In America, our founders warned many times against a central bank controlling the currency. They *knew* what would happen. We are now reaping the whirlwind for ignoring their sage advice
Yep, it's also known as "cash." In the US, it's our paper dollars and coins. Legal tender. It's the one thing that MUST be accepted, tho I think the Bad Guys are hoping to change that to include CBDC.
100% ditto and amen. We can and must make our own money (and bullets and food and everything else). There are of course lotsa local and regional efforts in these veins all around the world. And there are parallel concurrent efforts in digital spaces being built out by crypto anarchists to create new truly independent private and secure networks for communication, file sharing, buying/selling and currency exchange - all without any status quo governmental or corporate control.
Nov 25, 2022·edited Nov 25, 2022Liked by Frances Leader
Very good article Frances. I have been meaning to revisit this on my stack, but life got in the way.
I, like Visceral Adventure below, will refer to the American dollar/system, since that is what I'm most familiar with.
I do agree with you, on all your points, so no arguments there.
My take on CBDC (in America and most globalist run Western countries) is that unlike Nigeria, the people will not have a choice in the matter.
I spent quite a lot of time in Africa (in the forces) and up until the last decade, never realized how uncorrupted their governments were, as compared to my own. This latest example of the people having the power to refuse usage and the government not shoving the crypto down their throats, is an eye opener.
I do not think it will be the same in America and countries like her. It will be like a light switch....something like..."On Jan 01, 2023 your paper dollars will be replaced by the HTR (Harriet Tubman RuPaul) digital dollar. Please bring your paper dollars to your nearest bank, to change them into HTR digital dollars. You will be given a 1:1 exchange rate up until Jan 1. After that the paper will be worthless. Those completing the exchange before Jan 1, will be given 10,000 HTRs as a bonus for helping move the transition along quickly and smoothly."
Now many say, they can't do that. I say they can and we have examples of this, in the last three years. Once the federal government blew the dog whistle for masks and jabs, the private sectors rolled into action. You could not board an airplane without one or the other...or both. Same went for schools, work and shops.
The argument is that people resisted and refused...me included. The only reason they were able to do so, is because there were alternatives. You could drive, bike, walk or postpone a trip...you could home school, you could grow your own food or go to local farmers, you could also get another job or ride out the craziness using CCs or tapping into your savings. There will be no workable alternatives, where a national currency is concerned. This premise doesn't include person to person transactions, where bartering and trading will still be viable, to fill these small gaps.
When it comes to institutional transactions (mortgage, rent, insurance, credit cards, grocery shopping, gas, utility bills, etc.) you will have no choice, but to use the HTRs, because pre-day 1, all those companies/institutions will adopt the digital currency. They will have no choice and won't want one, because they are controlled by the central banks...who are working hand in hand with the BIS...who is controlled by all the behind the scenes entities, you have written so much about Frances.
You will be paid in HTRs, via Direct deposit. There will be no ATMs or tellers handing out tangible fiat currency. It will all be a tap of your phone or wrist on a reader, that interacts with the graphene nanoparticles and/or chip inside you.
An abstract - we as a species, will have to move to a global digital currency...if we are to live in Musk's and Klause's AI future...and it is coming. We as humans crave it and romanticize it...just look at our movie industry and the profits they rake in. Humans want the Star Trek utopia. You can't have that, if your currency is not digitally based.
It's the same leap from horses to the combustion engine. There were huge numbers of people who lamented the shift (and rightly so, in some cases - in their time) but it happened...as did all the advancements, that brought us to this level of existence.
The same was true about companies moving from paying workers in cash and checks, to direct deposit. No matter the arguments, refusals or resistance these shifts happened all the same and people fell in line or were left behind. A Global digital currency will be no different, it's just a matter of time and generational indoctrination.
Lastly, if there are people who plan on resisting/refusing, they need to be ready for the consequences, they'll face. Be prepared to house, feed and support yourselves and your families.
You will not be able to barter/trade for the monthly bills, mortgage, gas, etc. Your paycheck will be digital...they are already.
