That Biden wants regime change in Russia – or thinks he is supposed to want it – likely tells us very little. We can say only one thing with near certainty: Biden is in control of nothing.
The apparatus of State – the string pullers that got the Democratic party to fall in line behind him to prevent a Sanders-Trump election – they would not let Biden make meaningful decisions.
Who among you would let this man make important decisions? If Biden was your father or grandfather, would you trust him to live independently? Of course not. They cannot even let him speak candidly to the press or public without sending in the Easter Bunny to run interference.
Joseph Biden is quite obviously not in charge of the Executive Branch of government. Whomever, or whatever hierarchy is running the show, that much is kept hidden from “we the people”.
A secret, shadow government… how far have they strayed from the Constitution, democracy, and the rule of law? The U.S. Government is no longer “of the people, by the people, and for the people”.
Further, should they want to keep their plans quiet, they can’t reveal anything of significance to the President, for risk he’d spill the beans.
When they need a signature, they send in the Easter Bunny with ink and paper.
All this is not to disparage Joe Biden – the man is in the throes of dementia. He is being played as a mere stooge. Surely, he would prefer spending his golden years playing bingo in a home somewhere.
We call attention to the absurdity only to reinforce that the whole thing is a charade, a con, a hustle, the big flimflam, and we, dear friends, are (intended to be) the marks.
In both our last piece and our first for PeakProsperity.com, we explained – as readers here likely know – that the global monetary system needs a controlled demolition. There is too much unpayable debt and derivatives, phantom wealth teetering on an unanchored mess of fiat.
In addition, unlike resets – or debt jubilees – of times’ past, we cannot wipe out the bad debts and continue growing exponentially from the same or similar GDP base.
Resource scarcity – peak everything, from oil, to chemicals, topsoil, metals, and minerals – prevents that, either now or in the future.
Knocking up on limits to growth, we need to reset the very system itself, away from a debt-based Ponzi that requires constant growth, or reduce populations and/or consumption by force or by choice.
We suggested The World Economic Forum seems behind a subversion of America, to downsize consumption for the unwashed masses – that’s us – without unleashing mass destruction of capital by way of WWIII. We either got that last part wrong (because we’re headed for WWIII), or this is a dog and pony show (with very real costs – human and economic) to bring about their stated aims.
The West’s response to the invasion
As outlined in Part I, it seems fairly obvious the West provoked Putin into invading Ukraine.
But Putin’s response to Western sanctions was entirely predictable. Anyone watching (or listening to) him over the last dozen years knows he’s been de-dollarizing in preparation for this very moment.
July 19, 2018 – Business Insider
Russia is dumping US debt and buying gold instead
Russian ownership of US Treasury bonds dropped from $96.1 billion in March (2018) to an 11-year low of $14.9 billion in May, the latest Treasury figures show. Elvira Nabiullina, the head of the Central Bank of Russia, reportedly said cutting the stake was the result of an assessment of financial, economic, and geopolitical risks. Russia has been buying gold as it sells off US bonds, recently overtaking China in ownership of the commodity, now at a value of $80.5 billion. Russia has sharply reduced its holdings of United States Treasury bonds, with Russian ownership recently moving to an 11-year low. Russia’s ownership of US bonds declined from $96.1 billion in March to $48.7 billion in April and then to just $14.9 billion in May, according to the most recent data available, the Russian news website RT and the finance blog Wolf Street reported this week. On Tuesday, the US Treasury released a list of the top 33 investors in US debt. Russia was among the top 10 in 2010 with ownership of $176.3 billion but in May ranked below Chile. The country began unloading its US debt as President Barack Obama raised sanctions against Russia in 2011 and has since intensified its sales.
The US and European subsequent freezing of Russian central bank reserves telegraphed to the world “U.S. Treasury obligations, Dollars, and Euros, these are not safe. Begin trading them now for other things that you can hold in your own custody.” Like gold (or Bitcoin, consequently).
Predictably, Putin – the world’s leader in natural resources – is requiring only Rubles, Gold, or Bitcoin from unfriendly nations in exchange for those resources.
April 2, 2022 – MarketWatch
Russia Just Made a Case for Owning Gold and Nobody Noticed
Here’s a strong argument for adding some gold bullion to your retirement portfolio right now, alongside those stocks and bonds. And it comes courtesy of Pavel Zavalny, the head of the Russian parliament. Zavalny spoke last week on the subject of all the economic and financial sanctions being levied against Russia following the invasion of Ukraine. Most of the coverage of his remarks implied that Russia might respond to the sanctions by switching from U.S. dollars to “bitcoin” for international trade. But a look at the transcript being reported shows something quite different. Zavalny added bitcoin only at the end of a long list of other currency and trading options, almost as an afterthought. Much more interesting was Zavalny’s main point, even though it has been mostly overlooked. If other countries want to buy oil, gas, other resources or anything else from Russia, he said, “let them pay either in hard currency, and this is gold for us, or pay as it is convenient for us, this is the national currency.” In other words, Russia is happy to accept your national currency — yuan, lira, ringgits or whatever — or rubles, or “hard currency,” and for them that no longer means U.S. dollars, it means gold. “The dollar ceases to be a means of payment for us, it has lost all interest for us,” Zavalny added, calling the greenback no better than “candy wrappers.” What will this mean? Maybe nothing. Or maybe a lot. Especially if Russia’s lead is followed by countries such as China, India and others — countries that may not welcome Washington’s ability to control the global financial system through its monopoly power over the global reserve currency.
