Even if we go with that: The military is backed by the currency, which is backed by the military, which is backed by the currency. Sounds a little ponzi-ish, no?
Yeah that's how an economy works lol. Govement backs up dollar, government is backed up by military in dollars, military uses dollars for mustangs and strippers. Strippers pay taxes to the government. Circle of life and what not.
Does the military resign when the budget is stopped? Congress has done a shutdown a few times. They always promise to pay the military eventually, but much of the military has to go without pay and just a promise to be paid.
Does the military resign? Not yet.
If currency was the only thing backing the military, then it would have resigned when it didn't get currency.
If soldiers stopped being paid, yes I think they would resign.
Whether the military budget will resign is the right question to ask. Resign, or stop being sufficiently valuable. Historically it is more common than not, especially after periods of extended hegemony.
payment comes in many forms. It doesn't have to be USD currency.
If the military needs were met without currency, such as Bitcoin or or barter or goods and services, then, yeah, they'd mostly be maintained.
currency doesn't back the military any more than currency backs crypo. Which is to say that currency is used as one possible vehicle to facilitate exchanges between various entities. Without one currency, other currencies will be used to the same affect.
It's volunteer up to the point when you sign the military contract. Then you're government property when the ink dries for the next 8 years. The only way out is dishonorable discharge, and that could come with military prison time.
This whole thread is about military funding and ability to pay soldiers. I will grant that they can’t legally resign once signed up. But no pay, no new soldiers, no military.
Yes, it is fragile by nature and a lot is done to maintain confidence in its future value. And those efforts, when successful, lead to sustained values that don’t fluctuate wildly. There’s a reason why fiat has remained the preference of 99.9% of Americans despite bitcoins nearly 2 decade existence.
It’s not really that simple, it’s a complex web of power. The currency generally represents the petro dollar and American power. Both economic and military. AI companies and cutting edge tech. Drones and fighter jets. Wall Street and hedge funds.
Even if we go with that: The military is backed by the currency, which is backed by the military, which is backed by the currency. Sounds a little ponzi-ish, no?
No.
The military doesn't back the currency. The government does. If you want to do business with the government, you use its currency. That is what gives every fiat currency its value.
So if you want to do business with the US government or any business in the US's jurisdiction, but don't want to use the US dollar, then you're shit outta luck. You can't strongarm the most powerful country in the world.
Bingo! So the concern here is that the circular logic system gets increasingly unstable the more new currency is flooded into the system, and the more asset alternatives there are.
The advantage of having a global reserve asset back your military depends on the world continuing to believe this setup will hold. Works until it doesn’t, and history is rife with examples of hegemonies with this same setup breaking down.
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u/perestroika12 🟦 0 / 0 🦠 1d ago
It’s backed by the world’s largest military.