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the war on cash is here

friday, october 22nd, 2021

The war on cash’s endgame is here: money replaced by vouchers subject to complete state control.

Building on the bitcoin model, central banks are planning to produce their own “digital currencies”. Removing any and all remaining privacy, granting total control over every transaction, even limiting what ordinary people are allowed to spend their money on.

[FULL TITLE: The ‘War On Cash’ Endgame Is Here."] I keep asking any liberals I run into, where socialism's ever worked -- show me where socialism's ever been successful. They can't.

From the moment bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies first emerged, sold as an independent and alternative medium of exchange outside the financial status quo, it was only a matter of time before the new alternative would be absorbed, modified and redeployed in service of the state.

The war on cash’s endgame is here: money replaced by vouchers, subject to complete state control.

Enter “Central Bank Digital Currencies”: the mainstream answer to bitcoin.

For those who have never heard of them, “Central Bank Digital Currencies” (CBDCs) are exactly what they sound like, digitized versions of the pound/dollar/euro etc. issued by central banks.

Like bitcoin (and other crypto), the CBDC would be entirely digital, thus furthering the ongoing war on cash. However, unlike crypto, it would not have any encryption preserving anonymity. In fact, it would be totally the reverse, potentially ending the very idea of financial privacy.

Now, you may not have heard much about the CBDC plans, lost as they are in the tangle of the ongoing “pandemic”, but the campaign is there, chugging along on the back pages for months now. There are stories about it from both Reuters and the Financial Times just today. It’s a long, slow con, but a con nonetheless.

The countries where the idea progressed the furthest are China and the UK. The Chinese Digital Yuan has been in development since 2014, and is subject to ongoing and widespread testing. The UK is nowhere near that stage yet, but Chancellor Rishi Sunak is keenly pushing forward a digital pound that the press are calling “Britcoin”.

Other countries, including New Zealand, Australia, South Africa and Malaysia, are not far behind.

The US is also researching the idea, with Jerome Powell, head of Federal Reserve, announcing the release of a detailed report on the “digital dollar” in the near future.

The proposals for how these CBDCs might work should be enough to raise red flags in even the most trusting of minds.

Most people wouldn’t like the idea of the government monitoring “all spending in real-time”, but that’s not the worst it.

By far the most dangerous idea is that any future digital currency should be “programmable”. Meaning the people issuing the money would have the power to control how it is spent.

That’s not an interpretation or a “conspiracy theory”, just listen to Agustin Carstens, head of the International Settlement Bank, speaking earlier this year:

Here’s that quote again, with some emphasis added:

The key difference [with a CBDC] is that the central bank would have absolute control on the rules and regulations that will determine the use of that expression of central bank liability, and the have the technology to enforce that.”

…which tells you not only that they want and are seeking this power, but how they justify it to themselves. They transform other people’s money into an “expression of their liability”, and so consider it’s only right that they control it.

An article in the Telegraph, back in June, was just as candid [our emphasis]:

Digital cash could be programmed to ensure it is only spent on essentials, or goods which an employer or Government deems to be sensible

The article goes on to quote Tom Mutton, a director at the BoE:

You could introduce programmability […] There could be some socially beneficial outcomes from that, preventing activity which is seen to be socially harmful in some way.

Governments and employers making sure the money they issue can only be used on “sensible” things, and not be used in “socially harmful” ways? It doesn’t take much imagination to see just how this system could evolve and re-shape society into a truly dystopian nightmare.

In China the process is already beginning, with a trademarked lack of subtlety. As they progress toward the release of their digital currency, they are banning all cryptocurrencies to remove competition and it’s already known the digital yuan will be programmable.

The West’s approach will probably be less direct, but no less controlling for that.

Britcoin will likely be programmed in only “special circumstances”. Starting, as the Telegraph says, with state benefits. They will be flagged to be spent only on “essentials”. (Of course, if Universal Basic Income is put in place, then it’s possible the majority of people could end up on “state benefits”.)

It’s also not hard to see programmable money feeding into the “protect the NHS narrative”, where people aren’t allowed to spend state money on sugar, cigarettes or alcohol. Or people on organ waiting lists, or diagnosed with certain conditions, have their wages and spending controlled.

By and large, however, it is the nature of British tyranny to be unofficial. So the UK government will make a big show of renouncing their own power to program the money, thereby positively contrasting themselves with China…but at the time will take no steps to prevent large companies “programming” the wages they issue.

So, while the state controls the digital yuan in China, the digital pound will be subject to corporate control and used to enforce the unspoken state-corporate partnership that defines true fascism.

It will likely start in small, predictable ways designed to “limit competition”. McDonald’s, for example, will make it impossible to spend their wages at Burger King, and vice versa. Coke and Pepsi. Starbucks and Costa. You get the idea.

We’ve witnessed the rise of cancel culture, the cultivated age of identity politics, and virtue signalling. Well, imagine how programmable currency fits into that. Companies could commit to “combatting hate”, and stop their employees from donating money to black-listed political parties, religious groups, charities or individuals.

