Source: Thomas Trutschel/Photothek via Getty Images
Written by Rudy J. Fritsch exclusively for SouthFront.
Chairman Mao is frequently quoted as having said ‘Power Comes from the Barrel of a Gun’. As in many (not all) other things, he was right… but this statement begs the question; where does the Gun come from? Today ‘Gun’ means much more than gun and bullets; it really means sophisticated weapons like cruise missiles, military aircraft, combat ships, precision bombs, etc. etc. ad infinitum.
If we think about this, we can see that much lies behind ‘Gun’; metallurgy, mathematics, technology… industrial capacity… and wealth. Guns are expensive, and a society that wants or needs ‘Power’ needs many Guns… and this implies much wealth poured into weapon production… as well as an economy with the strength and depth required to produce and acquire Guns.
The study of wealth and its ramifications is called economics… often called the ‘dismal science’… dismal because most people doing the ‘science’ of economics are academics, not entrepreneurs. Theorists, not practitioners; like celibate monks writing marriage manuals.
Wealth is necessary but not sufficient for the acquisition of real military power. Economics (wealth) defines one aspect of military strength; but other factors are essential. Saudi Arabia has one of the highest military spending budgets on the planet; yet if you look at the conflict in Yemen, where the poorest Muslim nation on Earth is defeating the vaunted Saudi military, this fact becomes crystal clear.
Morale, ethics, determination, motivation are key factors; but as I intend to show, these very same factors… morale, ethics, determination, motivation that are essential to military success are the very same factors necessary for economic success… and it all starts with honest money.
Illustrative Image
Empires rose and fell many times in Human history; every rise was accompanied by the circulation of honest money… and every fall was accompanied by dishonest money.
The Roman Republic used the Denarius as its common currency. Originally one Denarius was minted from 6.8 Grams of Silver (the Gold Solidus was also Roman money, but of much higher value; the Denarius circulated most as its value was far more suited to daily market transactions). By the time of Nero, one Denarius contained less than 3 Grams of silver… debasement of the currency ran parallel to the debasement of the Empire.
The British Empire ran on the Gold Sovereign; indeed, the Classical Gold Standard and the whole British Empire ran on 250 Tons of Gold bullion held in London vaults… (Today Fort Knox claims to have over 8,000 Tons of Gold on hand) and on Gold Sovereigns in free circulation… until WWI. At the time of WWI, paper Pound notes started to replace Sovereigns in circulation… and the British Empire started to collapse.
The US Dollar was originally modeled on the Spanish Thaler; a one ounce Silver coin. American Eagles (Gold coins) had a face value of ten Dollars. Silver has not been used as US money since the nineteen sixties, and Gold Eagle coins are not in circulation. Even simple ownership of Gold by US citizens was outlawed by President Franklin Roosevelt.
The US dollar has seen continuous debasement since WWI, when the Federal Reserve was inaugurated; and paper Dollars started to replace Gold coins as ‘money’. The purchasing power of the US Dollar today is less than 5% of the original Dollar note… a note originally redeemable in Silver or Gold. The US Dollar is failing… as is the American Empire.
Clearly there is correlation between monetary debasement and the failure of empires and the collapse of societies; yes, ‘correlation is not causation’… but it is also true that without correlation, there can be no causation. As for which leads, monetary debasement or cultural collapse… this is a ‘which came first, the chicken or the egg?’ question and is irrelevant. What matters is the concurrent collapse of honest money and society… and the certainty that only honesty in society and money can save us.
Rudy Fritsch was born in Hungary, and fled Bolshevik tyranny during the Hungarian Revolution of 1956. His family had lived through WWII and the consequent Hungarian hyperinflation, thus he has intimate experience with financial destruction. As mainstream economics “The Dismal Science” made no sense to him, he ended up studying Austrian economics, the only school of economics grounded in the realities of Human Action. Holding a master’s degree in Monetary Science, he came to admire Professor Antal Fekete’s work and made a firm commitment to help preserve and disseminate his legacy. After attending Professor’s ‘Gold Standard University Live’, Mr. Fritsch authored a book titled “Beyond Mises” that is meant to bring New Austrian Economics and the Gold Standard to the understanding of non-economists.
Hint to everyone reading this, buy bitcoin (as much as you can afford), thank me later ;)
Can’t disagree more. It is not even worthless paper…nothing easier but to pull the plug on that one. Can be 100K today and totally worthless tomorrow.
