In this interview, we take a deep dive into vaccine passports with Nick Corbishley, author of “Scanned: Why Vaccine Passports and Digital IDs Will Mean the End of Privacy and Personal Freedom.”
In my mind, there’s little doubt that the primary reason for the
rollout of the COVID jabs was not for public health but to justify the
rollout of vaccine passports, which in turn are just the first iteration
of a much broader mechanism to surveil, track, manipulate and control
the population of the world.
Corbishley has been a journalist, writing about politics, finance and
privacy issues for the past decade. While based in Barcelona, Spain,
he’s been contributing to two U.S. blogs since 2013.
“Israel was the first democratic country to launch
digital IDs, in February, 2021, and when I started to see what was going
on there, I began to get very concerned,” Corbishley says. “I wrote an article in April 2021, raising my concerns about the risks these vaccine passports posed.
Then, little by little, I began to see what's
happening in Europe. I began to see what was happening in Italy, in
France, when the so called Green Pass was launched in June. This was a
document that was supposed to be created to enable travel between
countries in Europe.
Very quickly, it began to be used to control access
to public services, access to public places within one's own country. We
were beginning to see restrictions that we'd never seen in our
lifetime.
So, I began to write
more and more and this brought me to the attention of the Vermont-based
publisher, Chelsea Green. We had some conversations and we decided that
there was an opportunity to write about something that everybody should
know about. Even at this stage. It's not being talked about anywhere
near as much as it should be.”
Two Key Concerns
One of the primary concerns vaccine passports bring to the fore is
related to privacy. If implemented, they will strip us of most of the
privacy we’re used to. It’s quite clear that they are a precursor to
digital identity and a far more invasive type of digital surveillance
apparatus.
“The passports essentially function as a gateway to
allow government to herd us into a totally new reality where our
actions, our movements, our thoughts, our behavior are tracked and
surveilled,” Corbishley says.
But it's not just about surveillance. It’s also about forcing compliance, and that’s the second key concern.
“If we've learned one thing about the vaccine
passport, this is about changing the way we relate to government, and
it's about changing the way government relates to us, the governed.
If you do not do exactly what the government says
going forward, whether that is putting one jab inside your arm, whether
is putting two jabs inside your arm, or however many jabs inside your
arm, you will be deactivated. You will not be able to access the most
basic services and the sort of places that we need to be able to
participate in society and economy.”
Surveillance on Steroids
Of course, we’ve been under surveillance for many years already. All
Google-related technologies are tracking and surveillance technologies.
Our cell phones track and surveil us. Ditto for Facebook and other
social media platforms. They’re all harvesting personal information and
keeping tabs on everyone’s whereabouts.
We also know these technologies have been used to influence and
manipulate people’s thoughts, beliefs and behavior. Up until now,
however, all of that manipulation has been covert. The system that’s
being erected now is unique and new in that the forced compliance will
be, in many cases, overt — blatant and indisputable, as punishment will
be tied to things like your personal finances and travel
privileges.
Clearly, the vaccine passport is a platform to which they can add
central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). So, as an example, the
government could put out a political narrative, and if you vocalize
disagreement, there goes access to your bank account. Or your travel
privileges. Or your loan application.
With Google-based smart homes, it’s not even impossible to foresee a
future in which you could simply be locked inside your home if you were
to be labeled a dissenter. Or locked out of your home. Or they could
shut off your utilities.
The possibilities to punish dissenters are endless when everyone and
every THING is digitally identifiable, trackable and wirelessly
connected. With a single keystroke, someone you don’t know can shut down
your life, rendering you homeless and helpless.
Chances are, there won’t even be a live person anywhere for you to
contact with your grievances. Much of the system will be run by
artificial intelligence and various algorithms. It’s important to
realize that if we accept vaccine passports, we’re basically giving our
consent to everything that comes after, Corbishley warns. We’re
accepting that this is our future.
Why We Must Reject Digital IDs and CBDCs
We must also remain alert to the rollout of other control mechanisms
that are just as problematic as the vaccine passports, especially
digital IDs and CBDCs, but also any number of other digital and
biometric controls. As explained by Corbishley:
“Right now, in Canada, we've got the premier of
Ontario saying that they are going to withdraw the vaccine passports.
We've got Alberta saying it's going to withdraw the vaccine passports.
This is the message we're getting from all over the
Western world. It's like, ‘It's time to take a step back. We are now
going to let you live your life. We're going to let some kind of
normality return.’
You're seeing Scandinavia talking about doing away
with vaccine passports altogether. So, it's interesting to see some
countries using that language. But I think you have to be very careful
because as they're talking about doing this, they're ushering in digital
identity systems, which are going to be on a much grander scale than
the vaccine passports ...