The only hope I see, is if a major Western leader (President/Prime Minister) has the stones to stand and refuse, to convert his/her country's currency. Then you would have a chance, to slow the process and investigate a better version/alternative. But lets be honest with ourselves...who have we seen in a seat of power, that would do that??? In America...don't hold your breath. Besides, the day after that leader said..."we refuse"...they would have an accidental Clinton Suicide.
So what is to be done, if it is inevitable?
-Prepare.
-Pay down/off your bills...the more you owe, the more control they have over you.
-If possible, have those staples, that will be worth something in the barter/trading sub-culture.
-If you can, create like mined communities/networks of people, with which to circumvent the system.
-This is a big one...if you can, infiltrate the system/government and place your own people in key positions, where they will know what's coming and be able to warn the "underground". This is a page from their (globalists) playbook...which has worked well for them, for centuries.
Super, well thought out comment. Sadly I have to say that you may be correct that we will have no choice. Lockdowns and the trimmings proved how forceful our governments can be.
Build back better should mean a better system which works for us but I suspect it really means building a system which is better for the banksters - not us 'useless eaters', we will be either dead or starved if things continue the way they are going now.
Local banks.... mentioned by a couple of others and advocated by Catherine Austin Fitts do seem like a solution worth supporting. I will look into that.
Nov 25, 2022·edited Nov 25, 2022Liked by Frances Leader
Thank you.
I've heard many pundits talk about local banks and credit unions...Glenn Beck (who I stream while working) was a big advocate of this, to stand against global banksters and ESG pushers, like Blackrock.
I think in the short term and for purposes like Beck's, this is a viable option, however, they are making the woke shift themselves. While I was looking for a credit union, I went deep and found articles, where the credit union associations talk about equity and social responsibility. When you start seeing articles like this, in their professional association groups...the writing is on the proverbial digital wall.
Small banks will be no different and will eventually fall in line or be regulated out of existence, once CBDC comes online...again, they will HAVE TO use the HTRs or close their doors.
You are correct, BBB was a rallying cry for the Globalists, not us. They continually tell us THEY have the plan for a better world...they just never finish the sentence...."a better world for WE THE ELITES."
I would like your take on a premise I have been pushing for about 8-10 years now. I get a lot of head nods but no action...and I pretty much know why, but would love your thoughts.
I have always said that we (general populous) have tremendous power, when we move as one (that's the first hurdle, we always trip over), in our spending. The power lies in our choice of where and how we spend our dollars, pounds and euros. That power is quickly dwindling though.
We have seen where push back on major corporations, caused a shift in company branding, policy or practice. I am a big advocate of boycotts...if a company champions abortion, they get not one cent of my money...until they either go neutral (to include donations) or turn pro life. I feel the same about the entertainment/sports/social media industries...all facets.
If people abstained en masse, we could bring these institutions to their knees. I pushed hard for people to do this with hollywood, during covid. They were as close to bankruptcy, as an industry, that we will ever see them get...but alas, as soon as they opened the doors, people ran back to theaters, for the happy privilege of giving their earnings, to an industry that hates them...at least here in America.
My premise is that we humans crave three things above all else...Comfort, Convenience and Entertainment...so for me that explains why, we never get past that first hurdle of moving/acting as one body. The decades long indoctrination programs explains the remainder of the apathy or buy in...where people really do think that BBB, is all about them.
Why do you think we have continually, missed that it is the money in our pockets that gives us power and not the votes on our ballots?
I have been boycotting a huge range of products and services for so long that I can't remember why I started doing it, in many cases!
I boycott every business which profits from war, big P-Harma or Big OilnGas. I won't consume any product that is saturated in glyphosate or is known to be GMO. I avoid Amazon (spit), all major supermarkets, new clothes stores, most hygiene products, plastics and fluoride. I gave up dyeing my hair, wearing makeup, driving a car, watching tell-lie-vision, cinema, gigs, pubs and listening to radio.
'Crikey!' I hear you gasp! 'What DO you buy, Fran? You sound like a nun!'
