Hey Antoine! Thanks for the good questions.
Bitcoin vs. Petrodollar: My perspective is that this kind of an arrangement is inevitably temporary. The only question is what will supplant it. Bitcoin is by far the best case scenario. As to where that leaves the US, I think artificial demand for our money has made us weak. Artificial advantages like the petrodollar force a level of discipline on our competitors that over time make them stronger and smarter than us. I think the US will perform better on an even monetary playing field than currently. Solution: Accept the loss, embrace Bitcoin (but keep USD), cut regulations, re-discover democratic capitalism for the internet age, get competitive and start growing again at 5%. This will be deeply, deeply politically difficult and will probably require a great disruption for people to get serious enough to consider it. Great question.
US govt Debt: Unpayable unless we printed our way out of it which is clearly unethical. But we might. If we print our way out, the rest of the world will look on in disgust as the US Dollars they held to protect value lose it rapidly. If we don't print our way out, we will never pay it back. We simply don't grow fast enough anymore. Either way, and as linked below, the world needs a new savings technology, as the dollar can't maintain that position as your question points to. Solution: I'm all about austerity. Do more with less. We'd find extraordinary efficiencies we weren't even looking for.
Polarization: I'm sympathetic to Balaji's idea of American anarchy. Both parties have been seduced by the idea that their party needs to be "in power" and rule over the other. This is deeply contrary to the traditional American value of having a government that leaves you alone. Neither party wants to increase freedom at a federal level and let states express themselves more in the manner they see fit. This would be the only way to let pressure off. Tensions will rise until we decentralize governance, which may look more like anarchy depending on how intentional we can be about it. Solution: Decentralize governance so that people can live how they see fit, have more control, and worry less about how others are living. The forces that want US resources centralized in the capital and hence manipulatable from one location are immense. But those same forces have made the government so unresponsive and so extremely inefficient that the only solution is to dissolve this power back to people.
Sorry for the super long response. Loved the questions!
