{"id":109563,"date":"2022-03-19T13:35:59","date_gmt":"2022-03-19T17:35:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/?p=109563"},"modified":"2022-03-19T13:38:14","modified_gmt":"2022-03-19T17:38:14","slug":"heres-the-single-biggest-threat-americans-face-in-2022","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/?p=109563","title":{"rendered":"

Here’s the single BIGGEST threat Americans face in 2022!<\/b><\/h>"},"content":{"rendered":"

Digital Tyranny: Beware of the Government\u2019s Push for a Digital
\nCurrency<\/strong><\/h1>\n

By John W. Whitehead & Nisha Whitehead<\/p>\n

\n
\n

\u201cThe greatest tyrannies are always perpetrated in the name of the noblest causes.\u201d\u2014Thomas Paine<\/p>\n

\n<\/blockquote>\n

The government wants your money.<\/p>\n

It will beg, steal or borrow if necessary, but it wants your money any way it can get it.<\/p>\n

The government\u2019s schemes to swindle, cheat, scam, and generally defraud taxpayers of their hard-earned dollars have run the gamut from wasteful pork barrel legislation, cronyism and graft to asset forfeiture, costly stimulus packages, and a national security complex that continues to undermine our freedoms while failing to making us any safer.<\/p>\n

Americans have also been made to pay through the nose for the government\u2019s endless wars, subsidization of foreign nations, military empire, welfare state, roads to nowhere, bloated workforce, secret agencies, fusion centers, private prisons, biometric databases, invasive technologies, arsenal of weapons, and every other budgetary line item that is contributing to the fast-growing wealth of the corporate elite at the expense of those who are barely making ends meet\u2014that is, we the taxpayers.<\/p>\n

This is what comes of those\u00a0$1.5 trillion spending bills<\/a>: someone\u2019s got to foot the bill.<\/p>\n

Because the government\u2019s voracious appetite for money, power and control has grown out of control, its agents have devised other means of funding its excesses and adding to its largesse through taxes disguised as fines, taxes disguised as fees, and taxes disguised as tolls, tickets and penalties.<\/p>\n

No matter how much money the government pulls in, it\u2019s never enough, so the government has come up with a new plan to make it even easier for its agents to seize Americans\u2019 bank accounts.<\/p>\n

Make way for the digital dollar.<\/p>\n

In an\u00a0Executive Order<\/a>\u00a0issued on March 9, 2022, President Biden called for the federal government to consider establishing a \u201cU.S. Central Bank Digital Currency<\/a>\u00a0(CBDC).\u201d<\/p>\n

Similar to cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, CBDCs would also be a form of digital money, but there the resemblance ends. If adopted, CBDCs would be issued by the Federal Reserve, the central banking system for the U.S. government.\u00a0One CBDC digital dollar would equal the value of a physical dollar<\/a>. And like the physical dollar, which ceased to be backed by gold more than 50 years ago, the CBDC would be considered a government-issued fiat currency that is backed by the strength and credit of the U.S. government. (Of course, that\u2019s not saying much considering that much of the time,\u00a0the U.S. government operates in the red<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

Although government agencies have\u00a0six months to weigh in on the advantages and disadvantages<\/a>\u00a0of a centralized digital currency, it\u2019s as good as a done deal.<\/p>\n

For instance, three weeks before the Biden Administration made headlines with its\u00a0support for a government-issued digital currency<\/a>, the FBI and the Justice Department quietly moved ahead with plans for a\u00a0cryptocurrency enforcement team<\/a>\u00a0(translation: digital money cops), a virtual asset exploitation unit tasked with investigating crypto crimes and seizing virtual assets, and a crypto czar to oversee it all.<\/p>\n

No surprises here, of course.<\/p>\n

This is how the government operates: by giving us tools to make our lives \u201ceasier\u201d while, in the process, making it easier for the government to track, control and punish the citizenry.<\/p>\n

Indeed, this shift to a digital currency is a global trend.<\/p>\n

More than 100 other countries are considering introducing their own digital currencies.<\/p>\n

China has already\u00a0adopted a government-issued digital currency<\/a>, which not only allows it to surveil and seize people\u2019s financial transactions, but can also\u00a0work in tandem with its social credit score system<\/a>\u00a0to punish individuals for moral lapses and social transgressions (and reward them for adhering to government-sanctioned behavior). As China expert Akram Keram wrote for\u00a0The Washington Post<\/em>, \u201cWith digital yuan, the CCP [Chinese Communist Party] will have direct control over and access to the financial lives of individuals, without the need to strong-arm intermediary financial entities.\u00a0In a digital-yuan-consumed society, the government easily could suspend the digital wallets of dissidents and human rights activists<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Where China goes, the United States eventually follows.<\/p>\n

