Though the evidence presented herein be anecdotal, that is the point. I personally No LONGER consider the United States of America a superpower. The main, ad most-important reason being that any country claiming such status must have win wars or any acts of aggression, whether it initiated them or not.
Now, if you've read any of my previous posts, I think you would realize that I am not pro-war or pro-any acts of aggression. War simply means all diplomacy has broken down and acts of aggression means, at least in every instance in which the United States was the aggressor, that our leadership wanted to steal some resource for the benefit of America's Elite. I make this claim about who benefits from war, based on the way in which this country has developed over the past few decades. First off, the United States has been at war or involved in some conflict somewhere in the world since World War Two.
Obviously, there were wars and conflicts prior to WWII, but I specified the war to end all wars as significant because it is the last one in which The States was clearly the victor... And, I don't just mean militarily. Not only did the United States and its allies defeat the Axis Alliance of Germany, Italy and Japan, but it conquered the latest empire upon which the sun supposedly never set... The British Empire. This empire had maintained its dominance up until the early part of the nineteenth century at which point Germany and America vied for this coveted position until Germany's standing on the World's stage was weakened after its initial defeat during World War One and obliterated after the losses it incurred during WWII. It was not only then that the Germany fell out of the race for dominion, but also when the British Empire began to falter. As with all empires throughout the ages, the United Kingdom began suffocate under the weight of its own success. Like the Romans, the expense of expanding, supporting, maintaining or even exhibiting the appearance of control over its colonies began to outweigh the revenue that could be extracted from such far away lands like India (for English speakers).
So, with a new century (the twentieth), new power dynamics begin to unfold. Having failed twice to defeat its enemies, Germany not only appears weak, but it is made weak through crippling debt, as it is held responsible for the restoration of those cities and states for which it destroyed in its quest for supremacy. One major problem with holding the loser accountable for the destruction they have wrought is that they are the loser, especially financially. In other words, when you've lost your second world war, you don't really have a lot of money left over for repairs to your country, let alone the repairs to those countries that kicked your ass. In steps the new kid on the block. America has a lot to offer the world (resources, labor, etc.)... For a price. And, since the US is the only game in town that hasn't been destroyed by tanks and bombs, shouldn't it be able to name its price? Shouldn't America be able to name the price of its price? After all, if the World has to play with America's monopoly money, since it's kind of a Worldwide monopoly, should it be allowed to set the value of its currency... A World's Reserve Currency Of course, there were intermediate steps, like the value of the Dollar being pegged to a Gold Standard, but Bankers and private investors would see to the end of such nonsense like that through the unconstitutional creation of the Federal Reserve system of banks.
Under the Federal Reserve, and with the elimination of the Gold Standard, the dollar could be created by fiat, meaning whoever created and controlled it could basically declare its value by decree (sounds archaic and like something we should not use today, right?). And who would be these creator(s) of value be? Why. Whoever held centralized control of the Federal Reserve of course. So, the FED creates money and loans it to the Government... Yes, a system of banks loans money to the Government. Don't you wish you had the authority to loan the Government money, especially since to don't actually have to produce any actual, physical bills. Wouldn't it be great to simply add a zero or two to the numbers of zeros following the debt that your Government owes you? But, how would your taxes work? Could you simply create more virtual money, loan it to the Government to pay your taxes or would you just deduct your taxes from the money that the America owes you anyway? If only there were some kind of American debt clock to track what America owes you. And, if the World's debt was based upon the money you've created out of thin air, what would that World Debt look like?
Now, with the United States of America controlling the means with which to create as well as the value of money for most of the of planet, you would think that would be the Superpower that it claims to be, and you would be correct... That is unless the United States squandered that control by forcing it enemies and allies to choose an alternative currency as it media of exchange. Is that what's happening to the American Empire. Is America losing its standing as the arbiter of what the World deems as valuable? Check back here and find out.
The Regaining American Democracy (RAD) dictionary word or phrase of the day is;
The NO Standard - noun
The monetary system upon which the United States' standard economic unit of account is based. A currency back by a varying quantity of nothing.
