Over the last few months a stream of articles have crossed my screen, all proclaiming the need of governments and banks to eliminate cash. I’m sure you’ve noticed them too.
It is terrorists and other assorted madmen, we are told, who use cash. And so, to protect us from being blown up and dismembered on our very own street corners, governments will have to ban it.
It would actually take some effort to imagine a more obvious, naked attempt at fearmongering. Cash – in daily use for centuries if not millennia – is now, suddenly, the agent of spring-loaded, instant death? And we’re supposed to just accept that line?
But there are good reasons why the insiders are promoting these stories now. The first of them, perhaps, is simply that they can: After 9/11, a massive wave of compliance surged through the West. It may not last forever, but it’s still rolling, and if the entertainment corporations can pump enough fear into minds that want to believe, they may just get them to buy it.
The second reason, however, is the real driver:
Negative Interest Rates
The urgency of their move to ban one of the longest-lasting pillars of daily life means that the backroom elites think it will be necessary soon. It would appear that the central banks, the IMF, the World Bank, the BIS, and all their backers, see the elimination of cash as a central survival strategy.
The reason is simple: cash would allow people to escape from the one thing that could save their larcenous currency system: negative interest rates.
To make this clear, I like to paraphrase a famous (and good) quote from Alan Greenspan, back from 1966, during his Ayn Randian days: The financial policy of the welfare state requires that there be no way for the owners of wealth to protect themselves.
That was a true statement, and with a slight modification, it succinctly explains the new war on cash:
The preservation of an insolvent currency system requires that the owners of currency have no way to protect it.
Cash is currency that you hold in your own hands, that stands more or less alone. It is primarily external to bank control. Electronic money – bank balances, credit, etc. – remains inside the banking system and fully subject to bank control.
A combination of no cash and negative interest rates would be a quiet, permanent version of what was done in Cyprus, where the government simply shut down everything, allowed only the smallest deductions via ATMs, and then stole money from thousands of bank accounts at once.
The Cypriot spectacle was fairly large, however, and that tends to undermine the legitimacy of rulership. So, it is much better to have no ATMs and no cash at all. There would be no lines of angry people talking to each other, only isolated losers with no recourse, licking their wounds while the talking heads on television tell them to stay calm and watch the flashing images.
Negative interest rates would give the banks 100% control over your purchases. They could, even in the worst pinch, allow you to purchase food while freezing the rest of your money. The average person would have no recourse and would simply be robbed… but very smoothly and with no human face to blame on.
Negative interest rates mean that your bank account shrinks day by day, automatically. Your $1000 in January becomes $950 by December. And where does that money go? To the banks, of course, and to the government. They syphon your money away, drip by drip, and there’s nothing you can do about it. This accomplishes several things for them at once:
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It finances government, limitlessly and automatically. Forget tax filings; they can just take as they please.
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It pays off the bad debt of the big banks. (And there are oceans of debt.)
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It forces you to spend everything you’ve got, as soon as you get it. (Otherwise it will shrink.)
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It gives the system full control over your financial life. Everything is monitored, everything is tracked, and every single transaction must be approved by them (or not). If they decide they don’t like you, you’re instantly reduced to begging.
In short, this is a direct return to serfdom.
I suggest that you start talking to your friends and neighbors about this now, before it’s too late. Don’t let them comply without a fight.
Paul Rosenberg
www.freemansperspective.com
You haven’t exaggerated the threat. It’s clear that the powers that be are determined to push a cash ban through, and it’s not hard to guess how bad the repercussions will be after it happens. Another reason to hold gold and similar commodities, while they can still be purchased anonymously.
Concur… this is the ULTIMATE tyranny. And THEY know it.
No one could hire a worker for cash (home repair, etc) flea markets and yard sales would be banned, restaurants would lose lots of business because some won’t use bank cards eating out, just cash because of skimming. Gifting cash to others would become obsolete and everything would be controlled, no privacy.
Paul,
another well thought out article, thanks.
Zorro – off grid now …
Who knew that the Amish were terrorists and other assorted madmen?
Hopefully we have Bitcoin!
I cannot imagine this will become a world-wide system, surely Africa and much of Asia will remain with cash. It seems to me that a true cashless society can only fully work if it is world-wide. Hopefully it will fail, given enough time.
Many countries in Africa already trade in electronic currency only, cellphone minutes are a popular currency. When cash becomes basically useless the people find a solution. There will never be a truly cashless society. Even if all we are doing is trading receipts on stuff we have in a storehouse somewhere, we will have currency.
Hmmm
Clear, concise and right on point. A great article.
It also highlights the real world effectiveness of Iceland’s approach to solving the problem of crooked politicians supporting criminal banking operations; shut down the banks and arrest the bankers and their politicians. Repudiate the ill gotten debts and restore the victims (citizenry) to financial heath. In other words, Iceland’s approach is the exact opposite of the FED and the US government.
Of course what really terrifies the elites everywhere else is the fact that Iceland’s approach does in fact work. Iceland’s economy, including its currency have, in just a few short years gone from the brink of bankruptcy to become one of the strongest in the world. Their standard of living and unemployment are among the lowest. And perhaps most importantly, what made this all possible is that Iceland and its citizenry are debt free. Is there any wonder at all that as all this unfolded the world’s media censored the entire event from start to finish. Iceland’s actions and outcome regarding private banking demonstrates
beyond any shadow of a doubt the the US Federal Reserve, the US
treasury, the US banking industry and Wall Street are in fact conspiring
to steal our money. It really is that simple. The really are just a bunch of criminals dressed up in suits.