They are instituting digital identity that is going
to allow not just this kind of control of your vaccine status, but
control of your tax records, control of your employment records ... And
they will include ... your vaccine status. So, it's extremely
disingenuous. I think they are misleading their populations in a very
dark way ...
All of these things are happening, but the ultimate
step is probably the central bank digital currencies, which are likely
to come on board in the next three to five years.
The chairman of the Bank of International
Settlements, Agustín Carstens, who used to be the chairman of the Bank
of Mexico, openly said that the wonderful thing about central bank
digital currencies is that it allows them to track everything you do.
What he didn't say is that it allows them to
deactivate an account. It allows them to stop people from being able to
transact. They didn't go that far. But he said that this is so different
from cash. So yeah, people are not realizing just how this control grid
is being built, little by little, piece by piece, but they need to
start paying attention before it's too late.”
They’re Building a Social Credit System
By now, many are familiar with the social credit system in China, or
have at least heard of it. How does this system compare or relate to
vaccine passports and digital IDs?
“I think that the social credit system in China is,
to a certain extent, a template. It's where governments probably want to
go. They would like to be able to use the new technologies we have to
nudge people into the right sorts of behaviors without having to use
more overt punishment.
You can either reward people for doing the right sort
of things, or you can give them a little digital spank every now and
then when they're doing the wrong sort of things. I think that that is
where China is leading the way.
Ironically, in the research I did for my book, I
found that while China’s ambitions with the credit social credit system
are essentially unfettered — they want total control — they're not there
yet.
They're still running quite a few pilot schemes. So,
it depends where you are in China, the extent to which you are exposed
to this kind of system, where you're getting points for good behavior
and where you're getting points deducted for bad behavior.
But the template is there. You've also got companies
like Ant Financial and Tencent. These are the equivalents of Google,
Facebook, whatever, that are running their own social credits schemes
within their own little universe. So, it's a very complex situation in
China. It's not as complete as some might believe, but the intention,
the ambition, is huge.
I would say that we are definitely seeing examples of
this beginning to feed through into the West. We're seeing banks talk
about using our social media behavior to determine our credit score,
which is very similar to what they're doing in China. There's clearly
the means, and there's clearly a desire to push in that direction.”
Unity Is the Challenge of Our Lifetime
The challenge we now face is that, to have any chance of preventing
this control grid, we need to be unified. The problem is, many simply
aren’t able to see the dangers. Most people under the age of 30 are used
to doing just about everything on their phones, and the convenience of
digital IDs and digital banking is alluring.
Organizations such as the World Economic Forum and many of the
central banks that are pushing the rollout of this control grid can also
make it impossible or near-impossible to live without a digital ID and
CBDCs. Already, we’ve seen leaders saying, out loud, that their goal is
to make life as difficult and inconvenient as possible for anyone
without a vaccine passport. They’ll do the same for digital IDs and
CBDCs.
“One of the best examples is Italy,” Corbishley says. “If
you want to see a country that has really gone into sixth gear with the
vaccine passports, it’s Italy. They’ve said, ‘Look, if you don't have
this document, you cannot work. You cannot get on a bus and go across
town. You cannot get on the metro. You cannot access retail premises
apart from supermarkets, pharmacies, petrol stations and pet stores.’
You have basically closed down, narrowed down the
existence to such a limited one that most people end up just saying,
‘OK, let's do it. I don't have an alternative. I'm not going to survive
this way.’
If you have a mortgage and your finances are already
tight, and your government is telling you, you're not going to be able
to work, most people crumble, and so they're able to do it ...
A journalist in Canada was talking about the
truckers, the Freedom Convoy. He was saying, ‘These guys don't represent
Canadians; 90% of Canadians have taken the vaccine and they're all
perfectly happy with the restrictions, the mandates.’ It's like, how do
you know how many of those 90% actually took the vaccine because they
had no choice? It was a very disingenuous argument.”
How to Prepare for the Inevitable
While the situation is bleak and dire, Corbishley doesn’t believe
vaccine passports, digital IDs and CBDCs are inevitable. “I think we're
in the midst of a major battle,” he says.
The question is, how can we win when all the cards seem stacked against us?
“I think that we have to, No. 1, inform as many
people as possible. That's why I wrote the book. I wrote the book hoping
to reach people who maybe had been vaccinated, but were beginning to
have certain doubts, people who were on the fence.
I mean, I know plenty of people who have had two
shots, who are wary about having a third one. I know plenty of people
who have had two shots, have had Omicron, and they're now thinking, ‘Why
the heck am I having to take a third shot?’ People are beginning to
question this.
