Dumbest Thing Ever - Destroying the Dollar as the World's Reserve Currency with SANCTIONS, SWIFT and WARS
Few Americans pay attention to the horror of sanctions or how they are motivating the rest of the world to ditch the dollar. The consequences will be devastating for Americans.
Of all the powers that governments have, none is more potent and powerful than being the world's reserve currency because it's the primary driver of global trade and wealth. Just about every major financial transaction on the planet is facilitated by the dollar in some way.
Few folks in American can even comprehend that when the dollar loses its lofty status as the world's reserve currency then America becomes just another south of the border styled bankrupt banana boat republic. Our standard of living crashes and burns. Nobody believes that such a thing could possibly happen, and certainly not here in the USA. Delusion is extremely comforting for clueless Americans!
Of all the insidious and evil things that one nation can inflict upon another nation, sanctions are among the worst because they destroy economies and always result in massive human suffering. Folks die from starvation and lack of medicine. Former Secretary of State Madelaine Albright bragged to Leslie Stahl live on 60 minutes that murdering a half a million Iraqi children with sanctions was worth it. In what universe are such horrors worth it? US sanctions denied necessities and meds to Cubans and we’ve been sanctioning Cuba since 1963. US sanctions resulted in massive Cuban suffering and death.
Sanctions are a murderous tool that should never be used, let alone used lightly. However, the US is sanctions obsessed because our foreign policy establishment is run by arrogant, power mad lunatics. We've imposed sanctions on many nations including Russia, Iran, Cuba, North Korea, Syria and more. Sanctions are administered by the Treasury Department's OFAC or Office of Foreign Asset Control. The Treasury Department even proudly publishes its sanctions on its website, here. The list is LONG and growing.
Since the world justifiably fears the devastating effects of crippling and deadly economic sanctions, many nations seek ways to bypass them. That was damn near impossible until recently because all financial and commercial transaction aka TRADE are settled through the SWIFT payment system. SWIFT facilitates the transfer of money and a brief explanation of it is here. The US controls SWIFT so if a nation doesn't comply with US demands, the US will weaponize SWIFT and the resulting economic destruction to a nation is brutal. What America does to hurt other nations is also called a monetary blockade and is worth understanding.
The Payments Network As Economic Weapon
What happens if the US Empire can no longer use SWIFT and sanctions as powerfully destructive weapons to inflict pain and misery upon humanity? Bear in mind that the US doesn't advocate for sound money and free trade because as a fascist corporatist nation we tend to favor protectionism and monopoly, as well as fiat central bank money but that’s another issue.
Which brings me to the next critical point. China and Russia have been stockpiling gold for years in anticipation of the collapse of the dollar as the world’s reserve currency.
Why? Because the US is an arrogant bully that has so alienated and pissed off foreign nations with chronic and egregious abuses of power including sanctions that they have been seeking alternative monetary option to the dollar and SWIFT (the US controlled international payment system that facilitates all financial aspects of trade).
America views the world through the prism of I’M EMPEROR OF THE PLANET, DO AS I SAY OR SUFFER THE CONSEQUENCES.
That paradigm is changing but not for the US but for other nations seeking an escape from US control, sanctions and financial punishment. Two incredibly powerful events are providing hope to transition nations away from dollar dependence.
China’s Belt Road Initiative is all about trade. It’s huge and growing.
Source: https://www.clingendael.org/publication/new-map-belt-and-road-initiative
Everyone is noticing the Belt Road Initiative (BRI) including the Council on Foreign Relations. It’s worth understanding the goals of BRI which are simple. TRADE, TRADE and TRADE to build wealth and cooperation with other nations with the same goals and doing it with mutually beneficial alliances.
China’s Massive Belt and Road Initiative
To date, 147 countries—accounting for two-thirds of the world’s population and 40 percent of global GDP—have signed on to projects or indicated an interest in doing so.
In addition to BRI, another powerful alliance known as the BRIC nations…Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa..is becoming a formidable trading bloc. To avoid US monetary punishment, sanctions and a monetary blockcade, the BRIC nations are seeking their own currency.
BRICS Alliance Working To Create Its Own Currency, Says Russian Official
According to reports quoting Russian lawmaker Alexander Babakov, the BRICS nations are in the process of creating a new medium for payments – established on a strategy that “does not defend the dollar or euro”.
It’s not just that nations want to ditch the dollar because because they fear economic destruction by American bullies. They are starting to actually trade in their own local currencies and I believe this is a trend that will continue.
China And Brazil Strike Deal To Ditch The US Dollar
According to the Brazilian government, China and Brazil have reached a deal to trade in their own currencies and ditch the US dollar.
In a time when de-dollarization news are dropping fast and furious and even Elon Musk is now jumping on a bandwagon…
Elon Musk tweeted on 3/29/23 “Serious issue. US policy has been too heavy-handed, making countries want to ditch the dollar.”
Mexico is our 2nd largest trading partner, after Canada, but Mexico fears that US control will hurt the country and its plans to expand trade. It’s considering joining the BRIC nations.
Mexico Now Seriously Considering Joining BRICS – Another Blow to America Under the Corrupt Biden Administration
Americans may yawn as though it’s no big deal but it is a big deal. It’s a big deal because when the US government cannot get foreign nations to buy our debt (now a $32 trillion nightmare), the government won’t have the money to fund various programs including Social Security, healthcare, Medicare, Medicaid, veterans care, welfare, food stamps etc. When that happens, the result will be violence, revolution and chaos….a total disintegration of civil society.
