American Strategic Deception Bureau

　"Now that you know, becoming a general in the United States doesn't depend solely on merit.

　Then, for a long time to come, I'm afraid you will have to be the Colonel's wife, my dear Marita.

　In the US military system, the rank of colonel to brigadier general is a difficult ceiling to cross. For those of us who didn't graduate from a military academy, this ceiling is even harder to break—unless we have political backing and support, and encounter a chance coincidence, in order to change our fate.

　Otherwise, he would be like those professional military officers who only reached the rank of colonel in their entire lives, and would have to die on the battlefield to be posthumously awarded a general star.

　Unfortunately, our Kim family rose to prominence thanks to President Kennedy, but while the ruling party hasn't changed, the president is now Johnson, and many of our previous connections are no longer effective. Even worse, the ruling Democratic Party is currently in turmoil, showing signs of failure everywhere.

　Fili reached out and kneaded the plump fat balls on Marita's chest, and said with emotion, "In this year's midterm elections, the Democratic Party's election situation is extremely tragic, and it continues to deteriorate and decline. My brother is almost certain to lose his seat in the House of Representatives and have no choice but to go home and be unemployed.

　Alas, who let this failed Johnson administration actually turn the "battleground states" in the election into real battleground states?

　-

　Every noisy campaign between the two major parties in the United States looks to outsiders like a coloring game on a map of all 50 states. Every presidential or midterm election features blue states favoring the Democratic Party, red states favoring the Republican Party, and swing states where the political parties are unsettled.

　Because the outcome of these swing states often determines the outcome of both parties in general and midterm elections, candidates from both parties always go all out in the battle for these states, doing everything they can, like a life-or-death struggle. Hence, these swing states are also known as "battleground states."

　In the past, the term "battleground state" in American political terminology was just a metaphor, symbolizing that the two parties frequently campaigned and engaged in fierce confrontation in these states.

　But in the 1966 midterm elections in this dimension, the "battleground states" of the United States really turned into battlefields - the continuous black riots, the massive anti-war movement, the urban guerrillas of the Black Panther Party and other left-wing radical terrorist organizations, forced 35 of the 50 states in the United States into a state of emergency with war, which coincidentally included all the swing states, or "battleground states."

　Well, the voters in these battleground states are originally fence-sitters, wavering between the Democrats and the Republicans, taking advantage of both sides.

　Now, due to the great shortcomings and immorality of President Johnson and the Democratic government, their hometowns have been turned into battlefields!

　Do you think voters in these battleground states will still vote for the Democratic Party in the election?

　Moreover, not only are the previously swing battleground states, but also a considerable number of traditional blue states. Even deep blue states that were once Democratic strongholds have a high probability of flipping red and switching to the Republican Party in this year's midterm elections, according to pollsters' predictions!

　Since the Democratic Party is about to collapse, the Kim family, which has completely stood on the side of the Democratic Party, will naturally usher in a low period.

　——The Jin family does want to diversify their investments, but as a mere newbie Karami, how can they have the capital?

　A few years ago, it was a blessing for the Kim family to be able to cling to the Democratic Party, or the Kennedy family!

　Therefore, if the government continues to be "empty" as it is now, it will be difficult for Fieri to break through the ceiling and become a general in the remaining two years of President Johnson's term - even if it is just a military commander with no military experience.

　A figurehead general with no corresponding armed forces attached to him.

　Next, it depends on what the outcome of the 1968 presidential election will be and whether Firi can benefit from it.

　In short, the summer of 1966 passed in turmoil amid the armed conflicts of the "Little Red Guards" in China and the riots of black people in the United States.

　By the end of September 1966, the riots in major cities across the United States were finally gradually suppressed. On October 1, President Johnson delivered a speech on the South Lawn of the White House, announcing that the rebellion that had caused great damage to the country had been quelled and the national state of emergency had been completely lifted.

　But during this summer's riots, the death toll across the United States has surpassed 50,000, property damage is said to be worth at least $40 billion, and another 200,000 have been arrested and imprisoned. Newspapers in Moscow, London, and Paris have derided the United States as a "civil war nation."

　Even more devastating was that despite the massive anti-war movement and the Black riots, President Johnson, seemingly a war gambler, remained steadfast in pushing forward his "One Million Man Plan," insisting on continuing to conscript men domestically to supplement frontline troops, expanding the total number of US troops in Southeast Asia to a staggering 150 million!

