(0:00 - 0:52) How would you feel if the government decided what you can and can't spend your cash on? Or even worse, if the government punished you financially for speaking out against it? There's a financial system that is slowly being put into place that can do both of those things and it may be one of the greatest threats ever to our freedom. It's called a CBDC, which is short for Central Bank Digital Currency. As of January 11th, 2024, 11 countries have launched and are now using a central bank digital currency. Beyond those 11 though, almost every country is trying to implement a CBDC. So you may be wondering, why is it so dangerous for a country's currency to be digital? I mean, we use credit cards and debit cards all the time. I'm sure you shop online. (0:52 - 1:04) And a lot of people don't even have cash in their wallets anymore. And according to a Pew Research poll, 4 out of 10 Americans are almost completely cashless. That percentage has doubled since 2015 when it was closer to 2 out of 10. (1:05 - 1:33) Why then should we now regard an all-digital CBDC as the biggest ever threat to our freedom? Good question. Let me try to answer it. My name is Eric Meder. I'm a privacy expert at Privacy Academy. We teach privacy because privacy is essential to protecting your God-given rights and your individual freedoms. A CBDC or a social credit system or digital ID or censorship or all of these things could not exist with the huge level of surveillance state and technological state that we live in. (1:33 - 2:08) But before I talk about how dangerous CBDCs are and why they're so dangerous, I want to talk about the US dollar and the history of our currency. Most of you probably know that the Federal Reserve Bank is the central bank of the United States. But you may not be aware that the Federal Reserve is not owned by the US government, nor is it even controlled by the US government. Instead, the Federal Reserve is owned and controlled by large privately owned banks, including 12 regional Federal Reserve Banks. They act as a unit, like a cartel, and they control the monetary decisions of the US government. Thus, they control the US dollar. (2:08 - 2:22) As you can imagine, these banks have become some of the most powerful organizations in the world. And what do they want? They want what every power seeker wants, and that is more power. And they will do that by trying to control the amount of power that you have. (2:22 - 2:45) They will try to take away as much power so they can have more power. For this reason, the acquisition of more power and more control of our lives, the Federal Reserve Bank and all countries' central banks want to make every currency in the world digital. With a digital currency in place, these central banks and the governments they work with will know how much currency you have, they will know how you make your currency, and they will know what you spend your currency on. (2:46 - 3:03) You will be left with no financial privacy and no control over your finances. Your financial assets will become a weapon that can be used against you by your own government. In fact, the entire reason central banks and central government elites want to switch to a CBDC is to financially enslave you. (3:03 - 3:18) So you might be wondering, why do I consider it financial slavery? Well, let me give you a quick history of the U.S. dollar. The U.S. dollar used to be gold-backed, meaning its value was held by a physical store of gold. Back then, you owned a piece of paper that could be traded in for its equivalent in gold. (3:19 - 3:38) Then, in 1971, the gold backing of the U.S. dollar was removed. Now, instead of having a piece of paper that you could take to a bank and trade for its equivalent in gold, you have a piece of paper that is worth nothing more than its artificially agreed-upon price. Abolishing the gold standard was a big step toward the Federal Reserve enslaving us financially. (3:38 - 3:48) But consider this. It would not be able to work without a digital system being in place. That's because with a digital system in place, the central banks will hold your currency at all times. (3:48 - 4:03) So once the currency became artificially valued, that is, no longer gold-backed, there was one hurdle the central banks still had to overcome. The fact that people still owned cash currency. By this, I mean that people can hide their cash, can buy whatever they want with cash, and can accept other people's cash. (4:04 - 4:17) In all of these cases, not have their purchases trapped. Once we have an entirely digital currency, we won't be able to hide or use our cash. Instead, all of our currency will be held and thus controlled by a government and the central banks colluding with it. (4:17 - 4:28) To make us bankrupt, the controllers of our currency only need to hit the backspace button until our balance reads zero. It's quite concerning, isn't it? So let's think about it. Our currency is artificially valued. (4:28 - 4:44) And it is constantly held in a central bank digital currency. It is constantly viewed. At that point, is it really a currency anymore? Or is it more like a government-owned credit? A CBDC is a tool that will be part of social credit systems. (4:44 - 4:54) And I'm not sure if you've heard about them before, but a social credit system is coming. I'm doing a whole four-part series on them. So I recommend that you follow this channel and keep an eye out for them. (4:54 - 5:11) But if you don't know what a social credit system is, here's a brief synopsis. The social credit system is a tool used by governments to punish the people who go against their agenda and to reward the people who blindly follow their agenda. When combined with a high-tech surveillance system, the social credit system is very powerful. (5:11 - 5:28) A CBDC will play a key role in this centralized surveillance social credit system. Why? Because what better way is there to punish people than by taking away their livelihood? And even if the punishment features aren't enacted right away, they will be. Because the whole