Anyone else notice that paying in cash is becoming rare these days? God forbid you go to Missoula and want to write a check.

People would be weirded out.

In fact, many of my students have never written a check. To a lot of them, it is a form of ancient mystery technology that seems dangerous and risky if you are going to accept one.

It’s all digital now. First it was the card, then it was the card with the chip; now it is “tap” to pay. If this trend continues, the next step will be a cardless transaction; somehow paying for your items with a form of technology that if I speak of will get me labeled a “conspiracy theorist.” But ladies and gentlemen, it is coming.

I am sure it will be sold to the American public by telling us how safe, convenient, fraud-proof, and beneficial it will be.

“Think of not having to carry and swipe that pesky card.”

“Think of how fast your transactions would be processed.”

“Think of the crime that it would prevent.”

Yeah, and think of the freedom it would deprive you of.

I do not want the government (through our private, centralized banking system) to monitor or control what I am buying or selling. Our right to privacy as Americans is vital in the struggle against tyranny.

No one should ever argue, “I have nothing to hide.” We all have things we do not want public, and that is a fact. It’s the reason there are doors on bathrooms, curtains on windows, and no cameras in locker rooms. It is nobody else’s business (especially not the government) if I am purchasing preparedness supplies, books on the creation of the Federal Reserve System, or antifungal cream for a wicked case of trench foot I got from training. The truth is, we as humans need privacy. Many different psychological studies have proven that people behave differently when someone is watching them. Moreover, they have proven that mass surveillance is damaging to our mental, emotional, and physiological health.

Therefore, we as Montanans need to unite in an initiative to forbid the requirement of a central bank digital currency (CBDC.) We need to forbid going to a cashless society, and we need to forbid any government efforts to monitor and control what we buy and sell as free and law abiding citizens.

The momentum of this cashless, all digital system is proving to be very strong. I am not sure if we can completely avoid it coming upon our world. But, we can at least disrupt its progress by throwing some wrenches in its gears. The time for Montana to lead the way in protecting its citizens from state and federal overreach is now.

If I am elected to our House of Representatives, I promise to fight against these evils.

Jeff Stanek, Candidate for House District 90 (formerly 14)