- On Thanksgiving Eve, the English language China
Daily and People's Daily Online reported that Russia and
China have concluded an agreement to abandon the use of the US dollar in
their bilateral trade and to use their own currencies in its place. The
Russians and Chinese said that they had taken this step in order to insulate
their economies from the risks that have undermined their confidence in
the US dollar as world reserve currency.
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- This is big news, especially for the news dead Thanksgiving
holiday period, but I did not see it reported on Bloomberg, CNN,New York
Times or anywhere in the US media. The ostrich's head remains in the
sand.
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- Previously, China concluded the same agreement with Brazil.
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- As China has a large and growing supply of dollars from
trade surpluses with which to conduct trade, China is signaling that she
prefers Russian rubles and Brazilian reals to more US dollars.
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- The American financial press finds solace in the episodes
when sovereign debt scares in the EU send the dollar up against the euro
and UK pound. But these currency movements are just measures of financial
players shorting troubled EU-denominated debt. They are not a measure of
dollar strength.
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- The dollar's role as world reserve currency is one of
the main instruments of American financial hegemony. We haven't been told
how much damage Wall Street fraud has inflicted on EU financial institutions,
but the EU countries no longer need the US dollar for trade between themselves
as they share a common currency. Once the OPEC countries cease to hold
the dollars that they are paid for oil, dollar hegemony will have faded
away.
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- Another instrument of American financial hegemony is
the IMF. Whenever a country cannot make good on its debts and pay back
the American banks, in steps the IMF with an austerity package that squeezes
the country's population with higher taxes and cuts in education, medical
and income support programs until the bankers get their money back.
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- This is now happening to Ireland and is likely to spread
to Portugal, Spain, and even to France. After the American-caused financial
crisis, the IMF's role as a tool of US imperialism is less and less acceptable.
The point could come when governments can no longer sell out their people
for the sake of the American banks.
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- There are other signs that some countries are tiring
of America's irresponsible use of power. Turkey's civilian governments
have long been under the thumb of the American influenced Turkish military.
However, recently the civilian government moved against two top generals
and an admiral suspected of involvement in planning a coup. The civilian
government further asserted itself when the prime minister announced on
Thanksgiving day that Turkey is prepared to react to any Israeli offensive
against Lebanon. Here is an American NATO ally freeing itself from American
suzerainty exercised through the Turkish military. Who knows, Germany could
be next.
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- Meanwhile in America, the sheeple remain content with,
or blind to, their role as sheep to be slaughtered to feed the rich. The
Obama administration has managed to come up with a Deficit Commission whose
members want to pay for the multi-trillion dollar wars that are enriching
the military/security complex and the multi-trillion dollar bailouts of
the financial system by reducing annual cost-of-living increases for Social
Security, raising the retirement age to 69, ending the mortgage interest
deduction, ending the tax deduction for employer-provided health insurance,
imposing a 6.5% federal sales tax, while cutting the top tax rate for the
rich.
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- Even the Federal Reserve's low interest rates are aimed
at helping the banksters.
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- The low interest rates deprive retirees and those living
on their savings of interest income. The low interest rates have also deprived
corporate pensions of funding. To fill the gap corporations are issuing
billions of dollars in corporate bonds in order to fund their pensions.
Corporate debt is increasing, but not plant and equipment that would produce
earnings to service the debt. As the economy worsens, servicing the additional
debt will be a problem.
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- In addition, America's elderly are finding that fewer
and fewer doctors will accept them as patients as a 23% cut looms in the
already low Medicare payments to doctors. The American government
only has resources for wars of aggression and bailouts of rich banksters.
The American citizen has become a mere subject to be bled for the ruling
oligarchies.
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- The police state attitude of the TSA toward airline travelers
is a clear indication that Americans are no longer citizens with rights
but subjects without rights. Perhaps the day will come when oppressed Americans
will take to the streets like the French, the Greeks, the Irish, and the
British.
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