#535 ART -The End Of Something and other Dystopic Musings

The moment a country starts using its currency like a weapon, the rest of the world starts shopping for replacements. We follow that thread from a surreal political backdrop to two stories that feel like flashing warning lights: Iran reportedly exploring Bitcoin transit tolls through the Strait of Hormuz, and France completing a multi-year move to pull its gold out of the New York Federal Reserve. If you’ve been wondering what “the end of the petrodollar” looks like in practice, we connect the dots with plain language and hard incentives. We also zoom out to the bigger pattern: central banks piling into physical gold since the post-2009 era, gold surpassing Treasuries as a reserve asset, and the quiet global push toward monetary sovereignty. I talk through why scarcity wins against infinite printing, why sanctions reshape payment systems, and why new gold exchanges and storage capacity matter when trust shifts from paper promises to custody and settlement. Then we move from money to power. I read a long set of questions from Judge Napolitano that forces a real audit of war powers, due process, undeclared wars, and whether the Constitution still restrains anyone. We close with the draft registration headline and polling that shows US public opinion shifting fast on Israel, war, and credibility. If this feels like the end of something, you’re not alone. Subscribe for more, share this with a friend who still thinks this is “normal,” and leave a review so more people can find the show.