The FED charter must be immediately revoked. All debts and obligations incurred repudiated. The current Treasury department as well as the SEC in the entirety must be replaced. At which point the US treasury can resume it’s Constitutionally mandated task of issuing currency. A wholesale reorganization and simplification of the banking and investment laws must quickly take place. The 5 largest banks must be broken up. And in believe it or not, for related reasons, the 5 largest media companies, the 3 largest cable companies, and 4 largest search engines must also be broken up. They are all accomplices and therefore culpable. Then the US tax code must be scraped and a new simpler plan implemented which ensures that the corporations cannot escape paying taxes on GROSS income and investments at the same rates as citizens. Further more, corporations must be stripped of any rights or privileges not afforded the citizenry. And that requirement must be applied to all members of our government as well. In particular, the Congress must be held to the same standards and laws as the rest of us. No special treatment for any citizens or entities.
Finally a law must be passed prohibiting anyone who holds dual citizenship as of this moment cannot ever be allowed to work for the Federal government in any capacity. Dual citizenship by definition means divided loyalties at best. Consequently the inherent dangers of conflicts of interest can never be replaced. We have no problem barring convicted felons as a necessary precaution, many of whom have only been convicted of relatively minor crimes, from working for the government. The same logic applies to dual citizens. Serving in any foreign military should once again should automatically require revocation of US citizenship. The list goes on, but if we started with these we could yet save the Republic.
Much of what you write is enticing and I agree particularly with the aspects that stress punishing criminal behavior and demanding restitution (though I am not sure how this would be equitably done), but I fear your solution is more Hobbesian and Bernie Sanders oriented than Lockean and Ron Paul oriented. Liberty and personal responsibility will solve many of the ills of society if we just give it a chance. Top down dictates may work initially especially if they are just, but they are a receipt for long term disaster as you never can tell who will be the next person wielding the sword. Your solution is definitely much more probable given the popularity of Sanders and Trump, but it is wrought with dangerous implications.
This is a great article. The threat is real and the result would be disastrously tyrannical. I will take your advice and talk to my friends and neighbors (and maybe even write a little bit about it), but the depressing thing is that most people don’t seem to care. I hate to admit it, but I think Huxley was right. Not only will we not fight the slowly enveloping slavery; we will embrace it.
The monetary collapse is the only way most people will open their eyes stand up and say “no more” to the corrupt bankers and politicians. I will be doing the same but when I go home at night I will be secure knowing I have gold, silver, and bitcoin by my side.
Most people won’t stand up and say no more. They will do the same thing they did when going to Auschwitz gas chambers. They will just wait for unavoidable. The financial collapse is a great time to act for people like Paul and other leaders and visionaires.
They will stand up when the monetary system collapses. All the money you have in the bank gone. Pension funds gone. Stock Market Collapsed. Currency collapsed. When the masses are reduced to NOTHING that is the only thing that will cause them to stand up. As you said I hope some great leaders stand up and lead us to prosperity and honesty.
Who is John Galt.
Arm up….
SAME WITH CREDIT RATINGS ………………….DON’T PAY A BILL, AND YOU WILL HAVE NO CREDIT AGAIN………YOU WILL BE LOCKED OUT OF THE SYSTEM …………………..ONLY TRUMP
………the black market does not accept digital currency. Besides it’s more worthless than fiat money and doesn’t work when the power goes out.
Never in the history of the US has there been such a raw and evil grab for money by the government. The desperation of the “rulers” is now quite obvious. They must sustain their system of perish. It is their system. They created it for their own self-interests and they are finally running out of other peoples’ money. With the overwhelming support of their propaganda arm known as the “news” they will succeed just as they’ve succeeding in creating a nation of people who are scared of their own shadow.
After spending several years out of the US and out of the idiot European countries, I’ve been completely amazed at how risk averse and fearful the people in the US really are. I’m shocked at their ignorance of what the rest of the world is like. The US is unbelievably isolated, and the “rulers” use that to create and sustain their rule. Ignorance is the worst possible thing in a Constitutional republic that is supposed to be governed by its citizens. There is not one person in a thousand who understands what is going on and what is being done by those in governance. Worse, most don’t want to know. Why? Because it scares them. How ironic.
Following Paul Rosenberg’s analogy, think about how we can ever explain to our children and their children that we, the citizens of a self-governing nation, allowed this to happen and didn’t do a thing to stop it.
If the majority of Americans finally wake up – and I seriously doubt that they will – they will be facing a highly organized, armed force of awesome proportions that will be used to enslave them. It is truly ironic that these same Americans naively provided the money to create this awesome armed force, which is now completely beyond their control. It is patently obvious to anyone with an IQ greater than 50 that there will be no “grass roots movement” that will prevent the ongoing descent into absolute slavery. Americans have nobody but themselves to blame for this tragic situation. They have squandered the precious time and resources that they should have used to truly understand truth, principles, and justice, and implement them into every aspect of their lives. Now they will pay the horrible price for their childish refusal to embrace and implement their responsibilities as human beings and as Americans. I am sad to say that they richly deserve the nightmare that is about to be visited upon them! Goodbye America, you were a magnificent ideal that was destroyed by childish, self-centered idiots who couldn’t appreciate your beauty. May you rest in Peace!
just let it happen nobody won’t believe it.you try because i do and my dad and everyone else say we can’t do anything about it. and that’s why it going to happen because they hear people say that and they take advantage of it go ahead with their plan,