Time for a thought experiment.

[hifiguy]

They were good enough for Einstein, so let's all try one.

Assume that the plutocracy in all its forms, represented largely but not exclusively by the banksters, big Pharma, Big Oil, and other forms of Big Money et cetera, effectively take control of the Western world, turning much of Europe, the US, and several other advanced nations and rising nations (but NOT China) into what amount to plutocratically controlled fiefdoms of Big Bu$ine$$. After they immiserate the populations into neo-fascist feudalism and assuming they ruthlessly suppress any attempt at meaningful change, like restoring something like democracy or moving towards democratic socialism, what then? Eventually there is nothing left to squeeze, no matter how much force is applied, from those populations.

The Chinese, Japanese, Koreans and other major Asian countries hold gargantuan amounts of US debt. They are more or less immune to Greece-ification and hold the monetary ace in the hole. TPTB are NOT going to be able to shake these countries down, most particularly China, which will be the biggest economy in the next few years. And India will loom larger and larger on the world scene as well, but it is the amount of US debt the Chinese hold that makes them the Number One Player in this drama.

Do the Chinese threaten to pull the rug out from under the oligarchs?

Do they declare war on China if the Chinese do so? (Pointless and immensely costly secondary wars are a given under plutocratic/oligarchic rule. Bolstering the profits of the MIC is in their top 3 Most Important Things To Do, after all).

Do/can they try to cut a deal with the Chinese? What's in it for the Chinese? I don't see much.

So what could happen when the plutocracy meets the one force on Earth it cannot bring to heel?

I can't imagine it will be anything good.

This isn't meant to be a prediction, but it is a distinct possibility and is worth thinking about.

Discuss.

[Agnosticsherbet]

1. The flaw in your thought experiment is to think that China can not be controlled by big business

Read China's millionaires.

They have been engaged in massive experiment in Capitalism. They can be brought to heal.

[hifiguy]

2. i'm not sure.

There are Chinese billionaires because the Party has allowed them to exist. The Party controls the billionaires, not vice versa.

[Agnosticsherbet]

3. Read POLITICS Li Xiaolin, Former Chinese Premier Li Peng's Daughter, Hid Over $2M In HSBC Swiss

Li Xiaolin, Former Chinese Premier Li Peng's Daughter, Hid Over $2M In HSBC Swiss Account

Google China Corruption.. Their society is awash in money, and as suspeceptable as ours.

They would be brought down because thee are always individual who want power and money.

A plutocracy smart enough to control most of the world will be patient enouh to fin the right people to sell them the rest.

[Motown_Johnny]

4. They go to war.

Duh!

[hifiguy]

5. If so, I would bet heavily on

the Chinese.

[moondust]

6. How many assets/investments

do U.S. companies own in China, Japan, Korea, et al., that could be nationalized by their governments to cover debts?

[Johnyawl]

7. I hate to burst your little bubble...

...but you don't seem to know much about the US Debt

In the first place this is just dead wrong: The Chinese, Japanese, Koreans and other major Asian countries hold gargantuan amounts of US debt.

No, they do not: http://www.factcheck.org/2013/11/who-holds-our-debt/

The Chinese hold about 8%, the Japanese hold 7% and no other Asian country (including Korea) holds enough to register as a separate entity. All other foreign governments hold 19% (mostly European and middle eastern oil money). And while the 8% owed to China and the 7% owed to Japan are significant amounts, it hardly qualifies as "gargantuan".

Our own Federal Government holds about 40% of the national Debt. (SSTF 16%; Federal Reserve 12%; "other" Federal Government (retirement funds mostly) 13%;

"others" hold 17%. This is mostly the oligarchy in the form of banks, investment firms and trust funds.

[hifiguy]

8. They own enough to destroy the economy

should they decide to call it in.

And the real question is what happens when the oligarchy comes nose-to-nose with a power equal to their own, especially if that power chooses not to cooperate.

[Johnyawl]

10. No, they do not...

...8% is not even enough to do us any lasting damage.

And they can't just "CALL IN" the debt anytime they want.

A debt is a contract with explicit terms agreed to by both parties. As with most debts, U.S. treasury bonds (which is the U.S. debt that China holds) cannot simply be "called" by the creditor prior to the bonds' expiration dates any more than someone's mortgage or car loan can be called before it's due. Debts cannot just be arbitrarily called in at any time unless the debtor defaults on payments.

Treasury bonds are sold with a given maturity (for example, a date 5 years, 10 years, or 30 years after issue). Upon maturity, the government redeems those bonds for the face amount. In the meantime, the government pays cash interest payments (the "coupon&quot on a regular basis. China depends on those interest payments as much as we depend on them buying our debt, maybe more.

[cherokeeprogressive]

9. In the end, all the Chinese hold is paper.