Over the weekend, I went on George Galloway's MOATS and Democracy Now to discuss my latest column on the assassination of Charlie Kirk and what his death portends for the future.
Excellent and insightful commentary, as always! I appreciated Hedges connecting the various strands of fascism, including the assault on civil liberties, cowardly capitulations of civil society institutions from universities to news outlets, demonization of immigrants as a pretext to create a cadre of brown shirts with an effectively limitless budget, establishment of detention centers, and the role of hyper masculinity (to which I'd add: traditional gender roles, generally) in culturally animating the right wing.
I've written about a few of these same themes from the perspective of a Muslim immigrant constitutional lawyer. My piece in the wake of Kirk's murder emphasizes ironies and double standards. For instance, "Is there any reason that Kirk’s life should be worth more than those of the tens of thousands of Gazans who Israel has murdered in the past two years alone? Five Gazans died of preventable malnutrition on the same day that Kirk was killed. Why does the world know none of their names?" https://shahidbuttar.substack.com/p/its-about-to-get-real
“Capitalism is the astounding belief that the most wickedest of men will do the most wickedest of things for the greatest good of everyone.” ~Attributed to John Maynard Keynes and E.A.G. Robinson
The dollar’s share in global reserves has dropped to its lowest since 1994. Nations like China, Russia, and Brazil are actively trading in alternative currencies, challenging the dollar’s dominance.
Aggressive tariff policies and erratic fiscal maneuvers have shaken global confidence in the dollar.
Foreign investors are hedging against U.S. assets. The dollar index fell 11% in the first half of 2025, marking its worst performance since 1973.
The dollar was once backed by gold, then by faith. Now, even that faith is fraying, a geopolitical
reckoning!
A weaker dollar means higher costs for travel, imports, and debt servicing. This affects everyday Americans and global trade.
“I thought that love would last forever: I was wrong.” —W.H. Auden, Funeral Blues
The rest of the story is simple. Without the dollar as the world's reserve currency, no one will buy our bonds. If we can't sell our bonds, we default on our debt. If we default on our debt, the global economy will collapse around us.
This bond was broken long before the debt came due.
Well, I blame it on the people who run this country. A bunch of thugs that think they can run the world…endless wars, sanctions, threats. Wh.y would any country want to deal with the US? The global economy will collapse around us? The global economy will just collapse. Stealing other countries resources…nothing lasts forever.
Trump is so much more than a draft dodger (I believe he said: military service is for losers) as well as a self-centered liar, willingly ignorant of history, and a conman. He illustrates how broken this country is; how pathetic our political system is. His winning the presidential election clearly demonstrates how worthless the Democratic Party leadership is and has been. The light at the end of the tunnel is GONE. There's "no heaven help us . . . "
I see two outcomes, either we continue going down the drain and turn into a corrupt Eastern European style oligarchy or people wake up and take action, whatever it takes.
I refused to click on Kirk stories. I am not clicking on Trump in London. I am not clicking on 3I/ATLAS stories as the hysteria being fed by any wild imagining possible reaches fever pitch. I do not reward "spectacle," as I learned from Chris Hedges. Someone quoted Sheldon Wolin yesterday, I remembered Chris's endorsement of Wolin that made me buy a Wolin book. "War is a Force That Gives Us Meaning" is on my bookshelf, with Chomsky, etc. "I am Socrates, BUT I am NOT drinking the poison of Charlie Kirk hysteria, and I am remaining "untouched in the head" with all the hullabaloo from Americans. I watch Europeans like Pascal Lottaz with more reasonable journalism than USA Hey Hey Ho Ho Go to War and watch things blow!!!! No THank You, Uncle Sam!
Excellent and insightful commentary, as always! I appreciated Hedges connecting the various strands of fascism, including the assault on civil liberties, cowardly capitulations of civil society institutions from universities to news outlets, demonization of immigrants as a pretext to create a cadre of brown shirts with an effectively limitless budget, establishment of detention centers, and the role of hyper masculinity (to which I'd add: traditional gender roles, generally) in culturally animating the right wing.
I've written about a few of these same themes from the perspective of a Muslim immigrant constitutional lawyer. My piece in the wake of Kirk's murder emphasizes ironies and double standards. For instance, "Is there any reason that Kirk’s life should be worth more than those of the tens of thousands of Gazans who Israel has murdered in the past two years alone? Five Gazans died of preventable malnutrition on the same day that Kirk was killed. Why does the world know none of their names?" https://shahidbuttar.substack.com/p/its-about-to-get-real
Another recent piece examined "the Rise of the Fragile Tough Guy" to which Hedges alluded in the discussion of hypermasculinity. https://shahidbuttar.substack.com/p/the-rise-of-the-fragile-tough-guy
Finally, my article responding to Trump's deployment of ICE goon squads in DC noted the profound chasm between the right wing's rhetoric and the reality of its policies in action. https://shahidbuttar.substack.com/p/promises-made-promises-betrayed
What Happened to the Dollar?
Once the altar of global trust.