　You have to remember that even during the Pacific War over 20 years ago, the US military during the Roosevelt administration only deployed 1 to 2 million combat troops in the Pacific theater to eliminate Japanese imperialism! But that was a total war that required a nationwide mobilization!

　But now, without a formal declaration of war or national mobilization, the Johnson administration is still dispatching 150 million troops to launch a protracted and long-term war in Southeast Asia. It is no wonder that a war of this scale and intensity is called the "Second Pacific War"!

　Even if the United States was in its golden age, no matter how rich it was, launching such a war would be a gamble that would cost the country its life.

　There's no other way, according to conservative American politicians who favor war. Since the outbreak of the Vietnam War, the US has already incurred excessive sunk costs in the Asian theater. No one has the courage to cut losses. So, they can only continue to invest, hoping for a comeback and victory.

　It's easy to imagine how hateful this Democratic Party government, hell-bent on using them as cannon fodder, must be to young Americans, whose war-weariness has reached its peak. It's almost like, "When the time comes, we'll both perish!"

　Next, as the war expanded and military spending soared, the Democratic government quickly introduced a series of tax increases and welfare cancellation policies in order to plunder wealth for military expenses, which hit the vast majority of Americans and caused tens of millions of poor and middle-class people to complain.

　Therefore, by October, Fieri's elder congressman brother Bernard had almost completely despaired of this year's midterm elections. He was too lazy to even give a campaign speech. He stayed at home all day drinking or taking drugs to relieve his sorrow.

　In this regard, Fili had no immediate solution, he could only advise him to cheer up and perhaps try out the nudist camps that were popular recently?

　However, before the news of the Democrats' crushing defeat in the midterm elections and the resurgence of many blue states arrived, another even more devastating piece of news suddenly broke: To address the issue of excessive dollar issuance and the global run on gold, President Johnson declared that, starting in 1967, the dollar would be in default for a year! Foreign governments and central banks would temporarily suspend their obligation to exchange dollars for gold.

　This incident not only shocked the United States, but also caused an uproar around the world.

　——Because this means that the Bretton Woods system that allowed the US dollar to become the world currency after World War II seems to be about to collapse!

　During the Lin system, gold and the US dollar became the reserve currencies of all Western nations. Due to a lack of sufficient gold to support international trade, the US dollar, then the world's strongest currency, became a gold substitute. Both currencies could be used for transactions and loans between countries. The United States guaranteed the return of all US dollars at a rate of 35 US dollars to one ounce of gold, and other countries also expressed the value of their currencies in US dollars.

　——Since the establishment of the Bretton Woods system, international trade around the world has unanimously adopted the US dollar as the settlement unit.

　Even if two countries have nothing to do with the United States, when doing business with each other, they will gradually get used to using the US dollar as the unit of measurement.

　Even the Soviet Union, its Cold War rival, had to use the US dollar when it wanted to do business with countries outside the Eastern European CMEA.

　At this point, after France established the metric system and unified weights and measures, the United States finally began to unify the currency for the whole world!

　If the United States is the "Son of Heaven" of the Western civilized world, then the Bretton Woods system is the first set of etiquette and laws devised by the United States!

　With its financial hegemony of world currency, the United States finally replaced Britain and became the "King of the Earth" in the 20th century!

　But the problem is that this hastily launched Bretton Woods system was born with a genetic disease, and it is an incurable terminal illness.

　In fact, as early as the Bretton Woods Conference where this system was established, British economist Keynes had pointed out incisively that the Bretton Woods system was simply impossible to maintain in the long run, and its core logic had been paradoxical from the very beginning.

　Because, in order to develop international trade, countries must use the US dollar as a settlement and reserve currency, which results in money flowing out of the US accumulating overseas and leading to chronic trade deficits for the US. However, the dollar's role as the core of the international monetary system presupposes a stable and strong value, which in turn requires the US to maintain a long-term trade surplus. These two requirements are contradictory and cannot be achieved simultaneously.

　If it is maintained forcibly, it will lead to a continuous outflow of gold from the United States, and eventually the gold will be exhausted, and the Bretton Woods system will collapse.

　Unfortunately, no one at the time took Keynes's insights seriously, and the problem didn't seem serious at first.

