THE PETRODOLLAR SHOULD CRASH
They
caused it.”
This
is something my father will say in his diluted Nigerian accent any
time we're watching the news together and something tragic has
happened that is linked to terrorism.
The
'they' that my father is referring to will be America and its Western
allies (though Israel may also be included in the mix too for obvious
reasons.)
The
US government and its Western buddies are expert deceivers,
manipulators and attackers of foreign affairs whilst using corporate
media outlets to propagandize its aims and demonize nations who dare
put up resistance to their bullish ways.
In
a recent RT article, it was reported that the Russian parliamentary
commission had listed
up to 102 ways that the US government had dabbled into domestic
affairs of other nations since World War 2. 102 ways people – and
still counting.
America
currently has 800 military bases in over 130 countries around the
world. I beg the question why?
Of
course it has to do with oil and gas. Always will be.
They
come bearing the title of 'World's Police' but under their disguise
they are complete violators and hijackers of world peace, freedom and
diplomacy. The best example I have of a wolf in sheep's
clothing.
Nations
are safe until they decide to guard their natural resources from the
greedy, whorish eyes of the US government.
During
my A-level Politics class, I was always so deeply irritated when my
teacher would reiterate that America is the most powerful nation on
Earth. And I would ask, “Says who?” and she would give me some
biased bull-filled answer that I didn't bother paying attention to.
The
first concept I had of the damaging affects that the petrodollar has
had on the global economy was when I was about thirteen years old. My
father, whilst driving me to school, would give me lectures about the
atrocities that the West have caused in Africa.
Without
a shadow of doubt Nigeria is guilty of mismanagement of its natural
resources. One being the shortsightedness of the government to
diversify their income instead of relying mostly on its oil reserves.
And two, not utilising the four oil refineries as opposed to
outsourcing that job to countries overseas namely the US. Despite
this, Nigeria, has fallen victim to the West's blood sucking ways due
to its colonial past.
What
has always boiled my system in all the history lessons that my father
gave me is to learn that America is the one that puts the price tag
on the oil that Nigerians produce and export, only for it to be sold
back to Nigeria in their dirty dollars.
Is
that not an insult?
Going
a little further back in history, we have the petrodollar system
which was created under President Nixon's adminstration in a strategy
to recover from the Great Depression and fund its military operations
in the Vietnam War. The US at that time held two-thirds of the
world's gold reserve, but in 1971 decided to forego the Bretton
Wood's gold standard agreement, and instead implement the fiat currency. This basically gave the Federal Reserve license to print
as much money as they wanted with no fixed value. Prior to that the
dollar was set at $35 per ounce of gold.
America
allied with Israel in the 1973 Yom Kippur War by providing them with
military aid. As a consequence the Organisation of Petroleum
Exporting Countries (OPEC) members placed an oil embargo on them
that eventually led to the Oil Crisis. This would not end until the
following year after a handful negotiation trips to Saudi Arabia
headed by Secretary of State William Simon and his deputy Gerry
Parsky.
Under
the leadership of King Faisal Abdulaziz Al-Saud, the oil-rich Arab
nation was eager to attract many exporters of their crude to fund the
development and modernisation of their land. And America knowing the
massive reserves that the Saudis were standing on knew that this
could be a huge game-changer for them. Finally in 1974 a deal was
struck: oil bought from Saudi Arabia will be paid for in dollars in
exchange for weapons and military protection.
Shortly
after, OPEC members followed suit by trading their oil in dollars and
the 'petrodollar' was born.
Profit
from oil sales is invested back into the US treasury - so basically
majority of the world has been buying America's debt hence the reason
why they can call themselves 'the Richest/Most Powerful Country on
Earth'.
As
it stands, Saudi
Arabia currently owns an estimated $117bn worth of US debt. And it is
also estimated that 30-60% of dollars is in circulation outside 'The
Land of the Free'.
If
my anger could be liquified, it'd be a nuclear weapon against the US
government, the CIA, the Federal Reserve, plus the MI5, MI6 and the
French Intelligence.
The
US government and its allies love to suck dick until there are no
sperms in the ball sac of nations that they are going after and
consequently are rendered impotent.
Look
at what they did to Saddam Hussein, look at what they did to Gaddafi.