I laugh and think: None of this, that or 'the other'!! 🤣😂
Recently, I bought a cheap but tidy 3rd-hand mobility scooter from a local vendor.
I am disabled, so my son does most of the shopping from the local co-operative shop and we get rare online deliveries from Ocado for special occasions like Christmas. Even our local quality butcher delivers, if the order is large enough. I indulge in Indian and Chinese meals once a week from local small businesses which are also delivered.
I only buy 2nd-hand clothes from charity shops or local market stalls. I do not wear shoes at all. My feet are too swollen and cannot bear to be touched by unwieldy leather etc. Everything else comes via Ebay. (I am waiting for a fibre optic christmas tree this week!)
To be fair, I have never been a shopaholic, even when I was young and fit. I always preferred to make things myself from scratch, especially food and clothing.
The most recent of my boycotts came about over aspartame.
Ribena blackcurrant cordial used to be a regular in my cupboard until the bloody idiotic government decided that we should all eat less sugar. Ribena obeyed by replacing the sugar with aspartame and it tastes like chemical soup to me. I wrote to them and said I was prepared to pay more for the original recipe product but, OH NO MISSUS, came the haughty response. "Our studies show (yawn) that most of our customers prefer the low sugar formula." They discontinued the all-natural ingredient product I had been consuming for 60 bloody years! Tossers!
Do any of my boycotts impact the industries I despise?
I doubt it. My miniscule, tight-fisted existence is but a penny against their billions, no doubt. However, my soul is unsullied by the guilt of perpetuating their fakes, their sweat shops and their multi-billion international enterprises.
Tis the best I can do, given the circumstances.
ps
Do you know where I can buy sackcloth and ashes? Do they deliver?
I think the last sackcloth dealer just switched to microfiber...with a sherpa lining for those cold days of morning and lamentation and the ashes are now only available via the government cricket roasting plants...where the small bits and pieces, that cannot be milled into flour, are incinerated and packaged in lovely gift appropriate boxes. They do deliver but it will go against your carbon credits...and your HTRs will be docked. I'll see if I can find the link for you...😁
I think we all must follow our consciences individually, where patronage is concerned. You are correct, that your singular purchases are of little worry to Sainsburys or Tesco, but at least you have the legitimate right to complain about their policies and practices. Also, I think there is no better way to fight the system, than using local purveyors and growers.
I admire your minimalist existence, which I had at one time. I'd taken a contract job in one of the Stan countries and gave away all my possessions, prior to leaving. After 3 years, I came back and was unencumbered by anything...a true nomad, with the means to do and go, as I wished. It took a year before I possessed anything more than a mountain bike and the clothes I had in a bag. I rented a room and shopped day by day for sustenance. After that, it was a quick slide downhill, to being owned by my possessions and perceived obligations. So, well done Frances and much respect, for crafting a true and beautifully simple life.
I know each generation says. something like, "these kids have it so easy, they have no idea what true want or sacrifice feels like. They have little respect for those things that hold true value...honest labor, a handshake, integrity and honor. They would never survive, if they had to live the life of their ancestors a generation earlier."
I agree with that and I think it gets worse exponentially, as time marches on.
I often think, I would like to be put in stasis and reawakened in 100 or 500 years, to see how it all turned out, but then if I am honest, I really don't think I'll care, given how things are today.
I believe that we will be around in the future but possibly as amoeba beginning the whole evolution process all over again! See ya in the primordial soup! xx
Prof. Richard Werner, once of WEF fame, is founding chair of Local First, a community interest company establishing not-for-profit community banks in UK. Banks for local people. Catherine Fitts also talks about how people should find local community banks instead of the big names. We have some credit unions for savings and loans. Don't know if bills can be paid from them though. Good start though would be to just leave enough to cover DDs, take cash for week or month and transfer balance for lucky ones into community bank. Hopefully someone with more savvy than myself can find out about starting a local bank?
