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Digital Currency: The Key Tool of 21st Century Monolithic Nanny State Tyranny
There has been talk of doing away with paper currency for several decades, but up until now that has mostly been idle conjecture and mostly bluster. Gradually, however, the building blocks of such a system have indeed been developed. These enabling technologies include:
- Credit cards
- Debit cards
- Postal meters
- Credit and debit card enabled pay phones
- Credit and debit card enabled vending machines
- Credit and debit card enabled “pay before you exit” parking garage kiosks
- Grocery and warehouse store “member” cards
- Automated bank account and wage garnishment by the IRS
- Automated child support and alimony payments
- Transnational debit cards with a Maestro logo (such as EC and Switch cards)
- EBT cards
- Widespread use of cellular smartphones
- Widespread use of tablet and laptop computers
- Direct deposit of payroll checks and Social Security payments
- “E-Stamp” electronic postage stamp equivalents
- Electronic banking
- “Self checkout” terminals at stores
- Point of purchase (POP) credit/debit card terminals
- Credit/debit card enabled gas pumps
- The new chip-equipped “smart” credit cards
- The “Square” and PayPal “Here” credit/debit card readers
Perhaps the most crucial, yet underappreciated, one of these technologies was the advent of the very compact Square card reader in 2010. The Square magnetic strip card reader is a tiny attachment weighing less than two ounces that plugs into a cell phone. When used with its SquareUp cross-platform app, this device allows anyone with a functioning cell phone signal the ability to process credit card and debit card transactions. The Square reader is now a mature technology that is being mass produced and sold for less than $9.
The other key enabler was the advent of the EBT card, which replaced U.S. food stamps. The EBT card put the Federal government in the debit card-issuing business. Thus, all of the infrastructure is already in place to have a government-issued “Cash Card”. (It would be very quick and easy to start issuing a combination cash and EBT card, which might be marked “Federal Reserve Cash Card” or something similar.
Here Comes E-Cash
It is noteworthy that some American urban dwellers no longer carry any cash. They pay for all of their everyday expenses with debit cards and credit cards. I expect the number of people in this category to continue to grow.
Back in 2012, the International Business Times, in a story headlined Sweden Going Cashless reported: “In Sweden, monetary transactions made with physical cash are down to three percent of the national economy” and predicted that the country would go entirely cashless in a few years. And just last week, the same publication reported that Norway is now very close to implementing a cashless society by means of cash cards that will entirely replace paper currency and coins. This is a frightening prospect, because once Norway does so other European nations will almost surely soon follow, claiming that “they must” for the sake of competitiveness. And once EU goes cashless, then the U.S. and Canada will likely follow suit.
An Orwellian Nightmare
A cashless society is a Collectivist/Statist Tyrant’s dream come true.
Source: https://survivalblog.com/digital-currency-the-key-tool-of-21st-century-monolithic-nanny-state-tyranny/
