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China’s Digital Currency Will Track All Activity

September 14, 2021

“The issue is tracking all activity and approving or denying any desired choice according to the current measures of state-determined trustworthiness. God forbid that that kind of control would be in the hands of an animated, partisan politician in America, where again, we can determine trustworthiness on the basis of the way you vote, on the basis of the friends you keep, on the basis of the tweets that you send, right? This is very, very intriguing because we’ve already got the social construct for it.”

— David McAlvany

Kevin: Welcome to the McAlvany Weekly Commentary. I’m Kevin Orrick along with David McAlvany. 

One of the things that we have valued in this company—I know you value in your family—is the ability to raise whatever issue that you have and say, “Look, I’ve looked into this. This is my opinion. What do you think?” And have a debate. You and I were talking last night, this COVID period has been an interesting period. And there are some positive things that have come from it that I’ve noticed. What I’ve found, Dave, is various family members— You can have coworkers, family members, what have you, seem to all have a little bit of a different opinion as to the vaccine and the virus. And some people are getting the vaccine, other people are not. Those who are doing their research have their reasons why they’re doing one or the other. And you and I were talking, even husbands and wives, or parents and kids are having to make their own decisions, come to their own conclusions. You’ve always loved debate as long as it was well thought out.

David: That’s right. So, thinking for yourself and the exercise that we’ve had on a collective basis over the last 12 months has been fairly fascinating. And there are some people who don’t really like debate. They like to trust the authorities and just go with it.

Kevin: That’s herd mentality, in a way, not herd immunity, but herd mentality, no matter what side you pick.

David: The contention is ultimately not about who trusts or doesn’t trust a particular authority, but how you’ve come to your conclusion. And so, you’re right. Debate, I love it. I mean, I would say enough with social coercion, enough with censoring, enough with shaming. If you have an idea, even a mistaken one, the process of discovery and change is invaluable.

Kevin: It’s not always about being right or wrong. Sometimes it’s about doing the research.

David: Yeah. So, bring on the debate. I was reminded of this in a recent month’s Foreign Affairs magazine. They ran a piece by Oriana Skylar Mastro and they were arguing. She was arguing for the likelihood of armed reunification. It’s another way of saying invasion—

Kevin: Yeah. That sounds like invasion.

David: —across patient across The Taiwan Strait.

Kevin: Okay.

David: Now, in the September/October issue of that particular rag, no less than five academics challenged her argument. And they do so along, basically, three different lines—in my view, none convincingly. So, then Mastro is given the space to respond. And I really appreciate the back and forth in an age where no one seems to listen, or, on a predisposed basis, you hear what you want to hear. A real exchange of ideas is refreshing.

Kevin: And so in a way, Foreign Affairs is almost looking like it’s an op-ed. They’re basically saying, let’s debate this a bit.

David: Yeah. And I think Foreign Affairs finds itself in the awkward position of having informed the establishment Democrat—and maybe even slightly less so, the establishment Republican— approach to foreign policy over the last two decades. Rightly so, there are times for reflection and reconsideration,