Recently, France decided to crack down on those people who make cash payments and withdrawals and who hold small bank accounts. The reason given was, not surprisingly, to “fight terrorism,” the handy catchall justification for any new restriction governments wish to impose on their citizens. French Finance Minister Michel Sapin stated at the time, “[T]errorism feeds on fraud, money laundering, and petty trafficking.”
And so, in future, people in France will not be allowed to make cash payments exceeding €1,000 (down from €3,000). Additionally, cash deposits and withdrawals totaling more than €10,000 per month will be reported to Tracfin—an anti-fraud and money laundering agency.
Currency exchange will also be further restricted. Anyone changing over €1,000 to another currency (down from €8,000) will be required to show an identity card.
Do you need to make a deposit on a car? That might be suspect. Did you just deposit a dividend you received? It might be a payment from a terrorist organisation. Planning a holiday and need some cash? You might need to be investigated for terrorism.
And France is not alone. In the US, federal law requires banks to file a “suspicious activity report” (SAR) on their customers whenever a customer requests a suspicious transaction. (In 2013, 1.6 million SAR’s were submitted.)
As to what may be deemed “suspicious,” it may be any transaction of $5,000 or more, but it may also mean a series of transactions that, together, exceed $5,000.
The reader may be saying to himself, “But that’s just normal, everyday banking business—that means anybody, any time, could be reported.” If so, he would be correct. Essentially, any banking activity the reader conducts could be regarded as suspect.
- In Italy, in 2011, Prime Minister Mario Monti began working to end the right of landlords, tradesmen, and small businesses to perform large transactions in cash, which critics say help them evade taxation. In December of that year, his government reduced the maximum allowed cash payment from €2,500 euros to €1,000.
- Spain has outlawed cash transactions over €2,500. The justification? “To crack down on the black market and tax evaders.”
- In Sweden, the country where the first banknote was created in 1661, the use of cash is being steadily eliminated. Increasingly, expenses are paid and purchases made by cellphone text message, and many banks have stopped handling cash altogether.
- Denmark’s central bank, Nationalbanken, has another justification for ending its use of banknotes—producing paper money and coinage is not cost effective.
- Israel also seeks to end the use of cash. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s chief of staff has announced a three-phase plan to “all but do away with cash transactions in Israel.”
- Individuals and businesses would initially continue to be allowed to make small cash transactions, but eventually, all transactions would be converted to electronic forms of payment. The justification being used in Israel is that “cash is bad,” because it encourages an underground economy and enables tax evasion.
- Across the Atlantic, banks and governments are on a similar campaign. A 2012 law in Mexico bans large cash transactions, with a maximum penalty of five years in prison.
- In August 2014, Uruguay passed the Financial Inclusion Law, which limits cash transactions to US$5,000. In future, all transactions over that amount will be required to be performed electronically. The crying need for such a law? The stated reason was to improve the country’s credit ratings.
The Elimination of Paper Currency
In recent years, in commenting on the inevitability of currency collapse in those countries that are indebted beyond the possibility of repayment, I’ve made the prediction that governments and banks would jointly resort to the elimination of paper currency and replace it with an electronic one.
Some readers have understandably regarded the prediction as “alarmist.” After all, the idea is so farfetched—paper currency may be conceptually flawed, but it’s been around for a long time.
But banks and governments seek total control of money, and this can only be achieved if they possess a monopoly on the flow of money.
If a worldwide system can be implemented in which currency transactions can only take place electronically through banking institutions, the banks will then have total power over the ability of a people to function economically.
But why would any government allow the banks such dictatorial monetary control? The answer is that governments would then realise a long-held, but heretofore impossible dream: to have access to a record of every monetary transaction that takes place for every single individual.
Governments have been both more proactive and bolder than I had anticipated and are simply imposing the restrictions worldwide under the justifications previously stated. As yet, there hasn’t been any backlash, and it may be that people worldwide may simply swallow the pill, not understanding what it means to their economic liberty.
If the public are not treating the new system as serious business, governments most assuredly are. Bankers on both sides of the Atlantic have forcibly become unpaid government spies. If they don’t comply, they can be fined and/or lose their banking charter. Directors can be imprisoned.
The US Justice Department already wants to take this overreach even further. Banks are now being asked to call the authorities whenever something “suspicious” occurs, presumably so that immediate action may be taken.