　At the end of World War II, the United States was the wealthiest nation in human history. Of the world's total monetary gold valued at over $400 billion, the US held $350 billion. In the early days of the Bretton Woods system, the US was wealthy while the rest of the world was relatively poor. Consequently, large amounts of US dollars flowed overseas to support countries in need. This didn't matter, as there were plenty of US dollars.

　The gold reserves accumulated by the United States are sufficient to support the exchange of dollars from other countries into gold at a price of US$35 per ounce.

　The problem was that the US then engaged in the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and the Space Race with the Soviet Union, spending money like water everywhere. European countries also continued to convert their dollar earnings into gold and hoard it, causing the US gold reserves to quickly deplete.

　During this process, the United States also attempted to revamp the Bretton Woods system, such as replacing gold with Special Drawing Rights as a reserve currency. However, due to the intrigues and mutual sabotage among Western countries, these measures had very limited impact.

　As a result, by 1961, when President Kennedy was elected, the United States' gold reserves had fallen to $170 billion, only half of what they had been at the end of World War II. Subsequently, during Kennedy's brief presidency, the US engaged in wars in Cuba and Vietnam, the Apollo moon landing program, and a massive social welfare program, all fueled by extravagance and waste. This led to an even faster decline in gold reserves. By the time President Johnson took over, the federal government's gold reserves had fallen to $100 billion, a minimum that could not be breached. Current US law requires that for every four US dollars in circulation, one dollar's worth of gold be stored in the Army vault at Fort Knox. Meanwhile, US businesses needed $400 billion in paper currency to maintain even the most basic functioning of the market economy.

　But the problem is that President Johnson was not a frugal person either, and he spent money even more extravagantly than Kennedy.

　His "Great Society" program, which declared a "war on poverty" and provided welfare benefits to black people, was abandoned after just two years, and the number of poor people in the United States has not decreased at all. However, the government has not been able to recover a single cent of the huge amount of money it spent—much like when the UK later spent hundreds of millions of dollars to deport illegal refugees to Rwanda, but the plan was aborted due to obstruction by its own people. However, Rwanda still refused to return a single dollar.

　As for the Apollo moon landing, which exploded many times, and the expansion of the Vietnam War into the Second Pacific War, they were even more of a bottomless pit of money.

　To this end, President Johnson had no choice but to start printing money like crazy. But at that time, the US dollar was still on the gold standard, and the more money was printed, the faster the gold would be lost.

　Furthermore, not only were gold reserves rapidly depleting, but the US trade balance was also increasingly unfavorable. In 1960, the US imported $150 billion worth of goods and exported $200 billion, resulting in a $50 billion surplus. By 1965, this surplus had completely disappeared, and the US had its first trade deficit since 1893. With the Pentagon still expending significant resources on the Asian battlefield, there was no hope of a quick turnaround in the deficit.

　Wait until 1966

　Not only did the Vietnam War escalate into a second Pacific War, but a civil war nearly erupted in the United States, throwing industry and commerce into disarray. With massive military spending and a deteriorating balance of payments, the issuance of US dollars became increasingly unchecked, and international confidence in the dollar became increasingly shaken.

　International observers in Europe were speculating on how many ounces of gold reserves the United States had left, and the Bretton Woods system was in jeopardy.

　Just recently, the last straw that broke the camel's back was finally thrown from France, dealing the final blow to the Bretton Woods system.

　French President Charles de Gaulle, concerned that the federal government's over-issuance of US dollars was threatening a currency collapse, ordered the French central bank to convert all US dollars held in France into gold and ship it back to France. This immediately caused a stir in the European financial community and sparked heated public debate, prompting other countries to follow suit.

　However, before other countries could follow France's example, President Johnson announced that the US dollar was in default and suspended the exchange of dollars for gold!

　Come on, forget about exchanging your gold! Now, even the French can’t bring their gold back from the US!

　When this news broke, bankers across Europe were stunned. While European governments had a history of defaulting on their debts and going bankrupt, the fact that the seemingly "world-wealthy" United States had also blatantly cheated in this way still served as a wake-up call to many.

　Not to mention how President Charles de Gaulle, upon learning that his country's gold had been seized by the White House, cursed in the Elysee Palace in Paris, accusing the Americans of being robbers and so on, and was echoed by public opinion in China, the Soviet Union and the entire Eastern European bloc... The real issue is that international observers around the world are now discussing: How many ounces of gold reserves does the U.S. federal government have in Fort Knox?

