by Judy Mosca

Created on: June 04, 2009

Give me liberty or give me death, were the riveting words of Patrick Henry that echoed throughout the Virginia Convention in 1775. The colonists had gathered to decide whether Virginia would participate in what became known as the Revolutionary War. To the colonists, Britain was a tyrannical ruler and having exhausted all diplomatic avenues for change, only one choice remained.

Freedom and liberty were very dear to the hearts of the colonists. Patrick Henry's statement traveled faster than a wild fire throughout all the colonies and became the watchword. Our forefathers wanted the right to make decisions for themselves, their families and their communities. They were willing to fight to the death and many did and as a result, The United States was born. Since then our country has grown astronomically in population and government oversight. The progression staggers the imagination. Probably few ever envisioned the 'today' we now live in.

In framing the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, safeguards were established to protect the citizens from falling prey to the injustice of a few. They understood well that whoever held control of the wealth and weapons ultimately ruled the population. Oppressive governments are still quite visible today around the globe, holding the people hostage, keeping the mass in poverty and at the mercy of those in power.

So, what does the future hold? Whatever it is will unfold over time but it is quite evident we are moving rapidly toward a cashless society. All the signposts are visible and such an idea will be heralded in by many but to a few, it will be seen as an open door to usher in some very real problems. Power and control over the masses can be very subtle, not easily detected, nor defined. The steady trend of moving toward a cashless society has been accepted under the guise of convenience and safety.

Convenience and safety are reasonable premises to utilize services offered by banks. We can live with caps on ATM withdrawals and perhaps waiting a few days for large sums of cash we wish to extract from our account. However, the real operating principle is the fact that the bank is in control of when and how much of our money can be accessed. Albeit limited control for now, but nevertheless it is control.

Banks offer free online bill pay and eventually the use of checks will be obsolete. Will these services continue to be free? It is quite plausible that fees will be implemented once checks are no longer used. At least

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