As IF Times

Source: Meet Facebooks Libra, a digital currency for the social network – CBS News

Hopefully this ‘invention’ will be like New Coke; a product in search of an audience.  As the pervasive creep of the big social media networks is allowed to reach further into our lives, digital currency is apparently the next frontier for them.  It’s all about convenience for the customers they’ll say…what can go wrong?

This is backwards evolution of the financial system.  Over a century ago, many different banks would issue notes that were only fungible at their outlets; others were not accepted. With the passage of time, the nation evolved to create a common coin of the realm so that the currency could be used anywhere in the country.  This was the ultimate form of freedom and democracy since your money was as good as the next guy’s.  Someone could refuse your business but they certainly would not refuse your money.

This concept extrapolated to the credit system as credit cards were able to extend the reach of a consumer society by eliminating the hassle of carrying around bundles of cash.  Cash and its related credit card transactions were agnostic to consumers and vendors.  The rise of the influence of large social media companies introduces a new dynamic to this agnostic system.

As we are aware, corporations now wade boldly into the social justice business, ‘encouraging’ but actually pushing social ‘values’ which they deem to be acceptable.  You practically need a portable spreadsheet to determine which company is pro or against some issue.  Issues such as animal rights, fair trade practices, LGBT issues, environmental concerns, civil rights and of course political leanings now enter into the routine of making a simple  purchase.  It’s now difficult to buy something and not be given a side serving of sanctimony. Hey man, I just want to buy a coffee, I don’t need a lecture on global warming.

Thus far, this PC landscape has been only a minor annoyance as you are still free to do your business while controlling your eye rolls.  The issuance of online currency will move the control of the very many to the hands of a very small few to a whole new level.  Think about it.  If your online presence offends the sensibilities of those that monitor these kinds of things (and they do monitor this stuff), then they could conceivably deny your access to your digital money.  If you’ve said something online which offended  the accepted zeitgeist of the ‘community’, you can be blackballed.

This is not some unwarranted paranoia.  In fact, large banks have already decided to ban businesses that are active in the firearms industry.  If banks, which are quasi utilities can do that, why wouldn’t actual utility companies be able to deny you service because you wanted to buy rib eye steaks and they happened to be PETA supporters?  Why couldn’t they deny you service because you didn’t recycle?  We can easily see the logical extension of big brother monitoring your spending habits based on your on line persona.  Anyone remember the ‘big brother” apple advertisements from the ’80’s?  George Orwell wrote prescient dystopian warning satire during the 1930’s and eerily, the social network behemoths have taken his writings to be operations manuals.

We can never completely stop the emergence of Dr. Evils; unfortunately, it’s a part of human nature.  What people can do however is not willingly submit to the dystopian world they plan for us.  They can reject the social pressure to be a cog in someone’s digital empires.  They can reject the pressure to conform by their unthinking peers.  As in The Matrix films, be Neo, reject the agent Smiths.  Use cash.

link Democrats boycott Coke, Walmart over voter ID laws | Washington Examiner.

Maybe they’re right.  Where is the proof that people have nothing better to do than to go out on polling day and fraudulently vote for their favorite guy?  The very idea of it is insulting.  We constantly hear of voter apathy, so anything that can be done to make the process easier should be encouraged.  Heck, you may as well vote a couple of times while you’re there for good measure.  Let’s face it, bureaucracy is strangling society at every turn.  Maybe the entire notion of carrying ID for any aspect of our lives can be dismissed entirely.  The multi billion dollar sink hole which is homeland security can be wiped out overnight.  Gone forever will be border lineups, invasive questions and churlish officers.

Perhaps this same approach can be applied to other aspects of our daily lives.  Immediately we can think of airline travel.  Instead of the layers of bureaucracy that are presently associated with air travel today, including ticketing, airport security, passport applications etc etc, why not just revise the process into a first come, first served format?   It could be like waiting for a bus; no one needs to jump through all the ‘security’ hoops now required of all air travellers; just show up and board with a ham sandwich and a Big Gulp.

This novel notion can be applied to  work and education as well.  When someone applies for a job, is it really necessary to present all kinds of paperwork evidencing vocational and college bona fides?  Who would lie about this kind of thing?  The job application process can be made much easier by emphasizing the personal interview.  In fact, this humanizes the process rather than choosing people because of some abstract scholastic scores.

Think of how easy life would be.  When you attend sporting or entertainment events, you wouldn’t need evidence of having purchased a ticket, you simply stroll in and get the best seat.  When you leave a restaurant, you wouldn’t need to show any kind of ownership chit to the valet parking attendant.  You just tell him you’d like the convertible Mercedes.  At dry cleaners, the retrieval process is sped up immensely.  No longer will it be ‘no ticky, no laundry’, you just ask for some shirts in your desired size and color.

Over time, we’ve become a society hopelessly dependant on labels and tags.  We have come to accept all manner of restrictions and rules on our activities because apparently, it serves the greater good. Anyone who owns a phone or used a computer is plugged into ‘the matrix’.  There’s very little that can’t be known about anyone with only a few clicks of the mouse.  Maybe we should push back at all of the invasive ID tags imposed upon us.

Getting back to the voting process, it’s obvious to everyone that a bit of modern tweaking can improve the entire election process.  Logically, they could contract out people to go and gather votes as if it were a bottle drive.  These canvassers can then dump off their baskets of votes at centralized stations for counting.  What could go wrong?  If we want to be even more 21st century, people could just click to vote for their candidate from the convenience of their smart phone or computer.  What could go wrong?