The Biden administration destroyed the moral foundation of the American empire and the Trump administration is doubling down on policies that will destroy the economic foundation of the empire.
As we are painfully aware, the Biden administration pursued an imperial war agenda that has left Ukraine and the Palestinian enclave of Gaza in ruins, with hundreds of thousands dead or injured. The world recognized the moral depravity of these policies and is in the process of rejecting American political dominance through the BRICS development and independence of subjugated countries, most notably in Africa.
The Trump administration, while continuing imperialism, is pursuing economic policies intended to protect the fossil fuel industry with subsidies and by restricting renewable energy sources and electric vehicles. These policies are tragically harmful to our environment while maintaining the status quo of the United States being tethered to inefficient, polluting, and expensive fossil fuel energy. Yet, the rest of the world is moving to wind, solar, and battery energy systems. The loss to the U.S. empire will be not only from clinging to obsolete energy technology but also from the erosion of an important basis of empire — the control of fossil fuel supply and distribution using money and military force. This global debt system is coupled with a hugely wasteful military industrial complex which, while producing large profits for the corporate elite, is an overall economic drain on the United States. Up to now the world has been forced to use U.S. dollars to purchase fossil fuels on the world market, but this need will decline as, among other reasons, the urgency of supply is reduced and less and less fossil fuels are purchased.
Like King Canute, Trump is trying to hold back the tide. The growth of solar energy installations continues to accelerate and in the coming years it will overwhelm all other energy sources. Australian solar industry pioneer Andrew Birch explains: "We've been told a clean transition will cripple the economy, when in fact, it will save us $9 trillion dollars a year by 2035." Yet, Trump, strengthening existing policy, is committed to billions of fossil fuel subsidies and military spending.
China has taken the lead in technology and its leadership in renewable energy technology will drive adoption of solar, wind, and battery energy systems worldwide. As the "Americans React to Red Note" video demonstrates, Americans are shocked when they see the true picture of China — the image of a world leader in many aspects of society and economy. In India, solar power is transforming the electricity system as rooftop solar installations increase at a quickening pace. The exponential growth of solar power is a worldwide phenomena.
The U.S. political establishment has chosen to protect the cartels and monopolies in the face of transformational technology and geopolitical change. One very important reason for the U.S. dedication to fossil fuels is the enormous investment made by the banking cartel, which is central to the entire Wall Street structure. As reported by the Sierra Club, "Since the Paris Agreement, from 2016–2023, the world's 60 largest private banks financed fossil fuels with USD $6.9 trillion." The U.S. military spending over that period was $6.08 trillion. Imagine $6.9 trillion of stranded assets coupled with military spending of $6.08 trillion and you begin to see how completely wrong-footed the empire has become in the face of new technology and new political challenges emerging worldwide. The foundations of the empire are being eroded ever more rapidly.
The heart of the U.S. establishment is the Federal Reserve banking cartel, which will face staggering losses as these transformational changes proceed. We have written and said much about the injustice of the Federal Reserve System. The Federal Reserve private bank credit-money system makes our money a form of interest bearing debt, driving an insatiable exploitative and imperialist machine which afflicts and oppresses our society. We often overlook the effects of the monetary system even though money is a constant concern, just as fish are said to be unaware of the water in which they swim. By its design and operation, the Federal Reserve monetary system favors the wealthy and concentrates economic power in an elite corporate royalty. The inherent injustice of the Federal Reserve system leads to the ubiquitous presence of debt and corporate exploitation in our lives, which explains much of why the voices of the people heard in "Americans React to Red Note" will grow louder and more insistent.
The continuing innovation and progress of wind, solar, and battery technology is an impressive testament to human ability to meet and overcome challenges. But to truly enjoy the benefits of human progress we must gain democratic control over the money system. While China developed wind, solar and batteries, the Federal Reserve monetary system produced asset bubbles, inflation, and a few billionaires. Our ever-growing debt is clear evidence that the private debt-money system of the banking cartel serves a privileged few and exploits the public. Money should be designed to serve the public and the monetary system should be under the control of a democratic government.
It is my hope that the Green Party will identify more closely with working people and climate justice by taking the side of the transformational change that is upon us. That change should include a transformation of our monetary system as described in the Green Party platform section titled "Greening the Dollar," to free us from the over-indebtedness, inflation, and malinvestment of the banking cartel.