War on Cash and One World Currency

Money greases the wheels of exchange, and thus makes the whole economy more productive. The idea that everything should be cashless is problematic for so many reasons. Bartering is a good under certain circumstances and societies, but it relies on what Keynesian economists call a “double coincidence of wants,” making it less desirable than cash.

Cash is easier because it is a convenient medium of exchange, sometimes free from government prying eyes, a unit of account for quoting prices, and a store of value as long as the trust in government is not eroded and inflation is low.

Cash is lightweight, can have large denominational value, does not spoil, and is thus better than commodity money, i.e., cigarettes, bullets, chocolate, jewelry, gold coins, pelts, furs, soap, etc.

From the government’s perspective, it is easy to see why they would want a cashless society. Banning cash under the guise of it being infected by disease, of controlling money laundering of criminals and drug lords, and routing all of our income, every last penny through the banking system helps them better control everything we do, freezing accounts at will, while taxation becomes so much easier, including payments to Obamacare insurance and any financial penalties an individual is required to pay. It enables governments to track with 100 percent accuracy everything we buy and sell, everything we own, and everything we do.

From the people’s perspective, cash is freedom, but the leftist main stream media is attacking it with pathetic excuses such as cash is physically dirty, expensive, potentially criminal, and obsolete 19^th century technology, happily promoting the “war on cash.”

The media’s opposition sees the “war on cash” as another form of population control when people’s accounts can be raided and their owners classified as potential domestic terrorists, or denied healthcare, travel, education, and other services if they are marked with a “digital star.”

The issues with a cashless society are too many to mention them all:

-          Total control by the state or its proxy

-          Savings could result from not using special paper, printing, ink, labor, and metal alloys but then those in the trade would become unemployed

-          If an attack occurs on the Smart Grid and there is no power, there are no financial transactions possible without some cash, a substitute, or barter

-          In the event of a national disaster, i.e., earthquake, tsunami, hurricane, tornado, power outages, transactions can be made by cash, commodity money, or barter

-          An EMP attack or intense solar flares would make cash or one world currency worthless and people will resort to theft

-          A cashless or global currency would give banks extraordinary power with no cap on interest rates or their control

-          Cashless transaction will always be traceable and thus the person’s location

-          One world currency in a cashless market would eliminate exchange rates, currency trading futures, eliminate a substantial sector of the job market and thus revenues

-          Black markets and illegal activities would be eliminated, and everyone will be forced to pay taxes on every penny

-          Children under 18 would be excluded from holding credit cards and thus excluded from financial transactions without cash; no more grandma cash gifts, lawn mowing money, or rainy-day cash savings in a jar

-          Prostitution will have to be legalized and client’s names become public record

-          Billions of Muslims would lose hawala transactions which are based on cash

-          Conducting monetary policy about money stock will be altered as cash disappears and one world government such as the U.N. would have to do it

-          Labor will be purchased and sold with electronic credits and debits

-          How would the value of one world currency be decided? Will it be tied to gold, silver, platinum, or some other precious metal or decided arbitrarily by the United Nations?

-          The destabilization of economies via counterfeit currency between countries would be eliminated as a tactic of war if only one currency exists

-          What would cyber attacks do to a single grid of digital money?

-          What would happen to third world nations that are not so electronically wired and depend heavily on cash and barter? How could they possibly make transactions in digital money?

-          Would there be electronic counterfeit of digital currency across the globe and who would police it? http://canadafreepress.com/article/what-would-the-world-be-like-without-cash-or-with-one-currency

Yet “The Bank of International Settlements is getting headlines again because of its direction of central banks to go cashless.” https://www.technocracy.news/the-dark-past-of-the-bank-for-international-settlements/

Cash or Digital Money, Personal Freedom or Globalism

Bjorn Ulvaeus Photo: Wikipedia

Sweden seemed to be at the forefront of the newest globalist scheme digital money v. cash, advocating a cashless global economy with a one-world currency. A CBS World News article reported in 2012 that a small number of businesses in Sweden accepted only credit cards, including some churches, even though elderly people prefer cash, especially in rural areas. http://www.cbsnews.com/news/sweden-moving-towards-cashless-economy/

Bjorn Ulvaeus, a former rocker, stated that cash encourages theft, citing his own son who was the victim of armed robbery three times. Cheating and cash theft may have declined in Sweden but cybercrime around the world is indisputably on the rise. Even though Sweden was the first European country to introduce bank notes in 1661, Ulvaeus would like Sweden to phase out cash altogether.

