Why Your Words Matter: Making Lloyd Bitzer's Rhetorical Situation Work for Real-World Problems

Whether you're trying to convince city council members to fund homeless shelters or persuade investors to back your geothermal startup, you're entering what Lloyd Bitzer called a "rhetorical situation." Understanding this concept isn't just academic exercise—it's the difference between crafting messages that create change and ones that fall flat.

Bitzer argued that all meaningful communication emerges from specific situations that demand response. Think of it like this: somewhere out there, a problem exists that words can actually help solve. Your job is to figure out the precise combination of message, audience, and timing that will make things happen.

The Heart of It: Exigence

Exigence is the urgent problem demanding attention—the thing that makes communication necessary in the first place. It's not just any problem, but one that can be modified through discourse. When you see hundreds of people sleeping rough during a polar vortex, that's exigence. When a community sits on massive geothermal potential while still burning coal for electricity, that's exigence too.

The key is recognizing that not every problem creates productive exigence. Complaining about the weather won't change it, but demonstrating how extreme weather kills vulnerable populations can mobilize resources for emergency shelters.

Your People: Audience

Your audience consists of the specific people who can actually do something about your exigence. Notice we said "can"—not "should" or "might want to." For homelessness, your audience might include city planners with budget authority, not just compassionate citizens who lack decision-making power. For energy projects, you're targeting institutional investors with capital allocation authority, not environmental activists who already agree with you but can't write checks.

This audience analysis gets tricky because effective audiences often span different groups. Your geothermal pitch might need to convince both risk-averse pension fund managers and optimistic clean-tech venture capitalists. Each group brings different priorities, languages, and concerns to the same basic decision.

What's Holding You Back: Constraints

Constraints are the forces that both limit and shape your rhetorical choices. Some constraints restrict you—like budget limitations for homeless services or regulatory hurdles for energy projects. Others empower you—like existing infrastructure, sympathetic media coverage, or recent policy changes that create opportunity.

Smart communicators work with constraints rather than against them. If voters just rejected a tax increase, maybe your homeless shelter proposal emphasizes private partnerships and cost savings instead of additional funding. If oil prices just spiked, your geothermal project suddenly looks more economically attractive to risk-averse investors.

You in the Mix: The Rhetor

As the rhetor, you bring credibility, expertise, and relationships to the situation. A formerly homeless person advocating for services carries different authority than a academic researcher—both valuable, but in different ways. An engineer with drilling experience speaks differently about geothermal potential than a recent MBA, and audiences respond accordingly.

Your identity shapes what you can say effectively and what audiences will take seriously. Sometimes this means acknowledging your limitations and building coalitions with voices that complement yours.

Making It Real: Discourse

Finally, discourse is your actual message—the speech, report, proposal, or presentation that responds to the exigence. Effective discourse feels inevitable given the situation, audience, and constraints you're working within. It doesn't feel forced or generic.

A successful homeless services proposal might combine compelling personal stories (responding to the human exigence) with detailed budget analysis (addressing fiscal constraints) while speaking the language of municipal efficiency (connecting with city manager audiences). Similarly, a geothermal investment pitch weaves together environmental urgency, regulatory advantages, and projected returns in ways that make the opportunity feel obvious rather than hopeful.

The magic happens when all five elements align. Your urgent problem meets the right audience through carefully crafted discourse that works within real constraints while leveraging your authentic voice. That's when words actually change the world.

Free Video-Based Mini-Course: Monetary Pivot Points, the Dollar, and Oil Prices with William DeMis

Is the U.S. headed for another major monetary shift that could send oil prices soaring? In this powerful and popular presentation, originally delivered to a standing-room-only crowd at IMAGE, William DeMis of Rochelle Court LLC explains the critical link between U.S. monetary policy, the value of the dollar, and the price of oil.

Discover the concept of "monetary pivot points"—critical macroeconomic events where the U.S. dollar's value changes profoundly, triggering major reactions in the oil market.

Video for the Course
https://youtu.be/2zJtTanmC_Q?si=8M73vaWy1w3bre7w

Course Summary

 This course examines the critical relationship between U.S. monetary policy, the value of the dollar, and global oil prices. Drawing on historical analysis, we will explore significant "monetary pivot points" that have profoundly altered the value of the U.S. dollar and, consequently, the price of oil, which is priced and traded globally in U.S. dollars. Key historical events covered include the end of the Bretton Woods Accord in 1971 and the Plaza Accord of 1985. The course will analyze how these events led to major shifts in the dollar's value and triggered corresponding reactions from OPEC to maintain the purchasing power of oil.

