If you wanted to try and encourage people to get more comfortable with the idea of digital-only currency, it might make sense to seed the landscape with stories about how dangerous it is to carry cash. Perhaps even water that landscape with a growing sense of desperation that leads to more crime.
Crappy economy. Letting criminals walk the streets. Refuse to prosecute a growing list of “petty” crimes. It could all be a coincidence, and those things have other “benefits.” It is necessary, after all, to push the middle class out of its comfort zone so it demands more government to fix what the government broke.
Instead of worrying about how the government can use CBDC to steal your life and your privacy, monitor all your purchases, and lock your accounts if you misbehave, you’ll worry about being mugged. Would a rise in stories about street crime plant the seeds for pad the argument in favor of a national digital currency? That was my second thought after seeing this article from truthfully.com (a site as likely to lie as any other). “Police Warn Public of Surge in ‘Jugging.”
My first thought was, “What the hell is Jugging?”
1. Present participle of jug.
3. A theft committed by a perpetrator who waits at a bank, near an ATM, or outside an expensive store, watches for customers who might be carrying a large amount of cash or goods, and then follows them to steal the money or goods from the customer or their car.
We used to call this mugging or robbery, and I have yet to figure out why it’s called jugging, but it is “on the rise!”
One harrowing story involves a University of Texas housing resident who, after a bank visit, noticed she was being followed. Her observance led to a terrifying encounter where her purse was stolen from her vehicle. This incident underscores the brazen nature of juggers and the lengths they will go to secure their loot.
As jugging threatens cash carriers, staying informed and vigilant is paramount. By adopting safety precautions and being aware of potential followers, individuals can significantly reduce their risk of becoming targets.
There is a tidal wave of media reports and lots of advice, none of which includes ideas like pepper spray, tasers, or firearms. Is it at all possible that if the act of “Jugging” came with the risk of severe injury or death, it might not be so popular?
You’d think, but jugging is more common in Liberal cities where petty crime is not only encouraged but not discouraged. Places where pepper spray, tasers, and firearms are highly regulated and less accessible to the sorts of people likely to use ATMs and more likely to fall prey to jugging. A problem you could easily resolve by switching to all digital currency (or by carrying a collapsible tactical baton).
It might be a stretch. I could be overthinking it. And now that I’ve read one story my feeds will fill up with them making me think I’m right.
But given how much they pine for a CBDC future, what are the odds that this is not part of their strategy?
