Things Just Got Serious in Europe’s War on Cash

Written on January 31st, 2017 in politics Comments Off

… to protect citizens from threats as defined by apparatchiks in Brussels – Published on Wolf Street, by Don Quijones, Jan 28, 2017.

The central authorities in Europe just launched their most important offensive to date in their multiyear War on Cash. The new move comes directly from the European Union’s executive branch, the European Commission, which just announced its intention to “explore the relevance of potential upper limits to cash payments,” with a view to implementing cross-regional measures in 2018.

Maximum limits on cash transactions already exist in most European countries, and the general trend is downward. Last year, Spain joined France in placing a €1,000 maximum on cash payments. Greece went one better, dropping its cap for cash transactions from €1,500 to €500. In simple terms, any legal purchase of a good or service over €500 will need to be done with plastic or mobile money … //

… Some experts fear the emergence of a dystopic “two-tier urban realm” in which the poorest become cut off from mainstream commercial life by their continued dependence on traditional forms of currency and are only able to trade among themselves. As financial writer Dominic Frisby explains, “the beauty of cash is that it’s a direct and simple transaction between all kinds of different people, no matter how rich or poor.

What’s more, there’s no middleman involved. One party pays the other party in mutually accepted currency and not a single middleman gets to wet his beak. And to all intents and purposes, it’s untraceable. Is it any wonder that banks, fin tech firms, credit card companies, central banks, national and regional governments and UN agencies want to pull the plug on physical currency? … //

… In other words, to protect European citizens from any threats to general interest identified by the apparatchiks in Brussels, the European Commission can quite simply override the non-fundamental rights of over 500 million people to privacy, anonymity and personal freedom. And it’s all set to begin in the next year. By Don Quijones, Raging Bull-Shit.

The UK, whose people have voted to escape this Union, has other ideas. “What they sell is escape: from the laws, rules, and taxes of jurisdictions elsewhere, with secrecy as their prime offering.” World’s Worst Tax Haven Threatens to Expand its Operations.

(full text, hyperlinks).

Links:

Warum immer mehr Menschen für immer weniger Geld arbeiten, 43.24 min, hochgeladen von Freie PropagandaNEO, am 29. Jan 2017 … mit Andreas Popp von der Wissensmanufaktur;
(siehe auch dieses Buch: Mohamed, eine Abrechnung, auf amazon.de);

KenFM im Gespräch mit: Bernd Senf, 190.37 min / 3h 10.37 min, uploaded by KenFM, Jan 26, 2017 … zur Kasse, Schätzchen;

India: Inferno Village, 0.55 min, on RT, Jan 24, 2017: for 100 years, Jharia town in India has lived on top of a perpetually burning coal field. Once green and beautiful, the region is now scorched and barren, many houses have been devoured by the ever-growing pit, while its people are suffering from a wide range of respiratory diseases. Despite the danger, most families daren’t relocate because coal provides their only means of income … more on RT Website, 25.56 min; Jharia, the town; Jharia, the coalfield;

real-world economics review, Issue no. 77, Dec 10, 2016: download the whole issue;

Nepal: The Long Road To School, 27.31 min, on RT, Nov 23, 2016: Durga Kami from Nepal is a 69-year-old widowed father of 7. He has worked hard all his life to raise a big family. Now that his adult children have fled the nest, he decided, at long last, to realise his lifelong dream of a school education … walking every day for over an hour to reach the school … watch the backwarded reaction of his children and the village … also on Google Images-search;

Amazonia: L’ultime combat du peuple Munduruku, dans Portail Humanitaire (first on Equal Times.org), par Bryan Carter, Jan 2017: après avoir résisté durant des siècles contre les envahisseurs sur les rives de leur vénéré fleuve Tapajós, les Munduruku sont conscients que cette fois, leur lutte pour la survie devra se livrer dans la forêt amazonienne, dans les sièges des sociétés multinationales et dans l’arène politique du Brésil;
(also on YouTube, uploaded by equaltimes, Aug 3, 2016: We will fight until the end, 5.09 min; Nous nous battrons jusqu’au bout, 5.09 min; Lucharemos hasta el final, 5.09 min);

… and this:

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