| Notes | Book |
I define terrorism as using force to take property and force obedience, whether done by a state or some other criminal gang.
If the axis of evil is the three largest and most dangerous terrorist organizations in the world, my candidates are the US Government, the Chinese Government, and the Russian Government. They have the most weapons, the most powerful weapons, and the largest prison populations.
As the saying goes, there is little honor among thieves. It follows, that the most likely check on the recent US power grab in the Middle East is likely to come from the Chinese and Russian Governments.
On the other hand, I just heard Rudy Giuliani on Fox News giving his recipe for stopping a terrorist organization. He cited the way organized crime was stopped in the 1980's. Of course, to accept his analysis, you have to believe that organized crime was actually stopped in the 1980s, which requires more credulity than I can muster.
Nevertheless, I think he might be on to something. His point was that the first step was to seize the criminal's assets. Without money, conducting terrorist activities becomes more difficult. If you consider, as many in the world do, that the US Government is the most dangerous terrorist organization in the world today, then you might want to seize the assets of the US Government, that is to say dollars.
But many who are beginning to oppose US Government policies already have a lot of dollars. Many of the governments who do oppose the US are in the wealthiest countries. Governments hold US dollars, but lots of foreign civilians do also. If these people become disenchanted with the US, and exchange their dollars for euros, yen, or gold, it could put a serious crimp in the US plans to rule the world. If there is a run on the dollar, it could make the US the laughingstock of the world, and the Empire could disappear overnight.
The Chinese and Russian Governments could form a tacit alliance with peace loving civilians all over the world to attack the US economically. Is it a coincidence that the Chinese recently made it legal for their citizens to own gold? For the last few months, the dollar has been declining against the Yen, and the Euro. We are well equipped to conquer any army, but our economic base has withered. We lead the world in production of lawyers and bureaucrats, but lag in the production of silicon chips, automobiles, and many other practical necessities of life. When the Empire disappears, we will not be able to make a living by suing one another and putting each other in jail.
The Roman Empire lasted for more than a thousand years, but it took hundreds of years for their coins to go from pure silver to mostly lead. The dollar is now entirely paper, and intrinsically worthless. The dollar is only supported by the affection and respect of the people of planet earth. We squander that goodwill at our peril.