewhere waiting for the prices to go up.
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  And of course, many of these merchants who are pulling this
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  stunt are, of course, loyalists. And they're just gouging the
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  public. They stand there with a straight
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  face like Loyalist Bob did on the street the other day and
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  tell me how right they are. And yet here they are basically
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  just pulling a Judas. They're just selling out for
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  money. They're just, they're, they're,
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  they might as well just be, you know, bankers.
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  They're force dollars. They're in grocers.
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  That's what they are. They're hoarding salt, flour and
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  gunpowder. They're trying to profit while
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  soldiers and families are going without.
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  We got to do something about this economy, the the normal
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  flow of things, bills of exchange, credit is, is
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  collapsing. Of course you know this.
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  We don't have a stable currency. We don't have foreign credit.
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  Makes you wonder what Congress is doing.
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  I I've heard discussions that they are talking to some foreign
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  powers, read that as France about getting some some loans
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  and some stability to that. But really, how is France going
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  to do this? France has got its own problems
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  still trying to recover from the Seven Years War.
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  They can't afford that. They their debt is so massive.
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  It's I'm surprised those people over over there haven't
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  rebelled. Without the stable currency,
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  though, we're going to have to, we're going to have to turn to
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  barter and or we're going to have to pay more of these stupid
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  paper notes for less product. And we're feeling it, folks.
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  You know what I see? I see my wife coming home from
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  the market with half the flour she could get last spring and
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  twice the paper notes spent to get it.
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  I see the shopkeeper shrug, saying Congress's money is is
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  good, but then he asks for two notes instead of what?
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  I see my neighbor grumbling because they're butter, They're
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  cider, they're salt fish. Fetch more coin from the
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  merchants hoarding for profit than they do for the families in
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  this town. The king calls us rebels, but
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  it's the paper in our pocket that feels more like rebellion
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  against common sense. Makes you wonder.
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  Line 1. Go ahead, Mark.
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  Me this paper is a fraud, and your Congress is a fraud.
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  You hold it in your hands and call it money, yet it is worth
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  no more than the ink that stains it.
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  You say you fight for liberty, but I say you are fighting for
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  ruin. Rebellion brings hunger, it
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  brings dead, and it brings the King's justice.
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  I was forced once to recant for speaking the truth, but I will
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  not hold my tongue now. This Congress is unlawful, and
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  every man who follows it will come to regret his folly.
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  OK, Loyalist Bob, we got it. I wasn't going to name any
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  names, but you know as well as I do he's one of the people that
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  have been speaking out against this rebellion.
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  You. Yes, we were all there when when
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  he was, he was told that he had to be quiet.
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  But I, I can't really argue with him.
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  I at least not on the sense of this paper money not being worth
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  anything. And the reason it's not worth
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  being being worth anything is because, again, they keep
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  printing more of it. They need to, they need to
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  shrink the money supply. I I've read Adam Smith's book,
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  but geez, come on, people, this isn't that hard to do.
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  Somehow or another, our Congress doesn't seem to understand it.
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  The question is how? How hard can we stand up against
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  this British tyranny when we're getting this own tyranny from
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  our own people, our own Congress, our own leadership?
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  What are we willing to sacrifice?
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  That's what we're being asked, I guess, and it's hard to say.
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  And when there's nothing left to buy, will we still be willing to
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  do it? Rigging tar and hemp rope for
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  men who mean to sail. If your boat needs faster masts,
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  for quieter keels for midnight runs, these hands will answer to
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  the bell. Come with lists, pay with coin,
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  pledge your share of the prize. Norwich ship Chandler and rope
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  works right down here on the docks right there downtown
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  Norwich. Stay with us, We'll be right
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  back. Welcome back.
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  It's me, Dave. It is revolutionary talk right
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  here on WREV 760. AM you want to join me?
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  209565 Dave is the text number. For some reason the phones
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  aren't working real well today. Loyalist Bob got through, but
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  I'm getting texts saying The thing is busy.
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  I'm not sure why. You can always e-mail me, Dave,
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  at Powder, to parchment.org. That's powderthe#2parchment.org.
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  There are rumors coming out of Boston that the British have
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  decided to replace General Gage. Now, I can't confirm this, but I
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  am told that a new British general has arrived in Boston.
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  There has been no official announcement, of course.
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  There has been no indication of things.
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  But I am told that Thomas Gage, the general, the military
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  governor of Massachusetts, has been relieved that the king is
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  not not pleased with what has happened, which is good.
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  I I'm perfectly pleased with it. But apparently the king is not.
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  Now the question is who is the replacement?
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  And there is no definitive answer.
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  However, the supposition is something of a surprise that it
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  should have been the guy up in Canada.
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  But I am hearing rumors that it's how general how Now this
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  might be an interesting development politically because
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  as you know, how is a wig and he voted quite was quite a
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  supporter of us during the Stamp Act crisis, although he did
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  later support the Intolerable Acts.
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  And the question is, why did he support those?
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  Well, you know, the guy's been passed over for command several
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  times. But dot, dot, dot, he is a
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  relation. He has a direct relationship to
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  the King, his grandmother, Howe's grandmother.
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  General Howe's grandmother was King George, the first step
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  sister. So they're related.
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  And the king seems to like how even though he's a Whig, even
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  though he should extensibly or has been something of a moderate
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  on our side. And if he's the guy they're
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  sending to Boston and we should know within the next few days.
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  But if he's the guy that's they're sending to Boston, you
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  almost have to wonder, are they sending him to Boston because
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  they want to? I don't know, chill out I guess.
