3 ms·

The dollar is the reserve currency of most of the world because of the explicit threat of violence. This isn't hyperbole, this is reality. It's simple. You tak

by Mizza 5y ago

The dollar is the reserve currency of most of the world because of the explicit threat of violence. This isn't hyperbole, this is reality. It's simple. You take the loan in dollars, then pay us back in goods, sold at a discount in dollars. If you don't, we sanction and embargo you. You try to break the embargo, we sink your ships. You try to make your own regional currency, we assassinate you. This is why you can afford to purchase expensive goods yet the people who produce them can't. This is the fundamental basis of the modern world. That more people aren't actively aware of this is the powerful result of ideology.

jollybean 5y ago
"The dollar is the reserve currency of most of the world because of the explicit threat of violence. This isn't hyperbole, this is reality." This is mostly a conspiracy theory. And this: "It's simple. You take the loan in dollars, then pay us back in goods, sold at a discount in dollars. If you don't, we sanction and embargo you. " Is essentially not true in any broad sense. Also, there is no such thing as a 'world reserve currency'. The US does use some leverage to require that Oil is traded in USD, particularly with Saudi Arabia, but that's the price of effectively keeping that nation relatively stable, which is not unreasonable. Outside of Oil, there's really no reason for any nation to transact in USD or to keep reserves other than for what makes sense to them. Oil is a key issue in the equation, but it's not actually essential. The USD is mostly a reserve currency because of the size, openness, and relatively integrity of the US system. The Euro is definitely a 'reserve currency' along with UK pound, but proportionally so. The RMB isn't really a reserve currency because of lack of transparency in China, that said, the sheer power of China means that nations that trade with it will adopt it as a reserve on some level. Cryptos unfortunately don't really solve the problems in this geopolitical equation. But someday, they may help to.
- Mizza 5y ago
  This is not a conspiracy theory, it's history. You basically described the whole process yourself. But it's not just oil, it's everything the empire needs. > Outside of Oil, there's really no reason for any nation to transact in USD or to keep reserves other than for what makes sense to them. This, however, is fundamentally wrong, and smacks of naive libertarianism. In a "rational" universe, where gravity of a feather falling to earth is frictionless and I trade my two eggs for your bottle of wine, maybe, sure. In the real world, no. The reason is violence. We won the war and we got to set the rules which benefited us at the expense of others. This is undeniable. Other nations transact and hold reserves in dollars, and occasionally Euros, because of the system of force I described earlier. This why the IMF exists. Everything else is ideology. China's Belt and Road initiative is their own alternative to the IMF. They are able to do this because they have a military force which they believe is now capable of standing up to the United States, by which I mean they will be able to impose their violence rather than ours.

by Mizza 5y ago

jollybean 5y ago

"The dollar is the reserve currency of most of the world because of the explicit threat of violence. This isn't hyperbole, this is reality." This is mostly a conspiracy theory. And this: "It's simple. You take the loan in dollars, then pay us back in goods, sold at a discount in dollars. If you don't, we sanction and embargo you. " Is essentially not true in any broad sense. Also, there is no such thing as a 'world reserve currency'. The US does use some leverage to require that Oil is traded in USD, particularly with Saudi Arabia, but that's the price of effectively keeping that nation relatively stable, which is not unreasonable. Outside of Oil, there's really no reason for any nation to transact in USD or to keep reserves other than for what makes sense to them. Oil is a key issue in the equation, but it's not actually essential. The USD is mostly a reserve currency because of the size, openness, and relatively integrity of the US system. The Euro is definitely a 'reserve currency' along with UK pound, but proportionally so. The RMB isn't really a reserve currency because of lack of transparency in China, that said, the sheer power of China means that nations that trade with it will adopt it as a reserve on some level. Cryptos unfortunately don't really solve the problems in this geopolitical equation. But someday, they may help to.

Mizza 5y ago
This is not a conspiracy theory, it's history. You basically described the whole process yourself. But it's not just oil, it's everything the empire needs. > Outside of Oil, there's really no reason for any nation to transact in USD or to keep reserves other than for what makes sense to them. This, however, is fundamentally wrong, and smacks of naive libertarianism. In a "rational" universe, where gravity of a feather falling to earth is frictionless and I trade my two eggs for your bottle of wine, maybe, sure. In the real world, no. The reason is violence. We won the war and we got to set the rules which benefited us at the expense of others. This is undeniable. Other nations transact and hold reserves in dollars, and occasionally Euros, because of the system of force I described earlier. This why the IMF exists. Everything else is ideology. China's Belt and Road initiative is their own alternative to the IMF. They are able to do this because they have a military force which they believe is now capable of standing up to the United States, by which I mean they will be able to impose their violence rather than ours.