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I have been concerned about the disappearance of cash for some years.

Here is what I wrote in 2006 for my book called: How to protect and preserve your freedom, identity and privacy.

By Dr. Vernon Coleman

There was a time when shopkeepers welcomed cash payments. No more. In most countries it is now illegal to pay more than small bills with hard currency. Try to pay with cash and you may well find that your offer is refused. Even if your cash is accepted, the chances are growing that your suspicious behaviour will be reported to the authorities. Cash is no longer king.

Why?

Simple.

People who pay by cash are able to move around relatively anonymously. They don’t leave a paper trail of receipts behind them.

The authorities don’t like that. They like to know where we all are. Plastic money puts us all in the power of the bureaucrats. They can find us whenever they want to find us. They can see where we’ve been, where we are and where we are going. They can see what we’ve spent and what we’ve spent it on.

All this information is invaluable to tax collectors, of course. And it’s also invaluable to companies who want to sell us things and services – and to make money from us.

Cheques will be the next to go. Some banks in Europe have already stopped issuing their customers with cheque books. Once again, the explanation is that cheques make life easier for terrorists. This is nonsense, of course. The fact is that banks can’t make much money out of cheques. They have to issue cheque books free of charge. They much prefer credit cards which enable them to charge huge fees – and to keep a computerised eye on their customers’ spending habits.

The claim that by stopping us using cash and cheques they are somehow helping to protect us from terrorism is nonsense. Terrorists will still use cash (though they may not shop at the sort of places that are likely to “shop” them to the authorities). And terrorists will use credit cards without ever having to worry about being traced. They use credit cards in false names and they use stolen credit cards.

That is a short extract taken from my book `How to protect and preserve your freedom, identity and privacy’ which I wrote in 2006.

Now, we know more about how they plan to weaponise cash through Central Bank Digital Currencies. Once money is digital, they will be able to decide what you buy. And they will be able to control where and when you spend your money.

My book How to protect and preserve your freedom, identity and privacy contains valuable advice on all aspects of privacy and freedom.

Here is the Preface I wrote 17 years ago:

“You need to take immediate, serious steps to protect your privacy, freedom, identity and wealth. All of these important aspects of your life are under threat not just from criminals and confidence tricksters but also from the very people who are supposed to care about these things – your Government, your bank and the institutions and professionals whom you trust to take care of you.

“We are all on our own these days. We must take personal responsibility for protecting those vital, fundamental aspects of our lives – freedom, identity and privacy – which we were, in the past, accustomed to take for granted.

“This book will tell you what is happening and why you are in danger. More importantly it will tell you what you can – and must – do to protect yourself, your family and your friends.”

I wrote that book in 2006 and it is just as pertinent today as it was then.

If you didn’t buy a copy in 2006, you can purchase a copy of my book How to protect and preserve your freedom, identity and privacy direct from Amazon.

I think you will find it useful.