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  Relax things. Or is he?
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  Is he looking for glory? If he's coming here as a Whig
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  politician in charge, then maybe we can see some political
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  movement on the whole Friday. If he's coming here as a British
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  Royal Army general looking for more glory, well, I think what
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  he's going to end up finding is basically he's going to find
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  himself with another Bunker Hill.
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  He'd better be better. Be careful.
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  Again, again, I don't know. I it's hard to say because the
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  British aren't saying who's who's in charge.
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  And I'm not even absolutely certain that this is the case.
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  I'm not we're not sure that definitively he's been sent here
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  or that he's been sent here to take charge.
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  Gage has not done well. I mean, again, from our
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  viewpoint, he's done great, gotten his ass kicked a couple
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  times, hasn't accomplished anything, and has more and more
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  cannon arrived from Ticonderoga. And good on that overlook.
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  He's he's trapped in Boston, so maybe the King's not happy about
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  it. I don't know.
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  Guess we'll wait and see. Cloth for your coat, nails for
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  your wagon, and an ale that warms them all.
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  Let me tell you, folks, Yeah, I know it costs a little more
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  these days, but it's damn good ale.
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  Marlow and Sons keeps Norwich supplied from boot to belly.
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  Trade an honest coin or sign for credit.
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  Taste of Home in every cup. And no one has ever been short a
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  loaf. After visiting the cellar at
• 18:50
  Marlow and Sons Sundries and Stouts Main St.
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  Norwich. Stay with us.
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  We'll be right back. Welcome back.
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  It's me, Dave. It is revolutionary talk.
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  Funds are not working today. I don't.
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  I don't know what's going on with that.
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  To get the engineer in here. Nobody seems to know.
• 19:15
  Stefan. Get on that way.
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  In the meantime, Congress is still I don't know.
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  I I, I want to be supportive. You know, this, you, you, you
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  know, I'm in favor of independence.
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  You know, I hate the British. You know, I want this done.
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  But God bless us. Could we find a worse way to do
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  this? Talk about a cluster.
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  For some reason, and I'm not clear why, Adam, I was talking
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  with John Adams over the weekend and he he would, he was being
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  very cagey with me. He basically said, Dave,
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  there's, there's, there's a big issue that we have to solve.
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  There's a big thing that we got to fix.
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  But he wouldn't tell me what it was and he wouldn't even really
• 20:06
  give me any hints. But something is up.
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  There was a big meeting at the Army headquarters in Cambridge
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  on Friday night, I think it was Friday, and after that meeting
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  there was a flurry of activity, including the.
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  The surgeon General of the Army was brought to the headquarters
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  under heavy guard for reasons I I'm not clear on why you would
• 20:36
  need to guard a surgeon general, but I don't know.
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  Maybe the British were trying to kill him.
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  Like, who knows? Why would you do that?
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  But the only thing I can figure is Washington's contemplating
• 20:48
  inoculation in the of the army for smallpox.
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  I, I, I don't know. But something is going on
• 20:56
  because Congress now is talking quite, Sir, typically about
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  tightening up our military rules, our military laws and our
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  political laws. And they're really, they're,
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  they're talking about forming a, a committee of, of secret
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  correspondence handling foreign alliances and intelligence.
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  Now you could say, well, Dave, that makes sense.
• 21:28
  It's we, we're going to have to, we're going to have to recognize
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  the fact that we need international support.
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  And that international support means France and Spain.
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  But the way Adams was talking about this, it was almost like
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  there's something else going on. I don't know what it is.
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  I wish I could sit here and tell you for sure that I know what it
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  is, but I don't. I, I have no clue.
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  Something is up. It involves Dr. Benjamin Church,
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  the surgeon general of the Army, and it's got Washington really
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  on edge. It's got Adams really on edge
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  and it has Congress talking about forming secret committees.
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  We'll keep an eye on it and see what's going on.
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  I'm hearing rumors across the ocean, the British cabinet shake
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  up. They're they're looking at
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  changing some ministers. There is a lot of lot of
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  discussion and the king, I suspect, and it would kind of
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  tie in with the possibility of of General Howe being here now.
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  It would tie into the possibility of him looking at
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  taking military action on the ground here much more
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  significantly than has been done.
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  So I don't know. There are days I wish, I wish I
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  could be a family on the wall in the palace over there, but we'll
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  see what happens. In the meantime, our our money
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  isn't going as far. Supplies are becoming scarcer
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  and we're going to have to live with it.
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  We're going to have to learn to sacrifice on behalf of liberty.
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  Folks, this is what we're being asked to do.
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  I know it's hard. It's hard for me.
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  It's hard for you. I get it.
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  I know it. All we can do is pray to God
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  that we can, we can make it through this.
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  Support each other, help each other where we can.
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  If you have two coats, give your neighbor one.
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  If you've got extra bread, share it.
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  If you've got powder, share it. Quit being in it for the money.
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  And you loyalists like like Bob, you, you're the worst.
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  Stop doing business with them. I don't.
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  I don't care if they have what you need or not.
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  Don't buy it from them. It's better to go without than
• 24:02
  to support those nuts, support those traders and it's up to us
• 24:08
  to do it. We're going to have to do it
• 24:10
  because it's going to be hard. We'll be back tomorrow with more
• 24:14
  right here on Revolutionary Talk on 760 AM Norwich, CT.
• 24:17
  I'm Dave Diamond, see you tomorrow, everybody.
• 24:20
  Have a great day. The.