I have a chapter in my book on Qaddafi called Swept Away by the Currency, mostly informed by Vijay Prashad's Arab Spring, Libyan Winter. After he nationalized the 3M barrels of oil per day exported by the 7 Sisters, Prashad writes: "The money was then diverted towards social welfare, mainly an increase in housing and healthcare ... fixing a minimum wage and slashing the obscene rents being charged by property owners ... When Qaddafi took power, the literacy rate in Libya was a miserable 20%. The consequences of the transfer payments lifted the rate to 90% by 1980." He allowed people to settle on confiscated Italian land with interest free loans and low interest to buy farm equipment and a gov't salary until they became self-sufficient. He built the Man-Made River that brought water to 70% of the population. Workers took control of about 200 companies and bank holdings had an upper limit. He donated $300M to help Africa set up their own satellite phone system instead of paying Europe $500M a year. All possible because Libya isn't part of the BIS and owns its banks and currency--something it was about to bring to all of Africa along with Laurent Gbagbo of the Cote d'Ivoire.
Instead, Qaddafi ends up brutally murdered, as Phillip points out, and the new BIS Bank of Benghazi is formed and an oil deal with Qatar is signed before his body is cold in the freezer where it's thrown. Gbagbo was kidnapped in a French coup and taken to the Hague.
I don't really care about analyzing personalities, Qaddafi's or Putin's or Trump's. I analyze policies and their actual results. That Carlson is making a hero of Bolsonaro tells me he's either complicit or deluded. It matters which, but the result is the same.
The Sisters....remember Enrico Mattei? Enough said. I believe that the first official act of the anti-Gaddaffi forces was to establish a central bank. The first rebels in history to do anything like that. It gives it all away. The BIS is surely one of the great fountains of evil and cruelty. We all need to do as much as possible to direct attention towards it.
Your disinclination to analyze personalities is wise. Keeping the focus on the tangible, pragmatic, facts is the key. A focus on personalities leads us astray.
And Sunni Arabs at that! The only people on earth to retain a cultural/religious abhorrence of finance. And the rebels were supported by Qatar (which is Wahabi). The official narrative does not add up.
That's a great question and google, from a quick search, is not going to give us that answer! I think that Russia has been able to decouple thanks to the sanctions. I talk about Putin's brilliant economic policies, which I suspect are due to Sergei Glazyev, in Russia: A Wrench in the Reset Gears? Iran is certainly not a part. Venezuela? And the elephant, China? China definitely creates its own currency and has been able to fund projects without borrowing, which caching all the export wealth. What three are you thinking of?
I thought probably North Korea, Iran and China but truth be told I don't know for sure, this is all way too complex for me. Just trying to understand what's going on in general. Thanks for the link Tereza.
I have a chapter in my book on Qaddafi called Swept Away by the Currency, mostly informed by Vijay Prashad's Arab Spring, Libyan Winter. After he nationalized the 3M barrels of oil per day exported by the 7 Sisters, Prashad writes: "The money was then diverted towards social welfare, mainly an increase in housing and healthcare ... fixing a minimum wage and slashing the obscene rents being charged by property owners ... When Qaddafi took power, the literacy rate in Libya was a miserable 20%. The consequences of the transfer payments lifted the rate to 90% by 1980." He allowed people to settle on confiscated Italian land with interest free loans and low interest to buy farm equipment and a gov't salary until they became self-sufficient. He built the Man-Made River that brought water to 70% of the population. Workers took control of about 200 companies and bank holdings had an upper limit. He donated $300M to help Africa set up their own satellite phone system instead of paying Europe $500M a year. All possible because Libya isn't part of the BIS and owns its banks and currency--something it was about to bring to all of Africa along with Laurent Gbagbo of the Cote d'Ivoire.
Instead, Qaddafi ends up brutally murdered, as Phillip points out, and the new BIS Bank of Benghazi is formed and an oil deal with Qatar is signed before his body is cold in the freezer where it's thrown. Gbagbo was kidnapped in a French coup and taken to the Hague.
I don't really care about analyzing personalities, Qaddafi's or Putin's or Trump's. I analyze policies and their actual results. That Carlson is making a hero of Bolsonaro tells me he's either complicit or deluded. It matters which, but the result is the same.
The Sisters....remember Enrico Mattei? Enough said. I believe that the first official act of the anti-Gaddaffi forces was to establish a central bank. The first rebels in history to do anything like that. It gives it all away. The BIS is surely one of the great fountains of evil and cruelty. We all need to do as much as possible to direct attention towards it.
Your disinclination to analyze personalities is wise. Keeping the focus on the tangible, pragmatic, facts is the key. A focus on personalities leads us astray.
Yes! I titled my subsection on this "Insurgents in Suits." What rebel mob sets up a Central Bank?
Glad that you appreciate my practice of politics as policy rather than personalitics, which is all our current level of debate boils down to.
And Sunni Arabs at that! The only people on earth to retain a cultural/religious abhorrence of finance. And the rebels were supported by Qatar (which is Wahabi). The official narrative does not add up.
Thank you Tereza, was sketchy on details but knew of the overall picture. And now, what? Only three BIS independent countries left, is that right?
That's a great question and google, from a quick search, is not going to give us that answer! I think that Russia has been able to decouple thanks to the sanctions. I talk about Putin's brilliant economic policies, which I suspect are due to Sergei Glazyev, in Russia: A Wrench in the Reset Gears? Iran is certainly not a part. Venezuela? And the elephant, China? China definitely creates its own currency and has been able to fund projects without borrowing, which caching all the export wealth. What three are you thinking of?
https://thirdparadigm.substack.com/p/russia-a-wrench-in-the-reset-gears
I thought probably North Korea, Iran and China but truth be told I don't know for sure, this is all way too complex for me. Just trying to understand what's going on in general. Thanks for the link Tereza.
Oh of course N Korea! Thank you for subscribing to me, Marta. I'm so happy you found it worthwhile!