this post was submitted on 07 Jan 2026
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United States | News & Politics
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The US dollar is backed by American consumerism. The main reason to keep dollars in reserve is to be able to trade with the US.
The biggest threat to the US dollar is the rapidly expanding wealth gap. If Americans can't afford to consume, there is no real reason to keep dollars in reserve.
Also, when the US gets openly hostile towards all its trading partners, it kinds of put a dampener on the urge to trade.
No the US dollar is backed by the US sanctioning and murdering those who refuse to use it as reserve currency. https://iai.tv/articles/why-they-killed-gaddafi-auid-1757
Also, Iraq partially sold oil in EUR from 2001 to 2003. In 2003 USA and friends started the second golf war, aka USA invasion of Iraq.
You aren't wrong about those actions but it overestimates the importance of "might makes right" and seriously underestimates the importance of soft power. The meme you shared commits the same fallacy, as is the current US administration.
The US starts with soft power and sanctions to collectively punish the population. Then if the US backed color revolution fails it resorts to hard power.
I don't know why you got 3 downdootes for saying the truth.
Might be missclicks. When I browse my own profile to find a post to link I frequently notice I even accidentally downvote my own comments or posts.
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Oh okay so if I sell the EU oil in Euros that's no big deal then? Not gonna come kill me?
These are not mutually exclusive concepts.
Not really, domestic consumerism is significant but it isn't anywhere near enough to bring US currency to world reserve status. American treasury bonds are the safe and steady investment of choice for institutions and sovereigns all over the world, and they're safe and steady because the US military will force it's way through any obstacle to US hegemony. That's the real dollar engine and it really does come back to violence (Like everything in capitalism).
The number of people who don't realize that the US dollar is an imperialist currency in 2025 is insane! Do they even know about the CFA Franc?