War on Crypto - Governments are trying to neuter decentralized crypto adoption and use. They do not want competition.
War on cash - From limiting access to cash (branch banking, ATM withdrawal limits), to pandemic propaganda (cash spreading disease) to algorithmic debanking, the war on cash has largely been waged quietly.
A common denominator in the war on crypto and the war on cash is the cry and focus on anti-money laundering efforts. Money laundering - whether supporting drug cartels or terrorists - is the rallying cry used to justify attacks on financial privacy. It’s the fulcrum over which the balance of financial privacy/liberty and surveillance/control are being decided/justified.
The advent of decentralized crypto has opened Pandora’s Box. Central banks (and governments) have glimpsed their Holy Grail. Absent an awakening amongst the people of this Earth, the world will continue marching towards a future without real money - money without counterparty entanglements.
Defend the money, defend the future
There are a few things everyone can do to prevent a dystopian CBDC future:
Educate others - family, friends, social media strangers. Raise awareness of the issue (share this article if you like).
Use cash - It’s tempting to use a credit/debit card all the time. But metrics on the (declining) use of cash are used to shore up political support for legislation banning the use of cash. Use cash. Enjoy financial privacy while it’s still available.
Contact your representatives. Many States are currently considering legislation to ban CBDCs or promote gold/silver and crypto. Nationally, there is also the No CBDC Act. Let your representatives know that you support these bills (and oppose digital IDs).”
Your aversion to profit is similarly naive. The sole purpose of businesses is profit. That’s the engine of a successful market economy. It must be encouraged, and constrained only as necessary. Check out Venezuela for a demonstration of the quick effects of transition from the capitalist profit motive to the benign, benevolent, tender care of an all-knowing government intent on the “public good”.
I have no aversion to profit whatsoever. I work at my job to earn personal profit that I save or spend as needed. However, I also at times make conscious decisions that I feel are morally right even if they don’t happen to be profitable, or perhaps are even unprofitable. That is the combination of a personal moral compass and free will that makes humans different from any other creature on earth.
I’m not against companies and their need to operate for profit. I’m just very aware of the purely amoral nature of operating with “profitability” as the single or even only driving purpose of an entity. It would be quite ugly in a human, but it’s a given in corporations, and not necessarily evil. Companies will do anything allowed by law to make money, so they have no concern to do what is “right” except perhaps in considering how doing something “wrong” might impact profitability.
Corporations aren’t evil, they just have zero moral ends and exist purely for economic reasons. The larger and more global the business, company, or corporation, the more power they have and the more likely they are to “invest” in a manner to impact policy, politics, or the outcomes of conflicts nationally or internationally. Again all in the goal of profitability.
Even a corrupt totalitarian government is locked in a single location or state, and they have to make that work, or at the least control it. They can’t just pick up and leave that state and move across the globe to another state. Corporations don’t have this burden. They can move to any country, or in today’s electronic age no country at all. They can reinvent themselves for new purposes and new markets. They can invest in other companies and profit indirectly or acquire other companies outright. There really is no limit to what global corporations can do, and no limit to the manner in which they can continue to exist in perpetuity, continually increasing the influence and control they wield, as long as they remain profitable. That is NOT the kind of entity that I want controlling my data or my currency if I can help it.
I’m not sure governments want anything. Certainly people in power want a lot of different things, likely including some various degree of power/control given that they’ve sought that role, but governments in and of themselves don’t necessarily want things. We can only hope that those in government want to do what is right for their citizens as well as the citizens of the world, both in the now and for generations into the future. Unfortunately most governments struggle to achieve this even with the best of intentions either from those who make up the government and those who might support it.
Thats how it was but recent western gov actions says otherwise.
Staying in power at any cost seems to be a function of gov these days especially the left.
The gov that works for the people is disappearing in several western countries.
Depends on which people. The monied class seem to come out just fine. As long as one can afford to pay lobbyists [former members of government] to deliver cash to current members of government one can get excellent representation.
A huge waste of taxpayer money to investigate a conspiracy started by the the DNC corrupting the judiciary so they knew there was nothing before it started.
But it did do what was intended and that was to take eyes off all the criminal cases Killary was facing.
Obama is making Nixon look like a Saint.
We are heading into a paperless society. Problem will be the “Black Hats” and how all this electronics/ digital assets can be exploited by these people. This is right now making us consume more energy as more data centers and crypto mining farms pop up. Like everything it will have its pros and cons. For me I like the idea of a QR code as you can have your license, DP certs, DL and other training in a centralized platform. Not have to carry all these papers and cards around will be convenient. The same with money, haven’t used a check for more than 25 years. Crypto is great in that way that you don’t need to carry paper bills, real coins around or even your bank card. All the world under one currency. About privacy in the digital world, for me, it doesn’t exist.
In Australia, throughout our working life, we build a superannuation account jointly funded by our employer and the individual. This account is used to either fully or partially fund life in retirement. The accumulated funds are presently held in an industry based fund and subject to my instructions regarding the level of monthly pension withdrawal and investment strategies. At my passing, the balance is subjected to a small level of taxation and the balance is bequeathed to my two children to help them out.
Under a CBDC this fund, along with all other financial assets, will be fully digitised and controlled. You will be told how, where and when the funds are dispersed and quite possibly subject to seizure at my passing. Complete government control
Anyone who supports and agrees to this has rocks in their head.
This is your opinion which you are perfectly entitled to…….but……
For that QR code to be valid you MUST adhere to every government dictate and instruction. This will include some things that you do not agree with, regarding both yourself and your family. You are basically devolving your few remaining human rights.
Plus…….an invalid QR code is going to make life very difficult.
Because that would be the bank’s fault and you can charge them with theft.
As a matter of technicality, you don’t deposit money in the bank, you loan them money
Government confiscation is harder to fight … even harder with no money. Governments already have rules allowing them to legally confiscate money and put the onus on you to prove it was legally obtained.