What we are witnessing is the creation of totalitarian control of your finances. The implication that you may have some sort of terrorist involvement is a smokescreen.
As the above information attests, if for any reason you object to any of these measures, you have already been forewarned—you may be suspected of money laundering, tax evasion, or even terrorism. If you use cash for any reason—to pay your rent, to buy a used car, or (soon) to pay for your lunch—you may trigger an investigation. (The onus of proof that you are not guilty good will be on you.)
The take-away from this discussion? Totalitarian control of currency is an inevitability, and it will take place sooner rather than later. The only question is whether the reader can retain some control of his wealth. Fortunately, wealth may still be held in land and precious metals, but these are only safe if they’re held outside a country that seeks totalitarian rule over its people.
The ability to retain wealth still exists and, as always, internationalisation remains a key element to its continuation.
* * *
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I am not a terrorist because I believe that the police state and its bankster backers should all be removed from power.
So does that count?
The state legislatures actually have the power to make that happen thru an Article V Constitutional Convention at which they could amend the Constitution to make any changes that they consider appropriate, up to, and including, amending the Federal Republic out of existence, leaving all powers of government within 50 sovereign state governments. At that point, employees of the Federal government would no longer have any authority and would become rogue terrorists if they attempted to override the authority of the states.
That sounds extreme but the legislatures, thru their delegates, would have to consider dissolution versus the job of reorganizing what has become an absolute disaster in governance.
“Terrorism is the war of the poor, and war is the terrorism of the rich.”
- Peter Ustinov
I support the poor.
Add: Terrorism is theatre.*
* in the service of intent
I am pretty sure 95% of the terrorists and terrorist threats are all government projects to sway opinion to get their agenda pushed through the black hole we used to call government...
Just look how many times the FBI alone has busted their own terrorists and then multiply that across the branches of governments and throw in some billionaires and lobbyists for good measure...
It's all a fucking scam and false flag after false flag...
Have you had enough?
The last book of Bible explains how the Beast will seek to control everyone in the end times, by preventing them from buying or selling anything if they do not have the mark of the Beast imprinted on them. The utopian central planners of the worlds' governments and central banks happen to see things the same way.
Well said
and how exactly are these boys going to avoid the international irs?
hope you are not stopping there if you are looking for script to be alerted to, poisoned water and food are mentioned.
We can never get enough---MOARRRR!! https://youtu.be/1o0Vv8lr41w
Go rouge, support freedom and liberty, not debt slavery.
ConCon is the worst idea ever.
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Fucking terrorist.
Why isn't the MSM labeling the looters and rioters terrorists? oh wait nevermind........
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akfWyNVrsxI
Then there is that little thing about not being able to prove a negative. Rule of law? Just went right out the window.
To be followed by some more disposable bankers no doubt...
I'm no terrorist 'cause my mamma says I ain't ...are you gonna argue with my mamma?
If the 1970's meant anything it was "the collapse of the dollar meant the dollar suddenly became very valuable."
If mean real rates of interest in double digits....paid out in dollars.
The USA will not go on a "digital dollar" in a million years from what I'm seeing. Indeed if anything the Fed should start loosening the restrictions on cash purchases to start getting on top of "bit coin ism."
Has the added value of paying for a lot of pension plans I might add...in particular Givernment ones.
>terrorists demanding proof that you're not a terrorist
Takes one to know one, asshole.
I wouldn't be saying that if I were you... ;)
Hell, people are too afraid to say it. The longer statists dominate the world, the worse the consequences will be.
Parasites are powerless without a host to leach off of. They are only as powerful as the sanction of their victims because they will literally die without us.
So if I move to France and want to do some normal everyday trading - say, shorting the Euro 200 times a minute during the European session, will I have to show my ID every time, or can I just keep it held to a webcam or something?
Always Love this statement.
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Half of the people I know and work with have never been outside the country(maybe once).
AND don't have hundreds of thousands of dollars to 'Protect'
Sorry, but Ag/Au physically mine is the route most 'Common, AIN'T going nowhere', people should go.
Only use cash while possible, Buy LOCAL when possible.
(Oh, and Skills and Start a garden)
EVERYTHING is pure bullshit anymore!
Exact quote from a sheeple I awoke this weekend: "Nothing's true."
To which I replied, "Except for their lies."
Liberty is a demand. Tyranny is submission.
Actually, as I was explaining to my father last night, they don't really lie so much as "monetarise."
