What exactly is stopping them from improving their economic position by distancing themselves from the US dollar? You act like if they abandon the dollar, the world collapses. What is your basis of this opinion? http://www.ibtimes.com/china-russia-dump-us-dollar-bilateral-trade-248234 This happened three years ago, and Japan, India and France are buying in to save their economies. Our country is destroying it's own money. Instead of denying that it is happening, you should instead be asking yourself what will happen to our country WHEN IT HAPPENS. You are still pretending that the rest of the world is sufficient on the production of the United States of America. A country that relies almost exclusively on imported product. The only leverage that the US has on the rest of the world anymore is: A) dollar trade B) overpriced military power The only thing that ties those countries to the US is either debts that the US owes to them, tax shelters that the US has created by providing ill-fated aid programs for their low classes, or the fact that they have to convert their currency to dollars before they can convert it to the currency of their trading partner. That last one hurts countries because of the fact that our country has completely devalued it's own currency. It hurts international trade. Their money isn't worth what it should be. They hate us for it. As far as the first two... they will basically go away when the rest of the world stops kneeling to a country that has no hope. The rest of the world has been denying it for years. You are too busy watching well-designed propaganda to have noticed. You are assuming that I was talking about military vulnerability. They won't need to attack if we can't put fuel into our attack machines.
The yuan is the 13th most used currency in settling international trade. 13th. This is after the Chinese began the effort to shift their international trade to a yuan-based system 3 years ago. The US value to most economies is as an export market. There are several commodities that we export that are important but access to the US market is what most companies need to make their balance of payments. Can't import what they need from other countries without the coin that the US market brings in. Well, many countries rely on the US as an effective defense subsidy at this point. It's nice not needing to have a Navy in the Pacific because the US Navy is the regional powerhouse. Ditto for Western Europe and NATO power. The US has more proven oil reserves than 98% of the rest of the world. The war machine is not going to grind to a halt because we can't get oil. Think about it.
If the Republicans deep-six the debt limit deal in August we'll all wake the fuck up pretty quickly. Absent that I think we'll make it through about 2060 before we see anybody definitively pass us as the global hegemon.
The US has enormous reserves of raw material, energy and clean water, along with a well educated population and its still a very desirable place to come for high skilled workers. It also has the ability to defend itself from any foreign power in the world. I wouldn't get to hung up on currency its one factor of many and in the many category the US is in much better economic shape than people realize.
The US dollar is going to be a relic. It's going to be something that we consider a thing of the past. North America will create a new currency, Bway. It's inevitable. It will be something that combines the easy labor of Mexico, and the socialistic efforts of Canada. But it will be mostly a US effort, because we have the diplomatic infrastructure. A new currency that involves three countries and is something that meshes with the Euro. There won't be a true one-world government, but it will be depicted as such. And it will completely ignore those countries that do not participate. France, Japan, China, Russia, India, Brazil, and some other countries of note. That's where warfare starts. You are still in denial.
You are talking about golden age America. The US does have enormous oil reserves, in an age where fuel is redefining itself by necessity, thanks to the US government's denial of a fuel surplus to it's own residents. Clean water.... I'd like to see what you are reading to determine that. World trade is something that has made the US a comfortable place to live. I'd like to see why you consider it such an afterthought. And LOL at the idea of a "well-educated population". Maybe in reference to Afghanistan.
Oh, I get it. If politicians don't make another fake deal to fool their voters into thinking that their country is not completely and hopelessly fucked financially, there will be a problem. Why don't you even address the reality of our national debt? Please tell me the current total, and then tell me why everything is happytimes.
[YOUTUBE]rzE1g9nb2_s[/YOUTUBE]everyone should watch this. Its from canada,but there are others from the events in pittsburgh etc.
All currencies lose value eventually. I don't see the dollar going away unless the right-wing fringe manages to destroy the US economy. Obviously there are easy mechanisms to do this at this point. Just making US debt no longer trustworthy would go a long way towards destroying our standard of living. I very much doubt any united world government is viable at this point, even a fictional one designed to mask the elite stranglehold on power.