They have turned Iraq and Libya to No Man's Land. The method to their
manipulation is always to cause instability in order to undermine the
nation's sovereignty and take control of the oil fields.
They
did this too in Afghanistan (only in this case it's the poppy fields)
by overthrowing the Taliban – is it really a coincidence that
America is suffering from an opiate epidemic? You want to talk about
drug dealers, mate, you should be looking at your Heads of State.
They're the real pharmacists. But I digress.
Back
to the petrodollar.
Our
dependence on crude is undeniable with ninety million barrels of oil
used daily globally. But as with all things, nothing lasts forever.
America's 43-year dominance and monopolization of this highly
lucrative market will be no different when it comes to an end.
Presently
we have Russia, who for the last few years have really been showing
some teeth in their strategy to move away from the dollar. Back in
2014, Putin
said he wanted to leave the 'dollar dictatorship' of the market
and in September 2017 he made good on his word by vetoeing the
payment of goods in dollars on Russian ports in order stregthen the
rubles. On which I say, good on 'em.
The
Chinese are one smart bunch too. According to the GFMS Gold Survey
China was the largest buyer of gold with over $84bn purchased in 2017
as part of a long-term effort to mitigate against the risks of having
$1
trillion worth of US reserves
knowing full well that should there be an inflation of the dollar
they will be severely impacted. But Sami Hamdi, editor-in-chief of
The International Interest believes that China, “lacks
the economic reputation of the US as a sturdy and stable economy
which impacts trust in the currency.”
Yet at the
beginning of 2018, the Bank of France admitted to holding some if its
foreign reserves in the Chinese yuan. This was only after Germany's Central Bank
also said they were looking into diversifying their reserves, so that
only goes to show that the Chinese renmibi should not be
underestimated.
And then
we have Iran and Venezuela. These two countries are currently under
heavy sanctions from the US.
As of last
month, Venezuela, the country with the largest proven oil reserve in
the world at 300 billion barrels on standby, has created a
cryptocurrency called the Petro that is backed up by its oil
reserves. This move will most certainly make Washington unhappy but I
don't think that Maduro really gives a shit despite there being many
concerns on the credibility of the currency and the likelihood of
investors being attracted to the return on investment of the
economically volatile country.
And
we come to Iran – the last country that the US want to mess with
according to General Wesley Clark.
In a 2007 interview he disclosed that there
were seven countries that the US government was planning to go into
war with which included Iraq,
Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Somalia and Sudan.
As
of the end of February, it has been reported that Iran will start
selling their crude in the euro. This simple move will be enough for
Washington to sound the call of duty to its soldiers under the
pretext that the Iranians are sponsorers of terrorists. Talk about
the pot calling the kettle black.
In
1999, US Vice President Dick said in a 1999 speech at the Institute
of Petroleum:
“The
Middle East, with two-thirds of the world’s oil and the lowest
cost, is still where the prize ultimately lies; even though companies
are anxious for greater access there, progress continues to be slow.”
So
how is it that the big decisions made on behalf of the world's
economy does not include the countries in which their main source of
wealth originates from?
One
thing which I find outrageous about this whole thing is that there
are no African or Middle East countries within G7. Saudi Arabia just
about made it into G20. Regardless of it being about it being about
only the wealthiest countries, as Africa's biggest economy and most
populous country and one of the largest exporters of oil producing 2
millions barrels a day, Nigeria should be a Group member.
Please
be reminded that without Africa, the world is nothing.
The
Romantic in me wishes that there would be a time when payment would
be made in Naira in order to buy Nigerian produce, along with all the
other OPEC members trading in their own currency but my father tells
me he does not think that's ever going to happen, which is sad, as I
think it's only fair.
But
alas, we don't live in a 'fair' world.
And
because the likelihood of that is slim, I am eagerly anticipating the
fall of the petrodollar. Yes that may be the genesis of World War
Three, but with a global economic crash worse than '08 well
on its way, something will have to give.
And
when oil is no longer fun to play with, soon they will be coming for
our water, all in the name of “privatisation”. I'm looking at you
Nestle and Coca-Cola – Brazil watch out. But anyways, that's a
story for another day.
Caterina's Honorable Mentions:
Insightful articles and essays that I read related to this month's topic