All of their utterances are self-serving statements designed to ameliorate, misdirect, and conceal for the sake of stealing more loot and power, or to at least protect the loot and power they have already stolen.
When the State becomes this paranoid, it is on its last legs. The State doesn't fear the occasional anarchist, it fears "anarchy" brought on by its own self inflicted death. Anarchists don't have to lift a finger; states eventually kill themselves.
We live in anarchy already, we just have a criminal gang called "government" stealing us blind and enslaving us. For now.
I like your post, but you misunderstand 'anarchy.' It is not lawlessness - it's gubbaminlessness, i.e. no one forcing you to do anything or taking away the products of your labor for simply existing. Natural law has been, is, and always will be there. Anarchy == Real 'Capitalism' == Liberty.
The word has been coopted to imply bad/negative things, for the powers don't want the commoner to think that "hey, we don't need no stinkin gubbamin - we can get by just fine on our own."
Ideologically, I am an anarchist. No doubt. It is philosophically the only just system. Period.
It is also completely impracticable with the variety inherent in human nature. A portion of humanity has an instinct to lead. By lead, I mean they like to tell other people what to do. Another (large) portion of humanity seems content to let that "leader" group tell them what to do, thinking that it doesn't affect them too much, and that they will just go about their lives doing what they do, and following the rules. [of course, then it begins to affect them, and they start to realize the mistake they've made, but by then it's too late, as it is now] It has always been thus. It is coded into our cultural (and I believe our biological) DNA. It's not going to change. So...
Let's imagine that we wake up tomorrow in anarchy. The "leader / asshole" group starts behaving the way they always have and always will, and the "follower / try to ignore them" group behaves the way they always have, and presto, in the blink of an eye, we're back where we are today.
Heaven is anarchy. On Earth, it cannot be. It's a law of human nature. We're sadly thus locked into the cycle of history either forever or until our species wipes itself out through environmental collapse or self-annihilation / warfare. (How many times have various societies been around the historical cycle? A lot!) Not pretty, but it is what it is. Enjoy the ride. There are a lot of beautiful things to see while here, and we'll all get off eventually.
100% true, SofaPapa. We extend these notions to include Radical Marijuana's explanations of neolithic social pyramids and death controls - they tie in directly into the leader/led schemes that have beeng going on since forever, and the cycle goes in perpetuity, with the only escape sequence having a very very low probability of occurrence. As you say, enjoy the ride and appreciate the little things that do matter. Thanks for that post.
philosophically, it's the most fertile ground for criticism of state excesses, yes
"A portion of humanity has an instinct to lead". Yes, but an even greater portion of humanity has the instinct to be led. One glaring example is how the British Empire devolved, and how big the masses where that at that point thirsted for moar order, moar rules and moar moral/religious underpinnings of that order
the article is taking examples from european countries restricting cash transactions, and here both Italy and France lead the pack, for several reasons. having just recently traveled in both countries, I can tell you that in both countries you find a terrible amount of support for them
so yes, trying to pay bills in excess of € 1'000 in cash brought me every time in big discussions of why, and the answers were invariably in the tune of:
- "yes, cash payments have to restricted because the country is full of people not paying taxes"
followed by
- "of course you, dear Mr. G., are not meant by that, so we just split the bills in portions so that no transaction is greater then that"
it's silly, it's unnecessary, it's heavily propagated by the credit card companies that wish to fully penetrate the markets, it's heavily supported by banks that want the same, and it's enforced by states that prefer fuller control to moderate control and...
... it's supported by huge swathes of the population that wish for moar order. the same populations which have this instinct of needing to be led
can this be changed? yes. in short time? no. does the classic anarchist help? no. why?
because every extreme ideology is often excellent in exposing what is wrong with the situation while being mediocre if not useless in changing that situation to the better
and anarchism, in this context, is an extreme ideological position, as much as the others, and will stay so until it becomes less extreme by offering some of the order masses thirst for
in other words, you could, in theory, wake up in a neighbourhood that is fully anarchic, take a stroll and show your ID in order to access a part of a city that isn't, and caters for some different kind of political system, which you would then have to comply to as long as you are there
of course, this would imply something that is usually in low supply: tolerance
and political extremism is often the very paragon of intolerance. it's "I am right" followed by "therefore you are wrong, and ought to follow my rules... or not-rules"
Interesting response, thank you.
"...an even greater portion of humanity has the instinct to be led."