There's a new book ("End of Scarcity") that does a good job of explaining the problem with debt-based currencies in general. It proposes a bottom-up producer credit model i.e. a type of localized currency. I suspect that won't work either, though.
I agree with you 1000%, Frances! My gut has said "NO!" from Day 1 regarding crypto. I'm of granny age like you, just not an actual granny. A wise Crone, though! :)
Ok, I’ll make a few arguments. :) first off, yes, 100% agree that CBDCs should not be allowed to proliferate and they are the next tool of the predatory class that will be used for enslavement. Good on Nigeria for leading the way on shutting it down.
The current fiat currency system is a zombie system. It’s too late to save it because it breaks one of the soundest rule of good money: scarcity. As soon as Wilson signed into law over a hundred years ago that private interests (The FED) will be in charge of printing our money (along with other shenanigans), the dollar became a dying money. There’s more to it, of course, but it’s important to understand why Bitcoin is different from a currency that can be controlled by one central location (like a bank that can just print more of it to serve private interests).
Crypto and bitcoin isn’t synonymous. There will only be 21m bitcoin ever. No more. The code is written so no more can be printed and therefore devalue it. It is a deflationary currency. Also, think of Bitcoin more as a ledger that can’t be corrupted so in that regard it’s value is already larger than just its monetary value. You said not to get technical, so I’ll skip the how, just imprint that it’s important that there is no arbiter or custodian to trust or to tell you how your money can be used.
Other shitcoins out there (crypto) don’t offer the same value as bitcoin. Most are inflationary (more can be made) and/or are centralized (like fiat) so they crash whenever that centralized entity gets greedy.
As to your point about being able to dispense tangible cash: I don’t see why that can’t be done with some ingenuity. A dollar is still just a symbolic representation of abstract value. We could use Monopoly money to represent value if we were really pressed, heck, in prison they use cigarettes. Anything can serve as that tangible expression of value. I imagine that if something like Bitcoin serves as a global ubiquitous currency, then locally, we can some up with something that we can give to the kids, or the homeless, or a tips that can be redeemable the way coupons are. It would be insular but for small amounts it shouldn’t make a big difference. There’s actually a place that already does that, I’m sorry it fails me to remember where.
Ultimately, I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but the average person has a hard time answering the questions about money. Most don’t know how it works and where it comes from and I would even venture to say that this is deliberate. If we all knew, we’d want to escape that system as soon as possible. It has kept us indentured to a ruling class of banking elites that no one elected and no one would choose to be in service to.
I was completely blind to all of this until recently. But now have made it a point to educate myself as much as possible with help from random good people who would leave comments on my stack and point me in the direction of knowledge. The community that has been born out of Substack is really invaluable.
I’m sorry if I took up so much space. The take away is learning how money works allows us to fix our world.
Nov 25, 2022·edited Nov 25, 2022Liked by Frances Leader
Glad that you've brought up this subject, Frances. It's sooo important. It's been on my mind for at least 40 years. I agree with you about cryptos. Thanks for the image of a crypt -- never thought of it that way. Some recent thoughts about Bitcon and a proven decentralized alternative, the Wörgl scrip:
lol - your writing is great! It was the writing within the links that caused me to fall asleep. They wax lyrical, don't they? I think they could do with a little brevity to improve the punch of their work. If an article or post rants on and on for miles and miles I seldom stick with it, but if a post consists of 5 or 6 pithy paragraphs I am fully engaged and may even seek further elucidation on the topic. Just my opinion.
In America, our founders warned many times against a central bank controlling the currency. They *knew* what would happen. We are now reaping the whirlwind for ignoring their sage advice
Legal Tender.
Does such a thing exist in this Clown World? I have my doubt......
Yep, it's also known as "cash." In the US, it's our paper dollars and coins. Legal tender. It's the one thing that MUST be accepted, tho I think the Bad Guys are hoping to change that to include CBDC.
I'm going to get out of banking.