Agreed. (Sits in anticipation of another 100 oz of silver delivered this week)
But it’s decentralized, the globalists fear it, besides, I didn’t mean only bitcoin, of course gold and silver are good too
Not “decentralized” from 100% dependence on Internet. Not “decentralized” from those who control internet at all. If I was super rich who wants to get hold of the savings of the people… I would create exactly the same mechanism that would look “independent” store of value without being one. Bitcoin is backed by literally nothing and can be shut down. Wiped out in instant, like it never have existed before. Gold , silver is store of value for thousands of years globally accepted as such. With crystal clear economic parameters. Even if money turns 100% digital…It has to be backed by something, since trust in paper money backed by nothing, is losing ground quickly….
The US is going to back the dollar with F35’s. :)
Judging by the speed they print $$$$ … They’ll need much more than F-35 to keep it afloat and acceptable globally…in the near future.
Gold will be the new tinfoil… PS you cant shut down bitcoin biitchh
Bitcoin is a scam designed to get people to accept digital currency. Bitcoin is nothing and is not what it has been advertised. Especially now that it is considered an “investment”. Investment? LOL.
Seems like you and others are wrong have fun staying poor. https://bloqport.substack.com/p/visa-to-enable-bitcoin-payments?r=3ixac&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&utm_source=twitter
LOL. Not only can you not write a proper sentence but your assumptions surely show that you are wrong. There is no legitimate reason to own Bitcoin.
I “cant” but there are some people who can and very easily…
Yep.
And who have already done so :)
Bitcoin can literally not become 0, if you understood what the definition of bitcoin really is, you wouldn’t say that, it’s like gold of crypto market, can gold become 0 tomorrow? People are saying that bitcoin can reach even 200k this year (it’s 50k now), this is the ultimate f you to the elite controlling and inflating our money through printing!
yes it can. they can be blocked by those who control internet, as simple as that.
The internet can’t be blocked and isn’t controlled by one entity. This article below would surprise you: https://twitter.com/PeterZeihan/status/1375132177122254848?s=20 Russia, China, Iran can trade in bitcoin between each other without the West being able to do something about it or even knowing about it Internet can’t be shut down because Russia and China have their own satellites in space, they can do whatever they want
“The internet can’t be blocked and isn’t controlled by one entity. ” Silly comment. I Was not talking about shutting off all the internet Just declaring bitcoin illegal and blocking all activity related to it ( on Western internet (servers)obviously not China, Russia, Iran) .
Then there will be a popular uprising to put it back on, people can go crazy when it’s about their money, even when they’re sheep like in the West
popular uprising ? …yeah sure..I heard about imposing anti-gun laws in US (and eventually taking their guns away) would start “popular uprising”… well they ere 2 steps from that situation yet I see no “popular uprising”.
Pretty sure that will be civil war, which is also exactly the plan of the US elites Do you think 80m armed republican Americans will give up their guns? Come and take them, they say You haven’t seen anything yet, hot spring and summer is coming In conclusion, buy $btc
Digital currency, China is preparing to launch the digital Yuan, digital currency bypasses SWIFT and other US controlled clearing houses. Bitcoin is a super inflated bubble manipulated by major holders.
No bitcoin is scarce therefore its a hedge against inflation. Have fun staying poor
I do not consider Bitcoin a sound investment because it is not supported by tangible wealth. Funny money and speculative bubbles are a two edge sword.
Bitcoin doesn’t care what you think
https://bloqport.substack.com/p/visa-to-enable-bitcoin-payments?r=3ixac&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&utm_source=twitter
I think for myself, I do not care about Bitcoin or other speculative bubbles that have the potential to blow up.
That’s nice and all, but can I buy digi Yuan here from Europe?
The digital yuan has not been implemented yet, on Forex you can trade for any currency….not necessarily taking delivery of the currency itself, but using derivatives (options) to make or loose money. Same with gold, silver, platinum or any other commodity.
No thanks I like to have precious metals physically rather than on paper
Yes, that is the way to go.
Ok but where are you gonna keep let’s say 1 kg gold? Meanwhile 1 bitcoin has the equal price of that, and weighs much less!
Ok, if you have an EMP or a major war, Bitcoin would be useless If you have 1kg of gold in coins weighing 7-8 grams each your chances for survival are better….if you are a prepper and have the gold and 1-2 years of stored food supplies, your chances are even better.
Any currency, including Bitcoin, is reliant on the approval of the state. The US banned citizens gold ownership and confiscated gold in the 1930’s.
Bitcoin as a currency that is not part of a state system is laudable, BUT bitcoin is very vulnerable to sanctioning by a state. This is due to the necessity of internet access, and access can be shut off by a state by blocking access or by powercuts.
Bitcoin is also subject to capital gains tax in most countries. It is indeed an alternative store of wealth, but it’s wealth that is difficult to spend in the real world.