Sadly, I think you are right here. It's a shame that so many grow up looking to the metaphorical mommy or daddy figures to tell them what to think. Far too few take the critical step of learning to accept or reject information or ideas based not on what someone else tells them but based on their own internal ethical/practical/moral standard, developed across the course of a lifetime. You are right that most are quite happy to be told what to think, and then they will think that. It's easier for them, and they don't want to work. Intellectual laziness.
But do you really believe from there that most people support the elimination of cash?! I seriously doubt that. I think if you explained to them what cash represents, the majority are going to prefer to keep cash in place rather than go to a more highly controlled system. What is at work here is ignorance, not choice. Most people simply have never thought about this issue at all, and if they accept it, they would do so without any idea of what they just signed on for until it's too late.
When you say "classic anarchist", I think Skateboarder above speaks to that. Anarchy is associated in our culture with random destruction. I don't think the people commiting that destruction have much idea of what they do want; they only know the anger they feel, and they express it impulsively. It's a shame that because they have co-opted the label anarchists for themselves, they lead people to view anarchy as destructive. It wouldn't a priori have to be that way. But so many words in today's world (and throughout history, of course) have been torn from their essence, and we are stuck with the results. I would consider those people more nihilists than anarchists, but I'll probably gain some downvotes for being pedantic on that one. I deserve those votes, and acknowledge the tendency. :)
Lastly, you mention extreme ideologies. I see your point, but I prefer the word pure to extreme. If people can gain an objective view of the concept of anarchy (the lack of a governing structure), that can help clarify and distill the issues we face moving forward. In other words, since the governing structure is what is causing the problems (hyper micro-level control over people's lives is the purpose of our current governments), the actual opposite of that is no government at all.
Realistically, as I said in my post above, of course we will always end up somewhere in the middle. We're stuck with it. Just one last thing to think about: which do you think has caused more human pain and suffering throughout history, people acting on their own outside of authority, or organized governments acting out their "policies" and trying to enforce their ideals on others? I know what I think on that one.
Thanks again for the thought-provoking response. Cheers.
One More Time...
"'Did you really think that we want those laws to be observed?' said Dr. Ferris. 'We want them broken.
You'd better get it straight that it's not a bunch of boy scouts you're up against - then you'll know that this is not the age for beautiful gestures. We're after power and we mean it. You fellows were pikers, but we know the real trick, and you'd better get wise to it.
There's no way to rule innocent men. The only power any government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren't enough criminals, one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws. Who wants a nation of law-abiding citizens? What's there in that for anyone? But just pass the kind of laws that can neither be observed nor enforced nor objectively interpreted - and you create a nation of law-breakers - and then you cash in on guilt. Now, that's the system, Mr. Rearden, that's the game, and once you understand it, you'll be much easier to deal with.'"
Ayn Rand ('Atlas Shrugged' 1957)
That's silly, no terrorist would love Big Brother the way I do!
The irony:
It is okay for the banksters to plunder the people with the fiat they counterfeit and force upon them, but it is not okay for the people to utilize that fiat.
How do you say guillotine in French?
Liberty is a demand. Tyranny is submission.
In American, Guillotines are measured in fps.
No one is forcing you to use FRN's.
You voluntarily use FRN's so quit your whining and follow the rules (they make up) like a good slave.
If they keep this shit up I may have to get up off this couch........
Off topic, but the funniest noiZ-media headlines of the week.
From Crain's Chicago Business comes this pair of gems:
Headline 1:
Rauner: 'Moral' duty to take Illinois back from unions, 'corrupt' insiders
The governor is in full campaign mode as crucial votes near in Springfield on budget and labor issues.
Headline 2 right below the first:
Zell gives $4 million to Rauner's pro-business PAC
The real estate investor is the first donor to the Republican governor's fund, called Turnaround Illinois, documents filed today show.
I guess it depends how much those "corrupt insiders" are willing to pay to be non "corrupt insiders"
LOL
Liberty is as demand. Submission is tyranny.
"and now we go live to New York to discuss the fall of the Solomon building which is still standing behind her..."
I keep $10 in my bank account and I am not a terrorist.
You are if they say so. Now how do you feel?
How in tarnation are they going to manage when the electricity grid is brought down for a week or a month?
All it would take is a few dozen snipers trained in shooting transmission tower insulators and transformer cooling pipes.
Whoa! Wait a minute! Wouldn't that be real terrorism?
