My brother-in-law recently lent me a book by independent scholar Saifedean Ammous, titled "The Bitcoin Standard" (Wiley, 2018, 2021 update). I am about to get into the digital currency part of it, so I have no idea about the authors approach to this topic. The book is divided in 10 chapters, and I'm on chapter 7 titled "Sound Money and Individual Freedom". The last three chapters on digital currency and particularly bitcoin, makes for a little less than half of the book, and I have not read that part yet. I have learned a big deal about "money" (not investments, but money) on the 6 and a bit chapters I read, so I will shamelessly plug for the book without making a freaking dime. The contents make it feel like you are taking a course in macroeconomics, but you can actually understand it.
After this intro, my comment: the dollar died in 2008/2009. Since then, the dollar has been on life-support. Federal Reserve kept rates artificially low to curb savings and promote borrowing (debt creation). Money has been fleeing from long term capital creation (like, the grinding work of sustaining small business etc.) to other investments (into the stock market; anyone can verify that: except for a brief time in 2020, stock markets have been like hot air balloons, with all major indexes hovering up-and-down around an above average valuation). But money flows where it needs to flow, according to circumstances. So, what's happening right now (as in today, July 10), 2023? Someone (Federal Reserve) is buying large amounts of debt (T-bonds) and the strength of the dollar (DXY) has been falling slowly. The effect of those two things calms the markets, meaning, the patient (the Dollar), has received another bolus of morphine and midazolam, the ventilator has been fine tuned, and we can keep on diverting it into big stock-trading corporations. To avoid some big upset to the elections fraud scheme, this is going to drag until around and/or slightly beyond election 2024 (bar some black swan event). The end game is CDBC + digital ID, but the complete infrastructure is not there yet (see, you need to consolidate, get read of smaller banks and have only the big guns playing the game), so maybe that's another interpretation for "2030". Contrasting to all this, there has been activity to introduce some sort of gold-backed alternative sound money to the dollar, and some countries ("BRICS") seem to be working towards it (however, it will be mostly digital. Beware of CDBC, even if gold-backed. Fight against it., because it will lead to surveillance and control, PLUS a dependency on functioning electricity and data transmission grids: no power, no network - no transaction. Same with bitcoin etc...
Conclusion: the US dollar IS being dismantled, but the operation goes way back to 2008/2009 (Obama's "Hope and Change" years. Or, "there is no hope, and you will have no $ change"). The end-game is CDBC-digital ID. The Fed will do whatever it takes to keep those stock-air-balloons afloat until election 2024. Maybe a nice confrontation with China plus more weapons to Ukraine will keep that inflationary momentum going! When SHTF and hyperinflation kills the dollar (like it killed the Deutsch Mark at the Weimer republic under very similar circumstances - read "When Money Dies" by Adam Ferguson et al.), as many others said before me, some UBI (the solution) will be the peoples's lifeline, and it will be all digital, all tied up to your very own digital ID and your social credit score.
shame and shaming are a quite successsful variation of the warped idea that Chistianity played on its believers: the shame of somehow being responsible for Jesus' crucifiction. in the course of time how many sermons were slung into the open, bellowing "it's your fault He died on the cross, you sinners!". so there's that. yet that's not where our humanity lies, but it got buried somehow. no gods, no slaves.
is that a rhetorical question? the short answer is: nah.... we don't even know if Jesus was a historical figure or a clever, drawn-out PR stunt to make Roman multitheism implode.
on the other hand: Putin is close with the Orthodox church and most of its leaders, although that could be a clever win-win coöperation between Church and State. others have pointed out Putin's close ties with the Jewish organisation Chabad, yet that could equally be a win-win situation.
re: God created music - it takes two to tango! 'womanity' did, but not without a strong dose of divine inspiration. and for the world to enjoy :-))
Thank you for all you do GK!
