With anything if used incorrectly is bad, but the potential for more efficiency out ways the bad. Speed vrs waiting in line for hours-trade off privacy. The point is mute it’s all coming and opting out is not an option. U like yr privacy great-go wait at the end of the line for SEVERAL hours. Again tech gurus will make opting out impossible.
C'mon Moe, as a Canadian, you of all people have seen first hand your government over-step its reach and abuse its power for control fairly recently.
Now imagine if they had already established a CBDC. They could've done exactly what China is doing now. Use the facial recognition to identify anyone present at any peaceful protest they don't like, and shut off their access to funds, without even asking the banks.
It's not a matter of IF the tech will be used "incorrectly", its a matter of WHEN, and that when will be sooner rather than later. Governments have proven time and time again throughout history that they take advantage of every opportunity they get to take away more and more of our freedoms. Every "crisis" that comes along gives them the chance to pass more laws that strip us of more and more rights to be individuals.
And it'll be the government mandating these things, not private "tech gurus".
So you are correct in saying that they will remove any way of opting out, short of leaving the country.
The next terrorist attack, or pandemic, or financial recession, (
fill in the blank crisis) they'll take the opportunity to mandate their CBDC, and incorporate a social credit score, and it'll be over. Digital slavery. They give you the illusion of choice to keep you from revolting.
And again, this is not conspiracy theory. It is already happening. That illusion of choice is blinding you.
What lines are you waiting in for "SEVERAL hours"?
And it's outweighs, not "out ways".
Even airport security can't switch to facial scan tech in the near future. It's too easy to fool, and criminals are always the first to adapt to new tech to be a step ahead, so I personally don't want any airports relying on it. Criminals/terrorists would have a field day.
We can't afford to be short-sighted and stuck in our own little worlds. Learn some history. Pay attention to current events.
Don't only think of our own immediate selfish wants. Gain some foresight. Consider others, and consider the probability of unintended consequences.
So maybe you get to spend several minutes instead of hours in your imaginary lines, while many many others are being held down by financial repression simply because they've publicly expressed a want for change in their government, or they buy too much alcohol, or gamble more than the gov thinks they should, or they buy more beef instead of gov funded chicken. The examples are endless.
So no, I don't think the positives OUTWEIGH the negatives for the vast majority of people.
You may think I'm exaggerating, only because you haven't expanded your perspective past your own comfortable universe.
I used to be ignorant and misinformed too, until I started to read between the lines, stopped listening to only one side, and quit taking everything I saw online as fact.
This goes for everyone:
Invest some time in learning about these topics. Do your own research.
Educate yourself, from both sides of topics, and get a true understanding of things.
Ignorance is a lack of knowledge, not a state of being. I am very ignorant on many many topics, as most of us are.
If I have interest in a topic, I'm going to investigate and find several experts on that topic (preferably some opposing experts), absorb as much as I can from them. Then I can start to mold my own opinions once I can grasp all sides of something.
But that takes a personal commitment. That takes time. That takes more than just skimming headlines, or hearing a couple podcasts.
The world is not black and white. The details are in the grays. And life is in color. So while we go about our daily lives in living color, we must go out of our way to pay attention to the detailed, boring, often overlooked, grays.
Sorry about getting a bit off topic. Wasn't intending to get so deep. But indirectly, the tech topic does relate.