Gone With the Wind
In Gone With the Wind, there’s a classic scene that says everything we need to say about our foreign policy, specifically about our foreign debt.
Rhett Butler is about to be hanged. He is playing cards with the guy who is going to hang him. Rhett Butlet loses an awful lot of money, and he says something along the lines of, “Boy, sheriff, you really got me beat. I owe you six thousand dollars. Don’t worry, I’m good for it.”
I don’t have to say anything else. Do you get it? Do you see how it relates to U.S. foreign policy?
As long as we maintain a giant foreign debt, especially to our rivals, it is in their best interests to make sure we do not fail.
Think about it. If you’re China, and you’ve loaned the U.S. hundreds of billions (or trillions) of dollars, and the U.S. is paying you big, fat interest checks each year, do you really want anything bad to happen to the U.S., or the U.S. economy? Do you want to hang Rhett Butler? If you do, he’s not going to pay you those $6,000, is he?
Let’s talk about foreign oil. Who is buying up Iran’s oil? Do you think they really want us to fail? Do you think they really want our empire to end? No. If our empire ends, so does their revenue source. Why do you think Saudi Arabia left OPEC?
Self interest, and by extension greed, is the simplest motive behind any action.
To all you simpletons who are screaming about the U.S. national debt and foreign oil, I pity how short sighted you are. I pity how incapable you are of seeing what’s really going on behind the scenes. We are buying our security with a big national debt. We are hurting the people who irritate us by letting the dollar slip. If you think a weak dollar hurts us more than it hurts the countries from whom we buy goods (like oil from the Middle East or Cupie dolls from China), you’re a fool.
This talk about going green and “freeing ourselves from foreign oil” is a shot across the bow. It’s the obvious response to the sabre rattling going on by Achmedenijad. Oh, so you want to wipe Israel off the map, do you? Well, we want to drive wind cars. Kiss your oil revenue goodbye, jack ass. We are using this “energy independence” bullshit to counter Iran’s nuclear threat. They can’t sustain their country without oil revenue, and we are threatening to cut if off.
I swear, sometimes it pains me how stupid most people are. The foreign debt is not a bad thing. It is a calculated, strategic move to secure the United States. We are putting our welfare and continued economic success in the interests of our lenders, which is the rest of the world. We are now too big to fail. If we pay off our debt to these lenders, they no longer care if we disappear off the map except that we still buy their shit. You might ask why a country like China would willingly put themselves into this situation – where they basically have to do everything they can to make sure we continue to thrive so they make their billions on interest – and the answer is simple. We made them an offer they can’t refuse. All we have to do is put a tariff on Chinese imports and their entire country goes bankrupt. Their economic growth is largely dependent on our import consumption – and that is true for a large number of countries, including Europe.
Foreign policy is so easy and so obvious yet so many people struggle with these basic ideas and scream about “trillion dollar deficits!!11!” like it’s bad. Since most people are stupid, politicians play to their stupidity. Rather than try to explain complex concepts like I’ve described, they just pretend like national debt is bad, and moronic voters lap it up. On one hand they’re right – debt is expensive. It’s really tough to finance sweeping socialist programs like nationalized healthcare when we’re paying $250b annually to keep all of our lenders’ collective nuts in vices. But since every sweeping socialist program ever instituted in the U.S. has failed miserably and the foreign debt game has and will continue to work, which are you going to bet on?
So… you’re a conservative but you think that a massive foreign debt is a good thing.
If you have a truly coherent political philosophy, I’d love to hear it, because you swing from ultimate libertarian champ to neocon hack back and forth faster than I can even keep track of.
You might not believe it, but I’m not as naive of a liberal jackass as you think. I can read between the headlines and I know the game that we’re playing with the foreign debt, and it has thus far worked, but I think that day is coming to an end.
Yes, we made them an offer they couldn’t refuse, but if history has taught us anything, it’s that you can kill anyone. (Nobody is too big to fail.)
Both parties tout foreign debt as a bad thing. If you recall, one of the bigger feathers in Clinton’s cap during his administration was “balancing of the budget.”
I don’t have a particurlarly strong personal opinion on deficit security either way, I was merely pointing out what most people are too dense to figure out on their own. As you well know the vast majority of the population is completely misinformed on every issue, including what the deficit does for us.
Tim, you’re too pessimistic about what America can and will do to protect its own interests. You and I both know that we are militarily untouchable, and that leaves only economics. We are presently a consumer nation, but we have the ability to become the world’s largest producer of everything in less than a decade should the need arise (or should it become lucrative to do so). If we chose to become an isolated economy and end all foreign trade, we could become self sufficient very rapidly.
I hope that doesn’t happen since I enjoy cheap goods purchased from abroad, but I am not afraid that my lifestyle is likely to radically change anytime soon. There will be no massive war, there will be no massive depression.
Dear Tim-
Isn’t it weird that sometimes people can have opinions that don’t neccessarily always exactly fit into their self-identified political niche? I’m REALLY jealous. Me, I am physically incapable of having a single thought or impulse (at least publicly) that doesn’t fit into my Party’s ideology. Do you think he had to practice, or do you think that he is some sort of aberrant freak of nature? Maybe he will give classes.
Kisses,
Sally J
Sally- I know that reading Evan’s posts over a long period of time may have dulled your brain beyond the point of recovery, but please try to read what I wrote before you get cute with me.
I did not even mention the word “party” in my comment. The Republicans are not conservative anymore as far as the major points go, and the Democrats have never been all that liberal as far as I’m concerned.
I’m merely pointing out that considering yourself a staunch conservative and brazenly calling a massive national debt just doesn’t make a whole lot of sense.
I’m more liberal, but I’m opposed to abortion, gay marriage, and I support the second amendment, but there are REASONS why I believe these things. I don’t just pick and choose which side I’m on based on my mood of the day.
Oh, shit, you’re right! I’m so sorry! I really hope that no lasting damage has been done to you. I was thinking the constant drooling and inability to think rationally was just the estrogen acting up, but you know what? I bet you’re right; it’s Evan’s blog’s fault. I am going to look into litigation post-haste because the government and broken health care system simply aren’t providing the intensive care I require. Please, Tim, there’s still time. You can avoid becoming like me by avoiding Evan’s writing. There is still hope! Thank you again! You might have saved my life!