1. US spends just 3.1% of GDP on defence and this is projected to go down to 2.5% by 2025
America's "
Total Debt" is
$73 trillion!! Of which,
$22 trillion is U.S Government Debt which includes intra-government debt between the State/Federal government owing the Federal Reserve. Followed by
$51 trillion that the Private Sector owes to private lenders. This accounts for 500% of the "actual" American GDP, not the figure regurgitated every quack-box U.S News Network across the nation.
Article on CNBC, dated as far back as 2012 when they estimated total U.S Debt (Private & Govt) to be over $60 tillion.
https://www.cnbc.com/id/49258472
Article by RT News, dated 2014, reported the same above $60 trillion in Private & Govt U.S Debt, accounting for 500% of the GDP.
https://www.rt.com/usa/166352-us-total-debt-sixty-trillion/
Article by CNN Business, dated July 2019, reports U.S Debt, Private and Public, amounts to over $70 trillion.
https://edition.cnn.com/2019/07/17/investing/united-states-debt-risks/index.html
The sole reason why America is has been able to stay afloat with this spiralling $73 trillion debt, is due to the fact that U.S Dollar is the sole currency the OPEC agrees to sell it's Oil in. That combined with the Bretten Woods Agreement (1944), which prohibits countries from conducting domestic trade in Gold, meant that U.S Dollar had defacto hegemony over the world. Tie these two (Petrodollar and Bretten Woods Ban on domestic Gold as median of trade) with the IMF/WB and the International Payment System, and you have total U.S dominance over any country.
Today, this is not the case, where countries like Iraq, China, Russia, Pakistan, Venenzuela, Iran, South Africa, India, Brazil, Indonesia and other countries are trading Oil in currency swaps. This is steadily diminishing the power of the Petrodollar. With the U.S dollar no longer backed by Gold, and with Oil sold only in U.S dollars by OPEC. America, in every sense of the word, began buying Saudi Oil free of charge. Since the dollars printed, or better yet, digitally imprinted. There was no limit to the wealth amassed by America and their stooges, the Saudis, Qataris, Kuwaitis, Emiratis and Bahrainis.
The Petrodollar's power is dwindling, currency swaps are clawing at the Petrodollar like bloodhounds. U.S economy is perched by successive QE doses, Interest Rates are stagnant and headed toward negative adjustment by Federal Reserve and Americans are running on a "Gig Economy". While the Student Finance industry drive home one nail after another, into the inevitable coffin of the American Dream. And to make matters irreversible for America, it's rivals, Russia and China, are continiously buying more Gold and expanding their Gold Reserves to surpass leading Western Economies.
China's
AIIB, is it's response to the American hegemony of IMF/WB. Giving countries that want to trade and completely blot out American sanctions or interference. While Russia has established the
SPFS, an alternative International Transaction/Payment System, which provides countries to conduct trade transactions, circumventing American payment system. The more news comes out of CNN, BBC, FOX, CNBC, SKY & other Anglo-American quack-boxes, about U.S Sanctions hitting countries like Venezuela, Iran, Cuba, Iraq, Yemen, Sudan and etc. The more countries which are not sanctioned, are quietly moving away from the American system of payment or loans, toward China and Russia.
China's AIIB:
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...nt-bank-as-power-balance-shifts-idUSKCN0UU03Y
Russia's SPFS:
https://www.russia-briefing.com/new...nt-network-enters-international-markets.html/
2. Host nations like Japan, Germany and Korea pretty much pay for the US bases. They also get plenty of money from ME nations by selling arms in exchange for protection.
Host nations like Japan, Germany and South Korea are paying America by buying U.S Treasury Bonds and U.S Debt. Japan holds the highest amount of American Debt, at the top of the table. Britain is also in the top 5 countries holding one of the largest U.S Debt. Other allied countries like Germany, South Korea, the Saudis, France, India, Norway, Taiwan, Belgium, Chile, Sweden and etc are among the top 30 U.S Debt holders. So in some way or another, holding U.S Debt is a ticking bomb, which when the U.S Dollar collapses, will simultaneously bring down the economies of it's allies.
The Bretten Woods Agreement (1944) and the Petro-Dollar (1973), were designed to keep America at the very top and it's allies stong under it's hegemony. It was also designed to keep non-aligned Muslim countries at the very bottom, and the non-aligned rest of the world in crippling poverty. America's Wall Street, along with American clandestine agencies, destroyed the economies of Latin America and Central America, WHOLE SALE. What Wall Street did to Argentina in the 1990s, is one of the best examples how the U.S hegemony works in the world, since WW2.
3. US has land for farming, plenty of mineral resources including shale oil and leads the world in tech - this constant will not change even if the dollar is no longer the world's sole reserve currency.
Wrong again, today farming is not like the farming of yester years. Today most farm lands are leased by super rich families and large corporations. As a small time farmer in America, you are more than likely to be dusting your crops than owning land. Corporate finance drives America's farm lands today, a vast majority. Finding "tid bit" examples of middle class americans owning farms and flourishing not only ingnorant, but also naive. Without financial corporations backing U.S Farmlands, the system is bound to implode. And when (not if) the U.S Dollar collapses, the farmland of America will directly suffer, as financing for industrial machinary which harvests, plants, sifts and cleanses produce will come to a grinding halt.
America doesn't spin on rainbows, marshmallow clouds and unicorns, no. It spins on Corporatization of the American economy, which is entirely under the ownership of Wall Street, Financial Corporations and Hedge Funds. The system is designed to keep the Rich, permanently rich and the poor increasing in number and imprisoned in permanent poverty. The illusion of being a "
City Slicker" with your $3000/month job, and your "
Condo", living the life of good ole capitalism is no longer true. That was what people were injected and intoxicated with during the 60s, 70s, 80s and finally ended in 2001.
4. At the end of the day rich and powerful countries in Europe and E Asia (Japan, S Korea) will always want a world led by US as that is in their interest for cultural and geopolitical reasons.
For the last time, you are WRONG!!
American supremacy stood on the Bretten Woods System (IMF/WB), Petro-Dollar and International Payment Median (American). It allowed America to dominate and impose it's hegemony over the rest of the world. Today, this system is crumbling in the wake of China, Russia, Iran, Venezuela, Pakistan and other countries challenging the American system by opting to conduct international trade through Russia's SPFS and by taking international loans through China's AIIB and finally by buying Oil from countries like Russia, Venezuela, Algeria, Iran and others, in currency swaps which neutralize the Petro-Dollar. As for the world always wanting America to lead is concerned, it is not the case anymore. Since countries around the world are witnessing the destruction of Iraq, Iran, Venezuela, Libya and Syria through economic sanctions and military invasions.
In such times, most countries (including U.S allies) are now turning toward the Sino-Russian alternative. Britain, the pathetic tiny island, ran to China at the inauguration of AIIB, like a rat on a dark night. Surprising America in the same instance. Italy has signed agreements with China's Belt & Road Initiative. Pakistan is trading with China, in Yuan currency as the median of trade. Iran is using the Russian SPFS International Trade Payment System to conduct Oil trade and is using Rubbles, Euros and Gold for Oil trade. Venezuela is in the midst of establishing it's own crypto currency to conduct Oil trade. And this is why, America's economy outlook is doomed. South Africa, Brazil, Indonesia, Algeria and others have been observing this trend and are in the midst of establishing links with alternate systems to the Western ones.
No matter how much you want to believe otherwise, the American system, the nation, the power, the economy is on it's way down and there is nothing that America can do to stop except an all out war with Russia and China.
You ought do a little bit more homework on where the International Monetary System and International Relations are headed ...... Dude!