“Capitalism is the astounding belief that the most wickedest of men will do the most wickedest of things for the greatest good of everyone.” ~Attributed to John Maynard Keynes and E.A.G. Robinson
The dollar’s share in global reserves has dropped to its lowest since 1994. Nations like China, Russia, and Brazil are actively trading in alternative currencies, challenging the dollar’s dominance.
Aggressive tariff policies and erratic fiscal maneuvers have shaken global confidence in the dollar.
Foreign investors are hedging against U.S. assets. The dollar index fell 11% in the first half of 2025, marking its worst performance since 1973.
The dollar was once backed by gold, then by faith. Now, even that faith is fraying, a geopolitical
reckoning!
A weaker dollar means higher costs for travel, imports, and debt servicing. This affects everyday Americans and global trade.
“I thought that love would last forever: I was wrong.” —W.H. Auden, Funeral Blues
The rest of the story is simple. Without the dollar as the world's reserve currency, no one will buy our bonds. If we can't sell our bonds, we default on our debt. If we default on our debt, the global economy will collapse around us.
This bond was broken long before the debt came due.
Well, I blame it on the people who run this country. A bunch of thugs that think they can run the world…endless wars, sanctions, threats. Wh.y would any country want to deal with the US? The global economy will collapse around us? The global economy will just collapse. Stealing other countries resources…nothing lasts forever.
That’s why war drums are being pounded
Trump’s a freaking draft dodger haha
Trump is so much more than a draft dodger (I believe he said: military service is for losers) as well as a self-centered liar, willingly ignorant of history, and a conman. He illustrates how broken this country is; how pathetic our political system is. His winning the presidential election clearly demonstrates how worthless the Democratic Party leadership is and has been. The light at the end of the tunnel is GONE. There's "no heaven help us . . . "
I see two outcomes, either we continue going down the drain and turn into a corrupt Eastern European style oligarchy or people wake up and take action, whatever it takes.
Check out Paul Street's work, especially his piece today, Sept.17, 2025. He talks about the "what it takes" part of this.
I refused to click on Kirk stories. I am not clicking on Trump in London. I am not clicking on 3I/ATLAS stories as the hysteria being fed by any wild imagining possible reaches fever pitch. I do not reward "spectacle," as I learned from Chris Hedges. Someone quoted Sheldon Wolin yesterday, I remembered Chris's endorsement of Wolin that made me buy a Wolin book. "War is a Force That Gives Us Meaning" is on my bookshelf, with Chomsky, etc. "I am Socrates, BUT I am NOT drinking the poison of Charlie Kirk hysteria, and I am remaining "untouched in the head" with all the hullabaloo from Americans. I watch Europeans like Pascal Lottaz with more reasonable journalism than USA Hey Hey Ho Ho Go to War and watch things blow!!!! No THank You, Uncle Sam!
How To Create a God
A Trickster God
He mocks the old gods, then slips into the role of the new.
He dresses consumption as freedom, disguises obedience as choice,
and turns persuasion into play.
He doesn’t preach—he entertains.
He makes the altar feel like a game, the sacrifice like a reward.
The Trickster doesn’t build temples. He builds habits.
He doesn’t demand worship. He seduces it.
He doesn’t ask for belief. He makes belief irrelevant—
because the rhythm already owns you.
We’ve built a god.
Not with stone or scripture, but with rhythm.
Three hours a day, the average American watches
television.
One hour of that is commercials.
Seven hours a week absorbing persuasion.
Not to reflect. Not to create. Not to flourish.
Just to obey.
This god doesn’t punish—it pacifies.
It doesn’t demand sacrifice—it rewards surrender.
It doesn’t ask for belief—it assumes it.
We call it comfort.
It calls us consumer.
We call it freedom.
It calls us target.
Meanwhile, effortful flourishing waits outside the temple.
It doesn’t compete.
It refuses.
It remembers.
How does effortful flourishing compete?
It doesn’t. It ruptures.
It doesn’t sell. It summons.
It doesn’t entertain. It awakens.
So I ask:
Where are our lifestyle preserves?
Where is the civic space for silence, sweat, and awe?
Where is the ritual that honors effort over ease?
If we want to restore dignity, honor, and respect in public life,
we must first name the god we’ve built—
and then choose whether we shall kneel.
Meister Eckhart
“We are all meant to be mothers of God… for God is always needing to be born.”
🔥 Marcus Aurelius
“The soul becomes dyed with the color of its thoughts.”
🌌 William Blake
“If the doors of perception were cleansed, everything would appear to man as it is—infinite.”
🌿 Reinhold Niebuhr (shortened)
“Man’s capacity for justice makes democracy possible; man’s inclination to injustice makes democracy necessary.”
🌒 Rainer Maria Rilke
“Go into yourself and see how deep the place is from which your life flows.”
“We were never meant to understand, but to wonder…”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltakvGyzfZs
Ballistics don't LIE | A video I didn't want to make. From “Outside the Overton”.
Taylor was NOT the shooter.
Perhaps we can use the Death of Charlie Kirk as a catalyst to get the US out of Israel for once and for all.