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posted by martyb on Tuesday February 05 2019, @04:31AM   Printer-friendly
from the hello-ruble dept.

https://www.truthdig.com/articles/goodbye-to-the-dollar/

The inept and corrupt presidency of Donald Trump has unwittingly triggered the fatal blow to the American empire—the abandonment of the dollar as the world’s principal reserve currency. Nations around the globe, especially in Europe, have lost confidence in the United States to act rationally, much less lead, in issues of international finance, trade, diplomacy and war. These nations are quietly dismantling the seven-decade-old alliance with the United States and building alternative systems of bilateral trade. This reconfiguring of the world’s financial system will be fatal to the American empire, as the historian Alfred McCoy and the economist Michael Hudson have long pointed out. It will trigger an economic death spiral, including high inflation, which will necessitate a massive military contraction overseas and plunge the United States into a prolonged depression. Trump, rather than make America great again, has turned out, unwittingly, to be the empire’s most aggressive gravedigger.


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  • (Score: 5, Interesting) by Thexalon on Tuesday February 05 2019, @03:31PM (8 children)

    by Thexalon (636) on Tuesday February 05 2019, @03:31PM (#796693)

    My experience of libertarians is that they are completely fine with state violence provided that they know for certain the state violence won't be directed at themselves or somebody they can identify with. For example, I've met more than a few libertarians who are not on board with or actively opposed to Black Lives Matter but were still very upset about Ruby Ridge, despite the fact that many of the people Black Lives Matter were upset about getting killed by the state hadn't even broken the law while there was substantial evidence that the Weavers had.

    Anarcho-capitalist types tend to be more extreme and think more in terms of any government violence being bad regardless of its purpose. In short, random dude shooting up a place with an AR-15 = OK, cops shooting up a place with an AR-15 = Horrible Evil. I'm still not quite clear what the difference between the two is.

    --
    The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 05 2019, @03:35PM (2 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 05 2019, @03:35PM (#796696)

    Sounds like your a pro at coming up with strawmen to me.

    • (Score: 2) by Thexalon on Tuesday February 05 2019, @05:01PM (1 child)

      by Thexalon (636) on Tuesday February 05 2019, @05:01PM (#796744)

      The libertarians I've chatted with include neighbors, a Libertarian Party congressional candidate, and some friends of mine. Now, they may not be the best exemplars of libertarian thought, but they sure seem like a pretty reasonable cross-section of actual libertarians.

      As for the anarcho-capitalists, I'll admit I've only really encountered them online, mostly ranting about how a violently imposed monopoly is ruining everything good and holy about the free market, how the government wants to take their guns, and so on.

      --
      The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 05 2019, @05:09PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 05 2019, @05:09PM (#796749)

        I'd use ron paul as the prototypical modern libertarian. We have no idea what your friends actually said and whether you misinterpreted it or not so it is much better to use what is available in public.

  • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 06 2019, @12:35AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 06 2019, @12:35AM (#796989)

    My experience of libertarians is that they are completely fine with state violence provided that they know for certain the state violence won't be directed at themselves or somebody they can identify with.

    DING! DING! DING! DING! DING!

    Congratulations! You win the internet for today!

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 06 2019, @02:32AM (2 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 06 2019, @02:32AM (#797022)

    "Substantial evidence" that Vicki Weaver and her infant child were breaking the law? Or maybe the kids Sammy and Sara?

    Congratulations, you've introduced me to a level of bootlicking I didn't believe was possible.

    • (Score: 2) by Thexalon on Thursday February 07 2019, @12:05AM (1 child)

      by Thexalon (636) on Thursday February 07 2019, @12:05AM (#797506)

      No: There was good reason to think Kevin Harris was, and when they tried to serve the warrant they had every reason to think they were about to be entering a firefight. The FBI sniper fired a shot he shouldn't have fired and hit Vicki even though he thought he was taking a shot at Kevin Harris.

      As for Sammy, he had just shot at federal officials when he was killed. When you open fire, that makes you a fair target, retreating or not.

      --
      The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 07 2019, @03:45AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 07 2019, @03:45AM (#797590)

        Note the difference:
        "Kevin Harris"
        "the Weavers"
        So do you care to elaborate on which Weaver(s) were breaking the law, aside from the charges against Randy?

        When you open fire, that makes you a fair target

        That cuts both ways, you know. As I'm sure you're aware, while the question of who fired first is disputed, both accounts agree that Sammy only returned fire after the Marshals fired on the Weaver/Harris group and killed the dog. While the validity of Harris's self-defense justification (which did prevail in court) may depend on which version of events one believes, Sammy had unambiguous cause to fear for his life.

        To be clear, I'm not suggesting the Marshals are unjustified in returning fire against the entire group, either -- frankly, the only person who wasn't justified was whoever fired the first shot, but we'll never know who that was. Once you have two armed groups facing each other, and shots have been fired, any individual on either side can only assume the opposing group is acting together.

  • (Score: 1) by khallow on Wednesday February 06 2019, @04:53AM

    by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday February 06 2019, @04:53AM (#797062) Journal
    I have to agree. Straw men don't have much to say.

    provided that they know for certain the state violence won't be directed at themselves or somebody they can identify with

    No True Libertarian knows for certain that state violence won't be directed at themselves, unless of course, the state (or other contenders for that power) doesn't have the power. The tides turn in democracies and your team won't stay in power forever.