And what else would Putin do if his U.S. Dollars and Euros are no longer money good? These are a lot of resources that will no longer trade in dollars. From Grant Williams recent piece, “Putin on the Ritz”.
InternationalMan.com
Here’s the Biggest Geopolitical Factor the Markets Haven’t Priced in…Yet
Russia is the world’s largest exporter of natural gas, lumber, wheat, fertilizer, and palladium (a crucial component in cars). It is the second-largest exporter of oil and aluminum and the third-largest exporter of nickel and coal. Russia is a major producer and processor of uranium for nuclear power plants. Enriched uranium from Russia and its allies provides electricity to 20% of the homes in the US. Aside from China, Russia produces more gold than any other country, accounting for more than 10% of global production. These are just a handful of examples. There are many strategic commodities that Russia dominates. In short, Russia is not just an oil and gas powerhouse but a commodity powerhouse. Europe cannot survive without Russian commodities. Taking Russian commodities off of global markets would cause an across-the-board price shock that would decimate financial markets, banks, and practically every industry.
Either the West was so incompetent not to have seen this coming (which seems unlikely, given the rest of us did), or it’s a coordinated, intentional attack on the U.S. dollar. And that’s exactly what they – led by the WEF – need to knock down American consumption, and our ability to wage war.
As we stated previously:
People often say the might of the U.S. Military backs the USD, and to an extent, that’s true. When tinpot dictators like Saddam Hussein or Muammar Gaddafi begin transacting oil exports in Euros rather than U.S. Dollars, the reaction is swift, painful, and definitive. In that sense, there’s truth to the statement. At a higher order, the only thing backing any form of money – USD, Yuan, Euros, even Bitcoin or gold – is confidence. Confidence is the demand side of the only chart that matters: Supply and Demand. When confidence is lost, demand for dollars versus other goods drops like a stone, velocity skyrockets, and all those trillions of dollars flood home like a tsunami, overwhelming prices. When the US Military can’t buy a barrel of oil on the open market with U.S. Dollars and is instead forced to transact in gold, Bitcoin, Yuan, (Rubles) or Swiss Francs, suddenly our ability to move beans, marines, bullets, fighter jets, warships, and tanks all over the globe becomes just a bit more hampered.
Putin’s motivation… Does it matter?
Some are no doubt enraged that I might suggest our leadership is captured, acting in the interest of a global consortium to reduce the standard of living for every American (except the ones at the top – Bill Gates, Larry Fink, Mark Zuckerberg, Marc Bennioff, and the WEF’s merry gang of world-improvers).
They argue that Putin is the madman, Putin invaded Ukraine, and there is no justification for his actions. However, please understand I am not defending or justifying the actions of Vladimir Putin.
On Putin’s motivation, the expansion of NATO to Russia’s borders is problematic for him, but if you believe the US Dollar will eventually implode on itself anyway (as I, and likely Putin, did), what’s the rush? Like all wars, it’s likely a resource grab, and Putin was opportunistic in his timing.
Hat-tip to Doomberg for sharing Dr. Pippa’s wonderful Substack:
The High North
When Russia built troops and material up around Ukraine, people thought it was a bluff. I argued that it wasn’t. Now there is a build-up around the Baltics, the Scandis, and the Arctic. In my view, this is similarly not a bluff. For those who think Russia can’t afford to keep the war up, try to remember that Putin views the Arctic as a pile of cash. Commodity prices are high and the Arctic represents an almost unlimited treasure trove of commodities, especially black gold. The US Geological Survey estimates of Arctic Resources here: 90b barrels of oil, 1.670 trillion cubic feet of gas, and vastly more.
Perhaps Putin got the nod from his friends at the WEF, conspiring with Xi Jinping in China that now is the time for a coordinated takedown; the US is struggling with inflation, a leadership vacuum, a puppet government, underinvestment in energy, war fatigue, and a massive asset bubble in search of a pin.
What better time? Ron DeSantis might be President in a few short years, which at the very least would be a different set of circumstances where the USA is more nationalist than globalist.
China Lockdowns: Shortages! Inflation!!
China, meanwhile, is salivating.
As America stumbles, China sees itself as lead dog. Playing the long game, they have to appear neutral, but stand at ready to suck down all those ‘unwanted’ resources from Russia.
