In John 18:37, Jesus declares himself to be the truth, upon which Pontius Pilate asks: “What is truth?”
This is a timeless reference to the debate over absolute truth and perceptions of truth. Jesus’ claim and Pilate’s response are to be heeded as artificial intelligence takes shape, warns Erik Bethel, former U.S. Director of the World Bank. Otherwise woke versions or culturally acceptable versions of truth, like the early incarnations of Google Gemini when it presented a Black George Washington, will be a real danger.
Erik, a devout Christian, joined me for this podcast to discuss his faith, but also to share his throughline moment. It’s a time my readers and listeners are starting to understand as the moment in which a person realizes they’ve been told lies that are part of a much larger coordinated effort to undermine American values of democracy, capitalism and the Judeo-Christian faith the country was founded on. In his words, the throughline moments were so many, it was akin to “Chinese water torture of lots of little things.”
It’s a fitting allusion for someone who’s notable for his expertise in China and digital currencies.
This past summer, Erik testified before the House “Committee on Oversight and Accountability” on the topic: “Defending America from the Chinese Communist Party’s Political Warfare.” It’s worth watching. Having spearheaded many initiatives such as blockchain while at the World Bank, he’s also knowledgeable of the digitisation of currencies. He’s particularly worried about China’s proliferation of its own digital currency backed by the People’s Bank of China and its predatory lending practices to poor countries.
China’s actions in Xinjiang, such as forced labor and sterilization, mass detentions and other abuses against half a million Uyghurs - ethnic minorities in China - were labeled “genocide” by Donald Trump, during his first presidency. This led to sanctions against Chinese officials. In 2021, President Joe Biden signed the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, which essentially banned products from Xinxiang.
Yet in 2024, banned Chinese cotton was found in nearly 1 in 5 pieces of clothing. China also continues to produce solar panels using Uyghur forced labor. Meanwhile, China is responsible for 95% of new coal power construction to create electricity, which is in turn used to produce batteries, which it then sells to the U.S. China is responsible for 70-90% of the supply chain in creating lithium-ion battery technology.
When a person digs deeper into China’s policies, it’s hard to ignore the lies and the hypocrisy that exists in America’s economic relationship with China. Investors doubling down on ESG (environment, social, governance) are doubling down on China, despite China’s human rights abuses. People standing for climate change are happy to buy batteries from China, despite its construction of coal power plants to make them.
“There’s an incredibly stupefying amount of intellectual dishonesty” when it comes to China, said Erik.
The larger problem is in the exportation of China’s religion. According to Erik, China is knocking down churches, blocking the sale of Bibles and “replacing Christianity with Xi Jinping thought.” With Christianity under attack, Erik said that during these recent times of duress, he’s double-downed on his faith.
What does that “doubling down” look like? We also discuss why Erik is not in favor of the U.S. having a CPDC (central bank digital currency) but why the U.S. needs to have a digital currency in order to thwart China’s efforts to become the digital currency of record around the world. He also shares the throughline moments he observed among his network of financial investors.
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