Blockchain systems are indeed the future of absolute human control by states and other powerful entities States will never allow ordinary citizens to control that type of power.
Traditional stores of high value such as precious metals, diamonds, art, etal , are of little use for everyday living in during a crisis, and only of real value when a crisis has passed.
Lost and buried fortunes hidden thousands of years ago are often being found today, lol.
Sadly it has always been mandated that ‘workers’ have to spend their wages in the ‘company owned store’.
I personally think btc will hit 100k this year, but ofc owning gold too is important, and also silver Sooner or later the US dollar (and with that the Euro) will collapse, literally hyperinflate, and there will be anarchy, that’s why you should be prepared
I would agree with all of that, BUT history shows us that those in power always demand a ‘pound of flesh’ from their subjects.
Need one of them mining machines
As American living in a winner nation of winners I recommend you to be on the right side of usury loans. America build its world empire and world strength on usury loans. Dont take usury loans as people in shithole countries, but be the one who issue usury loans…………LOL.
Usury leads to ruin and you should be aware you are on the wrong side of sound money.
“”” Clearly there is correlation between monetary debasement and the failure of empires and the collapse of societies; yes, ‘correlation is not causation”””
Any economy that thrives on debt without paying it back is in the process of debasing their currency. US currently has a deficit approaching 30 trillions, of which 5 trillion was spent in the last year to support the economy and have a respectable GDP. Debasing the currency is a symptom of of debasement of social, moral values and hard work that will lead societies to collapse. For example today, in the US there are many people that do not want to work and they choose to day trade using different apps and platforms……in order to make easy money on the Wall Street casino. The pursuit of easy money is the root of many inherent problems affecting US.
…about that $30 trillion. Um, yeah… sure.. we got the money. We’re going to pay it back. HONEST! Look, just give the U.S. another week or two to come up with the cash. We’ll have it for you. All of it. I swear on my mother’s grave.
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/44ef24c1f2b946ccb344838009a9fcd825ea99994143e03bcac23e0f76df86da.jpg
Your cheque is in the post :)
I will end the fed and have the government mint coins in several different precious medals all with standard face value in dollars. This will be one of the first things I do as president. Much more to come!
In the end it won’t matter as long as we live under a Godless government.
I will work on changing that also. Something must be done until Christ comes. We cannot just sit on our asses and complain. Which is what I have been doing for too long.
Buy bitcoin now
First I want to point out that as in the above picture Bitcoin is always represented as a golden coin with a big B on it. This gives the illusion that Bitcoin is physical and actually has value but Bitcoin is literally Nothing represented by ones and zeros. The only thing that gives Bitcoin value is people’s faith in the Bitcoin system.
A similar thing is true of the U.S. Dollar. The U.S. Dollar is not pegged to anything of value and hasn’t been since we got off the Gold Standard as stated in the article. And of course the last silver coins were minted in 1964 for the most part. So the only thing backing the Dollar is peoples faith in the U.S.system.
The U.S. economic system is based on debt and constant inflation helps pay that debt. I believe this is one reason they are pushing the 15 dollar minimum wage. It will give a temporary increase in buying power of those making below the proposed minimum wage increase but it will cause a reduction in buying power of those who already make more than the proposal unless they too are given an equal percentage wage increase. Soon a doubling of the minimum wage will cause massive inflation and will create a net buying power of zero or less. Yet as long as people have faith in the U.S. monetary system and give in to the lie that more money means more wealth in an inflationary economy it will keep on going.
Example: Right now a McDonald’s meal costs about the same as the current minimum hourly wage. If they double the minimum wage then the cost of a McDonald’s meal will soon also cost double it’s current price. So the minimum wage worker will still have to work for one hour to pay for that meal. But for those who already make above the proposed minimum wage they will loose wealth. For instance the guy who is already making $15 an hour. He could buy two McDonald’s meals for an hours work but after the inflation caused by the minimum wage mandate soon he will also only be able to by one for an hours work. He’s going to say NO, they got a raise so I need a raise. It’s a vicious cycle.
Wealth is not in how much money you have but how much you can buy with the money you have.
Who benefits from the higher wages and inflation then? The U.S. government because that means more money flow and more taxes to pay their ever increasing debt. Not really pay off debt but keep the percentage of debt to income down.
amerikans lie—no gold in ft Knox. they refuse an independent audit….in US fascist banana republic gold illegal, bananas ok “if amerikans understood the US banking system there would be a revolution”. Henry ford
Oh, I think they’re gold there. All the gold that was moved there in the 1930s, for what better place to store it than the most secure and heavily guarded vault yet built? The real question is just who actually owns that gold?