The Sidney Sun-Telegraph - Serving proudly since 1873 as the beautiful Nebraska Panhandle's first newspaper

Talk of a cashless society has been around for decades, but the explosion of interest and participation in cryptocurrency markets, coupled with better and faster computing power, has moved such talks from theoretical to nearly inevitable.

Those in positions of power among the elites in global banking and finance are openly advocating for conversion of the world’s currencies to digital. Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) are digital versions of money circulated by central banks such as the euro, yuan, pound and dollar. Several nations are actively looking at digitizing their currency, but China is ahead of most in that it’s already testing it. Yes, the U.S. is looking hard at digitizing the dollar as well with the Federal Reserve to soon release research on a cost/benefit analysis of doing so.

Benefits of an all-digital, no-cash society are many. No need to carry or even possess paper and coin currency. In fact, it could be made illegal to do so. Say goodbye to robbery and funding for organized crime – or any crime, for that matter.

Every monetary transaction in our lives would be done via the equivalent of a national debit card. Most would be automated. No need to do bills each month, your payments are automatically deducted, as many people already do.

At tax time, because the government knows EVERY CENT you took in and every cent you spent in a year, a computer could run the calculations and send any due refunds or deduct any taxes from your account automatically. Of course the long-term goal desired by some is a GLOBAL digital currency, which would replace all national monetary units. Then people could travel the globe without worrying about conversion rates and such. It would all be so convenient and safe, don’t you see?

Ah, but convenience at what cost? A cashless society means NO CASH – at all. If you want to pay the neighborhood kid to mow your lawn, you’d have to make a digital transfer into the kid’s own digital currency account. No more tucking $20 into a birthday card for grandkids either. You’d have to do a digital transfer.

The same goes for church, where passing the card swiper would have to replace the offering plate. Say goodbye to street performers (and beggars for that matter). And the only day laborers that could be hired would be those with approved digital accounts in the nation legally – win, win, don’t you see.

Of course, this means the government will have complete access not only to your account, but to how each and every person spends money. And, it’s not too far a stretch to see how a “benevolent” government could use such a system for what it sees as both your own good, and the good of society. Packing a few extra pounds?

No ice cream for you at the store. Have high blood pressure? Those chips and salty snacks won’t ring up at the register. And you really don’t have any need to buy more than 20 bullets a hunting season, do you? Purchase denied.

Did your pastor really say in a sermon that a certain lifestyle is sinful? Can’t have that – donation suspended. Arrested for protesting the system? Fines and penalties automatically deducted.

So what can we do about this? Nothing until the next election, and then we’d be wise in voting out everyone who’s been in office more than one term because it appears the desire of the Deep State and political elites may be the system I’ve just described.