We will also investigate the current economic landscape, characterized by unsustainable national debt, significant federal deficits, and the Federal Reserve and Treasury being "boxed into a corner". The course will discuss contemporary signals of a new monetary pivot, such as central banks divesting from U.S. Treasuries in favor of gold, and explore potential future scenarios involving inflation, dollar devaluation, and the rise of stablecoins. By the end of the course, you will understand the historical precedents and current macroeconomic forces that are expected to shape the future of oil prices.

Learning Objectives

Lower-Level Objectives (Remembering & Understanding)

1. Define key monetary terms and events, including monetary pivot points, the Bretton Woods Accord, the Plaza Accord, and the petrodollar agreement.

2. Describe the historical relationship between the price of gold and the price of oil, specifically the "gold-oil ratio".

3. Identify the primary causes for the collapse of the Bretton Woods Accord in 1971.

4. Explain the current fiscal challenges facing the U.S., including the national debt, deficits, and the problem of refinancing maturing debt.

Higher-Level Objectives (Analyzing & Evaluating)

5. Analyze how a significant change in the value of the U.S. dollar impacts oil prices differently depending on whether the global oil supply is tight or loose.

6. Evaluate the argument that the U.S. is currently in a "big pivot" by synthesizing evidence related to national debt, central bank behavior, and historical parallels.

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Assessment Questions

Multiple Choice Questions (for Lower-Level Objectives 1-4)

Objective 1: Define key monetary terms and events.

1. What is a "monetary pivot point" as described in the presentation? a. A time when the stock market reaches an all-time high. b. A key macroeconomic event where the value of the U.S. dollar changes profoundly. c. An agreement by OPEC to cut oil production. d. A moment when the U.S. national debt exceeds GDP.

2. Under the Bretton Woods Accord, what was the U.S. dollar fixed to? a. The British Pound. b. A basket of foreign currencies. c. Oil. d. Gold.

3. What was the purpose of the 1973 petrodollar agreement? a. To fix the price of oil to the price of gold. b. To require OPEC countries to price their oil in U.S. dollars, creating demand for the currency. c. To create a new currency specifically for oil trading. d. To allow European nations to pay for oil with their own currencies.

4. The Plaza Accord of 1985 was an agreement to: a. Increase the value of the U.S. dollar to fight inflation. b. Return to a gold standard for international currencies. c. Devalue the U.S. dollar to help U.S. exports. d. Establish a new global reserve currency.

5. The phrase "America's exorbitant privilege," as used by France, referred to the ability of the U.S. to: a. Control global oil supplies. b. Pay for international goods simply by printing money, while other countries had to produce value. c. Veto any decision made by the United Nations. d. Maintain the largest military in the world.

Objective 2: Describe the historical relationship between the price of gold and the price of oil.

6. According to the presentation, on average during the OPEC era, one ounce of gold could buy approximately how many barrels of oil? a. 5 barrels. b. 12 barrels. c. 25 barrels. d. 50 barrels.

7. When the price of gold rises significantly relative to oil on the specialized chart shown, what event does this historically signal? a. An impending oil price collapse. b. A period of economic recession. c. An oil boom. d. A strengthening of the U.S. dollar.

8. In the early 1970s, what was the primary motivation for OPEC to raise oil prices four-fold? a. To retaliate against the U.S. for its foreign policy. b. To maintain the purchasing power of oil in the face of a devalued dollar and rising gold prices. c. To fund industrial development projects. d. To reduce global oil consumption for environmental reasons.

9. The presenter states that gold is the "metal with a memory" because it: a. Is difficult to mine and has a long history. b. Is used in computer memory chips. c. Records the cumulative effects of inflation over time. d. Remembers its previous highest price.

10. In the early 1970s, the price of oil was observed to be _______ the price of gold. a. Leading. b. Following. c. Uncorrelated with. d. Inversely related to.

Objective 3: Identify the primary causes for the collapse of the Bretton Woods Accord.