US national debt is a real issue. We're still not as indebted as a percentage of GDP as the Canadians or the Germans or the French or the Brits or the Japanese. Our economy has a much higher carrying capacity than any of the countries above and assuming we don't kill ourselves by repudiating our debt we'll remain afloat longer than any of the economies above. We need to fix this but seriously do you see Canadians or Germans cutting their wrists over public debt? They're worse off than we are.
Of course you doubt it. You are comfortable in a system that lies to you every day. The US dollar is now only as strong as the countries who trust it. Maybe you have even been preached to about how foreign countries are conspiring to weaken the dollar by refusing to trade with it. That is the propaganda that I am talking about. Complete lies by the government, half of which you support. You've been told to doubt that which you don't feel comfortable believing, because it is an uncomfortable truth. Because believing in the alternative puts your way of life in a very precarious position. You are conditioned to comfort. Be happy. Be content. Watch TV. Don't make waves. You feel comfortable thinking that at least one side of the government is on your side. Because the idea that neither side is looking out for you is something that destroys your world view. I get it. I have lived it. It's completely wrong.
We aren't that far off from being a net exporter of energy. I believe that would eliminate our trade deficit. The US also is a net importer of well educated workers along with having some of the best schools in medicine, science and engineering in the world. The biggest threat to our economy is instability and war. This idea that we are broke completely discounts that we are on the verge of being energy independent and food independent. We also have a relatively free society. While that part of our society is under threat, you are discounting it entirely to much. Our economy is growing, we will have some inflation, our debt issues are largely demographic and will rise and than fall. No doubt plutocracy, a loss of freedom, the theft of ideas will all create drag, as will money manipulation. That's been going on since the begining of time as has an improving standard of living and an improving length of life. In the real world there are thousands of extremely bright ingenious people who are going to drag us forward despite the naysayers. The US is still a great place to live, work and invest in the future.
Biggsy, it's like you are reading from a script. If our government has to print money to even struggle to pay the interest on our national debt, it will take a thousand years to eliminate that debt by selling oil to countries that are in the last century and dependent on oil. This is also taking into account that our own nation is still dependent on that resource. Tell me how it happens. Does the US finally admit to their people that they have an alternate answer to oil? And then sell off the antiquated resource to third world countries? We both know it's not happening. Especially since Asian countries would reverse engineer that tech and sell it cheaper. For every thousand intelligent forward-draggers in this country, there are ten million knuckle-draggers that have been conditioned to laziness and contempt and ignorance. This country breeds stupidity and complacency. That is what the government wants. Sheep. Easily herded. The brightest minds in this country come from other countries, and you and I both know it. I used to be ashamed of that fact. Until I understood why.
Fortunately the minority now has computing power. You know you're one of my favorites. I'm sorry to see you so cynical about your future.
This has to be written to the collective "you" because it does not reflect my reality in any way. At the lowest level, I haven't owned a TV since 2004. The best way to form a rational opinion is to get a lot of information from a lot of different sources and then make up your own mind. There is no one source of information that I trust fully and I see agendas behind every source I use.
Thanks, and likewise. Computing power is our only hope, WB. I used to view the internet with a sense of suspicion, because of the overall lack of boundaries. I liked boundaries, because they gave me a sense of security and a sense of self. I have realized over the past few years that I was conditioned to like those boundaries. I was conditioned to believe that my little corner of existence was untouchable, and that I could spend my time discussing the outside world without touching it. This was even after a decade in the service of the armed forces, and tasting the cultures of many countries. Looking back on it now, I am confounded as to why I resisted the ideas of people that I had met around the world that didn't share my opinions. And the opinions of my fellow soldiers. I returned to America as closed-minded as I had left it. Now that I have the ability to share in the opinions of people around the world, without that filter hanging in front of my face, I yearn to be that younger man, and to truly understand the ideas of those whom I had spurned so readily. I've had life changing experiences over the past year. And for whatever reason, I see the world in a light that seems much more clear than I had realized it could be. That is what I mean when I say that I am awake. I understand things that I otherwise was unable to. And it is frustrating when I see others, especially minds that I hold in high respect, that are unable to see what I do. Your opinion is that I am viewing the world in a cynical respect. I am only seeing it now as it really is. And computing power is like the biggest magnifying glass in the world to a person such as the man I am now. There are no boundaries at all.