I think that we are in the midst of what can only be
described as an existential battle. If we lose this battle, it can be
very difficult, as individuals, to protect ourselves because the degree
of control they will have over us is going to be huge.
I think there will be this creation of a parallel
community, a parallel society, where people are able to function. We're
seeing signs of bartering beginning to take place within a community
like that in Italy. They are surviving as best they can — and we're
talking about millions of people who haven't crumbled. They've not given
way yet.
That gives me a certain amount of hope. I think the
fact that people have grown tired of the restrictions means that
government is having to, to a certain extent, reconsider, but at the
same time, they are pushing through digital IDs.
I think this is what is really important for people
to understand. While they’re saying, ‘We are going to abandon the
vaccine passports,’ in most countries where they're saying this, that is
not the case. In the U.K., they've not done that. They have simply
shifted from a mandatory vaccine passport to a voluntary vaccine
passport.
You've got vaccine passports very much in use for
international travel. So, if you're British, you want to travel to
mainland Europe, if you've not got your vaccine passport, you're not
going to be able to go mainland. It’s the same if you're European and
want to go to the U.S.
So, there is so much happening it's hard to keep
track. That is coming from somebody who spends most of his day trying to
keep track of these things. If you are just someone who is working a
9-to-5 job and you get home and you've got three kids to look after,
it's going to be much harder to keep abreast of these developments.
I have a certain amount of hope that they haven't won
yet. But it's an immense amount of power they have. We are talking
about organizations like the World Economic Forum, which represents
hundreds of the most powerful companies on the planet. We're talking
about the most powerful governments on the planet.
So, it's going to be a huge battle, and they've got
most of the advantages in this battle. But I do think that what's
happening in Canada suggests a resistance can be formed. I think that
resistance is growing in Germany. It's certainly growing in Austria. The
government is beginning to have second thoughts about the vaccine
mandate.”
Expect Economic Collapse
There are also the growing economic risks, globally, to consider. The
central banks around the world have painted themselves into a corner
and they can’t get out. We are almost certain to see another financial
crisis. It’s only a matter of when.
There is already clear evidence we are in the early stages of
economic collapse, and that’s a parallel issue that needs to be taken
into consideration when trying to predict what might happen with digital
IDs and CBDCs, as they’re all connected. To prepare for an inevitable
economic collapse, I would suggest focusing on improving your resiliency
on a local level.
For example, make sure you have access to water supplies other than
your tap, grow your own food and develop relationships with other local
growers and farmers to build your food security.
These are very basic things that can save your life when everything
collapses and your dollar, drachma or euro becomes fit for use as toilet
paper. Having food, water, shelter and community makes you far more
resistant to tyranny because if you don’t have these things, you need
the government to provide them for you.
“I think the community is essential,” Corbishley says. “Having people who are of a similar mindset, of a similar worldview, people you can definitely count upon ...
Resilience is going to be very tough. As a result of
the lockdowns, small businesses are in serious straits. They've had to
take on huge amounts of debt just to weather the lockdowns … There's no
doubt that large companies have much easier access to cheap debt than
small companies ...
This is tragic because small businesses are a
fundamental cornerstone of the community. They're a fundamental part of
the global economy and, even more important than that, small businesses
are run by independent people. If we begin to see a massive culling of
small businesses, then we are going to see less independence and more
dependence. So, that is one area which deeply concerns me ...
I think the most important thing, and the hardest
thing, is to maintain your humanity. I think that is fundamental and
that is why having a community around you that you love and that loves
you is absolutely essential to surviving this. I don't think you can be
an island and get through what’s coming.
Another thing I would suggest, if you do have money,
if you have investments, is to diversify as much as possible — probably
not best to have all your money in a bank, and especially not one bank
...
If you look at countries like Mexico, going through
the Tequila Crisis in the 1990s, or Brazil, going through the huge
hyperinflation it had, how do you survive that relatively intact? When
you own real assets, you own property. Maybe you own precious metals ...
In Turkey, inflation is absolutely surging and people are using gold,
they are looking at cryptocurrencies. They are doing anything except
keeping their money in Turkish lira.”
More Information
So, in closing, the best you can do right now is to educate yourself
about the impending digital control grid, share information, resist and
oppose any and all attempts to implement vaccine passports or digital
IDs, take a stand for freedom, build community and prepare for
deteriorating economic conditions by diversifying your monies and
investments.
To learn more, be sure to pick up a copy of Corbishley’s book, “Scanned: Why Vaccine Passports and Digital IDs Will Mean the End of Privacy and Personal Freedom.”