Monday, October 21, 2013
The joys of working at a college, or...
learning how to lie. We have something call faculty development days, and we have unusual lectures, classes, etc., to encourage our personal growth. The cynic would say it's a way to keep the teachers busy in the gap between finals and graduation, but I actually enjoy the presentations.
One of the more interesting ones was a lecture from one our Criminal Justice teachers on the nature of lying and how to spot it. Now, I'm something of a bullshit artist, so I wanted to see if could lie to the professors sitting next to me. The set-up was simple: what is your favorite vacation? My answer was to fly to Miami Beach and hang out on the sand all week. Now, is this a lie or the truth? Well, one person who knows me quite well said it was the truth, as did someone I know only in passing. The person who knew me changed her mind only after much deliberation.
The answer I gave was a lie. Anyone who really knows me also knows I hate FLYING to Florida, though I find myself doing it a lot more often with my present vehicle. I consider the drive down part of the vacation, with only my thoughts, and maybe a good audiobook, for company. I consider flying to Florida the easy way out. Also, I like having a car down there to take trips to FIU and Key West, and don't want to pay the additional money for a rental. I also hate beaches (unless they're nude), though I love the ocean. Two small details rendered the statement a lie. The key in convincing even those who know me that my answer was truthful is that it's close enough to the truth to withstand scrutiny. Also, I'm full of shit.
Why is this relevant? Well, in my prior post, I ended with the final action that will remove America's standing as an empire: losing reserve currency status.
While I believe plenty of nations and other groups are very annoyed with America's recent jousting over the debt ceiling and the government shutdown, but I doubt they want the USA out of the top spot. China, on the other hand, is aiming for the dollar to be removed. This has been occurring piecemeal, with China and other nations settling accounts only in their own currencies. I believe this has also happened between other nations without China, but don't quote me.
The stated reasoning behind China's desire to do this that we are no longer responsible enough or cohesive enough to be trusted with the role. Now, I can't call complete bullshit, since there some degree of truth in the statement, or at least I can support some of China's logic. Still, I believe the reason China is saying all this has nothing to do with America's behavior and everything to do with replacing us as the world's economic power.
This will happen anyway, but without the world reserve currency, China will never have the same level of influence America had at her peak. We will always be able to undercut China by printing money or the like. So whether we're not being good managers of the world's wealth and purchasing power is irrelevant.
Now, China may not be honest about why they're asking for this change, but it is correct? I don't know. For one, I never believed we would default, and this would have been true even if the debt ceiling hadn't been raised. The interest on our debt would have been the first thing paid.
Honesty aside, what happens when America no longer possesses the WRC and the USA cannot export inflation? That comes tomorrow.
One of the more interesting ones was a lecture from one our Criminal Justice teachers on the nature of lying and how to spot it. Now, I'm something of a bullshit artist, so I wanted to see if could lie to the professors sitting next to me. The set-up was simple: what is your favorite vacation? My answer was to fly to Miami Beach and hang out on the sand all week. Now, is this a lie or the truth? Well, one person who knows me quite well said it was the truth, as did someone I know only in passing. The person who knew me changed her mind only after much deliberation.
The answer I gave was a lie. Anyone who really knows me also knows I hate FLYING to Florida, though I find myself doing it a lot more often with my present vehicle. I consider the drive down part of the vacation, with only my thoughts, and maybe a good audiobook, for company. I consider flying to Florida the easy way out. Also, I like having a car down there to take trips to FIU and Key West, and don't want to pay the additional money for a rental. I also hate beaches (unless they're nude), though I love the ocean. Two small details rendered the statement a lie. The key in convincing even those who know me that my answer was truthful is that it's close enough to the truth to withstand scrutiny. Also, I'm full of shit.
Why is this relevant? Well, in my prior post, I ended with the final action that will remove America's standing as an empire: losing reserve currency status.
While I believe plenty of nations and other groups are very annoyed with America's recent jousting over the debt ceiling and the government shutdown, but I doubt they want the USA out of the top spot. China, on the other hand, is aiming for the dollar to be removed. This has been occurring piecemeal, with China and other nations settling accounts only in their own currencies. I believe this has also happened between other nations without China, but don't quote me.
The stated reasoning behind China's desire to do this that we are no longer responsible enough or cohesive enough to be trusted with the role. Now, I can't call complete bullshit, since there some degree of truth in the statement, or at least I can support some of China's logic. Still, I believe the reason China is saying all this has nothing to do with America's behavior and everything to do with replacing us as the world's economic power.
This will happen anyway, but without the world reserve currency, China will never have the same level of influence America had at her peak. We will always be able to undercut China by printing money or the like. So whether we're not being good managers of the world's wealth and purchasing power is irrelevant.
Now, China may not be honest about why they're asking for this change, but it is correct? I don't know. For one, I never believed we would default, and this would have been true even if the debt ceiling hadn't been raised. The interest on our debt would have been the first thing paid.
Honesty aside, what happens when America no longer possesses the WRC and the USA cannot export inflation? That comes tomorrow.