100% ditto and amen. We can and must make our own money (and bullets and food and everything else). There are of course lotsa local and regional efforts in these veins all around the world. And there are parallel concurrent efforts in digital spaces being built out by crypto anarchists to create new truly independent private and secure networks for communication, file sharing, buying/selling and currency exchange - all without any status quo governmental or corporate control.
Excellent news!
And SILVER!
And in other news, Black Friday sales for GOLD have begun!
If you don’t hold it, you don’t own it.
Very good article Frances. I have been meaning to revisit this on my stack, but life got in the way.
I, like Visceral Adventure below, will refer to the American dollar/system, since that is what I'm most familiar with.
I do agree with you, on all your points, so no arguments there.
My take on CBDC (in America and most globalist run Western countries) is that unlike Nigeria, the people will not have a choice in the matter.
I spent quite a lot of time in Africa (in the forces) and up until the last decade, never realized how uncorrupted their governments were, as compared to my own. This latest example of the people having the power to refuse usage and the government not shoving the crypto down their throats, is an eye opener.
I do not think it will be the same in America and countries like her. It will be like a light switch....something like..."On Jan 01, 2023 your paper dollars will be replaced by the HTR (Harriet Tubman RuPaul) digital dollar. Please bring your paper dollars to your nearest bank, to change them into HTR digital dollars. You will be given a 1:1 exchange rate up until Jan 1. After that the paper will be worthless. Those completing the exchange before Jan 1, will be given 10,000 HTRs as a bonus for helping move the transition along quickly and smoothly."
Now many say, they can't do that. I say they can and we have examples of this, in the last three years. Once the federal government blew the dog whistle for masks and jabs, the private sectors rolled into action. You could not board an airplane without one or the other...or both. Same went for schools, work and shops.
The argument is that people resisted and refused...me included. The only reason they were able to do so, is because there were alternatives. You could drive, bike, walk or postpone a trip...you could home school, you could grow your own food or go to local farmers, you could also get another job or ride out the craziness using CCs or tapping into your savings. There will be no workable alternatives, where a national currency is concerned. This premise doesn't include person to person transactions, where bartering and trading will still be viable, to fill these small gaps.
When it comes to institutional transactions (mortgage, rent, insurance, credit cards, grocery shopping, gas, utility bills, etc.) you will have no choice, but to use the HTRs, because pre-day 1, all those companies/institutions will adopt the digital currency. They will have no choice and won't want one, because they are controlled by the central banks...who are working hand in hand with the BIS...who is controlled by all the behind the scenes entities, you have written so much about Frances.
You will be paid in HTRs, via Direct deposit. There will be no ATMs or tellers handing out tangible fiat currency. It will all be a tap of your phone or wrist on a reader, that interacts with the graphene nanoparticles and/or chip inside you.
An abstract - we as a species, will have to move to a global digital currency...if we are to live in Musk's and Klause's AI future...and it is coming. We as humans crave it and romanticize it...just look at our movie industry and the profits they rake in. Humans want the Star Trek utopia. You can't have that, if your currency is not digitally based.
It's the same leap from horses to the combustion engine. There were huge numbers of people who lamented the shift (and rightly so, in some cases - in their time) but it happened...as did all the advancements, that brought us to this level of existence.
The same was true about companies moving from paying workers in cash and checks, to direct deposit. No matter the arguments, refusals or resistance these shifts happened all the same and people fell in line or were left behind. A Global digital currency will be no different, it's just a matter of time and generational indoctrination.
Lastly, if there are people who plan on resisting/refusing, they need to be ready for the consequences, they'll face. Be prepared to house, feed and support yourselves and your families.
You will not be able to barter/trade for the monthly bills, mortgage, gas, etc. Your paycheck will be digital...they are already.
The only hope I see, is if a major Western leader (President/Prime Minister) has the stones to stand and refuse, to convert his/her country's currency. Then you would have a chance, to slow the process and investigate a better version/alternative. But lets be honest with ourselves...who have we seen in a seat of power, that would do that??? In America...don't hold your breath. Besides, the day after that leader said..."we refuse"...they would have an accidental Clinton Suicide.
So what is to be done, if it is inevitable?
