The prevailing trend towards digital and electronic currencies, intensifying with each passing day, will likely instigate various forms of resistance and non-compliance. It will also resurrect monetary practices long consigned to oblivion.
One such monetary practice is the barter system, which might appeal to many as a compelling rationale to express their resistance to transitioning to digital and electronic currencies, or perhaps as an acknowledgment of their inability to navigate this transformation and comprehend its intricacies.
As governments mandate the deposit of all cash into banks for conversion into digital currency by the end of 2030, any paper currencies remaining after this deadline will be deemed obsolete and unusable.
In response to the repercussions of this transformation, a formidable opposition will inevitably arise from diverse segments of society, boycotting this decision. Numerous theories will circulate to elucidate the motives and objectives behind this change. Many groups will abstain from depositing money as a form of protest, exerting pressure, and expressing reluctance. However, by the year’s end, when digital currency becomes the sole legal tender, they will realize that their money has lost its value and is no longer accepted in commercial transactions, rendering them financially incapacitated. Panic-stricken, they may then clamor for an extension of the deposit period to convert their cash into digital currency, and that scenario might unfold.
This inexorable transformation appears to be the ultimate objective for most governments worldwide, aiming to monitor and document all financial transactions comprehensively, calculating fees and taxes accurately with no room for citizens and companies to evade taxes. The ruling regimes will gain visibility into the real wealth, meticulously documented in all its flows. The only repository for money will be the government-controlled digital system, rendering the concept of physical cash obsolete. Consequently, the contours of new boundaries, beyond which one cannot venture without preparation, are beginning to take shape.
In this context, national systems will wield arguments and tools to exert control over citizens, visitors, residents, tourists, and others by managing their monthly incomes. Decisions to forbid certain actions or reward compliance will hinge on individuals adhering to laws and accepting the new global order—the digital monetary transaction system.
Undoubtedly, the stringent digital control over cash circulation within countries and across continents poses a threat to the stable income of certain countries, organizations, and groups flagged on international blocklists.
The era of physical cash has drawn to a close, even at the individual level for those wishing to support a specific association or organization. In response, the oldest commercial system known to humankind, the barter system, is poised to reemerge.
It is essential to acknowledge that the shift towards digital and electronic currencies aims to eradicate the facets of the black economy and shadow economies. However, in a countermove, this transformation will likely provoke resistance to ensure survival within the shadows of the black economy, with beneficiaries seeking to revive the barter system—the earliest financial system known to humanity. As Newton’s physical law posits, “For every action, there is a reaction equal in magnitude and opposite in direction.” The ensuing discussion will delve further into these dynamics.
Author : Manahel Thabet
Published February 06, 2022
Al Bayan Newspaper
