Digital currency: Unlimited government control of you and your money
The partnership between Big Government and the Federal Reserve has created an environment where economic policies are routinely and covertly manipulated to the benefit of the state, and the development of a Central Bank Digital Currency is no exception.
Say goodbye to any remnants of financial freedom and privacy that still exists.
Of course, the talking heads representing Big Government and the Federal Reserve claim that a decentralized digital currency will “liberate” people from the constraints of greedy bankers and governments, and they further preach how it will ensure the unfettered access of people to their own money.
What they don’t tell you, however, is how the state can centrally harness your economic power and regulate it in ways that would mark the rise or strengthening of authoritarianism (via Exposing Their Lies):
In part at least, this is a way to regulate the otherwise elusive truly decentralized version of cryptocurrencies. Because of the nature of cryptocurrencies that are based on blockchain as a ledger that records every transaction, governments would have unrestricted and easy access, and “command and control” over when, how, and what people do with their money.
Beyond simply keeping an ever-watchful eye over what citizens are up to, governments would also be able to decide on more radical and in immediate terms much more damaging moves, such as cutting people off from their money.
But imagine if that form of currency were the only one available? The unprecedented level of financial mass surveillance itself would be almost insignificant compared to the potential damage done by replacing all other forms of currency, including fiat money, and cash as one of its manifestations, say critics. (Emphasis mine)
We got a taste of what this power might look like earlier this year when Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau seized dictatorial power under the “Emergencies Act” to squash Freedom Convoy protesters for daring to reject his COVID mandates. Using the “temporary powers” provided under the Act, Canadian officials froze truckers’ personal and corporate bank accounts, and suspended the insurance on their rigs.
Trudeau was able to do this even without a centralized, government-issued digital currency.
Despite the obvious loss of privacy and liberty with central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), the heads of the United States (US) Federal Reserve and European Central Bank (ECB) said the quiet part out loud when they admitted CBDCs will not be anonymous (via Reclaim The Net):
During an appearance at a Banque de France (Bank of France) event, the chairman of the Federal Reserve, Jerome Powell, said if the US were to pursue a central bank digital currency (CBDC), it would be “identity verified” and “not anonymous.”
“We would be looking to balance privacy protection with identity verification, which…has to be done, of course, in today’s traditional banking system as well,” Powell added.
The President of the European Central Bank (ECB), Christine Lagarde, acknowledged that privacy was one of the main concerns Europeans had about the European Union’s (EU’s) proposed CBDC, the digital euro. Despite these concerns, she confirmed that “there would not be complete anonymity as there is with…bank notes” when using the digital euro.
“There would be a limited level of disclosure and certainly not at the central bank level,” Lagarde added. (Emphasis mine)
The creation of a digital currency has been a top priority of the Joe Biden administration. Earlier this year, he issued an executive order instructing a long list of federal agencies to study digital assets and to provide reports about their use and proposals on how to regulate them.
Though focused on cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin, Biden’s executive order also requires the federal government and Federal Reserve to lay the groundwork for a new digital dollar. If a digital currency like the one Biden is suggesting is ever created, it will result in one of the one of the most dramatic expansions of federal power we’ve ever witnessed. Individuals and businesses will lose their social and economic freedoms because digital dollars will be traceable and programmable.
Government and/or the Federal Reserve will have the ability to create more digital dollars whenever they choose. This digital currency can be created with rules and restrictions built into their design, literally putting every single cent of our money under government control to be spent (or not spent) as Big Brother sees fit.
Biden’s executive order also states that a central bank digital currency and other policies governing digital assets must mitigate “climate change and pollution” and promote “financial inclusion and equity” — his executive order mentions “financial inclusion” five times along with “equity” and “climate change” being mentioned four times each.
So, a digital dollar could be crafted to restrict fossil-fuel use, to give bonuses to people for spending at particular businesses, to enact de facto price controls by disallowing users from spending more than government thinks they should on particular products. It could even be used to make Barack Obama’s “redistribute the wealth” dream a reality.
We’ve seen foreshadowings of Biden’s desire for government control of our finances in some of his other liberty-killing ideas.
For example, Biden has demonstrated a philosophical connection with Justin Trudeau concerning government seizure of the bank accounts belonging to people fighting government tyranny. When working as Barack Obama’s right-hand man, he helped launch Operation Choke Point, an anti-Second Amendment initiative that used banks and financial institutions to track down companies suspected of illegal activities without the Fourth Amendment protection against unreasonable search and seizure.
In May 2021, before turning the IRS into a Treasury Department gestapo under the Inflation Reduction Act, Biden announced his plan to give the IRS power to spy on bank accounts. In September 2021, he released a plan I refer to it as a Patriot Act for the IRS that required more money and manpower to build his Treasury Department gestapo — money and manpower that he received with the Inflation Reduction Act.
Using Biden’s own words, we are provided with plenty of reasons to believe that his digital currency will create a surveillance state capable of giving the federal government and/or Federal Reserve full control over you, your money, and nearly every aspect of American society and the economy.
When that happens, the demise of liberty in America will have arrived.
David Leach is the owner of the Strident Conservative. He holds people of every political stripe accountable for their failure to uphold conservative values, and he promotes those values instead of political parties.
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