While Americans debate over red and blue politics, if gay people should have any rights, and why migrant workers don’t deserve citizenship, the world is reshaping its relationship with the US dollar. Once considered the world’s currency, the dollar is under attack and if we don’t pay attention, Americans could be in for a rude awakening.
The dollar has been the world’s primary reserve currency for over sixty years. Under the Bretton Woods system, the dollar was pegged to gold and most other currencies were pegged to the dollar. As a result of this arrangement, dollars were used as the main intervention currency and, hence, reserve currency.
The Bretton Woods Agreement and system created a collective international currency exchange setup that lasted from the mid-1940s to the early 1970s. The Federal Reserve Bank states that the countries involved in the formation of the agreement “saw the opportunity for a new international system after World War II that would draw on the lessons of the previous gold standards and the experience of the Great Depression and provide for postwar reconstruction.”
After President Richard Nixon ended the agreement in 1971, crude oil became the dominant means by which the dollar was based globally, e.g., countries importing oil pay for it in greenbacks. Similarly, those that export the commodity receive payment in USD.
Countries around the world accepted the dollar as the standard for the last fifty years. But in 2020 things started to change. The dollar was used as a weapon to punish countries that didn’t behave the way the US wanted. If a country held a political position in opposition to that of the US or behaved in a way that harmed humanity, the US would punish those countries by impacting their economy.
Using the dollar (petrodollar, as stated by OPEC) as a weapon has created a backlash for the countries that are in direct competition with the US, or that share the same ideologies. Those countries are actively working to break the relationship between the dollar and crude oil.
The end of the petrodollar would indeed weaken the dollar, even though it wouldn’t be a mortal blow. But it’s foolhardy to ignore the status of the petrodollar because that positioning has geopolitical implications.
A shift away from the dollar could lead to increased volatility in currency markets, which could impact the performance of global companies and financial institutions. In addition, a decline in demand for US financial assets, including stocks, could lead to a decline in global stock markets.
THE LOSS LEADER
There is no real way to tell if the American way of life might be impacted by the fall of the dollar around the world. Some speculate that the problem is not that serious. Others predict a much more severe outcome.
Either way, the position of America, as the leader of the world, is quickly changing. With so many distractions at home and abroad, Americans are too wrapped up in their own self-absorbed battles to notice that the US has become a shadow of itself.
America no longer leads as it used to. In fact, some countries recently put out warnings to their citizens that traveling to the US is dangerous and advised against it. Rampant crime is just one of the areas where America struggles as a country.
The US government doesn’t formally track how many Americans leave the country, but the most recent estimate puts the figure at nearly nine million. This figure represents a doubling of the 1999 figure, placed at 4.1 million. California, Illinois, Michigan, Massachusetts, and New York were at the top of the list of states people are leaving.
Education, cost of living, and quality of life are starting to become a factor in whether people choose to come here to live. Conversely, Americans are leaving by the thousands and not coming back.
There are now a record number of American expats becoming temporary residents in Mexico as of 2022. According to an analysis from Bloomberg, there was an 85 percent increase between 2019 and 2022 in the number of Americans becoming temporary residents in Mexico.
THE CHANGING AMERICA
The fabric of America is changing, and no one seems to be taking notice. Everywhere you look, law and order are quickly disappearing. Here are some examples where unlawful activity has been normalized:
· Mobile scams – The fact that people get 5 to 7 scam calls a day. It has become a part of life if you own a cell phone.
· Mass shootings – There have been over 300 mass shootings in 2023 (Mass shooting definition: when 4 or more people die in one occurrence).
· Retail theft – Watching thieves steal from retail stores has become great people-watching instead of a lawless act. There are actual policies prohibiting employees from stopping crimes.
· Home Invasions – No amount of money or gated communities can protect people from home invasions. People are getting robbed at an unprecedented level.
· Left-hand lane drivers – This petty driving abuse is so bad that it has raised the potential for accidents and exacerbated road rage, which can lead to deadly altercations.
If Americans can come together to boycott a beer, then we can come together and demand that America return to some level of law and order. America is under attack from foreign and domestic problems. If the citizens of the country do not begin to correct some of these errors, the country will continue to die a slow and ugly death. ●
