I happen to think we as American citizens enjoy luxuries that others would dream of having; the "freedom" to speak in any way we want to (within reason), about whomever we want to (again, within reason) without fear of retaliatory action, the privilege to choose our political leader (speaking of which, do vote... please) and a bunch of other less interesting things that I'm sure we take for granted (or at least those old heads TELL us that we do).
Y'all know me; I'm not the cat who takes everything at face value just because some dude stands before a podium in a shiny suit telling me something he or his administration thinks I want to hear or, even better, something they want me to believe. To those of us that do have the ability to openly accept every "official" thing that's thrown their way, I ask, "Where can I get that red pill from?" Seriously, I stopped basing everything off "Leave it to Beaver" since, well, I never really did because that show was whack as hell and as unrealistic a view of my American experience as "The Cosby Show" was. ("What up!" to Claire, you could've gotten it back then with your fine ass.)
My underlying theme is this: here in America, there has been a long line of actions done to the benefit of one of three entities, namely the public, the government and the outside parties who profit from the U.S. in various ways. Today, I want to talk a little bit about one of those actions that not only affect the people and state, but the world itself! Tell me that isn't the true mark of an American Gangster. Jay-Z and Pharrell would be proud.
She Wants that Old Thing Back...
What's that she wants back? The convertibility of the United States Dollar to gold, also known as "The Gold Standard" that gave irrefutable value to the paper money printed by the government. A little background info is that back in 1970, because of inflation caused by the Vietnam War (also known as "the little war that couldn't..." be won, be justified, be thought of as necessary; y'all finish the sentence and get back to me) the gold coverage of the dollar fell from roughly 55% to a staggering 22%. This was also the first time in the twentieth century that a trade deficit was being used. This was where the many cats lost faith in the U.S. government's capacity for managing its budget and trade deficit.
In 1971, more and more money was being printed and sent overseas to pay for the military and investments. Other nations caught wind of how much money was being sent out, and they wanted to "cash in" and get the gold that the money was supposed to represent. One of the biggest demanders was France, (who, in my opinion was smart for doing so) who straight D'BOED the US into giving up a substantial amount of gold. This is where Mr. "I am NOT a CROOK" steps in with what many have dubbed as the "Nixon Shock." (Note from CZA: this could also explain why there are so many negative connotations associated with the French. A real temple-scratcher, right?)
The "Nixon Shock" was brought in on August 15, 1971 in response to the staggering amount of folks wanting to dip on the idea that the papes they were holding might not be worth as much as they previously were told. That day, Nixon made it so that the dollar was inconvertible directly to gold without as much as a word to the international monetary system or even his own State department. That's right, dude basically just said, "F--- yo couch, n----!" to anyone who might've opposed that idea. I don't know about you, but if I were suddenly told that, I'd be rather hot under the collar. And many were, but well tie that in a bit later. By March of 1976, the majority of the world's money weren't subject to their exchange rate being used to determine monetary policy.
I read a transcript of a speech given by presidential candidate Ron Paul before the House of Representatives concerning the matter. I don't know how genuinely he feels about it, but if he's really on the level as far as reinstating the gold standard, it'd be a good look for all parties involved, especially those (myself included) who feel that the U.S. has grossly overstepped her boundaries and is trying too hard to control the rest of the world. Remember Saddam Hussein? Remember how important he was to the "War on Terrorism" (note from CZA: Wasn't there some public announcement that there would be no more "wars" by the powers that be, to instead be called "operations" or "conflicts"? Why the reversion? Perhaps to set up an "us vs. them" situation or "good vs. bad" situation? Good>Evil=personal opinion, one best left out of political situations that affect more than just you. *coughs*) and how ecstatic some were when he was captured, tried and eventually hung despite the fact (and I say fact because it has been documented) that he had little to nothing to do with the 9/11 attacks? After Nixon closed "the gold window" an agreement was reached with OPEC that would make the dollar the exclusive currency used in the pricing of oil, appearing to do what gold used to do -- back its worth. When this was done, a promise was made to the majority of countries that bore oil that the USA would "watch" over them to "prevent" any threats perceived.
Imagine for a second, a foreign country (insert U.S.) coming in saying "We'll look out for you by keeping anyone from coming in and taking you over but in return we want our money the only money YOUR product be priced in. And we want a discount, a rather large one at that." You'd be like, "Who the hell are you?" That's pretty much what Saddam said when he demanded Euros for his oil but because he was influential to many people, he might've been seen as a threat. In order turn the public sentiment against him, he could've been linked to the 9/11 attacks. After his obviously inferior military might was compromised, the Euro was cast away as the oil's pricing standard. I say "might've" and "could've" because I'm not trying to drop any conspiracy theory here, just proven things and letting the dots connect themselves. In 2001, Venezuela's ambassador to Russia mentioned switching to Euros for all of their oil sales and within a year there was an attack on the Venezuelan government, reportedly with CIA assistance. (I'm sure that it's happened more than just twice, but these two were well documented and fit nicely.) On top of that, Iran's talked of selling their oil in Euros ("Axis of Evil" anyone?) and now Iran is in the same boat as Iraq.
Bottom line, to me, is that money being created out of thin air can only work for so long. People are starting to catch on to what's happening, and pretty soon, money of any sort isn't going to be worth literally "the paper it's printed on" and instead we are going to want things like gold for their products. America, you're straight but the people running you are crooked (some of them) and the whole theme of "guns and butter" doesn't fly anymore. Big shouts to my man Chris for helping me out on this one, you're the isht homie.
Hit me up at themondaypolly@gmail.com or the reply box below so we can chop it up like we need to. Uno Bravado!
Features Lil Josh & Ernest : We Just Jigg'n Lil Josh & Ernest has infiltrated the music scene in Louisiana with their Jigga Juice Movement. Although their talent ... full story
Beyond Hip-Hop Game Review: Madden NFL 09 It's hard to believe that the Madden series has been around for twenty years now, transforming from a simple football ... full story
Digg It
Del.icio.us