　In the past two years, the US military has been fighting bigger and bigger wars in Southeast Asia. I wonder how much gold President Johnson has embezzled to fill the gap in military spending?

　Could it be that there are only a few gold flakes left in the cracks of the floor, and even the few US dollars in the hands of the French central bank cannot be exchanged?

　This is really... terrifying when you think about it carefully, terrifying when you think about it carefully!

　"Anyway, according to what my brother heard on Capitol Hill, even though President Johnson only said the dollar would be suspended for a year, if no massive gold mine is discovered within that year—one that's larger than the combined reserves of South African, Australian, and Californian gold mines—then by this time next year, the government's only option will be to permanently suspend redemption and decouple the dollar from gold."

　In the living room of the San Fernando Valley refuge villa, Ferry pointed to a stack of green U.S. dollars on his dining table and said to the women with emotion.

　"This would mean the Bretton Woods system has collapsed. If the dollar can't be exchanged for gold, then why would countries still hold it in reserve? Where is the value of the dollar as a world currency? How is it any different from the paper money that failed nations are issuing?"

　However, for the women, who generally had low educational attainments, concepts like the Bretton Woods system were clearly too complex. So, after hearing Firi's words, they all remained silent, their eyes brimming with a kind of pure stupidity untainted by relevant knowledge.

　So, Firi could only sigh and use a more down-to-earth perspective to explain to them the consequences of the collapse of the Bretton Woods system.

　"Ahem, if the US dollar used to be "American money" that could be exchanged for gold, then after the collapse of the Bretton Woods system, the dollar truly became just green paper. The world would lose confidence in the dollar, and the wealthy in every country would rush to sell their dollars and buy various assets. Then, the dollars that had been scattered around the world would all flow back into the US market. The amount of money would increase dramatically, while the amount of goods would not, thus causing a surge in prices."

　Fili pointed at the US dollars on the table and said, "One dollar can buy a steak nowadays, but next year it might only buy a chicken drumstick!"

　Oh, the dollar can't be redeemed for gold, so it becomes just green paper, and then there's hyperinflation? Hmm, sounds reasonable.

　The women from Latin America, China, and Germany immediately understood why, because the rulers of their countries had done the same thing.

　For example, it would cost 500,000 marks to buy a piece of bread.

　"I see, it's just the gold yuan! When I was little, I heard my elders say that if you don't buy anything with your monthly salary right away but keep it under your pillow until the next morning, it will depreciate to the point where it's only enough to buy a sesame seed bun for breakfast.

　Master, should we also quickly exchange our US dollars for gold, or some other foreign currency that can hold its value?"

　Zhao Qiuniang, who has been quite favored recently and often receives special instruction from Feili, nodded and interrupted first.

　Huh? Gold Yuan?

　This...may be a bit too exaggerated.

　Even if the Bretton Woods system collapsed, the US dollar would not depreciate to the level of the gold yuan.

　However, the two have quite a few things in common in essence.

　The gold yuan coupons, which could not be exchanged for gold, actually relied on the military strength and war achievements of the party-state to maintain their value. However, in the summer of 1948, just after the gold yuan coupons were issued, the three major battles broke out, and millions of national troops were wiped out. Naturally, the value of the currency depreciated all the way to the eighteenth level of hell.

　Similarly, after being decoupled from gold, the US dollar is ostensibly linked to oil, but in fact it is also linked to the US military power.

　——The Bretton Woods system in the early Cold War was strictly speaking still a gold standard system. Although it gave the US dollar a hegemonic status, the United States also had to

　Provide real money to support it.

　But after the US abandoned the gold standard and the Bretton Woods system collapsed, the value of the US dollar for the next few decades was entirely supported by the US military's massive strength. The so-called petrodollar was just a fig leaf – Fieri bet that if all US aircraft carriers were sunk, even if Saudi Arabian oil production continued as normal, the US dollar would depreciate to worthless paper within a year at most.

　On the other hand, as long as the US aircraft carriers are still there and the US military bases scattered around the world are still there, the US dollar will not collapse too badly even if it is decoupled from gold.

　Even if the US military can win another beautiful victory, the US dollar exchange rate may rebound!

