From Rare Earths to CBDCs: The Rise of Resource War and Technocratic Control

Written on 14 April 2025.

From Rare Earths to CBDCs: The Rise of Resource War and Technocratic Control

In April 2025, China made a decisive move by halting exports of seven critical rare earth elements to the United States. These include dysprosium, terbium, and lutetium—elements essential to electric vehicles, AI servers, advanced weaponry, and aerospace technologies. China, which controls over 60% of global rare earth production and nearly 90% of refining capacity, placed these metals on a restricted export list. Though licenses are theoretically available, no proper issuing system exists yet, and shipments have effectively stopped.

This action follows U.S. President Donald Trump’s imposition of 145% tariffs on Chinese imports. In retaliation, Beijing introduced 125% tariffs on U.S. goods and weaponized its rare earth monopoly, triggering a direct confrontation over resource control. Factories in Detroit and Silicon Valley are already bracing for shortages of rare earth magnets used in electric motors and semiconductors.

The Club of Rome and the Resource Narrative

What may appear as a recent development is actually the continuation of a much older narrative. The Club of Rome's 1972 report, The Limits to Growth, warned of the inevitable depletion of critical resources due to unchecked industrial and population growth. Their thesis: the Earth has finite resources, and society must change course or face collapse.

The rare earth export restrictions fit seamlessly into this narrative. We are witnessing the beginning of a global struggle—not merely for economic dominance, but for the control of materials essential to modern civilization. It is the shift from fossil-fuel-centered conflicts to resource-based economic warfare, and it is accelerating.

Population Control and Technocratic Governance

Overlaying the scarcity narrative is another powerful framework: technocracy. While the population bomb theory of the 1970s has been publicly discredited, its underlying concerns have simply evolved. Today, they are manifested in digital surveillance, ESG compliance, green energy transitions, and Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs).

CBDCs are programmable money. They can enforce climate-based rationing, limit purchases of restricted items, or shut off access to funds entirely. In a world of limited metals, carbon budgets, and planned scarcity, programmable currency becomes a form of invisible governance. You don’t need a gun to control people—just an app and a biometric scan.

This control system is not hypothetical. The rise of digital ID during COVID-19, ongoing CBDC pilots across the U.S. and Europe, and new global treaties from the WHO and WEF are laying the groundwork for a technocratic regime. A regime not elected by the people, but operated by algorithmic enforcement and elite consensus.

Connecting the Dots: A Timeline

From the Club of Rome’s early warnings to China’s modern resource clampdown, the evolution is visible:

• 1972: Club of Rome publishes Limits to Growth predicting global resource scarcity.
• 1992: UN Earth Summit launches Agenda 21 (sustainability framework).
• 2015: Agenda 2030 solidifies UN sustainable development goals.
• 2020: COVID-19 introduces digital ID frameworks and global governance models.
• 2023: Widespread CBDC pilots and AI regulation begin.
• 2025: Rare earth resource war begins—technocratic enforcement phase accelerates.

Conclusion

What we are witnessing is not just a trade dispute—it is a transformation. A resource-based economic war is now underway. Technocracy, once theory, is becoming policy. AI servers, electric vehicles, and digital currencies are not just technological marvels—they are battlegrounds in a struggle for control.

China's move is a catalyst, but the system was already in place. What remains is whether individuals will awaken to what is forming around them, or be caught unaware in a world increasingly defined by scarcity, control, and algorithmic authority.