- CBDCs will vastly magnify the government’s power to suffocate dissent.
- Bitcoin allows people to conduct transactions free from government interference.
- With CBDCs, the government will continue to exert control over the people’s financial transactions.
Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) will vastly magnify the government’s power to suffocate dissent by cutting off access to funds with a keystroke, according to Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an American environmental lawyer and member of the prominent Kennedy family.
Kennedy expressed his opinion using a Twitter thread where he noted that contrary to CBDCs, Bitcoin allows people to conduct transactions free from government interference. He described the pioneer cryptocurrency as a lifesaver for people’s movement around the world, especially in Burma.
According to Kennedy, CBDCs will allow the government to continue to exert control over the people’s financial transactions. He noted it would foster the ongoing censorship prevalent under authoritarian regimes and used against political enemies.
Kennedy noted that the Russian government used financial censorship to fight political enemies when it froze over 100 bank accounts tied to opposition leader Alexei Navalny. Similarly, The Canadian government locked over 200 bank accounts of people protesting against vaccine mandates.
Kennedy expressed concern that such a situation could play out in America, citing the suspension of WikiLeaks in 2010 by PayPal, Visa, and MasterCard at the behest of the U.S. State Department. He also cited other examples involving private companies that impinge on the people’s rights out of fear of Congress or regulators or directly at their bidding.
The lawyer and political candidate explained that the ability to save and spend without political interference is a prerequisite for exercising meaningful dissent. He proclaimed that he would defend such rights, notwithstanding his political affiliation.
He said:
“This is not a right or left-wing issue. It is about protecting democracy from powerful, established interests. The digitization of currency has given the government unprecedented powers to surveil and control economic life.”
According to Kennedy, this attitude of the government to impinge on the people’s rights is the reason for opposing the idea of CBDCs.
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