On the brink of mass hysteria over bank failures, America should consider this a teachable moment. With scary headlines and the prospect of shrinking 401(k)s, there’s no better time to get up to speed on why our fractional reserve banking system is prone to bank runs like that of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank.

It’s also urgent to sound the warning that the Federal Reserve may use these bank failures to frighten Americans into adopting a Central Bank Digital Currency, or programmable currency. It’s absolutely essential that this idea gets a hard no from America. We must not buy the shackles of our own enslavement.

Just as it’s important to demystify AI by understanding that it’s a math algorithm, it’s important to clarify that a government-run digital currency is also an algorithm. The danger is that this algorithm can be programmed to control your wallet so politicians and bankers can manipulate you into making the “right” decisions about what to do with your money.

That should be terrifying to all Americans who love liberty. A CBDC is a guaranteed death warrant for freedom. It is nothing short of economic totalitarianism, ceding complete control over spending choices to faceless technocrats who do not share your values.

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Forget use cases. Consider the misuse cases.

Technologists love to hypothesize use cases for the shiny new toys it sells us. What they don’t often do is sit down and brainstorm all the misuse cases — the opportunities for corrupt politicians and technocrats to misuse the technologies against us.

So what could possibly go wrong with a government-backed digital currency?

1. Instant social credit score. A CBDC would be the enforcement tool in a social credit score system that would make China blush. Our techno-state no doubt already has plenty of data on our religious beliefs, political affiliations, voting habits, and spending habits. A CBDC gives them absolute control to instantly de-person political opponents. If you can’t buy food for your family because there’s a lock on your digital wallet due to showing up in support of a disfavored political candidate, they’ve taken you off the chess board.

2. Immediate confiscation of taxes and fees. It’s hard enough to argue disputes with government bureaucracies. Can you imagine if you had a dispute about an enforcement action against you in your digital wallet, with no recourse to argue it in court? You wouldn’t even be able to hire an attorney to fight it. How would you pay them? Would any attorney risk disbarment by even being associated with someone the Party doesn’t approve of?

3. 24/7 transaction surveillance by AI. An AI deployed by the party in power — on either side of the aisle — could monitor all transactions on a massive scale for indications of dissent. Buying a Bible, an apologetics book, or a pro-life documentary online could put you on a watch list. Worse, your “unauthorized purchases” may be declined completely. This would make the IRS targeting of churches and pro-life organizations look like child’s play, instantly drying up funding for organizations that don’t align with the party in power.

4. End run around the 2nd Amendment. Private banks and credit card companies are already trying to choke off commerce to companies that sell firearms. A Federal Reserve-backed digital currency creates an enforcement mechanism that will be all too tempting for tyrants to regulate and eventually eliminate the rights of Americans to keep and bear arms.

Sounds like utopia, doesn’t it?

You may think these examples are a stretch. Believe me, they’re not. These are not only plausible scenarios but are virtually guaranteed. How do I know that? Because human nature is such that evil will always seek power. A government-backed digital currency represents raw, unadulterated power and wealth. Is there any doubt that it will eventually fall into the wrong hands? In fact, I’d bet trillions that the wrong hands are the ones designing it.