Yeah. So was the siege of Yorktown.
If they're really interested in terrorist, they know quite a few and where they're hiding. They're
The other terrorists the world forgot about => http://wp.me/p4OZ4v-Dg
Hiding? Where, in the Irish parliament? That's not the best place to hide!
As a vendor at my local farmers' market my sales are in cash. Depositing market cash into my checking account at the local bank has noticeably made me suspect. And here all along I thought the teller was flirting with me.
Wink wink, you're so cute sir, may I have those fingerprints and retinal scans now Honey???
Dude do I look like F'n Prince Bandar, Cheney, Blankfein or Rumsfeld.
I'm not a terrorist. I was born in Ireland a bit too late for that.
My father looks a bit like Gerry Adams though. Maybe he missed his calling. He could have had a safe seat in Dail Eireann or the Northern Ireland Assembly by now, rather than be facing forcible retirement from the moribund manufacturer he still works for in the States (he turned 65 today).
I wouldn't be surprised any more if 10 Downing Street dreamed up the Provisional IRA themselves. If the Provos had been serious about Irish freedom, the Brits would have seen them off a lot sooner.
Any monies in a bank,,, belongs to the bank. If you cannot have cash then in reality you would have no money... correct?
Coins of Cu, Ag and Au are also good for "Barter situations".
As is foreign currency, which people throughout the world have used in a National Crisis.
Parallel Economy = Freedom of Religion/Worldview, Freedom of Association and Expression. I would argue that Barter is more about these things than a pure exchange of goods.
In the final analysis, lest we lose sight of the real problem/solution: These are all things we DO, while working on removing the Usurpers, Parasites and Clingons from the levers of power and influence. Never ever lose sight of that.
Luckily, there is something called crypto currencies that they can never touch. Let's se how many understands this before their wealth is confiscated. It's catching on slower than I expected, even some libertarians don't seem to get it.
I would reverse that question to every politician out there. Prove you are not a traitor. Good luck with that one, if their dealings and motives ever come out in the open, they will get hanged, drawn and quartered, every single one of them.
Thank you sir, may I have another?
Wasn't that essentially the case in ancient Greece? I read somewhere that ancient Greek politicians leaving office were subject to a 7 year period during which criminal and civil charges could be brought against them for crimes committed while in office.
Since I live in Italy, I can provide some colour.
Ignazio Visco, general director of the bank if Italy, went public saying that "in italy there's no demand for 500€ and 200 € bank notes". So I checked, went to the bank and said I wanted to withdraw 10.000. in the clear, I also had a written memory to deposit, stating the reasons why i did it: not last was a recent costitutional court judgement on a tax, saying"yes, it was against the law, but the state needs the money. so no money will be returned". I also told them that it was perfectly legal: Mario Monti wants me to use other means of payment above 1.000€? i'd come back with my money and get a cashier's check. So I told the teller that probably i'd be a better custidian of my money. one of the funnies was: "if you want small notes, 50 and 20€, that's fine. for bigger notes, there's a waiting period, and we have to report you to the finance ministry" . Apart form the Joe Pesciesque approach, I did some research on their case. It was a decree by the bank of italy, signed by.....Ignazio Visco!
If a government really attempts to move to a fully cashless society, I would expect it to result in disaster. Only people who are inside the system, such as government workers, would be able to function financially. Anyone without a checking account and a regular paycheck from an institution (government, large corporation, bank) would be unable to pay routine bills or purchase necessities. They would be forced into the black market, willing or not. Banning cash sounds like the fastest way to become a third-world country.
Furthermore, some token of currency or money would soon be used in place of the national currency by everyone outside the official approved system, which is an increasing percentage of the population of western countries, including everyone who is unemployed or occasionally employed. Perhaps some sort of scrip system would develop for black-market transactions.
I suspect that gold coins would not be used, because they would be considered too valuable for routine transactions, and people would save them rather than spend them. People might use copper coins and smaller silver coins such as the silver U.S. dime and quarter, so-called "junk silver."
If the government tried to outlaw alternative methods of transacting business, a significant percentage of people would ignore the ban, because for them the alternative is starvation. The "war on cash" would follow the same path as the "war on drugs."
I gotta give those cheese-eating surrender monkeys some credit here.
At least the French are honest about cracking down on cash.
Here in the Homeland, cops just seize your cash as "evidence" and you never see it again.
Bitcoin users are not affected.