There are worrying signs of dictatorial government returning to Europe.
Individuals have less and less say on almost anything you are allowed to think of.
Governments seek control of every facet of our lives. Those who refuse to bow risk the full weight of the states apparatus being mobilized to corral and subdue them.
Take Greece. A lovely country blighted by a series of incompetent ( at the very least ) governments.
As a result, economic catastrophe has been visited on the people. Unemployment is society-undermining high; pensions have been slashed; wages stagnate or decline.
The Greek government is desperate (in nature as well emotion) and believes that any measure it takes is justifiable, if that measure appears to have even the slightest chance of delivering economic salvation.
The latest manifestation of this unacceptable state interventionism is the edict of the Greek Tax Authorities that all Greeks must declare the amount of cash ( down to a single €) they have in their home AND alert the same Authorities each time that amount changes.
Can you imagine an attempt to impose a similar measure in the UK? The people - myself included -would be on the streets, peacefully resisting, until the politicians and officials responsible were consigned to the dustbin of history.
I have no idea how the Greek public will react BUT I certainly hope they do not placidly accept this ludicrous intrusion into their economic privacy.
Before you judge me to be over-reacting, please bear it mind that this is just the latest in a long-line of onerous regulations handed down by the powers-that-be ( for the moment). Previously, they have reduced to a very low level the value of purchase that can be made using cash and demanded that individuals validate all expenditures with receipts. The Government have also been very keen to push the public into using cards, for the very good reason - from the Authorities viewpoint - that this enables all an individual's economic activity to be forensically examined.
So it's time for Greeks, living as they do in the Cradle of Democracy, to tell their Government and all its tentacles that they will NOT be reporting how much cash they keep at home. Not now. Not ever.
It is not only in Greece where we are starting to see dangerous signs of a regime war on cash, as opposed to one mounted by rather obvious commercial vested interests.
In Euroland, the European Central Bank(ECB) has announced that it will no longer issue €500 bank notes are 2017. This comes only one year after the ECB had categorically stated that the €500 note was a vital part of the currency mix.
Some say Angela Merkel wants to remove €500 notes from circulation to fight terrorism. I say this is complete nonsense. Terrorism was around long before the first €500 note was printed and, unfortunately, will be with us forever. Why remove a form of currency that honest people have use for, when the small number of terrorists who will always be with us will simply carry on regardless?
Similarly, all around Europe, the value of purchase that can be made using cash is being limited by the great dictators of government. They already tax the money you earn more than they have ever done in history and now they don't want you to be able to spend the little bit they leave you with as you see fit.
What's happening to freedom, choice, independence and privacy?
Answer: disappearing down the plughole into the cesspit of over-controlling government.
In the UK, there is talk of the £50 note being phased out, once again supposedly to thwart terrorists. Of course, it will do no such thing.
In Africa, a number of governments are taking measures along the same lines, all focused on one objective: to remove the publics ability to conveniently use cash.
80% of daily purchases in the world today are made using cash. Almost certainly, any purchases made by terrorists are within the remaining 20%.
It is time for the public everywhere to act to stop this erosion of their right to us cash. Governments that try to impose such measures MUST be voted out of power BEFORE they take away FOREVER the right the public have to remove them.
Yes. It is as serious as that. Democracy is under threat. Don't let "THEM" win: it is "US" who must be victorious. Forever.
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