Did you wake up and read about what’s going on with the dollar? Probably not, especially if you still get your news from the paper. And if you get your news from American newspapers, then you definitely didn’t read about what’s going on with the dollar.
If you only get the paper, you probably know the names of David Letterman’s interns and the latest with “Jon & Kate Plus 8.” But the demise of the American dollar? Please. Didn’t you hear they arrested the Erin Andrews stalker? Why would we waste time talking about the dollar?
Here’s why: Because whenever I ask people how it is they believe we can possibly sustain our out-of-control spending and foreign debt, they always respond the same way: “We’ll be fine. We just will. It’s America.”
OK, that’s nice optimism. I’m sure you are going to be a favorite with Lindsey Graham — he’s optimistic about stuff too. But that doesn’t quite provide comfort after what I read in The Independent on the “Demise of the Dollar.”
The British paper claims that Arab states have launched secret moves with China, Russia and France to stop using the U.S. currency for oil trading. They plan to instead move towards a “basket of currencies.” Oh, that sounds so inclusive, doesn’t it?
The basket includes the euro, yen, pound sterling, Canadian dollar, Swedish crown krona and the Swiss franc.
Hmmm, what’s missing?
Now, just so you know, the Saudi Central Bank governor denies the secret talks took place. Oh, well if they said so, we can all assume the dollar is here to stay and everything is peachy. But, in the off-chance the Saudi Central Bank governor isn’t *reliable*, what does that mean for our dollar and our country if it is no longer pegged to oil? What does that mean for you?
Well, the dollar has lost nearly 29 percent of its value in the last seven years — 29 percent is gone, you just haven’t noticed it. Nine percent of that drop was in the last six months alone. Also, in six months it’s lost 19 percent to the Australian dollar, 13 percent to the Canadian dollar and 12 percent to the Japanese yen.
So, how come you haven’t heard about it?
Well, most people haven’t minded that much. Our attitude has long been one of: “It doesn’t matter how much the dollar goes down in value. Hey, it’s good for business and we’ll be able to make more stuff and sell it to people! We’ll just keep buying oil with it. After all, it is America and they’d never destroy themselves!”
What happens when China and Gulf Arabs and get their way and end dollar dealings for oil and replace the dollar with a new reserve currency? Well, the world will dump its dollars. And that leaves us with all of this money and that’s called hyper-inflation: Your 100 bucks is now worth one.
Now, if you are one of those people who think America will always be there because “we are America,” let me make one thing very, very clear to you: America can fail. It is possible. Wasn’t it only back in January that we had a United States congressman say America was “three hours away from complete economical and political collapse that would bring about martial law”?
I don’t know if he was right, but is it possible? Let me ask you this: Do you remember what you felt like on September 11? Do you remember how fragile this country felt? Are you telling me we are in better shape than we were September 9, 2001? You are living in a fantasy land if you think so.
Out in the Redwood Forest, in California, these giant trees stood for hundreds and hundreds of years. They were immovable. They weathered great storms fires. They are a wonder of the world. Nothing could take them down — until suddenly, they started to collapse. We found that there was a tiny beetle that had started to infect the trees. Little by little — from inside — they started to consume and weaken the trees. And, before we knew it, what mighty winds and storms and earthquakes and fires could not take down, a tiny beetle did — from the inside.
Our society, our government, our financial and business system is infested with tiny beetles.
Lindsey Graham said I’m a pessimist and he doesn’t listen to pessimists:
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM, R-S.C.: You can listen to him if you like. I choose not to because, quite frankly, I don’t — I don’t want to go down the road of thinking our best days are behind us.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
But, let me make it clear: I’m not a pessimist. If I was a pessimist, I wouldn’t be living in New York City. I would be living on a farm, someplace far from here, in an underground bunker. I am an optimist — no, let me take that back. I’m a realist.
We must recognize that the body is infested with beetles or a cancer. Stop ridiculing the doctor telling you this and telling you to get chemotherapy or telling you to call Terminix and start getting treatment.
Because I am a realist — an optimist — I know what the disease is: It’s corruption and it can be treated. It can be cured. But not if we don’t band together. Not if we waste time and scream at each other.
I am an optimist because I know we are the people that conquered the West, crossed the mountains and put a man on the moon. We certainly can defeat corruption. But if we don’t, we will go the way of the Soviet Union, the last big superpower and empire.
For 70 years the Soviet Union was a world superpower with a military of 5 million and over 30,000 nuclear weapons. They were feared and played a big role on the world’s stage. Does anyone remember what happened to the Soviet Union? It came crashing down and it didn’t take long for it to fall either.
They were saddled with soaring budget deficits and foreign debt during the ’90s and then the price of oil sharply declined, inflation was at 20-25 percent, the ruble’s international strength declined, the country was embroiled in an endless conflict with Afghanistan… any of this sounding familiar?
We’ve got all of these similar problems in place, yet our government still has no problem jamming through $1 trillion health care plan? Or spending hundreds of billions on bank bailouts and stimulus money? And they don’t even flinch at the billions in cost of a massive cap-and-trade program? One that, in the face of rising energy costs, would raise energy prices *on purpose*?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
THEN-PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE BARACK OBAMA: Under my plan of a cap-and-trade system, electricity rates would necessarily skyrocket.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
It’s important to note that the Soviet Union didn’t collapse, it was transformed. When three Soviet leaders met in the woods and they decided the Soviet system wasn’t working and would eventually implode, they drafted a document and transformed the Soviet model. They presented the plan to the Supreme Soviet Council, who had one hour to debate.
They are going to come to you and tell you: “You had to do this.” They wont take you farther into freedom, they are going to take you farther into control. You don’t want your life and your freedom and your children’s freedom in the hands of the people you don’t trust now.
— Watch “Glenn Beck” weekdays at 5 p.m. ET on FOX News Channel
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