Self-Sufficiency in a Cashless Society
The world is rapidly moving towards a cashless society in which digital banking will be the norm as opposed to the exception. Some of the brightest and most influential economic minds in the global financial sector have been pushing for less paper money and more digital currency. Their reasoning? Printing and moving money is expensive, it’s easy to counterfeit and it is easy to steal. Consequently, there is little incentive other than to move forward in this new direction, and it’s only a matter of time before it becomes a reality.
Government-Sponsored Digital Money
The United States, which has more money in global circulation than any other nation, has also been feverishly moving towards digital currency for decades. We’re now on the cusp of a paradigm shift in which cash is no longer used as a standard form of payment as debit cards are replacing paper checks and traditional transactions. People get their Social Security payments via direct deposit now. Welfare recipients in many states are obligated to open up bank accounts and have their funds distributed electronically as well. Employers are starting to charge employees who still wish to receive paper checks as opposed to direct deposits.
The one, single benefit that is not being discussed in the media or by our politicians is how moving to a digital currency essentially eliminates privacy. This benefit is solely for the government that hungers to find new ways to monitor, track and record almost all of our activities. This places those who wish to be anonymous in a very precarious position, and preppers need to think about the ramifications.
We Will Have no Choice
It’s virtually impossible to get anything done unless you have a debit or credit card. Payments by mail are incurring surcharges, and many in the financial industry think this option will be eliminated in the next decade. Purchasing items online is the new normal as brick and mortar stores simply can not compete. The large chain stores that will remain open will continue to favor electronic payments as opposed to cash. The healthcare industry is shying away from cash payments, and it’s nearly impossible to purchase a home, land or a vehicle without going digital as well. Those who do pay cash are automatically viewed as suspect and attract an awful lot of unwanted attention.
The truth of the matter is that we’re on a course that is unavoidable, and the world will soon be plugged into a global financial system that does not allow for any type of anonymity whatsoever. Despite the touted benefits of such a system, its incorporation is a recipe for disaster on so many different levels. Poor cyber-security leaves us and our money wide-open to theft and hacking. Our ability to buy things can be blocked by banks or from the government whenever they feel like it. Our ability to get paid will be contingent on being plugged into the grid, and all of our purchases and most of our movements can be recorded.
Two Different Worlds
The majority of the world’s population will soon be plugged into a system that will promise a lot of benefits and deny the risks. Those of us who elect to opt out will face discrimination, become marginalized and ultimately get targeted for wanting to remain anonymous, self-reliant and completely independent. Things will get progressively worse as we try to fend for ourselves outside of an interconnected system that governs every aspect of our lives. We don’t even need to wait for a SHTF scenario to happen, because this will be the end of life and freedom as we know it.
Imagine trying to buy ammunition without recourse when all of our purchases are recorded. Consider how the government can know about our preparedness efforts simply by tracking our spending habits. Think about what you will do when you can’t even see a doctor without getting injected into the system. This stuff is happening right now, and the small window of anonymity is beginning to close.
Aside from being in a position where the government can watch everything we do, we are also getting hooked into a system that is just waiting to implode on itself. As we are forced to connect with the global financial system, we are also more vulnerable to events that normally would have no impact on our lives. We will also be vulnerable to digital terrorism and natural disasters that can cause mass disruptions on a global scale.
SHTF Digital-Style
We need to focus our efforts on preparing for this digital takeover so that we can remain as self-sufficient as possible when the final nail goes into the coffin of freedom and anonymity. There will come a day when we will need to live in the shadows, under the radar, and join an underground society that is continually being hunted. Then, when the SHTF through economic collapse, famine, civil unrest and the introduction of a true police state, we will need friends, access to resources and the capability to avoid the calamities that the rest of the world is facing.
It’s time to start thinking outside of the traditional survival box and really assess the trajectory that our society is heading. Keep in mind that the move towards a cashless society is just one bad step that will lead to a whole new array of nightmarish scenarios that even we are ill-equipped to deal with. How do we prepare for this eventuality so we can remain self-sufficient if we opt out? This is the question that we need to seriously consider and talk about, because all of us are going to have to face this sooner rather than later.
