Be prepared for a cashless society

Joshua Krause

Last month, the European Central Bank suggested that the 500 Euro note needs to be eliminated. Not long after, academics and policy makers in the US started to call for the elimination of the $100 bill. This isn’t something that the average person really thinks about on a regular basis, or even cares about. The vast majority of our purchases are done through digital channels these days.

Unless you’re about to buy a used car on Craigslist, you probably won’t be needing the hundred-dollar bill. For most people, eliminating it would be an inconvenience at best.

So what gives? Why is anyone even considering the elimination of these bills? It seems like there is simply no need for it. The truth is there are a lot of reasons why governments and banks want to eliminate these high-denomination notes, and none of them are good. It should go without saying that the people who are pushing this are not going to give you a straight answer. You’re going to hear them give the same reason over and over again for the foreseeable future: Large denominations are indispensable for black market transactions. They enable drug dealers, tax evaders, corruption, and terrorism.

That’s what they will say in the beginning. However one day they’ll give all those reasons, but instead of suggest- ing eliminating large-denomination bills they will suggest that we get rid of cash altogether.

That’s right. It seems that what the government, as well as the multi- national corporations and the central banks are really aiming for is a wholly cashless society, and they will start by eliminating the bills we don’t use very often. Some observers will recognize this strategy as the “slippery slope”.

Start out with something small that sets a precedent, and quietly eliminate everything over a long period of time so that no one notices.

Eliminate certain bills, restrict large cash purchases, demonize people and businesses that hold large amounts of cash and confiscate their wealth by means of asset forfeiture, flag bank accounts that transfer large sums of money, etc. You may recognize some of those as policies that are already in place. The anti-cash crusade is happening right now, and here’s the real reason why: For starters, there are people in both the public and private sector that want to track everything you do. Like a stalker, they just really really want to get to know you better. They want an intimate knowledge of what you buy and sell. Those corporations that are in bed with our government would love to have this knowledge, so they can do a better job of tailoring their marketing to you.

The governments that are in bed with those corporations want to use that knowledge to rule every aspect of your life. You can’t live if you can’t buy and sell, so without cash you’ll be locked into a system that you can’t opt out of. They will say that cash is for terrorists and criminals, but they don’t want you to realize that you’re in the same boat. An absence of cash means that there are no anonymous transactions.

The second biggest reason? They want to effectively steal from you. They can’t bring themselves to stop spending, for all sorts of reasons. And we never want to give them more tax money, so raising more taxes through a legitimate political process is off the table. Instead the intention is to lower interest rates. How low? Ideally they would like negative interest rates to be negative. They want to make it impossible for you to save money.

The excuse for this will be different from before. They will do it when the next major recession hits, so they can say that it will be good for the economy. If saving money implies losing money then you will spend, thereby supporting the economy. But they really want to legally steal from you.

They know that if cash is not eliminated before these negative rates are implemented, then you can simply pull your money out of the bank and hide it in your mattress. They don’t want to leave you with any choice.

As you can see, physical currency is an essential means for maintaining your liberty. That’s why, in light of recent calls to disband high-denomination bills, two Swiss politicians have proposed the exact opposite. Philip Brunner and Manuel Brandberg have suggested the creation of a 5000 franc note to ensure the safe-haven status of Switzerland’s currency.

“In France and Italy already cash payments to a maximum of only 1,000 euros are permitted and the question of the abolition of cash is being seriously discussed and considered in Europe“ Brunner said on his Facebook page.

The move toward electronic payments allows governments “total surveillance” over individuals, the pair claim.

So how will you preserve your freedom if, and probably when, this proposal comes to pass?

The most obvious solution would be to stock up on gold and silver before the confiscation of cash arrives, because that is the best alternative. Precious metals provide a convenient way to make untraceable purchases (you will probably see underground markets popping up in order to cater for many of the normal purchases made every day). After all, gold and silver were the most popular alternatives to currency until the 20th century.

Alternatively you could put your money in any physical asset that may hold its value, such as land for example; but for daily purchases, gold and silver would be king.

Of course, governments could try to ban using precious metals for trading as well. They tried confiscating gold in the past and they could do so again. But it’s not going to work. When negative interest rates arrive with the cashless society, millions of people will attempt to replace their assets with gold and silver. They’ll be joining all of those who operate in the black market, who will have already moved into precious metals by necessity.

There would be widespread disobedience against those rules. Nobody is going to give a damn about the laws at that point. If governments brazenly tried to wipe out what people identify with what they have earned throughout their entire lives, then millions of savers will not be terribly concerned about the law. With so many people breaking the law, it will be impossible for governments to really clamp down on it.

They’ll be just as successful in preventing people from acquiring gold and silver as they have been in preventing people from acquiring pot. And the police will have had their savings wiped out as well, so will be playing the same game as everyone else. It will be prohibition all over again.

In short, gold and silver appear to be the best things that one can buy to prepare for a cashless society. A lot of people will be rushing into precious metals if governments decide to ban cash, and it is likely that those govern- ments will be helpless to stop them.

Source: ActivistPost, 8 Mar 2017 http://www.activistpost.com/2016/03/why-you-need-to-prepare-for-the-cashless-society.html

Joshua Krause was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area. He is a writer and researcher focused on principles of self- sufficiency and liberty at Ready Nutrition. You can follow Joshua’s work on his personal Twitter. Joshua’s website is Strange Danger.