“However, corporations are hand in glove with the State and enforce its laws and regulations in increasingly direct ways, not to mention the fact that most corporate bigwigs, like almost all high government officials, tend to be sociopaths.

“CBDCs. You won’t be able to buy, sell, own, or transfer anything without going through the central bank’s computer. They have the prospect of reducing us to veritable serfs. Serfs with currently a high standard of living, but serfs nonetheless.

“Boobus americanus will welcome it, however. It will seem so convenient…

by Doug Casey

International Man: Before people understood what oil was, they considered it waste. Later, once people understood the economic potential of oil, it was transformed from unwanted waste into a lucrative commodity.

Similarly, British mathematician and entrepreneur Clive Humby said, “Data is the new oil.” What he means is that data people used to perceive as worthless could become extremely valuable when refined and analyzed.

What’s your take on all this?

Doug Casey: Data banks know practically everything about everybody. Trillions of microchips are increasingly interconnected. The Internet of Things lives in The Cloud. They’re controlled by algorithms and increasingly by artificial intelligence. They’re so complex that I wonder if they won’t take on a life of their own. If SkyNet exists, it’s bound to be growing larger and more powerful every day.

“They” know everything about us, both as individuals and as groups. It’s very much like what Larry Ellison said 30 years ago, to the effect of “Forget privacy, it doesn’t exist.” And that was decades ago. It’s orders of magnitude more true today.

Most of where we go, who we see, how we feel, what we do and have, say and write, believe and think, might seem trivial and of no value to others. But when thousands or millions of bits of these things are aggregated and analyzed, they form a pattern which “they” can use. And use it they do. Mostly in a subtle more-or-less benign way right now. But conditions can change.

International Man: Cellphones, computers, smart TVs, cars, Google, Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), and countless other devices and platforms collect enormous data about our interactions, preferences, and actions.

All of this information is stored and can be refined and analyzed.

What are the commercial implications of monetizing this data?

Doug Casey: I try not to worry about the commercial implications of this data being monetized, per se. Partly because you can’t really avoid it, and most commercial applications probably won’t hurt you.

However, corporations are hand in glove with the State and enforce its laws and regulations in increasingly direct ways, not to mention the fact that most corporate bigwigs, like almost all high government officials, tend to be sociopaths.

Today, everybody is attached to their cell phone. The thing is fun, convenient, and almost necessary. But you should, to the greatest degree possible, stay away from the thing, not just for privacy, but for sanity and mental health. Many people appear umbilically attached to their device, unaware that it’s constantly feeding you propaganda while uploading tons of data to likely adversaries. Every minute, you’re on it. I hate my cell phone and avoid using it. The same goes for electronic vehicles (EVs).

All cars have thousands of computer chips today. The worst offenders, though, are EVs, which are constantly reporting, sending, and receiving everything that happens. Your rate of speed, where you are, and perhaps even what you say in the car, whether you know it, or like it, or not, becomes part of a permanent semi-public record.

I’m a fan of electronic vehicle technology in some ways. They can make sense in cities where they don’t drive long distances and can be charged easily overnight. And in temperate areas so as to avoid depleting the battery. However, the State’s mandates for universal use by 2030 are simply insane, for many reasons that aren’t germane to this conversation.

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