When I was leaving the Newark, New Jersey airport for India on November 15 I tried to exchange American money for Indian rupees. I was told by the money changing station that they were not at the present handling any Indian rupees. This was when I first heard about the Indian governments controversial 'demonetization' campaign.
When I arrived at the Delhi international airport I got in the long line at the money changing station and discovered that foreigners could only exchange $100 worth of currency for rupees. Indian cash is in short supply. ATM machines were out of cash. One tourist from England had brought no cash with him and intended to use his credit card to get Indian rupees once in country. Now he had arrived and didn't have the funds to get a taxi to his hotel.
In early November the 500 and 1,000 rupee notes were banned overnight. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has defended the decision saying it was an anti-corruption measure. I have my doubts.
On my flight from Delhi to Visakhapatnam I was reading two Indian newspapers and one of them carried a photo of Modi and Bill Gates. The caption under the photo declared that Gates was supporting Modi's demonetization effort and the Microsoft mogul had urged India to go digital - essentially get rid of paper money and make all transactions computer based.
As I read the newspapers my mind flashed back to a recent radio interview I heard on National Public Radio back home. An author of a new book was urging American to go 'digital' and become a cashless society. It's obvious that the Modi government demonetization effort, supposedly to fight corruption and 'black money', is little more than an effort to create a global monetary system under the control of corporate banking computer systems.
Traveling across India for nearly two weeks was interesting as daily there were stories about problems - especially for the rural poor - as cash was becoming scarce. The government was offering the poor free pocket devices so they could make financial transactions online. But with 25% of India's population living in dire poverty this is indeed a hollow gesture.
Modi is an instrument of corporate power. He is turning his nation's hard won independence and sovereignty over to the international banking industry and to the military industrial complex. The poor, as always, will be left in the lurch.
All people should beware of this global corporate effort to merge all financial transactions into the hands of big banksters. Think of the social control the banks will have when they control your access to your own money. Think of the power the banks will have to 'turn off' your bank account should they determine that you might be a 'threat' to corporate control because of your political beliefs or activities.
Beware of the power of the global elite. They are now consolidating power for their own benefit - not on behalf of the world's marginalized people.
1 comment:
Bruce, hope you don't mind me peppering your blog with a few posts. Yeah the cashless thing is scary. I stayed at the hostel in downtown Asheville, NC a while back and they wouldn't accept cash. I couldn't believe it. Big Brother wants total control and monitoring of your life.
Dissidents should also keep in mind these "smart meters" that are being installed on homes throughout the country. I think it's a safe bet they are a bit smarter than most realize. As a kid I could put a glass against the wall and listen in to the room on the other side. What can an NSA supercomputer do communicating with that smart meter? I'm sure what they really do is film and record everything in your home. Dolphins can "see" in the darkest water using sound, sonar they emit. I'm sure it's not hard for the bad guys to use this principle with the electrical system in your home. People need to realize they are now living in a reality tv show.
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