The “Better Than Cash Alliance” Has an Orwellian Plan

Seth Mason

In the fall of 1910, under the pretense of a duck hunting trip, a group of powerful bankers, political figures, and businessmen met secretly at Jekyll Island, Georgia, to plan the creation of a central bank for the United States.

The “game” that this elite group of “hunters” brought back to their ivory towers of Lower Manhattan and Capitol Hill was the blueprint for one of the most destructive financial institutions in modern history, theFederal Reserve.

One-hundred years later, another group of powerful bankers, political figures, and businessmen have converged to promote a cashless society.

Their ultimate aim: an economic system that would compel every man, woman, and child to utilize corporate, government-monitored electronic systems to make purchases of any kind.

The diabolically named Better Than Cash Alliance is as dangerous as the group of “outdoor enthusiasts” that met at Jekyll Island.

The Jekyll Island group sold their grand plans based on lies (they claimed that the Fed would protect the value of the currency, foster full employment, and guarantee liquidity in times of financial panics). And the Better Than Cash Alliance (BTCA) is promoting the notion of a cashless society based on the farce that eliminating cash would stimulate entrepreneurship among the poor.

Among the problems that come with the elimination of cash, the BTCA would reduce a great many opportunities for entrepreneurship for people of few means.

Gone would be the informal businesses the working poor often operate: roadside produce stands, street performances, handicraft tables, and day labor. Contrary to the assertions of the BTCA, a cash-free society would limit entrepreneurship to those with the means to incorporate a business, afford the proprietary system required to accept electronic payments, and understand the local, state, and federal tax burden the payment system may create.

Their REAL Agenda Is Financial Repression and Government Tracking

But here’s the REAL Agenda: encriching Wall Street bankers while increasing government power. The 12 central governments that currently support the BTCA (the U.S. is one of them) do so because a cashless society would enable them to track and tax every purchase and sale made with sovereign currency within their borders.

And forcing everyone to hold all cash within the banking system also enables central bankers to continue their financial repression measures, such as imposing negative interest rates to steal from all cash holders. (After all, if the bank makes YOU pay interest for lending it money, you might prefer to hold cash under your mattress to get a higher return.)

In addition to producing new revenue for banks and governments, the payment systems would increase the politicians’ social engineering capabilities. Governments could compel consumers to purchase goods and services only from government-licensed organizations.

Freelance service providers such as barbers, music teachers, and tutors would be forced to either jump through the hoops of incorporation themselves or seek work with businesses considered in “good standing” with the “powers that be.”

The so-called “black market” would also be squeezed, subjecting every “sin” and self-defense purchase to government scrutiny.

Under the guise of “national security,” of course.

A number of financial institutions, including, but not limited to, Citibank, Visa, and Mastercard, enthusiastically support the BTCA, for obvious reasons. In a cash-free world, these institutions would not only make profits on the front end by selling electronic payment devices and charging a fee for every transaction, but they would also make money on the back end by compelling everyone to deposit all of their earnings and cash holdings into their coffers.

A Cashless Society Puts Elderly at Great Risk

The BTCA claims that a cashless society would enable the poor to “participate in the financial system.” In reality, it would compel everyone to use banks for all of their financial dealings.

And, while a cashless society would be a windfall for the banking industry, it would place a heavy burden on the elderly, who often hold large amounts of cash and are hesitant (and, in some cases, incapable) of making electronic financial transactions. The BTCA’s plan for a cashless society would almost certainly increase incidences of financial scams targeting the elderly.

Inevitably, some people would find a way to circumvent a government-mandated electronic payment system, at least for some purchases.

Some would find ways to barter or use non-government-issued crypto or de facto currencies. (Interestingly, some even use liquid Tide laundry detergent as a currency.)

For some, the elimination of cash would have little material effect on their lives. But, for most, the BTCA’s agenda is a tremendous threat to their individual and economic liberties, to say nothing of the stifling effect it will have on an economy that relies upon voluntary transactions and free commerce.

Like the Jekyll Island duck hunters, the Better Than Cash Alliance is a cabal of powerful people who are pushing a dangerous agenda that would harm average Americans while increasing the elite group’s power over them. Like Georgia mallards, the BTCA’s plans must be shot down.