The Death of the American Empire Will Come with Tremendous Benefits
It's not all hardship and doom and gloom
At least once a year, life directs me back to Mark Sundeen’s book The Man Who Quit Money about Daniel Shellabarger (Suelo), a man who lived 15 years without money and did so with impeccable integrity. It’s one of those reads that is as engaging and thought-provoking the tenth time around as the first.
Suelo and Sundeen’s candor forces us to ask ourselves large, small, and deeply profound questions. And with banks currently falling like dominos and people and countries being destroyed by crushing debt, The Man Who Quit Money is a reality check for us.
After all, what we call money is nothing more than an illusion. It’s not money at all. It’s a debt instrument. Money comes into existence in the form of debt. (If you don’t know what I mean by that, I encourage you to read an article I recently wrote, How Banks Create Money Out of Thin Air.)
While many people perceive these last few years as a constant stream of doom and gloom, a part of me celebrates. Why? Because the system, whose existence depends on war, conspicuous consumption, obsolescence, and cheaply made products by extracting as much from everyday people, animals, and the planet as possible, is dying. The system is destructive, obese, and broken beyond repair.
And at the center of that system is the US petro-dollar, which has fueled dozens of wars and exterminated an unknowable amount of life. So once the petro-dollar dies, the world will change dramatically.
And despite the many challenges that may come our way—particularly for Americans—there will be tremendous benefits for the world as the United States currency-fueled empire ends. (To understand the challenges this poses, I recommend reading an article I wrote: The US Will Lose Its World Reserve Currency Status.)
Sure, the dollar, or some version of it, will be used in the States. Still, it will likely have very little buying power beyond its borders as China’s yuan, Russia’s ruble, and a potential new BRICS currency (for international trade) take center stage.
I don’t necessarily revel in the idea of living through hardship, but the advantages of the American Empire’s death far outweigh the disadvantages. (The disadvantages are pretty obvious.)
Let’s break it down in plain language:
The United States predominantly funds the United Nations, but it will likely meet its demise if our money is relatively worthless beyond our borders. Russia and China probably won’t fund it. And since it was the globalists’ first attempt at a one-world government, its expiration shouldn’t depress too many. If you’re caught up in the humanitarian, do-gooder illusion the UN puts out, I recommend digging deeper into the subject. Your mind will inevitably change.
Secrets revealed. The United States government spends an obscene—yet not fully documented—amount of money on bribing people to keep government secrets. Read: crimes all sorts, government spying on citizens, space, aliens, true history, etc. This includes government contractors and those who work in the three-letter “agencies,” who handle sensitive information and whose pay will eventually become worthless, so they’ll jump ship. And it will mark the end—finally!—of the corrupt US government as we know it today.
If the dollar has little buying power outside the US borders, it will also end US-funded and orchestrated wars. The US government is the biggest and wealthiest terrorist organization. No other Western country has the means or the largesse to exact the sort of destruction the US has over the last century. China may attempt to fill the void the US leaves behind, but their environmental crisis is so dire—flooding, drought, diminished food production, and pollution—that I suspect it will force the country to become more inward-looking within the next 5-10 years, if not sooner.
They say the US has only 3% of the world’s population but consumes roughly 25% of its resources. This will change—swiftly. With the decline of the dollar, the United States’ ability to import “cheap” goods—nothing’s ever really cheap; the costs are just experienced elsewhere—from abroad will diminish considerably—no more excessive consumption.
If US consumer demand for goods produced in China, Mexico, India, et al., environmental destruction will decline steeply. The planet will get to breathe a bit better.
A symptom of the former is that people in the US will have to become resourceful and make do with what they have or what’s available at any given time. This will be particularly true when it comes to food. People will start eating as locally as possible and, as a result, may take a greater interest in where their food comes from. I wouldn’t be surprised if spices, tea, and coffee become luxuries again.
Since most prescription pills are manufactured abroad, US citizens willl be pushed to look for natural alternatives, thereby becoming accountable for their health. Currently, most Americans outsource the responsibility for their health to doctors and pharmaceutical companies while shoveling greasy, industrial junk down their throats in vast quantities. Natural and holistic remedies, cleaner diets, fresh air, more sleep, and exercise will be the go-to answers.
When the banks collapse and the US defaults—which it likely will—the currency will have to be reconstituted, and all that debt associated with the old “dollar” (Federal Reserve Note) will die with it. While TPTB are going for the final power grab of turning everyone into CBDC-dependent subjects, their mission will eventually fail, and the people of the US will get to create an asset-backed currency, marking the end of their debt slavery.
When money becomes worthless, Americans will start to realize (or remember)—as generations past understood—that true security lies in the people around us. Our communities. That “money” is not security. And while I don’t think the collective consciousness has reached a level where humans can live without some medium of exchange, I think we will become less extreme in our obsession with money and consumption. Neither of which is a bad thing.
Ultimately, we are in the midst of Life/God/Universe/Creator’s—pick your word—rebalancing act. All countries will experience various forms of hardship in the coming 6-7 years, but even if the road ahead is difficult, it will make for stronger minds, bodies, spirits, and communities. We’ll go back to the way of our parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents. And maybe, just maybe, we’ll be able to loosen our grip idea of credit and debt (obligation) to some degree and discover that we have a bit of Daniel Suelo in ourselves:
“He gives and expects absolutely nothing in return.” (p.249)
*The Man Who Quit Money is probably one of the most compelling books I’ve ever read and can’t recommend it enough. Sundeen is a gifted writer.
Here is the FAQ page from Daniel Suelo’s blog. FAQs run down the left-side menu bar. Worth reading before you pass judgement or dismiss him.
Interviews with Daniel Suelo
Q&A with Daniel Suelo & Mark Sundeen at the Wilkinson Public Library in Telluride, Colorado: (First question drags on a bit, but amusing—hang in there. It’s worth it!)
Surviving 15 Years Without Earning or Spending Money:
Daniel Suelo at Lithic Bookstore on the Gift Economy:
*Update: Articles will be published on Sundays from here on out. Pardon the false start re: Wednesdays.
Catch up on related articles:
How to Thrive In Uncertain Times
How Banks Create Money Out of Thin Air