At the same time, perhaps Xi wonders, how can we appear neutral while contributing to the subversion of America? How can we accelerate the collapse? COVID lockdowns, of course!
COVID lockdowns on both continents are the biggest cause of our supply chain disruptions, and coupled with our own expansion of the money supply, they are a recipe for massive, exploding price inflation like nitroglycerin, one even the moneychangers at the Fed cannot fully control with interest rates.
When shelves go empty, prices shoot the moon, no matter the supply or price of money. Shanghai, the world’s largest port, has been on lockdown for four weeks.
April 17, 2022 – L.A. Times
China’s Economic Juggernaut Hits a Roadblock
WASHINGTON — The stories from Shanghai, a city of 25 million entering its fourth week of COVID-19 lockdown, have been harrowing. Millions have been confined to their homes, their movements monitored by pandemic police in white hazmat suits. Almost 300,000 people who’ve tested positive or had contact with someone positive have been forcibly moved to spartan quarantine centers. Videos on social media have shown people fighting over food or screaming for help from their apartment windows: “Save us! We don’t have enough to eat!”… Still, the government’s response has been total lockdown… In Greater Shanghai, China’s economic capital, workers cannot reach their jobs. Construction projects have halted. Assembly lines for Tesla, Volkswagen, Apple and other major brands have suspended operations. Supply chains are in chaos. Truck and train traffic have plunged. And according to unofficial reports, hundreds of container ships are stuck unloaded in the region’s ports. The problems aren’t confined to Shanghai. Japan’s Nomura Bank reported last week that 45 Chinese cities, with almost 400 million inhabitants total, were in some form of lockdown.
The COVID story – especially the Omicron variant – warrants reaction nothing like this. If America is to be brought to its knees at the will of globalists, they almost certainly must be in bed with China.
Conclusion
The string-pullers are either (a) driving us into WWIII, or (b) this is a coordinated, global takedown of the dollar, a controlled demolition of the US-centric financial system (that could lead to global famine).
If those running the Biden administration really want war, I would expect they’d be doing a better job preparing for it. Why else would they empty the Strategic Petroleum Reserve?
April 21, 2022 – The White House
Statement from Jen Psaki
President Biden is using all the tools at his disposal to address Putin’s Price Hike at the pump. Today, the Department of Energy announced that it has awarded contracts for all of the initial thirty million barrels it put up for sale as part of the emergency release of 1 million barrels per day in oil for the next 6 months. This is an important step to addressing the supply shortage and the Putin Price Hike Americans are facing. These sales will continue. And because of round-the-clock diplomatic efforts, our partners and Allies have committed to releasing an additional 60 million barrels.
At 556 million barrels, the release of 182 million over six months will drain 1/3 of the current capacity. The Biden team is either not planning for war with Russia, or setting America up to lose.
Famine, too, how convenient?
What better a way to bring world populations down than to take 30% of the world’s wheat offline, and send food, energy, and fertilizer prices soaring through shortages?
Everyone understands by now that Russia is a large energy producer, but what many don’t know is that when they sit down at the dinner table at night, the entire supply chain that gets them that dinner involves Russia and Ukraine to a frightening degree. Our current globally integrated food supply system and mass food production cannot exist without, among other things, fertilizer. This includes three main categories: nitrogen, potash, and phosphorus fertilizers. Potash is a potassium-rich salt fertilizer that enhances plant quality and is responsible for 20% of global fertilizer demand. Together with Belarus, Russia has a 40% market share in global production and export of potash fertilizer. What OPEC+ is to the oil market, Belarus and Russia are to the potash market. The two monopolies in this space are Uralkali and Belaruskali, with the Belarusian Potash Company being the latter’s export arm. With 16.5% of the nitrogen fertilizer market, Russia may not appear to be that dominant until we look at the key ingredient (ammonium nitrate) and then we realize… oh, yes it is. Why? Russia holds a whopping 66% of the global market share in the production of this chemical, and without it there’s no nitrogen fertilizer. All this matters a great deal for those of us who like to eat, because last month the Russkies imposed an export ban on the ammonium nitrate.
April 27, 2022 – Doomberg’s “Diesel for Dinner”
Serious question: Would you do anything differently if your aim was to send the global economy into a tailspin, reduce populations, downsize America in power, influence, liberty, property rights, consumption, and our ability to wage war, then usher in a Great Reset, to “build back better”?
It’s either by design, or incompetence of a magnitude truly unfathomable. The simplest of alternatives is design. How else do we get to a future like they’ve predicted for 2030 in just eight years, where you (we) own nothing, Western values are broken, and America no longer leads the world?
But who in their right mind would take credit for this debacle? No one, of course! This is why they need a Boogieman (Putin) and a Stooge (Biden). The time is now, and the crisis upon us.
The WEF telegraphed cyber pandemics are likely next on the menu…
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