First, some background to catch up on. In January, in this Newsweek column, Todd Zywicki pointed out how cancel culture has infected even the buttoned-down world of banking.
This past November, Missouri’s conservative Defense of Liberty PAC scheduled a high-profile event featuring a speech by Donald Trump, Jr. On November 9, however, WePay—a JPMorgan Chase subsidiary that provided the payment services for the event—announced the termination of those services. WePay accused the organization of violating its policy against promotion of “hate, violence, racial intolerance, terrorism, the financial exploitation of a crime, or items or activities that encourage, promote facilitate or instruct others regarding the same.” Although WePay eventually reversed its decision, the organization had to cancel the speech.
WePay’s actions followed a series of similar incidents in recent years that includes the cancellation of former president Trump’s personal bank account, Michael Flynn’s credit cards and at least one Christian nonprofit organization. The fossil fuel and firearms industries have been targeted too. Businesses selling controversial materials have had their payments services terminated and consequently shuttered. The decisions to cancel these high-profile individuals or groups are often reversed after public outcry and dismissed as a “mistake” by the providers. But what about individual people who lack the public standing to fight back?
In February then, the Minnesota Bank and Trust threw Mike Lindell (of MyPillow fame) out the frosted glass doors and onto the street.
MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell has been terminated as a client by the Minnesota Bank & Trust a month after the financial institution described him as a “reputation risk.”
Insider viewed two letters sent to Lindell by the bank dated February 11. In one letter, the bank said Lindell’s accounts with the bank would be closed by the end of business on February 18.
Here is some audio of a call a bank rep had with a MyPillow exec on the matter.
In March, Biden issued (er, that should probably be “Biden” “issued”…) an executive order calling for studies on the feasibility and ramifications of implementing central bank digital currencies. The EO calls for several reports due by September 5.
One such report was issued last week by the Treasure Department on a “Framework for International Engagement on Digital Assets”.
China is already taking steps towards a digital renminbi. Here, the central banks have several reasons for being interested in a digital currency. One is the threat that cryptocurrencies pose to their hegemony.
There’s the danger in a cbdc, though. The implementation will probably not involve something like a blockchain or some similar form of distributed ledger for tracking and verifying transactions. Rather, the state, or a state body, will track things in some kind of database.
And that’s why the Left is interested. Imagine the power the Left would have over you if the state can see all your digital transactions, and worse, has the power to stop them.
Hey, Joe Citizen, I don’t want you buying that firearm. Transaction denied. Hey, Joe Citizen, you’ve bought too much gas this month already and you’re killing the planet. Transaction denied.
If Elizabeth Warren is for it, that alone should be a red flag. The Left means to control you, by any means at their disposal. We’re a long ways from the innocent days when your neighborhood bank was part of your community and there to serve you.