Dante’s Inferno

A little more than a year ago the Biden administration issued an executive order directing the Office of Science and Technology Policy to prepare a report on the risks and benefits of creating a digital dollar for the U.S., i.e., a CBDC, or a ‘central bank digital currency.’  Unfortunately, however, the only thing the Fed appears to be studying is how a digital dollar might help expand consumer access to the financial system and support faster and cheaper payments and seems to have little appetite to examine the potentially horrific downsides.

The fact is a digital dollar would open the door for the Federal Reserve to more tightly control how Americans handle their money and their wealth thus creating a situation where the government could potentially restrict access to funds or credit, implement negative interest rates on cash, collect taxes automatically and possibly eliminate physical cash entirely.  Such a policy would allow the government to monitor all digital transactions and collect data on Americans’ financial activities, thus giving it the two elements that people in power have always craved—the ability to track and control an individual’s financial activities.

Shortly after the president’s executive order Dr. Pippa Malmgren, let the cat out of the bag at the World Government Summit, when he said, “We are on the brink of a dramatic change where we are about to, and I’ll say this boldly, we are about to abandon the traditional system of money and accounting and introduce a new one.  And the new one; the new accounting is what we call blockchain… It means digital, it means having an almost perfect record of every single transaction that happens in the economy, which will give us far greater clarity over what’s going on.” 

Now for just a moment, re-read the last sentence of that paragraph but substitute the word control for clarity to provide the actual meaning to his message.  And if CBDC is mated with Digital IDs we’ll be on a one-way street to mimicking 21^st century China, where, as a practical matter, the government has absolute control over what 1.4 billion Chinese, do, say, eat, drink, travel, and in many cases, think.

We all know about the cancel culture that exists in left-wing precincts; a culture where those who are deemed to have acted or spoken in an unacceptable manner are ostracized, boycotted, or shunned.  We also know the downsides to adhering to such a culture, i.e., who decides what’s deemed to be unacceptable or unacceptable?  Because history has shown that when a third party makes those decisions, the consequences usually fall into one of four categories:

1. People with differing beliefs are silenced.
2. History is re-written as government arbiters fail to acknowledge facts because they are offensive to a particular racial, religious, ethnic, or economic group,
3. Careers and reputations are destroyed when predicated on past events individuals may have participated in, or past statements they may have made, even if their beliefs or opinions have changed, and lastly,
4. It becomes a synonym for ‘political correctness,’ where words and phrases are taken out of context to bury the careers of people.

Once our personal data is captured the cancel culture will look like child’s play because there will be no turning back, and regardless of what the calendar says, it will be 1984 as all of this data is transferred instantaneously to bureaucrats who have no inherent right to it.  And just like the CCP in China, we’ll be told they need these digital tools for valid reasons, but the bottom line is that those in power want only to monitor our buying and living habits so they can award us a social-credit score (like China) before offering rewards or punishments based on how well it’s been determined regarding your use of such resources as food, gasoline, electricity, etc.; but perhaps even more frighteningly, the government will also know if you’re “up to date” on all your government mandated shots.

The CCP keeps a permanent dossier on every individual in China including the “performance and attitudes” its citizens.  Together with the Chinese Hokou system (household registration) it is critical in maintaining social control.  The contents of these dossiers include physical characteristics, employment records, photographs, appraisals by supervisors and peers, academic reports from primary school to university, professional credentials, criminal convictions or administrative penalties, club/society memberships, employment records and political history such as membership in the Communist Youth League and or party membership.  And if an individual is a party member, the file will also include membership assessments of political integrity and performance of duties.

Just look around and you’ll see this is not far-fetched.   In a guest post, Leo Hohmann opined, “If your lifestyle is scored as less than “sustainable” you will be treated accordingly.  Your digital ID will flash a warning to the scanners at various entry points to everyday societal functions, and eventually these scanners will be all over, barring you from entry.  You won’t even be able to log onto the internet and could possibly be unable to qualify for certain government services such as a driver’s license, social security, Medicare and Medicaid, veteran’s benefits, etc.”

The world is changing, and I fear not toward the idyllic world of Star Trek of the 24th century.  Rather if Digital IDs are mated to Digital Currency, life in these United States will more closely resemble Dante’s Inferno, i.e., a descension through the nine circles of Hell.

Quote of the day: “Real power is achieved when the ruling class controls the material essentials of life, granting and withholding them from the masses as if they were privileges.” —George Orwell