Space, time and the US dollar

Ever wonder why the US is the most powerful nation on the planet? Ever wonder what is the number one thing that gives power to people over everything?

I do. I do wonder. ALL THE TIME.

I am going to pen down what I think. It may be true, may not be. This is just, my answer to the questions, I asked above.

The answer is ‘Money’. Many argue otherwise. But if you think about it, control over money can give you GOD tier power. Almost everything that humans need on this planet can be bought with money. There are somethings, money can’t buy or to put aptly, there are somethings that can’t be bought. Simple as that. Let’s talk about the rest of the things. Also let’s just focus on the governments and countries to keep this non philosophical :D

The first U.S. dollar, as it is known today, was printed in 1914 upon the creation of the Federal Reserve Bank. Less than six decades later, the dollar officially became the world’s reserve currency. However, its ascendancy to the throne began not long after the ink was dry on that first printing.

Federal Reserve Bank came into existence, because there was a need of a supreme bank as different banks were printing different currencies which was leading obvious problem. However during pre USD era, most countries pegged their currencies to gold because gold held all the properties of a currency. You may refer this article to get the wind of what’s coming in next — https://medium.com/@bitsabhi/bitcoin-a-logical-tender-feac9e7bcc66 . Or maybe not, because time is dollar and, dollar and tide waits for none except the US, Ahem.

OK, let’s continue, shall we?

Later many countries abandoned the gold standard to be able to pay their military expenses with paper money, which devalued their currencies. It was clear that world currencies could no longer be linked to gold. The Bretton Woods Agreement popped out, establishing that the central banks would maintain fixed exchange rates between their currencies and the US dollar.

Voila, the US dollar, for the first time became the world’s currency.

Now, how can the United States have trillion of dollars in foreign debt and sleep like a baby? (I know you know it now or you already did). Because it can PRINT the world’s currency aka the US dollar. Awesome!

One of the ways in which government debt is very different from privately held debt is that governments that controls their own currencies, like the US government and the US dollar, have the power to print money at will. I know you’re thinking that printing money causes inflation and no one wants that. Well the US dollar is a bliss to the US, and there is a minimal trade off.

I am a firm believer that no single nation or a group should have more power than 50% of the world. Are you thinking about a hypothetical group of people who can potentially steal billions, if they could control more than 50% of Bitcoin network’s mining hash-rate, or computing power? Yep, me too.

So, there is a BIG problem with the fact that the US can print dollars. But don’t they say every problem has a solution?

I hope you’re still here:)

Apparently, in 2009, a dude invented Bitcoin, that holds all the properties of a currency and can solve the problem of the US monopoly of power, because it can’t be printed.

But we don’t like cryptos, do we? Well for those who don’t like cryptos, there is a good news.

Our favourite social networking company unveiled a crypto called Libra. It draws lots of inspiration from current cryptos like BTC and Ether, but is built on permissioned blockchain at core. Bad new — You won’t be able to run a node in your garage (At least not in the near future).

Libra (or similar crypto) may or may not “become a sovereign currency.”, but if implemented well, it might be a temporary solution, to the permanent problem, we discussed earlier. But don’t get your hopes up yet. Libra is gonna face a ton of regulatory challenges.

I won’t say it’s truly decentralised but it is perceived as a stable-coin like the US dollar. The good news is, the prices won’t be volatile and it has the potential to facilitate cross border payment with less than current charges.

So does Libra have the calibre? Time will tell!

Is there any solution to the US monopoly? I don’t know. Do let me know if there is any.

But I am sure better solutions like Libra will eventually come into existence. The world will correct itself, like it always has.

Quoting The Alchemist — “When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it. Each thing has to transform itself into something better, and to acquire a new Personal Legend, until, someday, the Soul of the World becomes one thing only.”

See you soon!