The Chinese figured out long ago that it isn’t about guns anymore; it’s about money. The Americans don’t seem to have figured that out yet. Even bin Laden famously understood perfectly well what he was doing – the intent was to bankrupt Uncle Sam, and it’s been working beautifully. The Americans gleefully ratchet up their debt into astronomical trillions waging war all over the world, while the Chinese bankers have been quietly picking up the paper. Nothing is made in the United States anymore except weapons, meaning that its industries flourish in times of international tension and war; everything else is made in China.
Change happens very gradually at two points, and changes very suddenly at the other two points. The first Change is a sudden one as something New bursts into being. The second Change, however, happens very gradually – as the original, expansive energy begins to wane, the reversal turning back down happens very slowly. The third Change is another sudden one, in which death supervenes. The fourth Change, completing the cycle, is very gradual, as the prima materia begins to draw together the energy to form a new life again.
So, if we apply this description of the process of life and death to the economic and political life of the planet, at what stage is the United States, or the Earth as a whole, on that cycle of life and death? Well, the United States is clearly in decline. There can be no doubt about it – neither its political nor its economic systems are up to the challenges of the present day. As to the question of the political process, Donald Trump is the reductio ad absurdum to that one. But its economic system is equally inadequate. Free market capitalism is out of control, and must be restrained. There must be an independent government establishment that is not beholden to any special interests at all. This would be my idea of a seminary of students selected from all over the country (or the world) to hold the Sovereign Authority in trust. If they are given the best possible education, they will surely select the best one of their number to exercise the sovereign authority. My idea of making the sovereign authority identical with the Bank is practically a matter of definition, as the power to create money at will is a virtually unlimited power.
I see three stages in the implementation of this plan. First, there is the establishment of the Seminary. This can be done without any political importance at all – it is simply a matter of funding. As soon as adequate funding be available, a seminary can be constituted and launched, and its students can begin to receive the best possible education, completely liberated from any of the ordinary pressures of life. Specialists in all fields will make specially prepared presentations to the class, so they will benefit from the best available sources of information. Their curriculum will be overseen by a team of scholars in all fields who will make sure that all of the most important information be included in their studies.
The next stage of the process would begin when someplace on the earth, some sovereign state, decides to vest a new currency in the institution of the Seminary and the person of the Advocate. For example, Greece may continue its endless and long drawn out bankruptcy, continuing to pile up impossible loans and obligations to the IMF, the European Central Bank, and others; or it might simply declare bankruptcy, repudiate all debt, and institute a new currency, created at will on demand by the Seminary’s Advocate, agreeing as well to pay all property taxes back to the State as represented by the Bank of the new currency.
If the enterprise be a failure, of course there will be nothing more heard of this funny idea, but if it survives and flourishes, other countries may want to opt in, at which point the citizens and companies will exchange their current money into the new currency, again agreeing to pay their property taxes to the new bank.
This third stage of evolution and growth can continue for as long as necessary, leading to one or another of several possible end games – the new State might swell to world status relatively unchecked, or there might be one or several significant hold-outs opposing the world union. Well, in that case, it would simply become an economic contest between the sovereign nations. How can you have an economic contest against a country that prints up money at will? But that is no problem – obviously, the more money there is, the less it is worth, so the economic contest would remain real. Then, either the hold-out countries gradually enter the union, or they manage to stay viable independently. If that is the case, there is no reason why independent states couldn’t continue to exist indefinitely. In fact, it is almost inevitable that an opposition will always be present, and this is probably a good thing. Or, at least, it will be a manifestation of the Tao, so we might as well accept it.