The hot new trend and term is de-dollarization and it’s the focus of monetary and financial experts globally as nations seek to escape the draconian clutches of US power. This outstanding article below is worth reading in its entirely because it explains a lot in easy to understand language and, of course, this is a major geopolitical upheavel.
Since the 1970s it’s been virtually impossible for a country to function without access to US dollars. And Washington maintained this highly-favorable status quo by putting various kinds of pressure — from sanctions to election theft to outright invasion — on anyone who stepped out of line.
This weaponization of the world’s reserve currency has, not surprisingly, created resentment in a lot of foreign capitals. And after a long gestation period, that resentment is now erupting into a rebellion against dollar hegemony. Among the big recent events:
The BRICS coalition has become the hottest ticket in geopolitics. Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa (the BRICS) have been toying with the idea of forming a political/monetary counterweight to U.S. dominance since 2001. But beyond some aggressive gold buying by Russia and China, there was more talk than action.
Then the floodgates opened. Whether due to the pandemic’s supply chain disruptions, heavy-handed sanctions imposed by US-led NATO during the Russia-Ukraine war, or just the fact that de-dollarization was an idea whose time had finally come, the BRICS alliance has suddenly become the hottest ticket in town. In just the past year, Argentina, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Mexico, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Egypt have either applied to join or expressed an interest in doing so. And new bilateral trade deals that bypass the dollar are being discussed all over the place.
Combine the land mass, population, and natural resources of the BRICS countries with those of the potential new members and the result is more or less half the world. And now things are getting real:
China brokers a peace deal between Saudia Arabie and Iran, two bitter historical enemies who want to join the BRICS alliance but can’t if they’re in an undeclared war. Should they stop competing and start cooperating they could dominate the Middle East and raise China’s clout in the region, at the petrodollar’s expense…
It’s not just China and Brazil that are openly talking de-dollarization. India is also seeking the ability to trade globally using its own currency.
India’s Plan To Internationalise Rupee In Foreign Trade
Of all the things happening on the international stage, perhaps nothing is more indicative of a major paradigm shift than China brokering a peace deal between enemies Saudi Arabia and Iran. The US has historically played geopolitical enemies against each other to effect loyalty to the US. That strategy is busted.
Iran-Saudi Rapprochement Will Deal A Deathblow To The Dollar
As the gatekeeper of the petro dollar, the Saudis are looking out for their own self interest by expanding trade, even with their historic mortal enemy Iran. One of the reasons why the dollar maintains it’s reserve currency status is because Saudi Arabia, once the oil kingpin of the planet, only traded oil in dollars per an agreement with the US, hence the creation of the petro dollar. Once oil starts to substantially trade in non-dollar currencies, the petro dollar ceases to exist.
Despite draconian sanctions on major oil producers Iran, Russia and Venezuela, oil and trade are both flowing. Instead of being hurt by US sanctions, nations are figuring out how to bypass them.
Bottom line: as the world pursues peaceful and voluntary trade, it’s also giving America a well deserved middle finger by announcing WE’VE HAD ENOUGH OF YOUR BULLYING.
The destruction of the dollar is the legacy of national madness and the Democrats and Biden Administration are leading the charge in what can only be characterized as a planned and implemented suicide of the dollar, although the Trump Administration also used sanctions as an economic weapon. While the Trump Administration had it own list of nations that it hated and sought to punish, the Trump Administration generally sought to protect trade because they understood its value in creating prosperity.
Serious things are happening that definitely hold the potential to strike a mortal blow to our prosperity and standard of living, and we have no one to blame but ourselves.
The situation is so serious that even Congress Critters are taking notice. Sen. Marco Rubio, an avowed neocon, interventionist, warmonger, sanctions lover and a very dangerous Republican profoundly understands what is happening and whined about it. LOL, Rubio knows the sanctions game is ending as nations affirm their own sovereignty and economic self interest.
Rubio: Adversaries Creating A Secondary Economy, Will Trade In Currencies Other Than The Dollar To Avoid Sanctions
"Just today, today, Brazil, in our hemisphere, the largest country in the Western hemisphere south of us cut a trade deal with China," Rubio said. "They're going to from now on do trade in their own currencies to get right around the dollar."
"They are creating a secondary economy in the world totally independent of the United States," Rubio continued. "We won’t have to talk about sanctions in 5 years because there will be so many countries transacting in currencies other than the dollar that we won’t have the ability to sanction them…”
Imagine Little Marco being distressed that America is losing its power to inflict horrific suffering, pain and death upon humanity, kind of like being worried that he won’t have the bragging rights of Madelaine Albright proclaiming that killing half a million Iraqi children was worth it.
The REAL tragedy is that America was a nation that was build on trade, not empire. Our mutually beneficial trade benefited us and our trading partners. Thomas Jefferson understood this and warned us.
As American transitioned to a nasty bully empire, we sacrificed all that made us great, admired, respected, loved and prosperous. The words of Bastiat always ring true and the world is pursuing peaceful trade without us while we pursue wars, empire and bullying.
No, this won’t end well for America or the American people.