　"Well... forget about the currency exchange. Given the ruthlessness of those Jews on Wall Street, the currencies of other European countries will only be devalued faster than the US dollar! Exchanging for gold isn't a good idea either. The US also has gold controls. Buying some gold and silver jewelry is fine, but getting a box of gold bars... well, it's not impossible, but it would definitely be very troublesome, and the premium is too high."

　Fili touched his nose and said, "My idea is to make some investments, like buying an apartment building."

　Author's words: PS: In troubled times, the value of currency is tied to military victory or defeat. For example, after Lashio changed hands, the Myanmar Kyat to RMB exchange rate has almost fallen to 700:1, and prices are extremely high. A gallon of gasoline costs 80000 Myanmar Kyats, and workers in Yangon only earn 100,000 Myanmar Kyats a month.

　On the contrary, the allied forces won victory after victory, and the income in northern Myanmar was generally higher than in the areas under the government forces. The monthly salary of female workers in Wa State was four or five times that of those in Yangon!

　It really feels like the sky is turning upside down. What would happen if Heilongjiang's per capita income was four or five times that of Hong Kong?

　Chapter 382: Terrorist Mobile Team, attack!

　October 25, 1966, Manhattan, New York, USA

　"Life is priceless! Long live peace!"

　"Withdraw troops from Vietnam! Down with the warmongers!"

　"Hey! Hey! Damn Johnson! How many young men have you killed today?"

　"Black Lives Matter! The KKK Get Out of New York City!"

　“Against racial discrimination!”

　"Is it time to go to war? Let's save the dollar first!"

　"We demand that American youth no longer be sent to fight in a war that has no benefit for them. We have learned the lesson of Nazi Germany and will never agree with any government's aggressive, warmongering policies. Even if that government is our own!"

　……

　Tens of thousands of people of different skin colors, holding huge banners in groups, walked aggressively on Fifth Avenue. Among them were white people, black people, and mixed-race people. All of them shouted their slogans at the top of their lungs, venting the resentment and anger that had been pent up in their hearts for a long time.

　Looking down from the skyscrapers in Manhattan, New York, you can see the streets crowded with people, colorful flags fluttering, black people roaring, white people roaring, and a small number of Hispanics roaring, and everyone's face is filled with excitement.

　In reality, the protesters' demands and ideologies vary widely, and many of their ideas are even diametrically opposed. For example, a white youth shouting for peace and opposing war might also discriminate against black people. And a black woman opposing discrimination might be happy to see white children thrown into Asia to bleed and die.

　As for the middle class who suffered heavy losses due to the collapse of the Bretton Woods system and the depreciation of the US dollar, they only care about their own wallets.

　But with their common denominator of "opposing the Johnson administration's perverse actions," they formed a united front and stood together in anger. Although the news media said that the riots breaking out across the United States were caused by black people, in fact, there were probably more white people participating in the riots than black people!

　Because, on the surface, the most prominent problem in American society today is the conflict between whites and blacks, the clash between "traditional Americans" and "new Americans." In reality, it's the continued economic deterioration of recent years, which has led to a rapid decline in social welfare and living standards. The public has accumulated immense dissatisfaction with the government, and they simply need an outlet to vent their frustrations. The specific reasons are irrelevant.

　So, even if the marchers were Black, that wouldn't stop white people from joining in, holding their own signs and chanting their own slogans. Just like in the summer of 2024, when a British-born Black Christian murdered three young girls in Southport, England, that didn't stop the Union Jack-wearing conservatives from using the incident to launch an xenophobic movement, throwing Molotov cocktails at mosques, and engaging in violent brawls with Muslim immigrants in the country.

　So, just as if a flood initially began as a trickle, as the first group of people took to the streets with banners, more and more New Yorkers who felt hardship and resentment in their lives followed suit, making the march increasingly louder and more shocking.

　The New York police watched all this with apathy. While they harbored no affection for the anti-war movement, they also disliked the warmongering and extortionate Johnson administration. Especially recently, with the collapse of the Bretton Woods system and the dollar's rapid devaluation, prices have skyrocketed, effectively slashing the police's salaries. Consequently, they harbored a deep resentment towards the powerful.

　Nowadays, when people see people shouting on the streets and speaking out their true feelings, quite a number of police officers may be secretly applauding in their hearts!