-Prepare.
-Pay down/off your bills...the more you owe, the more control they have over you.
-If possible, have those staples, that will be worth something in the barter/trading sub-culture.
-If you can, create like mined communities/networks of people, with which to circumvent the system.
-This is a big one...if you can, infiltrate the system/government and place your own people in key positions, where they will know what's coming and be able to warn the "underground". This is a page from their (globalists) playbook...which has worked well for them, for centuries.
Super, well thought out comment. Sadly I have to say that you may be correct that we will have no choice. Lockdowns and the trimmings proved how forceful our governments can be.
Build back better should mean a better system which works for us but I suspect it really means building a system which is better for the banksters - not us 'useless eaters', we will be either dead or starved if things continue the way they are going now.
Local banks.... mentioned by a couple of others and advocated by Catherine Austin Fitts do seem like a solution worth supporting. I will look into that.
Thank you.
I've heard many pundits talk about local banks and credit unions...Glenn Beck (who I stream while working) was a big advocate of this, to stand against global banksters and ESG pushers, like Blackrock.
I think in the short term and for purposes like Beck's, this is a viable option, however, they are making the woke shift themselves. While I was looking for a credit union, I went deep and found articles, where the credit union associations talk about equity and social responsibility. When you start seeing articles like this, in their professional association groups...the writing is on the proverbial digital wall.
https://news.cuna.org/articles/120999-the-esg-effect
https://www.cutimes.com/2022/04/22/do-you-esg/?slreturn=20221025135439
Small banks will be no different and will eventually fall in line or be regulated out of existence, once CBDC comes online...again, they will HAVE TO use the HTRs or close their doors.
You are correct, BBB was a rallying cry for the Globalists, not us. They continually tell us THEY have the plan for a better world...they just never finish the sentence...."a better world for WE THE ELITES."
I would like your take on a premise I have been pushing for about 8-10 years now. I get a lot of head nods but no action...and I pretty much know why, but would love your thoughts.
I have always said that we (general populous) have tremendous power, when we move as one (that's the first hurdle, we always trip over), in our spending. The power lies in our choice of where and how we spend our dollars, pounds and euros. That power is quickly dwindling though.
We have seen where push back on major corporations, caused a shift in company branding, policy or practice. I am a big advocate of boycotts...if a company champions abortion, they get not one cent of my money...until they either go neutral (to include donations) or turn pro life. I feel the same about the entertainment/sports/social media industries...all facets.
If people abstained en masse, we could bring these institutions to their knees. I pushed hard for people to do this with hollywood, during covid. They were as close to bankruptcy, as an industry, that we will ever see them get...but alas, as soon as they opened the doors, people ran back to theaters, for the happy privilege of giving their earnings, to an industry that hates them...at least here in America.
My premise is that we humans crave three things above all else...Comfort, Convenience and Entertainment...so for me that explains why, we never get past that first hurdle of moving/acting as one body. The decades long indoctrination programs explains the remainder of the apathy or buy in...where people really do think that BBB, is all about them.
Why do you think we have continually, missed that it is the money in our pockets that gives us power and not the votes on our ballots?
I have been boycotting a huge range of products and services for so long that I can't remember why I started doing it, in many cases!
I boycott every business which profits from war, big P-Harma or Big OilnGas. I won't consume any product that is saturated in glyphosate or is known to be GMO. I avoid Amazon (spit), all major supermarkets, new clothes stores, most hygiene products, plastics and fluoride. I gave up dyeing my hair, wearing makeup, driving a car, watching tell-lie-vision, cinema, gigs, pubs and listening to radio.
'Crikey!' I hear you gasp! 'What DO you buy, Fran? You sound like a nun!'
I laugh and think: None of this, that or 'the other'!! 🤣😂
Recently, I bought a cheap but tidy 3rd-hand mobility scooter from a local vendor.
I am disabled, so my son does most of the shopping from the local co-operative shop and we get rare online deliveries from Ocado for special occasions like Christmas. Even our local quality butcher delivers, if the order is large enough. I indulge in Indian and Chinese meals once a week from local small businesses which are also delivered.