Doug Casey gave an interview recently to Louis James of International Speculator on the “War on Cash.” Doug Casey described how governments  would control  the people’s finances through assaults on cash by making every financial transaction electronic. He presented the following historical timeline of efforts to control people’s money:

-          Bank Secrecy Act of 1970 requiring U.S. citizens to “report the existence of any foreign bank or brokerage accounts,” a law which Americans ignored

-          Money Laundering Control Act of 1986, forcing Americans to explain the source of their money as if it was a crime to move money around without government permission; in Casey’s opinion, “money laundering is an artificial, arbitrary, made-up crime”

-          Patriot Act of 2001

-          Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act of 2010 (FATCA), forcing foreign banks to “report Americans who had bank or brokerage accounts;” Casey explained that U.N.’s Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries jumped at the opportunity to make FATCA a global issue https://www.lewrockwell.com/2016/03/doug-casey/one-edge-precipice/

Casey explained that many countries have already outlawed cash transactions over a certain amount (€1,000 in France, $5,000 in Uruguay, etc.); countries like Norway, Sweden, India, Denmark, and Israel have promoted the ban on cash entirely. Large corporations such as airlines use the excuse of theft to do away with cash transactions.  

From the government’s perspective, banning cash under the guise of controlling “money laundering” of criminals and drug lords, and routing all of our income through the banking system helps them better control everything we do, freezing accounts at will, while taxation becomes much easier, including payment for Obamacare premiums and penalties for non-compliance. “It enables them to track everything you buy and sell, and effectively, everything you own,” added Casey.

Then there is the infamous “bail-in” in Cyprus when the government bureaucrats and Brussels’ EU technocrats helped themselves to people’s bank accounts in order to “save” the too-big-to-fail banks and the rapacious government.

And we should not forget the numerous quantitative easings (QEs), printing money with no backing of goods and services, the zero interest rate policy (ZIRP), and stock and real estate bubbles. And the negative interest rates are spreading around the world, the “war on savings,” as Casey explains it.

Because cash is freedom, the progressive MSM is attacking it with pathetic excuses that cash is “physically dirty, expensive, potentially criminal, and obsolete 19^th century technology,” promoting the “war on cash.”

Some see the “war on cash” as another form of “population control” when people’s accounts will be raided if they are classified as potential domestic terrorists, or denied healthcare if they are marked with a “digital star.” Over 16,000 IRS employees and the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB) of Obamacare will be impossible to stop; they are appointed, anonymous, and unaccountable to anyone.

The issues of a cashless society and of a one world-currency are many:

-          Total control by the state or its proxy

-          There are savings deriving from a cashless society in terms of special paper, printing, ink, labor, and metal alloys

-          If an attack occurs on the Smart Grid and there is no power, there are no financial transactions possible without some cash, a substitute, or barter

-          If there is a national disaster, earthquake, tsunami, hurricane, tornado, or power interruptions, transactions of goods and services will be made by cash, a substitute thereof, or barter

-          An EMP attack or intense solar flares would make cash or a one world currency worthless, we would have to resort to barter or theft

-         A cashless or one global currency could result in extraordinary powers given to banks, potentially, with no cap on interest rates

-         Cashless transactions would be traceable at all times

-         One world currency would eliminate exchange rates, currency trading in futures, eliminating a substantial sector of the job market and thus revenues

-         There will be no black market involving cash or illegal activity, everyone would be forced to pay taxes

-         Children under 18 would be excluded from holding credit cards and thus excluded from financial transactions if cash disappeared.

-         Migrant and illegal workers would be paid electronically in a cashless society, forcing accountability in taxation and employment

-         Prostitution would have to be legalized, taxed, and clients’ names become public record

-         Muslims would no longer be able to use hawala transactions which are based on cash

-         Conducting monetary policy, money stock, interest rates, and inflation would be altered in a cashless society

-         In the case of one-world currency, who would conduct monetary policy, decide interest rates, the digital money stock, and taxation? Would it be the United Nations?

-         Would society change dramatically because labor will be purchased with digital credit as opposed to cash? How would the one-world currency value be decided? Will it be tied to precious metals such as silver, gold, and platinum or will it be arbitrarily decided by the United Nations?

-         In a time of war, how would one country destabilize the economy of another by dropping off counter fit currency over another country’s territory if the entire world uses the same currency?

-         In the case of cyber-attacks and hacking, what would happen if all banks, companies, and institutions would be connected to a single grid of digital money

-         What would happen to third world nations that are not so electronically wired and depend heavily on cash or barter? Could they be required to make transactions in digital money?

-         Finally yet importantly, who would police the counter fitting of a one-world currency across the globe? http://canadafreepress.com/article/what-would-the-world-be-like-without-cash-or-with-one-currency

 

The idea of a digital money society or a one-world currency may capture sound bites on TV and the imagination of liberals, libertarians, and conservatives alike, especially when running for political office, but it opens a new Pandora’s box of ills that most countries are not yet equipped to resolve.