In the age of Covid we have seen how authors/actors/singers who step out of line are subject to poisonous witch hunts, but imagine a world where companies could “renounce those who spread misinformation”, by making it impossible to spend wages they issue on art/films/music/books by outspoken critics of the government.

Maybe companies will make it so that employees who aren’t vaccinated have more limitations placed on their wages than vaccinated ones. Maybe an unvaxxed paycheck can’t be spent at cinemas or nightclubs, to “stop the spread of the virus”.

John Cunliffe, deputy director of the Bank of England, told the Telegraph:

You could think of smart contracts in which the money would be programmed to be released only if something happened.

So maybe employers will remove choice altogether, and make a negative test and/or a vaccine booster a prerequisite for unlocking your wages. That could be applied to all kinds of behaviours moving forward.

The World Economic Forum has a clear vision of the future where people “own nothing and are happy”, combine that with a prolonged war on homeownership, and you can see employers and governments issuing money which can be spent on rent, but not on a mortgage.

Now imagine the nascent “Green New Deal”. Hard limits on how much money you can spend on petrol, plastic, or meat.

Only X dollars on flights per year. Only Y pounds on beef. All for the good of the planet.

Money will turn from an expression of independence into nothing but a voucher system operated completely at the whim of corporate monoliths.

The year is 2030.

To reduce your CO2 footprint, your food purchase with digital cash been declined because you went over your car mileage limit.

It's all tracked with your digital ID.

15 social credit score points have been deducted from your climate change passport.

All of this would have sounded like rampant paranoia just two years ago, but would you honestly be surprised to see that suggestion in the Guardian, these days?

A programmable digital currency would have, coded into it, the ability to control our entire society. And it looks like that’s where The New Normal is heading next.

© 10.21.2021 by Kit Knightly, ZERO HEDGE.

A Day In The Life.

Up at 9a on Friday, I went thru my finger stick to check my BSL (Blood Sugar Level) and recorded it on my Diabetes 2 chart, made coffee and breakfast, had a couple smokes in the semi-cool garage, grabbed a quick shower, listened to the "Chris Plante Show", and checked the leftover errands list. It was already 65°. I just hope I can keep some food down. I had coffee and toast for breakfast, and decided to stay inside today. For lunch, I had sugar-free Jello, and some saltines, just to keep my BSL from going down into the scary "hypoglycemic" territory. An electrician who works for Met-Ed and does jobs on the side, stopped-by to look at a repair job to my outside front pole light. Same for dinner, and I didn't throw-up once, or have to run to the bathroom, during the day.

Still not feeling good, I just had some saltines and milk to calm my stomach, and watched "Mecum Auto Auctions", "Gold Rush", some Fox shows until midnight, and bagged it for the night.

I've got nowhere to go, nothing to do, and no one to do it with.

I slept-in until 10:30a on Saturday, and I threw-up again, causing me to just have some saltines and milk, instead of breakfast. I'm thinking that this nausea/puking situation over the past several days, is being caused by the narcotic, 50mg Tramadol, that my Dr prescribed for my shoulder pain, on Wednesday. I'm going to take a 2-3 day break from using it, and see if that makes any difference. I skipped lunch, had some more saltines and milk, and slept for a while. Not much on TV on a Saturday evening, so I watched old "Jesse Stone" movies, with Tom Selleck, that I've had for years. By 11:30p, it was time for lights out.

I slept-in Sunday unril 10:30a, felt better than the past few days. It was only 49° and very windy as the stormfront passed thru and out of the area, leaving us with a sunny, almost cloudless, beautiful Fall day. I made scrambled eggs, toast and butter-sautáed tomatoes for breakfast, and enjoyed the Kona coffee with my Marlboros, in the garage. The days are getting shorter, and the nights longer, as we head to the Winter Solstice, in late December. I had a couple of loads of laundry, and some condo chores to do, so I started just before lunch. There was a NAQSCAR 500 mile race on at 2p, so I watched that on-and-off while doing the chores, and the race finally ended at 6p, after 11 accidents. (NOTE: NASCAR is NOT my choice of racing -- ask me why sometime... -- but it was the only race on for the day, unfortunately.)

After Filet Mignon w/ Sweet Potato Hash for dinner, I watched Discovery's "Homestead Rescue", caught a Fox News show, and quit around midnight. I have a 10:45a eye dr's app't tomorrow, so some sleep is necessary.

Up at 6:15a on Monday, it was a cold 47° and not daylight until almost 7:30. I had breakfast and coffee, a couple smokes in the garage, and scanned the weather and news. I left for the eye dr's app't, got double-dosed with pupil-dialating eyedrops, and had a difficult time getting hom; I had to take backtoads instead of I-83. After getting home, I closed all blinds and shades, and slept for 3hrs. After dinner, I caught my "second wind" and watched "Iron Resurrection" until "Tucker", and some other car-related shows until "Gurfeld" at 11p, and finally unplugged at 11:45, for the night.