I only buy 2nd-hand clothes from charity shops or local market stalls. I do not wear shoes at all. My feet are too swollen and cannot bear to be touched by unwieldy leather etc. Everything else comes via Ebay. (I am waiting for a fibre optic christmas tree this week!)
To be fair, I have never been a shopaholic, even when I was young and fit. I always preferred to make things myself from scratch, especially food and clothing.
The most recent of my boycotts came about over aspartame.
Ribena blackcurrant cordial used to be a regular in my cupboard until the bloody idiotic government decided that we should all eat less sugar. Ribena obeyed by replacing the sugar with aspartame and it tastes like chemical soup to me. I wrote to them and said I was prepared to pay more for the original recipe product but, OH NO MISSUS, came the haughty response. "Our studies show (yawn) that most of our customers prefer the low sugar formula." They discontinued the all-natural ingredient product I had been consuming for 60 bloody years! Tossers!
Do any of my boycotts impact the industries I despise?
I doubt it. My miniscule, tight-fisted existence is but a penny against their billions, no doubt. However, my soul is unsullied by the guilt of perpetuating their fakes, their sweat shops and their multi-billion international enterprises.
Tis the best I can do, given the circumstances.
ps
Do you know where I can buy sackcloth and ashes? Do they deliver?
I think the last sackcloth dealer just switched to microfiber...with a sherpa lining for those cold days of morning and lamentation and the ashes are now only available via the government cricket roasting plants...where the small bits and pieces, that cannot be milled into flour, are incinerated and packaged in lovely gift appropriate boxes. They do deliver but it will go against your carbon credits...and your HTRs will be docked. I'll see if I can find the link for you...😁
I think we all must follow our consciences individually, where patronage is concerned. You are correct, that your singular purchases are of little worry to Sainsburys or Tesco, but at least you have the legitimate right to complain about their policies and practices. Also, I think there is no better way to fight the system, than using local purveyors and growers.
I admire your minimalist existence, which I had at one time. I'd taken a contract job in one of the Stan countries and gave away all my possessions, prior to leaving. After 3 years, I came back and was unencumbered by anything...a true nomad, with the means to do and go, as I wished. It took a year before I possessed anything more than a mountain bike and the clothes I had in a bag. I rented a room and shopped day by day for sustenance. After that, it was a quick slide downhill, to being owned by my possessions and perceived obligations. So, well done Frances and much respect, for crafting a true and beautifully simple life.
I know each generation says. something like, "these kids have it so easy, they have no idea what true want or sacrifice feels like. They have little respect for those things that hold true value...honest labor, a handshake, integrity and honor. They would never survive, if they had to live the life of their ancestors a generation earlier."
I agree with that and I think it gets worse exponentially, as time marches on.
I often think, I would like to be put in stasis and reawakened in 100 or 500 years, to see how it all turned out, but then if I am honest, I really don't think I'll care, given how things are today.
I believe that we will be around in the future but possibly as amoeba beginning the whole evolution process all over again! See ya in the primordial soup! xx
Prof. Richard Werner, once of WEF fame, is founding chair of Local First, a community interest company establishing not-for-profit community banks in UK. Banks for local people. Catherine Fitts also talks about how people should find local community banks instead of the big names. We have some credit unions for savings and loans. Don't know if bills can be paid from them though. Good start though would be to just leave enough to cover DDs, take cash for week or month and transfer balance for lucky ones into community bank. Hopefully someone with more savvy than myself can find out about starting a local bank?
There's a new book ("End of Scarcity") that does a good job of explaining the problem with debt-based currencies in general. It proposes a bottom-up producer credit model i.e. a type of localized currency. I suspect that won't work either, though.
I agree with you 1000%, Frances! My gut has said "NO!" from Day 1 regarding crypto. I'm of granny age like you, just not an actual granny. A wise Crone, though! :)
Ok, I’ll make a few arguments. :) first off, yes, 100% agree that CBDCs should not be allowed to proliferate and they are the next tool of the predatory class that will be used for enslavement. Good on Nigeria for leading the way on shutting it down.
