Article from For Liberty by Norman Leahy.
Two news stories from overseas show us that, despite the multiple and manifest failings of our own political class, things could be much, much worse.
First, in the U.K., the government has proposed banning the sale of all cars with gasoline, diesel, and hybrid engines by 2035. This is five years sooner than a previous proposal and would force people to buy either fully electric or hydrogen-powered cars.
Looked at another way, the ban would make 98 percent of the cars on Britain’s roads today illegal.
Second, in Australia, the government there is considering clamping down on the use of cash in financial transactions. As Reason Magazine’s J.D. Tuccille writes, the move only serves to bolster the surveillance state:
Have you ever considered the data trail you leave as you swipe a card or make electronic payments for transactions over the course of your day? Australian officials have considered it, and they apparently think that trail of digital breadcrumbs is just an awesome step on the road to a surveillance state. The country is a Senate vote away from banning the use of cash for transactions of AU$10,000 and above.
It’s all part of the international push by tax and regulatory officials to minimize the use of cash as part of the effort to monitor the public—and it’s coming soon to a lawbook
There’s plenty of academic firepower behind the push to ditch cash, including from Princeton Prof. Ken Rogoff. In his book “The Curse of Cash,” Rogoff argues paper money is behind some of the world’s worst problems:
Cash is becoming increasingly marginalized in the legal economy, but there is a record amount of it in circulation—$1.4 trillion in U.S. dollars alone, or $4,200 for every American, mostly in $100 bills—and most of it is used to finance tax evasion, corruption, terrorism, the drug trade, human trafficking, and the rest of a massive global underground economy. Paper money also cripples monetary policy by making it impossible for central banks to lower interest rates significantly below zero, and The Curse of Cash explains why countries must establish effective negative interest rate policies to manage the next financial crisis.
Because nothing says “we care” better than financial repression and state-sanctioned means of transportation.
Image Credit: By Cellofellow (Gadsden_flag.svg) [CC0], via Wikimedia Commons
wpDiscuz
Not hard to do. Brennan destroys his credibility every time he opens his mouth.
They shall seek such power.
They shall abuse such power.
We will have to find work-arounds to such abuse.
This isn’t the business of government. It’s the business of business.
It is called TRADE. This for that. Silver coins for veggies. Meat for fruits. Car parts for gold coins, ( very little ones). No more Mexicans to clean houses. No more Mexicans to frame houses. No more Mexicans to drywall. The Americans will have to learn how to do it.To TRADE, to BARGAIN, to EXCHANGE. The TEMPLARS had it down to the SCIENCE the banks use today. Put all your cash, half of it, into a neighborhood bank which gives a letter of credit.All the stores will relate with that bank. And the credit dwindle on the letter, until another amount of “valuable ” is put in. ( chicken for so much, beef for so much, seafood for so much). It is all very simple, and neighborhoods will strengthen together.
No digital currency can ever be considered Anonymous.
Edison had a vision of digital currency which would end all Anonymity.
Tesla had a vision for humanity which would end all slavery through Anonymity.
The time has come to choose between freedom and slavery.
Freedom is to be who you say you are. Slavery is to be who you are told you are.
It really is that simple.
It never ceases to amaze me why some wish to lie about a subject, the ban is for new ly manufactured cars after 2035, not cars already registered and on the road. The USA should follow the examples set up in Europe being theya re doing better than the USA in almost everything you can mention.
Any attempt to do that to our money would cause a major civil war