The Biblical conspiracy theories are that there will be a mark of the beast, where everyone will be forced to use it to buy or sell anything. In effect, it allows the government/banks to control you under the threat of financial ruin.
In the USA this is believed by a lot of people, and it's not just the fundamentalist types: Privacy groups are worried too. Because if you post the wrong thing, not only can you be censored from the social media, but in the near future this could mean your bank account will be frozen. And with a universal ID card, it is easy to find who you are and where your money is.
Pushing digital currancy should be no problem: after all we use credit cards, don't we? And they are safe, aren't they? What could go wrong?
UhOh: Justin Trudeau just had the banks close the accounts of the Bouncy castle protesters showing how easily this could be done. True, he reversed it in a few days, but it showed what could be done.
In the USA, they never had a universal ID card and in the past they even forbade using the Social Security number for identification for this reason (not true now: every other form of ID asks for either the SSN or part of the SSN to confirm who you are).
So how does one prove one's identity in the US for something like cashing a check or getting on an airplane? Ironically, to get on an airplane most people use their drivers license which are issued by states, not the federal government, since few have passports.
And the refusal to use a universal ID is not limited to the rabid Republican right: Indeed, worrying that someone will figure out who you are is one reason that the Democrats, who represent the poorer classes in the USA, have opposed requiring ID cards to vote in elections.
Of course, getting a fake ID is easy, but that's another story. But if it is easy in the fairly honest country like the USA, just think of what will be going on in more corrupt countries.
which brings us to this article that I found in today's Inquirer:
PH must step up digital shift for better cash aid system – WB....
The World Bank (WB) has urged the Philippine government to ramp up digital government-to-person (G2P) payments, mainly by tapping other financial services providers like e-wallets, to speed up and ensure the efficient distribution of “ayuda” (cash assistance) during a crisis.
... “The lack of identification documents is one of the reasons for being unbanked in the country where only 29 percent of adults have a bank or mobile money account...
To address these financial inclusion gaps, especially in remote communities, it urged the government to partner with financial service providers other than banks, like mobile wallets.
Now they have me lost. I have used credit cards for years, but I rarely use them here because I distrust them, and they are easily stolen. So I would also distrust a digital wallet linked to a cellphone that is easily stolen. This is not true of the younger generation: Kuya and his daughter use them all the time, just as they buy stuff via e-commerce, wheras I usually go to the Palenke or mall and pay cash to get what I need.
My suspicion of e commerce is a generational thing: Lolo didn't even use credit cards, but would pull out a couple of $100 dollar bills to pay for groceries etc. in Walmart. And don't get me started on crypto currancy and bit coin, which some countries like India and the Philippines are looking into right now. Some say a crypto currancy backed by gold will replace the dollar in the near future, and this may explain why gold based currancy is being pushed by China who is buying a lot of gold.
Something to remember if China decides to regain their long lost province of Luzon...
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update: another reason I am skeptical of the internet control of everything is that the internet infrastructure here was affected by earthquakes that wiped out a major cable, and because we have had typhoon related floods cause no electricity etc..
So what could go wrong?
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