Today, in place of my regular Friday column on Economics and Investing, I’d like to address an important monetary issue. This article expands on a piece that I posted in SurvivalBlog back in July, 2022.
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During the recent COVID pandemic, multinational corporations stayed open for business via the Internet, and grew larger. People cocooned at home, watched movies on Netflix, and ordered many of their household supplies via Amazon.com. But meanwhile, millions of small “Mom & Pop” businesses that dealt face-to-face with customers were forcibly shuttered and ruined, during the protracted lockdowns. When viewing national and world affairs, always ask: Who benefits? (Cui Bono?)
I can see that the World Economic Forum (WEF) and other globalist groups have clearly established a modus operandi for their brand of “transformative change”. They accomplished a lot of their goals through the COVID crisis, with surprisingly little pushback from the public. I suspect that they probably have other pandemics, wars, trade embargoes, and assorted crises already planned.
The digital currency/Tax Control Grid
As I have mentioned before, statists and globalists are pushing for sequentially establishing four types of digital currencies:
1.) Central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). These will initially just be used for interbank transactions, and for accessing Federal Reserve and US Treasury funds.
2.) National (sovereign) cryptocurrencies that will replace the cash in our wallets and the dollar balances in our bank accounts. Simultaneously, something like China’s Social Credit Score will be implemented.
3.) Supratational cryptocurrencies representing trading blocs such as the EU and NAFTA. And,
4.) In the long term, a global cryptocurrency.
Unlike the current crop of private cryptocurrencies that have opaque transactions, the new government-issued cryptos will have 100% transparent transactions. With this transparency, all transactions can be taxed and traced. And anyone who doesn’t toe the line could have their account blocked or zeroed out.
CBDCs could be in place in just a year. Meanwhile, private cryptos like Bitcoin, Solara, and Ethereum will be seen as competitors and legislated out of existence. Cash will be gradually outlawed. But the end game is for that one worldwide cryptocurrency unit, to replace all of the others. Whoever controls that digital currency will be well-positioned to rule the world.
What Can we Do?
Even with a groundswell of public opinion in opposition, digital currencies are probably impossible to stop, in most countries. Nation after nation will transition their currencies to digital. Politicians in the United States will try to tell us that we will lose economic competitiveness if we don’t convert to government-controlled digital currencies. And they will try to tell you that their digital currency is safer, with trite catchphrases like: “All crime is retail.” They will also push the baldfaced lie that sovereign cryptos are “superior” to private cryptos, and more stable. The bottom line is that it is all about control. Presently, governments have very little control over and even visibility of private cryptos. The crypto exchanges give them just a glimpse of what is going on, and hardware wallet-to-hardware wallet transactions are essentially invisible to government snoops. They bureaucrats want total control and therefore, to their minds, private cryptos must be banned. I expect that will make it a felony to hold private cryptos, once they launch their sovereign cryptos.
My key question is: How can we at least circumvent CBDC and sovereign cryptos? In my estimation, the best way to do so is to encourage small, constitutionally-limited governments with a spirit of individual liberty in the framework of national sovereignty. We must also foster:
- Small private enterprise
- Untraceable hard money
- Privately owned firearms
- Privately-owned traditional (internal combustion) vehicles
- Privately-owned 3D printers and CNC milling machines
- Grassroots political organizing
- Private credit-clearing circles
- Small, independent banks and credit unions
- Communities like the fictional Galt’s Gulch in the novel Atlas Shrugged.
Your next steps
To further insulate yourself and your family from the effects of digitalization, and to help counter it, I recommend that you take these steps:
- Deal in cash, as much as possible.
- Move your money — and your mortgage if you have one — to a small local bank or credit union.
- Join or start a local farmer’s market. Personalize your local food supply chain!
- Stock up heavily on long-term storage foods.
- Plant a big vegetable garden.
- As space permits, raise your own livestock.
- Protect yourself from the ravages of inflation. Invest in tangibles and put a substantial part of your liquid net worth in physical silver coins.
- Minimize your debt.
- Install both a wood heating stove and a wood cookstove.
- Let your membership shopping cards (like Costco and Sam’s Club) lapse. Instead, buy locally and support family-owned businesses.
- Close your Amazon.com account [1]. Starve the beast!
- Develop one or more home-based businesses that can deal in cash and barter.
- Arm yourself, preferably without a paper trail. (You can still buy private party guns, in 33 states.)
- If you install photovoltaic power at home, then make it an entirely off-grid system, not “grid-tied.” (And if you already have a grid-tied system, then convert it to full off-grid self-sufficiency.)
- Homeschool your children.
- Detach yourself from the dominant social media. Gab and Twitter are marginally better, but they still represent a privacy risk. They are both also likely to be deplatformed, in the coming years.
- Join an independent church or synagogue. And if you can’t find a good one, then form a home church.
- Be active, politically. Insist that your representatives follow their oath of office to uphold and defend the Constitution. And if they don’t, then vote them out!
Friends, With Benefits
As national cryptocurrencies for the general public are rolled out and paper currency is banned and declared worthless, there will surely be two types of folks: A majority who go along with the new digital monetary system, and a minority who don’t. I suspect that many of the freedom-loving folks who read SurvivalBlog will be in the latter category. I also anticipate that those who opt out will end up being marginalized and punished for not joining “the system.” But you will probably have many neighbor friends and co-workers who do go ahead and get sovereign crypto digital wallets. And those friends may be willing to make some important transactions, on our behalf — most notably paying property tax bills, vehicle registrations, and utility bills. The trading ratio might be disadvantageous, but you will probably be able to trade precious metals in exchange for having your “connected” friends pay those bills for you.
The Transition Window
Once the conversion to sovereign crypto is announced, there will surely be a transition period with the existing currency still usable that will span between at least 3 months and perhaps as long as 24 months. Presumably, credit cards, debit cars, and checks will still be usable. During that window of opportunity, here is what I plan to do:
A.) Pre-pay as many taxes, fees, and utilities, as possible.
B.) Put more of my savings in precious metals.
C.) Approach trustworthy neighbors who tell me that they will be connected with the new system, and make arrangements for them to pay some bills, on my behalf. Cash will talk, and precious metals will shout. I recognize that there are risks to this, but the alternative may be freezing in the dark, or being evicted for failure to pay my property taxes.
Conclusion
The realization that CBDCs are coming soon can feel overwhelming. But don’t be discouraged. With God’s help, we will prevail! – JWR