Inevitably, a digital currency will become part of our economy and a central part of the government\u2019s surveillance efforts.<\/p>\n

Combine that with\u00a0ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) initiatives<\/a>\u00a0that are tantamount to social media credit scores for corporations, and you will find that we\u2019re traveling the same road as China towards digital authoritarianism. As journalist Jon Brookin\u00a0warns<\/a>: \u201cDigital currency issued by a central bank can be used as\u00a0a tool for government surveillance of citizens and control over their financial transactions<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

As such, digital currency provides the government and its corporate partners with a mode of commerce that can easily be monitored, tracked, tabulated, mined for data, hacked, hijacked and confiscated when convenient.<\/p>\n

This push for a digital currency dovetails with the government\u2019s war on cash, which it has been subtly waging for some time now. Much like the war on drugs and the war on terror, this so-called \u201cwar on cash\u201d has been sold to the public as a\u00a0means of fighting terrorists, drug dealers, tax evaders<\/a>\u00a0and more recently, COVID-19 germs.<\/p>\n

In recent years, just the mere possession of significant amounts of cash could implicate you in suspicious activity and label you a criminal. The\u00a0rationale<\/a>\u00a0(by police) is that cash is the currency for illegal transactions given that it\u2019s harder to track, can be used to pay illegal immigrants, and denies the government its share of the \u201ctake,\u201d so doing away with paper money will help law enforcement fight crime and help the government realize more revenue.<\/p>\n

According to\u00a0economist Steve Forbes<\/a>, \u201cThe real reason for this war on cash\u2014start with the big bills and then work your way down\u2014is an ugly power grab by Big Government. People will have less privacy: Electronic commerce makes it easier for Big Brother to see what we\u2019re doing, thereby making it simpler to bar activities it doesn\u2019t like, such as purchasing salt, sugar, big bottles of soda and Big Macs.\u201d<\/p>\n

This is how a cashless society\u2014easily monitored, controlled, manipulated, weaponized and locked down\u2014plays right into the hands of the government (and its corporate partners).<\/p>\n

Despite what we know about the government and its history of corruption, bumbling, fumbling and data breaches, not to mention how easily technology can be used against us, the shift to a cashless society is really not a hard sell for a society increasingly dependent on technology for the most mundane aspects of life.<\/p>\n

In much the same way that Americans have opted into government surveillance through the convenience of GPS devices and cell phones, digital cash\u2014the means of paying with one\u2019s debit card, credit card or cell phone\u2014is becoming the de facto commerce of the American police state.<\/p>\n

Not too long ago, it was estimated that\u00a0smart phones would replace cash and credit cards altogether by 2020<\/a>. Right on schedule,\u00a0growing numbers of businesses have adopted no-cash policies<\/a>, including certain airlines, hotels, rental car companies, restaurants and retail stores. In Sweden, even the homeless and\u00a0churches accept digital cash<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Making the case for a digital wallet, journalist Lisa Rabasca Roepe argues that there\u2019s no longer a need for cash. \u201cMore and more retailers and grocery stores are embracing Apple Pay, Google Wallet, Samsung Pay, and Android Pay,\u201d\u00a0notes<\/a>\u00a0Roepe. \u201cPayPal’s app is now accepted at many chain stores including Barnes & Noble, Foot Locker, Home Depot, and Office Depot. Walmart and CVS have both developed their own payment apps while their competitors Target and RiteAid are working on their own apps.\u201d<\/p>\n

So what\u2019s really going on here?<\/p>\n

Despite all of the advantages that go along with living in a digital age\u2014namely, convenience\u2014it\u2019s hard to imagine how a cashless world navigated by way of a digital wallet doesn\u2019t signal the beginning of the end for what little privacy we have left and leave us vulnerable to the likes of government thieves, data hackers and an all-knowing, all-seeing Orwellian corpo-governmental state.<\/p>\n

First, when I say privacy, I\u2019m not just referring to the things that you don\u2019t want people to know about, those little things you do behind closed doors that are neither illegal nor harmful but embarrassing or intimate. I am also referring to the things that are deeply personal and which no one need know about, certainly not the government and its constabulary of busybodies, nannies, Peeping Toms, jail wardens and petty bureaucrats.<\/p>\n

