Some of you may remember the cult classic show Firefly that lasted one (too-short) season. If you haven’t seen it, picture a cowboy(ish) space story depicting honest people forced to fringe-dwelling by an all-powerful central power. It’s actually great. Among other very interesting things, the folks in the Firefly world speak a Cajun mixture of English and Chinese. These days I’m wondering more and more if the show’s writer had prophetic abilities.
Of everyone alive in this country today, no one – not a single person – has lived in a time when the United States was not the global superpower. This power has always rested on – not the might of the US military (though it is the enforcement arm of the empire) – but on the strength of the dollar.
The United States’ ability to force the rest of the world to accept, and use, the dollar as their reserve currency has enabled its superpower status. The dollar, created out of thin air, not guns, tanks or warships, have been the secret to the United States’ overarching worldwide rule. Really, it’s an empire. But whereas “Empire” brings duh-duh-duhduh and high step marching to mind, we church it up and call ourselves a global superpower bestowing democracy on everyone (whether they want it or not).
Sadly, for the empire, folks are beginning to wise up. That’s not fair. Folks – the world over – have been wise to the United States’ forced worldwide occupation for a long, long time. Doing something about it is a different matter altogether. How do you go up against a power that can flatten you, if they want? How do you extricate an entire country, a whole economy, from such a tight hold?
Russia and China are betting on slowly and deliberately. Though the US is introducing sanctions against China, both countries are trading with one another, other countries, building trading consortiums based on local currencies and are allowing currency swaps backed by gold. They are slowly, very slowly, ignoring the dollar and creating their own reserve currency.
Oh! There’s another thing! They’re also buying gold. They’re strengthening the real position of their currencies and economies by greatly increasing their gold reserves. This year alone China has raised its gold reserves by 100 tons. Russia was the world’s largest gold purchaser last year and in 2019 alone, it has raised its holdings by 106 tons. And they’re not alone. From Germany to Holland, the world is buying gold again – as has been since 2014. In the first six months of 2019, global central banks picked up 374.1 tons!
Folks, there is a worldwide shift taking place that very, very few in this country see or, if they do see, can admit its existence. Dollar power is disappearing. The dollar’s days are numbered as the world reserve currency. Maybe we won’t all end up speaking a Chinese-English hybrid one day, and I’m pretty sure we won’t fly around in horse-shaped space ships. But if the Russians, the Chinese, and most of the central banks in the world think its time to buy gold, what does that mean for you?