Up at 8:45a on Tuesday, it was another cold 46° day start, so I fired-up the furnace, made coffee, had a couple smokes in the garage, had breakfast and listened to the "Chris Plante Show" from 9-12. I had an ever-compiling errands list, and needed to get a couple done this afternoon. Amazingly, I got all 4 stops done by 1p, and headed home to unload. After lunch, I caught a 3hr snooze on the LR couch, did some condo chores and had dinner. Then I watched "Mystery of Oak Island" until 10p, when I called it a day, and went up to get some slerep. I have to get up at 5a toimorrow, to p/u Becky by 7, and get her to PSU-Hershey Hospital, for her surgery.

Are you ready for coql and nat gas prices to skyrocket? Along with shelves to be even more sparse? And for consumer goods to keep rising? Hundreds of full container ships are sitting off the Left Coast and in the Gulf, waiting to be unloaded, with hundreds-of-billions of dollars of goods we need to stock the stores, and to purchase. IT'S ALREADY HERE!

My alarm went-off at 4:45a on Wednesday, and I had to get moving. I quickly made coffee, did the finger stick, had breakfast and a couple smokes in the warm garage. I'd left the heat at 76° all night, so the condo was toasty warm. Heh; I killed the heat. I left at 6:15 to p/u Becky, to get her to PSU-Hershey Hospital (77miles, 2:14 round-trip) for the 8a check-in and following intestinal surgery. The surgeon will call me later in the day to let me know how things went. I finally got home at 8:50, so I could relax and listen to the "CP Show" from 9-12. I was real tired.

Haven't been to the shithole "Clinton Library" recently? Take a quick guided tour with BJ Klintoon.

I fell asleep around 11, and slept until 2p, when one of PSU-Hershey Hospital's OR Nurses called with a 3hr progress report. Okay, so far. I had some lunch, and laid back down on the LR couch, until 4p, when another OR Nurse called with a 5hr update. Okay, so far. They had to do an "open surgery" combined with a "laproscopy surgery", instead of just a laproscopy, which means a big slice across her abdomen, and much more hospital and healing time. Her surgeon called at 7:45p to tell me that she was in Recovery/ICU and doing fine. 9hrs and he, the shifts of 8 OR nurses, 1 anesthesiologist, 1 anesthetist etc were all exhausted. She'd need to be in the hospital for 4-5 days, and possibly longer if any problems develop. I'd rather have her there where medical help is immediate, than come home early, if something might develop.

Tired from the day, I had a light dinner and fell asleep in my office-sunroom comfy chair until 10:30p, and called it a day.

Up at 8:15a on Thursday, it was a nippy 53°, bright and sunny with another cloudless sky. I did the usual morning routine and Sherry arrived at 11a, so we could go walking at nearby Springettsbury Twp Park, before going to legendary Marino's for lunch. It was another remarkably beautiful Fall day. After lunch, we spent some quiet time together at my place, talking. She left around 4:30, I had my lunch leftovers for dinner and watched TV into the evening. After "Gutfeld" on FNC, at midnight, I crashed for the day.

Tomorrow starts a new week here in the "Journal", and next week potends to be cooler and rainier. More Fall coming. Except for possibley picking-up Becky from PSU-Hershey Hospital & Medical Center, one of my old landscape crews coming to take down the front and back gardens, and to get them Winter prepped, and lunch with an old friend from MD on Friday, I have a "clear schedule". Heh.

Say, WUT?

My doctors have diagnosed me as having an acute case of Post Islamic Stress Trauma with Apologetic White House Fatigue, PIST-AWF (Pronounced pissed-off).

PIST-AWF is a newly defined disease that has become widespread and highly contagious. Doctors at the CDC released a statement disclosing PIST-AWF as a new disease.

It has already infected over half of the United States and is anticipated to continue to spread. The disease itself affects the cells of a person's entire body then goes dormant. The disease ravages the body and leaves serious side effects including, embarrassment for your country, depression, anxiety as to when it will come to an end and wondering how much more damage he can do and how long it will take to repair the damage once a new person takes over the presidency.

Symptoms include:

• Severe pain of the scalp from pulling your own hair while viewing your president pandering to Taliban terrorists.

• Uncontrollable heartburn at 8:00 PM during the CNN coverage lies.

• Stomach cramps from swallowing the fact we America elected Biden/Harris.

• Vomiting from viewing terrorists murdering innocent people, routinely on the nightly news.

• Bleeding from the eyes. This is not Ebola. It is your eyes reacting to accidentally flipping to a channel that shows Irrev Al Sharpscumbag as a so-called legitimate news show host.

Since the disease consumes the entire body, every infected person is then identified as the disease itself.

If you have these symptoms and consider yourself PIST-AWF, please notify your local election board and place your name on the list for a cure. It is expected, and sincerely hoped, that the cure will be available in 2022.

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