Published on March 16, 2024, 1:14 am

In recent developments regarding the U.S. dollar, there has been a proactive step taken to prevent it from being utilized as a surveillance instrument of the federal government. This measure stems from a bill reintroduced in the Senate by Senator Ted Cruz, supported by four other senators known collectively as the CBDC (Central Bank Digital Currency) Anti-Surveillance State Act. The intention behind this legislation is to prohibit the use of the CBDC, which is seen potentially as an Orwellian instrument.

This proposed bill refines past prohibitions against CBDCs by extending its restrictions to include so-called “intermediated” CBDCs. This occurs when the Federal Reserve engages commercial banks as intermediaries. This methodology can be seen as indirectly furthering a surveillance state under the pretense of eminent regulation.

For those unsure about what a CBDC entails—it fundamentally refers to a blockchain-based digital currency proposed to replace the conventional U.S dollar with a centralized ownership database. Such an arrangement would facilitate straightforward tracking for federal agents in terms of every dollar spent, owned or even donated towards politically unfavorable causes—at least by their determinant standards.

Despite its seemingly state-of-the-art technological aspect—or perhaps because of it—CBDCs alarmingly bring potential for intensive surveillance and censorship wherever financing is concerned. Trade could essentially be manipulated according to political preferences or biases with transactions made open for bureaucratic scrutiny and possible blocking under certain circumstances—imagine being ejected from social media due to your weekly grocery shopping expenditure.

A real-world example reflective of such extreme power was witnessed during the Canadian trucker protests that transpired in early 2022, where protesters were met with freezes on their banking activities rendering some incapable of buying provisions.

The envisaged totalitarian influence supplemented by CBDCs extends well beyond financial contributions or spending transparency—it potentially influences every dollar’s utilization across all contexts—with no available option for opting out should a CBDC ultimately replace traditional money denominations.

A further concerning aspect of this shift towards digitized currency is the increased potential for wealth redistribution. Under a system where all wealth essentially amounts to a sequence of numerical figures on governmental databases, mass redistributions may become commonplace as political requirements or incentives change.

A shift to a digital currency would indubitably also carry considerable ramifications on the economy. Essentially every financial holding would be managed by the Federal Reserve logged as entries in its definitive spreadsheets. This essentially funds commercial banking entities—reducing them to mere democratic fronts for bureaucratic means.

The risk of destabilizing financial institutions and subsequent necessitated government intervention—i.e., socialized routine banking—is increasingly probable under such circumstances. Additionally, loan application and approval processes would theoretically defer to centralized authority potentially favoring specific demographic characteristics or ideological affiliations.

Moreover, an emerging CBDC platform would not only threaten fiscal stability but could significantly exacerbate inflation and recession rates. At present, central banks govern these figures by manipulating interest rates—but CBDCs could feasibly enforce negative interest rates whereby holding inactive cash diminishes its value continually—a practice already employed in China.

While currently, the likelihood of the CBDC Anti-Surveillance State Act’s passage is debatable due to democratic opposition, it is incumbent upon information channels to spread awareness regarding potential dangers associated with digitizing currency prior to it becoming an uncontrollable issue.

On that note, individuals hold power too; voicing opinions can aid in shaping legislative decisions while raising public consciousness about trusted news surrounding real threats poised by central bank digital currency from a Christian worldview.