The war on conservatives and traditional values has expanded to a new and threatening front.
Commercial banks, which should be narrowly focused on the business of protecting your money and providing credit, have instead entered the cultural wars. Banks have turned to blacklisting and banning individuals and businesses that don’t align or agree with the prevailing consensus of liberal social and political narratives.
This weaponization of the banking system against conservative voices is extremely dangerous. In today’s world, if one does not have access to banking and electronic payments, one simply does not exist.
The most recent high-profile case involves Nigel Farage, the conservative UK politician and former leader of the Brexit Party. Farage’s bank, Coutts, a subsidiary of NatWest Bank, told Farage earlier this summer that the bank was terminating his accounts. Coutts provided no explanation. False rumors were planted in the UK press (with the BBC in particular) that the rationale was commercial (i.e., that Farage didn’t hold enough money with the bank). Farage obtained access to internal documents of Coutts showing that the bank had made the decision because of Farage’s political views, including support of Brexit, challenging the western narrative of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, and for ideological proximity to former U.S. President Donald J. Trump. All this became public just a few days ago. The bank’s CEO has publicly apologized to Farage, as has the BBC, and a parliamentary investigation has begun.
In early 2022, amidst peaceful protects by truck drivers and other workers against vaccine mandates, the Canadian government pressed the big four Canadian banks to freeze the accounts of protestors and supporters. The banks also froze the accounts of third-party organizations who were raising funding for the drivers and their families.
In 2021, JPMorgan Chase sought to cancel retired General and former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn’s and his wife’s credit card accounts over “reputational” issues. The bank reversed course a few days later when the situation became public.
In May of this year, attorneys general from 19 states sent an open letter to Jamie Dimon, JPMorgan Chase’s CEO, accusing the bank of discrimination. The letter states, “It is clear that JPMorgan Chase … has persistently discriminated against certain customers due to their religious or political affiliation.” The attorneys general sited multiple examples where JPMorgan Chase had unjustly targeted for closure accounts of organizations that support religious freedom, pro-life advocacy, or conservative political or religious values.
JPMorgan Chase certainly isn’t alone in this type of discrimination. However, the “too-big-to-fail” banks including JPM, Citigroup, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo, which collectively control most of the nation’s deposits, also seem to be the most aggressive in winnowing out conservative ideologies. But it’s not just the banks. Payment companies, such as credit card providers, merchant acquirors, and peer-to-peer transfer services, such as PayPal, Stripe and Square, to name a few—all essential elements of modern financial plumbing—have exhibited similar behavior.
This “de-banking” is a prelude to totalitarianism. When individuals and organizations can be cut off from the banking and payments system, they are rendered completely powerless to continue advocating for and financially supporting their beliefs. This, of course, is the entire point.
It is a dangerous illusion to believe that this sort of thing only happens to high profile, politically exposed persons like Farage or Flynn. The Canadian truckers illustrate how quickly and easily it can happen to rank and file citizens who dare to challenge their government’s policies. The reality is that ordinary individuals have their accounts canceled all the time; it happens quietly, anonymously, and without means of redress. The big banks have enormous power over their customers.
Every citizen should take appropriate steps to protect themselves. Do it now, before it’s too late.
Some of the alternatives may be easier than others. But think about the following basic ideas.
Align: Consider moving your banking relationships to smaller banks that have publicly affirmed their commitment to non-discrimination, including on political and religious grounds. Diversify: If possible, maintain accounts with more than one bank. Learn: Understand how “bankless” cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum may play a role in your financial freedom. Understand the dangers of government issued and controlled CBDCs (central bank digital currencies). Prepare: Have stores of value, such as cash or small denomination gold and silver coins, outside of the banking system in case of emergency need.
To learn more on this subject, read my article The Coordinated Attack on Your Money, published in The Epoch Times earlier this year.
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