My brother-in-law recently lent me a book by independent scholar Saifedean Ammous, titled "The Bitcoin Standard" (Wiley, 2018, 2021 update). I am about to get into the digital currency part of it, so I have no idea about the authors approach to this topic. The book is divided in 10 chapters, and I'm on chapter 7 titled "Sound Money and Individual Freedom". The last three chapters on digital currency and particularly bitcoin, makes for a little less than half of the book, and I have not read that part yet. I have learned a big deal about "money" (not investments, but money) on the 6 and a bit chapters I read, so I will shamelessly plug for the book without making a freaking dime. The contents make it feel like you are taking a course in macroeconomics, but you can actually understand it.
After this intro, my comment: the dollar died in 2008/2009. Since then, the dollar has been on life-support. Federal Reserve kept rates artificially low to curb savings and promote borrowing (debt creation). Money has been fleeing from long term capital creation (like, the grinding work of sustaining small business etc.) to other investments (into the stock market; anyone can verify that: except for a brief time in 2020, stock markets have been like hot air balloons, with all major indexes hovering up-and-down around an above average valuation). But money flows where it needs to flow, according to circumstances. So, what's happening right now (as in today, July 10), 2023? Someone (Federal Reserve) is buying large amounts of debt (T-bonds) and the strength of the dollar (DXY) has been falling slowly. The effect of those two things calms the markets, meaning, the patient (the Dollar), has received another bolus of morphine and midazolam, the ventilator has been fine tuned, and we can keep on diverting it into big stock-trading corporations. To avoid some big upset to the elections fraud scheme, this is going to drag until around and/or slightly beyond election 2024 (bar some black swan event). The end game is CDBC + digital ID, but the complete infrastructure is not there yet (see, you need to consolidate, get read of smaller banks and have only the big guns playing the game), so maybe that's another interpretation for "2030". Contrasting to all this, there has been activity to introduce some sort of gold-backed alternative sound money to the dollar, and some countries ("BRICS") seem to be working towards it (however, it will be mostly digital. Beware of CDBC, even if gold-backed. Fight against it., because it will lead to surveillance and control, PLUS a dependency on functioning electricity and data transmission grids: no power, no network - no transaction. Same with bitcoin etc...
Conclusion: the US dollar IS being dismantled, but the operation goes way back to 2008/2009 (Obama's "Hope and Change" years. Or, "there is no hope, and you will have no $ change"). The end-game is CDBC-digital ID. The Fed will do whatever it takes to keep those stock-air-balloons afloat until election 2024. Maybe a nice confrontation with China plus more weapons to Ukraine will keep that inflationary momentum going! When SHTF and hyperinflation kills the dollar (like it killed the Deutsch Mark at the Weimer republic under very similar circumstances - read "When Money Dies" by Adam Ferguson et al.), as many others said before me, some UBI (the solution) will be the peoples's lifeline, and it will be all digital, all tied up to your very own digital ID and your social credit score.
Did I leave anything out, except the culling?
Thanks for your Stack. Always a new perspective.
After a second reading, a lot of editing is needed here but... it's 1:24 am... so be it. Don't shoot the messenger...
shame and shaming are a quite successsful variation of the warped idea that Chistianity played on its believers: the shame of somehow being responsible for Jesus' crucifiction. in the course of time how many sermons were slung into the open, bellowing "it's your fault He died on the cross, you sinners!". so there's that. yet that's not where our humanity lies, but it got buried somehow. no gods, no slaves.
Do you think Putin killed Jesus?
He does go to church, I believe...and opposed burning the Quoran.
God invented music, songs are the original programs....
Religion could be so much more...
is that a rhetorical question? the short answer is: nah.... we don't even know if Jesus was a historical figure or a clever, drawn-out PR stunt to make Roman multitheism implode.
on the other hand: Putin is close with the Orthodox church and most of its leaders, although that could be a clever win-win coöperation between Church and State. others have pointed out Putin's close ties with the Jewish organisation Chabad, yet that could equally be a win-win situation.
re: God created music - it takes two to tango! 'womanity' did, but not without a strong dose of divine inspiration. and for the world to enjoy :-))