Second, we\u2019re already witnessing how easy it will be for government agents to manipulate digital wallets for their own gain in order to track your movements, monitor your activities and communications, and ultimately shut you down. For example, civil asset forfeiture schemes are becoming even more profitable for police agencies thanks to\u00a0ERAD (Electronic Recovery and Access to Data) devices supplied by the Department of Homeland Security<\/a>\u00a0that allow police to not only determine the balance of\u00a0any<\/em>\u00a0magnetic-stripe card (i.e., debit, credit and gift cards) but also freeze and seize any funds on pre-paid money cards. In fact, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals\u00a0ruled<\/a>\u00a0that it does not violate the Fourth Amendment for police to scan or swipe your credit card. Expect those numbers to skyrocket once\u00a0digital money cops<\/a>\u00a0show up in full force.<\/p>\n

Third, a government-issued digital currency will give the government the ultimate control of the economy and complete access to the citizenry\u2019s pocketbook. While the government might tout the ease with which it can deposit stimulus funds into the citizenry\u2019s accounts, such a system could also introduce what economists refer to as \u201cnegative interest rates.\u201d Instead of being limited by a zero bound threshold on interest rates, the government could impose negative rates on digital accounts in order to control economic growth. \u201cIf the cash is electronic, the government can just erase 2 percent of your money every year<\/a>,\u201d said David Yermack, a finance professor at New York University.<\/p>\n

Fourth, a digital currency will open Americans\u2014and their bank accounts\u2014up to even greater financial vulnerabilities from hackers and government agents alike.<\/p>\n

Fifth, digital authoritarianism will redefine what it means to be free in almost every aspect of our lives. Again, we must look to China to understand what awaits us. As Human Rights Watch analyst Maya Wang\u00a0explains<\/a>: \u201cChinese authorities use technology to control the population all over the country in subtler but still powerful ways. The central bank is adopting digital currency, which will allow Beijing to surveil\u2014and control\u2014people\u2019s financial transactions. China is building so-called safe cities, which integrate data from intrusive surveillance systems to predict and prevent everything from fires to natural disasters and political dissent. The government believes that these intrusions, together with administrative actions, such as denying blacklisted people access to services,\u00a0will nudge people toward \u2018positive behaviors,\u2019<\/a>\u00a0including greater compliance with government policies and healthy habits such as exercising.\u201d<\/p>\n

Short of returning to a pre-technological, Luddite age, there\u2019s really no way to pull this horse back now that it\u2019s left the gate. To our detriment, we have virtually no control over who accesses our private information, how it is stored, or how it is used. And in terms of our bargaining power over digital privacy rights, we have been reduced to a pitiful, unenviable position in which we can only hope and trust that those in power will treat our information with respect.<\/p>\n

At a minimum, before any kind of digital currency is adopted, we need stricter laws on data privacy and an Electronic Bill of Rights that protects \u201cwe the people\u201d from predatory surveillance and data-mining business practices by the government and its corporate partners.<\/p>\n

As I make clear in my book\u00a0Battlefield America: The War on the American People<\/em><\/a>\u00a0and in its fictional counterpart\u00a0The Erik Blair Diaries<\/em><\/a>, the ramifications of a government\u2014any<\/em>\u00a0government\u2014having this much unregulated, unaccountable power to target, track, round up and detain its citizens is beyond chilling.<\/p>\n

WC: 1966<\/p>\n

ABOUT JOHN W. WHITEHEAD<\/h4>\n

Constitutional attorney and author John W. Whitehead is founder and president\u00a0The Rutherford Institute<\/u><\/a>. His books\u00a0Battlefield America: The War on the American People<\/em><\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0A Government of Wolves: The Emerging American Police State<\/em><\/a>\u00a0are available at\u00a0www.amazon.com<\/u><\/a>. He can be contacted at\u00a0johnw@rutherford.org<\/a>. Nisha Whitehead is the Executive Director of The Rutherford Institute. Information about The Rutherford Institute is available at\u00a0www.rutherford.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n

___
\nhttps:\/\/www.rutherford.org\/publications_resources\/john_whiteheads_commentary\/digital_tyranny_beware_of_the_governments_push_for_a_digital_currency<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Digital Tyranny: Beware of the Government\u2019s Push for a Digital Currency By John W. Whitehead & Nisha Whitehead \u201cThe greatest tyrannies are always perpetrated in the name of the noblest causes.\u201d\u2014Thomas Paine The government wants your money. It will beg, … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-109563","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109563","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=109563"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109563\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=109563"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=109563"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=109563"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}