The Petrodollar: The Devil In The Western Details

In the appendices of The Lord of the Rings, the reader learns a little about Thorongil, the traveling name of young Aragorn, the future King Elessar. Over some thirty years, Aragorn wandered through the lands of men in order to gauge their worthiness in the coming war against Sauron. Little is known about his journeys into distant lands where “the stars are strange;” however, in Gondor and Rohan, he found sufficient faith, fight, and spirit to resist and endure to warrant his camaraderie and allegiance. I suppose it is well he never visited the remains of the United States, where very few have faith, intelligence, identity, or even interest in surviving as anything more than thralls. To one degree or another, the US condition explains the greater West. Elsewhere, thankfully, things are very different. Elsewhere, people are moving on from the lecherous, ruinous ways of American hegemony.

That hegemony was largely the product of two things: the perceived might of American and NATO military power, and the US dollar as world reserve currency. The former has been shown to be overstretched, poorly wielded, and materially deficient. The latter, revealed as a malicious illusion of neocolonial wizardry, is fading away in real time. A few days ago, strange rumors surfaced, from strange sources, that as of June 9, 2024, the US petrodollar would officially become a thing of the past. As far as I can tell, these rumors may not be exactly correct, though they point, like good rhetoric, towards the undeniable truth. 

The petrodollar was a terrible 1970s solution to the then-pending collapse of the dollar, de-linked from gold and wrecked via mass financialization of the American economy and monetary system. In a scheme perhaps unique in world history, the Saudis agreed to back the dollar with their oil reserves. This allowed the dollar to temporarily remain the most popular international trading currency. It allowed the US government to temporarily spend with abandon. And it allowed the private monied elite of the West to further enslave mankind and usuriously accumulate unto themselves unearned wealth. But the arrangement defied the laws of economic physics and was destined to eventually crash down. Rumors and exact dates aside, the crash is happening now.

As Alexander Macris noted in the introduction of his 2023 book Running on Empty, “When the US established the petrodollar system, it signed a deal with the Devil. When it ends, there will be Hell to pay.” While this statement may shock the consciousness of the conscionable, it is not that surprising to those familiar with the religious psyche of America’s ruling elites. But it is an accurate statement. As the American people begin to wrestle with declining living standards, among many other growing problems, and as the American elite begin to uncomfortably deal with the looming demands of their master, the rest of the world, the multipolar world, begins to experience a boon of prosperity, independence, and genuine order. 

The American empire is still dangerous, as any large mortally wounded predator can be. In its dying rage, it is violently thrashing about seeking to steal, dominate, or destroy anything in reach. Lindsey Graham, wicked US SINator from South Carolina, and wanted terrorist number 3967 in Russia, lately let one cat out of the bag about the US seeking to loot trillions of dollars worth of minerals and elements from Project Ukraine (…and something, something democracy, and Putin’s aggression, etc.). I suppose the shame of the Upstate never read Saadi’s Pand Namah and the warning, “Beware! thou that art snared in the net of avarice…” (Or, supposing further, Romans 1:29.) Graham’s conniving blather represents a micro example of the kind of chaos Konstantin Malofeev warned about at a SPIEF 2024 panel discussion last week. Malofeev described the chaos as engineered, and to a degree, it certainly was, previously. The enemies of mankind had a plan. Or plans—too many of them to keep track of and make work, and now they are entangled and failing. Today, I think what is displayed is genuine mayhem completely out of control. Malofeev is completely correct, however, that the solution to the chaos is the sovereign, multipolar concept represented by the BRICS+ alliance. And he’s not just theoretically correct; the solution is playing out before our eyes.

As for ending (petro)dollar dominance, last year, Olga Samofalova explored a variety of options available to Saudi Arabia to break free from America’s deal with the devil, namely dealing in national currencies, withdrawing investments in the US, and joining BRICS+. Right now, Riyadh is exercising the first and third options and is, along with other countries, monitoring and considering the second. One of those other countries, of course, is Russia, which, as Gleb Prostakov wrote in February 2023, is leading the charge to break what’s left of US dominance of the global energy market (and the US’s attendant indirect dominance of global affairs). 

One year later, the world is already a different place. The US dollar, while still powerful, is no longer the exclusive go-to currency for international settlements and trade. The US-led G7 has lost its primacy to BRICS+. Russia just pushed Japan aside to become the world’s fourth-largest economy as measured by PPP. Three of the top four world economies, China, India, and Russia, are BRICS+ members. There is a real struggle amidst all this change. As President Vladimir Putin said in his speech at the SPIEF plenary session, “We see a real race between countries to strengthen their sovereignty. And over three key levels—state, value-cultural and economic. At the same time, the countries that have recently been the leaders of global development are trying by all means, by hook or by crook, to preserve their elusive role of hegemony.” 

As others have said again and again, the current global conflict is truly a battle between the Believers in Almighty God and the minions of satan. On God’s side are Christians, Muslims, and their goodly allies. Theirs is the side of the multipolar, sovereign world. In time, victory will be theirs. And, as they watch the other side pay the devil his due, may they learn a lesson on how to never conduct business going forward. In this war, there is no Ring of Power. Still, the war must be won, and it will be. Let the wanton leaders of America and the West pay hell. All others, thank and praise Heaven.

Deo vindice.