The current fiat currency system is a zombie system. It’s too late to save it because it breaks one of the soundest rule of good money: scarcity. As soon as Wilson signed into law over a hundred years ago that private interests (The FED) will be in charge of printing our money (along with other shenanigans), the dollar became a dying money. There’s more to it, of course, but it’s important to understand why Bitcoin is different from a currency that can be controlled by one central location (like a bank that can just print more of it to serve private interests).
Crypto and bitcoin isn’t synonymous. There will only be 21m bitcoin ever. No more. The code is written so no more can be printed and therefore devalue it. It is a deflationary currency. Also, think of Bitcoin more as a ledger that can’t be corrupted so in that regard it’s value is already larger than just its monetary value. You said not to get technical, so I’ll skip the how, just imprint that it’s important that there is no arbiter or custodian to trust or to tell you how your money can be used.
Other shitcoins out there (crypto) don’t offer the same value as bitcoin. Most are inflationary (more can be made) and/or are centralized (like fiat) so they crash whenever that centralized entity gets greedy.
As to your point about being able to dispense tangible cash: I don’t see why that can’t be done with some ingenuity. A dollar is still just a symbolic representation of abstract value. We could use Monopoly money to represent value if we were really pressed, heck, in prison they use cigarettes. Anything can serve as that tangible expression of value. I imagine that if something like Bitcoin serves as a global ubiquitous currency, then locally, we can some up with something that we can give to the kids, or the homeless, or a tips that can be redeemable the way coupons are. It would be insular but for small amounts it shouldn’t make a big difference. There’s actually a place that already does that, I’m sorry it fails me to remember where.
Ultimately, I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but the average person has a hard time answering the questions about money. Most don’t know how it works and where it comes from and I would even venture to say that this is deliberate. If we all knew, we’d want to escape that system as soon as possible. It has kept us indentured to a ruling class of banking elites that no one elected and no one would choose to be in service to.
I was completely blind to all of this until recently. But now have made it a point to educate myself as much as possible with help from random good people who would leave comments on my stack and point me in the direction of knowledge. The community that has been born out of Substack is really invaluable.
I’m sorry if I took up so much space. The take away is learning how money works allows us to fix our world.
Thank you for such clear explanations. xx
Crypto could imply making money off the dead. cough vaccination cough FTX.
I hate that name... it has undercurrents (or undertakers)!!
Glad that you've brought up this subject, Frances. It's sooo important. It's been on my mind for at least 40 years. I agree with you about cryptos. Thanks for the image of a crypt -- never thought of it that way. Some recent thoughts about Bitcon and a proven decentralized alternative, the Wörgl scrip:
https://fractalsovereignty.substack.com/p/bitcon
I also wrote about many aspects of decentralization 11 years ago, including Decentralized Money:
https://fractalsovereignty.substack.com/p/decentralized-money
Minutes ago, I just happened to watch Neil Oliver's episode on money from a month ago:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-xik96nX1k
And for the open-minded Adamu has weighed in on the legacy financial system:
https://zingdad.com/publications/books/the-ascension-papers-book-3/182-adamu-offers-a-full-political-briefing-including-the-coming-financial-reset-and-the-american-elections
Ooh lots to consider..... back in a mo after I have checked the links out xx
I loved Neil's video! I confess I nodded off on the others! True, I am not kidding!! 🤣😂
I guess I need to create a character like Lymp to spice up my writing. 🤣😂
lol - your writing is great! It was the writing within the links that caused me to fall asleep. They wax lyrical, don't they? I think they could do with a little brevity to improve the punch of their work. If an article or post rants on and on for miles and miles I seldom stick with it, but if a post consists of 5 or 6 pithy paragraphs I am fully engaged and may even seek further elucidation on the topic. Just my opinion.
Nice ! 👏👏👏. Bravo Nigeria ! Bravo indeed 🫂 .