"Business as usual" must certainly include a discussion of "dollar supremacy" (the dollar as the world's reserve currency). Nixon decoupled the dollar from gold and instead pegged it to oil. The "petro dollar" was thus created and OPEC, most importantly Saudi Arabia, agreed to sell oil only in dollars (and then invest those dollars in US markets). Those who threatened to do otherwise have been punished, including Saddam Hussein and Muammar Gaddafi. Dollar supremacy is the keystone of US hegemony - it makes affordable the financing of imperial war.
I am surprised and even amazed that none of the commentary on Trump considers the idea that all of this is nothing more than political theater designed to make other Republican candidates more attractive to the voter. Trump is the nut, and the others - and their positions - are normal.
"Business as usual" must certainly include a discussion of "dollar supremacy" (the dollar as the world's reserve currency). Nixon decoupled the dollar from gold and instead pegged it to oil. The "petro dollar" was thus created and OPEC, most importantly Saudi Arabia, agreed to sell oil only in dollars (and then invest those dollars in US markets). Those who threatened to do otherwise have been punished, including Saddam Hussein and Muammar Gaddafi. Dollar supremacy is the keystone of US hegemony - it makes affordable the financing of imperial war.
I am surprised and even amazed that none of the commentary on Trump considers the idea that all of this is nothing more than political theater designed to make other Republican candidates more attractive to the voter. Trump is the nut, and the others - and their positions - are normal.
AMEN. WHAT ABOUT THE FAILURE OF THE MEDIA ... THAT SEEMS TO BE A SENSITIVE SUBJECT (OR AS MCGOVERN WOULD SAY, NOT ALLOWED IN POLITE CONVERSATION) ...