11. According to the presentation, what two major government spending initiatives contributed to the end of the Bretton Woods Accord? a. The Marshall Plan and the Korean War. b. The Vietnam War and Johnson's Great Society. c. The Space Race and the Interstate Highway System. d. The New Deal and World War II.

12. What critical problem with the funding of these 1960s initiatives was highlighted? a. The programs were too unpopular to secure funding. b. The government did not raise taxes to pay for them, and instead just printed money. c. Most of the money was lost to corruption. d. The spending was blocked by the Supreme Court.

13. What was the consequence of President Johnson removing the gold cover requirement for the U.S. dollar? a. It allowed the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates to zero. b. It strengthened the dollar's value internationally. c. It became a true fiat currency, removing the regulatory limit on money printing. d. It caused the stock market to crash.

14. Why did European central banks begin redeeming their U.S. dollars for gold at the "gold window"? a. They needed gold to fund their own social programs. b. They lost faith in the stability of their own currencies. c. They could get gold for $35/ounce from the U.S. and sell it for a higher price on the open market in Europe. d. The U.S. was forcing them to trade in their dollars.

15. What was President Nixon's final action that officially ended the Bretton Woods system in 1971? a. He declared the dollar would no longer be the world's reserve currency. b. He raised taxes significantly to pay off the national debt. c. He closed the gold window to stop foreign central banks from redeeming dollars for U.S. gold. d. He negotiated the petrodollar agreement with OPEC.

Objective 4: Explain the current fiscal challenges facing the U.S.

16. What is the major problem with the U.S. national debt that did not exist in the 1960s? a. The debt is mostly owned by foreign nations. b. The debt has exploded and is considered unsustainable. c. There is no political will to address it. d. The interest rate on the debt is fixed and cannot be changed.

17. The interest payments on the national debt now exceed the spending on which of these major federal budget items? a. Education. b. The military or Medicare (taken individually). c. Social Security. d. The military and Medicare combined.

18. What does it mean that the national debt is "always refinanced and rolled over"? a. The government pays off the debt in full every year with tax revenue. b. The debt is forgiven by international lenders every 10 years. c. When old bonds mature, the government issues new bonds to pay for them. d. The debt is converted into corporate stocks.

19. According to the presenter, what happens if the interest rate on all U.S. debt resets to 4.5%? a. The stock market will double in value. b. The U.S. will default on its debt immediately. c. The interest payments alone will consume all federal tax revenue. d. Foreign countries will rush to buy more U.S. bonds.

20. A recent trend among foreign central banks that signals a current monetary pivot is: a. Buying massive amounts of U.S. stocks. b. Selling their own currencies to buy more U.S. dollars. c. Dumping U.S. treasuries and swapping dollars for gold. d. Lobbying the U.S. government to raise interest rates.

Short Essay Questions or Discussion Items 

(or Higher-Level Objectives 4 - 6)

1. Analysis: The Bretton Woods Accord and the Plaza Accord are presented as two key "monetary pivot points" that profoundly changed the value of the U.S. dollar. Compare and contrast the reasons for the dollar's devaluation in each of these pivots and explain the differing impacts these devaluations had on the price of oil.

2. Evaluation: The speaker argues that the current U.S. national debt is unsustainable and that the Federal Reserve and Treasury are "boxed into a corner," limiting their ability to fight inflation or attract bond investors. Based on the evidence presented in the sources, critique this argument. Do you find the speaker's reasoning about the constraints on monetary and fiscal policy to be convincing? Justify your answer.

3. Analysis: Central banks are reportedly buying gold at a rate not seen since the 1960s, a trend the speaker links to the pivot away from the U.S. dollar. Analyze the relationship between the real yield on U.S. Treasury bonds and the price of gold, and explain why the current decoupling of this relationship is significant for the U.S. dollar's status as a reserve currency.

4. Evaluation: The speaker concludes that despite the current fiscal challenges and a period of "tumult," the U.S. will ultimately get through this pivot due to its history of innovation and entrepreneurship. Evaluate the strength of this optimistic conclusion by weighing it against the severity of the problems outlined, such as the national debt consuming all federal revenue.

5. Analysis: The presentation posits that after the end of Bretton Woods, OPEC raised oil prices primarily to maintain its purchasing power against a devalued dollar, rather than for geopolitical reasons. Analyze how the concept of the "real global price of oil" supports this monetary-based explanation for the oil price shocks of the 1970s