There is a storm coming. We must do everything in our power to stop it.
At the center of this storm lies a push by government authorities around the world to adopt central bank digital currencies (CBDCs)—including a “digital dollar.” Should they succeed, we will live in a world of financial surveillance.
Imagine allowing authorities—elected or not—to track and review all your transactions. Such includes anonymous donations to non-profit organizations whose causes you believe in. No financial contribution or transaction would be off-limits.
But the threats don’t stop there.
With everyone’s financial lives available to authorities in a Central Financial Panopticon, we will be disturbingly exposed.
Of course, we would also be utterly helpless during internet outages, blackouts, or any other situation in which you would have no access. Without connectivity, we would be unable to make purchases, pay bills, or withdraw physical cash.
Worse, centralized financial authorities would gain the power to explicitly control what you can and cannot buy or sell. What if only government-approved items and spending limits were permissible under the digital dollar regime?
There is also the looming potential for centralized financial powers to become synchronized with an invidious “social credit” system like that already implemented in China. Those who run afoul of ever-shifting government standards could find their spending curtailed as punishment, or authorities could review their finances to deny them access to government services.
At any time and without recourse, these financial overseers could also move to freeze or confiscate some or all of your funds. With our financial lives contained within their panopticon, those we trust least with power would be able to cut us off from our own money with just a few keystrokes. Even if there were de jure provisions to fight back, there would likely be no de facto recourse when the goons blocked your transaction or froze your funds.
Every personal transaction will be an open book. That means a financial surveillance state is being constructed right under our noses, creating a Skinner Box with house arrest features. Those who fail to please whatever authorities are in charge at a given moment could find themselves on ice.
They will woo us into adoption: Here’s your Federal Reserve Account. Here’s $200 in funds to get you started. Welcome to the Digital Dollar!
This dark scenario is not inevitable, but almost.
We must shut the door on the digital dollar before it’s too late. By doing so, we are preserving not just economic freedom for future generations but also the personal freedom that controlling our own resources makes possible.
Authorities will pinky promise that we need to worry about nothing and that our rights will be protected. When have authorities ever honored such promises? Authorities promising to protect your rights are like wolves promising to protect your livestock.
The looming CBDC—the digital dollar—will guarantee our future abuse. We cannot just let it happen—not after so much has already been taken.
What little is left is at stake.
Max Borders is a senior advisor to The Advocates. He also writes at Underthrow.
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