Have you noticed that the balance in power of global finance is shifting? Have you realised that global finance is a giant Ponzi scheme? Are you wondering why the West celebrates and follows incompetent leaders? If you have not noticed any of these phenomena, then this article will refer you to different commentators who can supply evidence and enlighten you on the reasons for these phenomena. None of these commentators recognise the correlation between global financial collapse and global economic and ecological collapse. These broader issues are discussed in the conclusions at the end.
The Shift from the Dominance of American Dollar
Richard Wolff has been explaining to Americans that they are being eclipsed by the rising financial dominance of China for over 7 months. Here is a sample of his work: Richard Wolff: The End of the US Empire and the Denial of the US, and the Rise of China and BRICS.
Another enlightened commentator is Max from UNFTR. In this video Max analyses the ongoing collapse of the American economy from tariff wars. Amongst other indicators he points to the weakened confidence in the US dollar that is revealed in the data about the flow of American Treasury International Capital (TIC data).
Cyrus Janssen tracks China’s methods of building alliances. The screenshot at the start of this article comes from his report about China’s successful trade negotiations with 53 African nations.
Andrey Vondemark predicts the demise of the US dollar as the reserve currency dominating the market, he explains in his coverage of China’s recent launch of the Digital Yuan Hub.
The Financial Ponzi Scheme and the Wealth Hierarchy
The total global debt is $300 trillion. This is three times global GDP. This video explains how the global financial pyramid scheme was commenced after the Bretton Woods agreement in 1944: If Every Country Is in Debt… Who’s the Money Owed To?
Wealth Inequality is Built-in to Our System
The video by Max referenced earlier also explains how money intended to bail out everyone from crises like COVID and the 2008 financial crisis has migrated into the hands of the most wealthy. He also explains that zero unemployment is not considered desirable. This article on Medium summarises the key points arising from this video. At the end of that article I also reference new research that analyses historical global trade; this research reveals the deep injustice between global North and South that is built into our international model.
The economist Gary Stevenson also explains how public money has migrated into the hands of a few very wealthy people since the 2008 financial crash. Stevenson profited from this phenomenon. In his book, The Trading Game, he describes his mental anguish as he came to realise that rich people prefer to benefit financially from this collapse rather than take steps to face up to the dangers ahead. Nowadays, Stevenson is using his personal wealth to raise awareness about the deep hypocrisy underpinning our modern civilisation.
Why do we celebrate incompetent leaders?
This TED talk by Martin Guttman explains how competent leadership looks boring to the outsider. Under competent leadership things run so smoothly that the outsider is unaware of the massive challenges that are faced and overcome by the leaders within a group. The links provided above demonstrate how China is calmly charting a course for the world to emerge from the uncertainty that has resulted from the chaotic and incompetent Trump administration.
If you are struggling to understand how Trump can suddenly try to persuade Americans that Iran is a threat, then this interview with Jeffrey Sachs is enlightening.
Concluding Observations
All the commentators mentioned above are helping others to see a different world emerging. Like all of us, none of them are in a position to join all the dots. Those who recognise the limited carrying capacity of Earth are anticipating global economic collapse if we fail to shrink the global economy voluntarily.
The human population is about 8 billion. The biocapacity of Earth is about 12 billion global hectares. Researchers suggest that 2.14 global hectares per person is required for a fulfilled life. We need to leave about half the total biocapacity for biodiversity to thrive. Therefore, if we managed to limit our needs to 2 global hectares per capita a population of 3 billion humans could be sustainable.
Industrial agriculture delayed the ‘Population Bomb’ that was forecast in the 1970s by Paul Ehrlich in his book by the same name. We are living through his predictions right now. Rising food insecurity, and a reserve currency that commands less and less confidence. Although China is doing a great job of steering much of the world through the financial chaos that has been orchestrated by the USA, there are still very few people who are challenging the many cultural problems that are causing ecosystems collapse:
- Pronatalism – some key challengers are Nandita Bajaj and Phoebe Barnard. Organisations like Population Balance and Population Matters are cautiously attempting to raise awareness, but they do not talk openly about carrying capacity.
- Growth Economics – has many challengers, refer to the International Degrowth Network, and the Degrowth Institute. The first brief from the Degrowth Institute is available at this link.
- Wealth and Power inequality – a few challengers are now emerging, Gary Stevenson and Robert Reich are both playing key roles. The recent research mentioned earlier will be extremely helpful: Unequal Exchange and North-South Relations: Evidence from Global Trade Flows and the World Balance of Payments 1800-2025
- The Military Machine – the arms trade is an extremely lucrative one. Jeffrey Sachs is one of the clearest voices explaining the historical folly of America’s forever wars and the role of that the racist Zionist ideology has played in persuading the West to engage in wars in the Middle East.
We all have a role to play to steer humanity into a wiser direction. We have all participated in the collective folly that has resulted in overpopulating the world by about 5 billion people. Some of us are undoubtedly more to blame than others for overconsumption, but overpopulation has been a global issue that has gone virtually unchallenged. Why would anyone wish to add another child into a global population that is steering in the direction of self-extinction with no plans to put on any brakes?
A recent article by Stephen Kamugasa about the role of reparation gives some personal insights into our hypocritical history in the UK:
Post Script: The author David Kauders describes the flaws in our current financial system in his book The Greatest Crash. The ideas that he offers to replace our flawed system would require alterations to the legal framework around finance.