reason that they're releasing a CBDC is to control you. (5:29 - 5:39) And when they start enacting those punishment features, they'll do it in the name of social justice. It'll be for the greater good of the people. Yes, I'll punish this person, but it's to help you. (5:39 - 5:49) And that's how they always do these things. I'll give you an example. If the CBDC had existed during COVID, the public health authorities could have limited access to your money if you had refused to get vaccinated. (5:49 - 6:11) It's not far-fetched to say that. Remember, they fired doctors and nurses for disobeying their orders, and they tried to set up vaccine passports, and they even shut down small local businesses and churches. Speaking of COVID, do you recall the massive Canadian trucker freedom convoy in 2022? Thousands of truckers drove from all provinces to the central government in Ottawa, Ontario, to peacefully protest the vaccine mandates. (6:11 - 6:26) The government ordered Canadian banks to freeze the assets of some of the truckers. The Ontario Superior Court of Justice even issued an order halting access to the funds donated to them from supporters on their GiveSendGo website. The bank accounts of a few supporters were frozen too. (6:26 - 6:42) So you see, with the CBDC in place, your livelihood will be financially weaponized. If you speak out against the government and violate whatever rules are put in place, you will be punished, possibly to the point of going bankrupt and never being allowed to earn currency again. This system is designed to eliminate any and all opposing viewpoints. (6:42 - 7:01) It will force you to submit to the government fear-mongering. With the threat of losing your income or your job or your property looming over you, the controllers of the CBDC can easily train and condition you to obey. They can, for instance, limit the amount you're permitted to spend this month on entertainment or on driving your vehicle or on certain types of food, especially meat. (7:01 - 7:14) And if you resist harder, they will even limit your spending allowance on all food. Why not a full account freeze while they're at it? And even bankruptcy. It's depressing and scary, isn't it? Now you can probably see why I consider it financial slavery. (7:14 - 7:28) And you can also see why I think it's one of the most dangerous tools that a government has ever wielded before. And I know it can be really overwhelming to think about the fact that they have all the technological puzzle pieces together. I mean, if they wanted to, they could release this tomorrow. (7:28 - 7:33) But they won't. And it's because we, the people, have power. And they know we will not stand for it. (7:33 - 7:54) And before you say that we as Americans or we as the West would not allow this to happen, I want to bring your attention to the Swiss Freedom Party. In February 2023, the Swiss Freedom Party gathered over 111,000 signatures from citizens of Switzerland, which in that country was enough to bring about a national vote on preserving cash for posterity. By uniting, the Swiss citizens changed the law. (7:54 - 8:09) They also protected future generations from ever being enslaved by a central bank digital currency. We also have inherent rights protected by the United States Constitution. The Fourth Amendment protects us from unreasonable search and seizure without warrant or probable cause. (8:09 - 8:26) But if we do not physically own our currency, it is constantly subject to being searched and also seized. If the government wants to punish us financially, we are protected by the Sixth Amendment, giving us the right to a fair and speedy trial. And with the Tenth Amendment, any powers not granted to the U.S. by the Constitution go to the states respectively or to the people. (8:29 - 8:38) CBDCs are unconstitutional and illegal. No government, federal or state level, can impose this on us. We can also protect ourselves on a personal level. (8:38 - 8:46) Before I go further on this, I want to mention this is not financial advice. But you can get outside of the U.S. dollar ecosystem. You can invest in hard assets like gold and silver. (8:47 - 8:53) I mean, think about it. Back when the U.S. dollar was actually valuable, it was gold backed. You can still buy gold today. (8:53 - 9:00) There's also private cryptocurrencies. With crypto, there's great options like Monero or Pirate. It's important that you protect your own money. (9:00 - 9:09) That's what protects your freedom. Without having your own property, including money, you have nothing to back up your ability to speak out. There's a reason your government doesn't want you to speak out. (9:09 - 9:18) By controlling the information you're allowed to receive, the government can control your mind and your worldview. Mental enslavement is even worse than physical and financial. It's complete capture. (9:19 - 9:28) And the most important thing you can do is educate yourself. Like I said in the beginning of this video, I truly believe that privacy is the backbone of all of our modern issues. I think it is the issue of our century. (9:29 - 9:39) So getting private and secure is very important. That's why we at Privacy Academy hold a one-hour class that you can join for free and you can learn how to get private and secure right away. You don't have to be tech savvy at all. (9:39 - 9:47) We've built it for anyone and I really recommend that you sign up for it. And remember, the Swiss Freedom Party did this. They got 111,000 people together. (9:47 - 9:58) So if you feel very scared about a CBDC, remember it's possible to fight back against it. It's not hopeless and it's important to take the first steps. You can sign up for the class by clicking on the link in the description. (9:59 - 10:12) I really recommend that you do. And if you like this video and want to share it with other people, we'd greatly appreciate it because this message needs to be shared. So please like, comment, follow our channel, share it with as many people as you can, and help us spread this message. (10:12 - 10:13) Thank you again.