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assayer
@assayer
Do we agree with @balajis.eth that geopolitics is like a market where the US is just another company that must "produce" and trade to survive? Or is the US more like a world government, especially since the creation of the petrodollar? To put it simply: the gov doesn't need to produce anything; it uses force to make companies pay taxes for organizing society, and you must pay in their currency. Similarly, the US forces other countries to pay for oil in dollars. This includes oil from US-protected Saudi Arabia. What was Vance's biggest concern in the leaked Signal messages about the attack on Yemen? It was: "If there are things we can do upfront to minimize risk to Saudi oil facilities, we should do it." The world can't just "stop using dollars" because no ruling elite in any country will risk losing access to oil. There's a "milkshake theory" about de-dollarization hitting hardest outside the US (see the video about the petrodollar system's history and future). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHzFLoMLfpA
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Jordan Olmstead
@ruminations
I lean towards the latter — u.s. spending on “security” yields all sorts of favorable economic arrangements for the us which the former camp does not appreciate or underappreciates
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Jordan Olmstead
@ruminations
Also fails to consider the role of defense in our industrial base. For instance, U.S. weapon systems are exported abroad, and revenue is reinvested in our broader industrial base — Honeywell sells microcontrollers for weapons but they also sell air conditioners
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