This is no surprise, because we all know that the US are now a police state, like any other first world nation. Things have changed a lot since 11 September (today's date) .... and it will never be the same again.
In all fairness, it's not just the US, you could say the same about literally any country in the World, maybe with few exceptions.
Things will keep getting worse because of the masses being passive and docile and allowing everything without any resistance.
If banks are already sharing information about their customers internationally, then doing the same for cryptos is just a matter of time. Governments will not allow any financial loopholes.
You both hit the nail on the head. There was no need for a war, the authoritarians seized control under the pretext of safety after Sept 11. A solitary prison cell is safe but does anyone really want to be safe like that?
The only escape hatch will be things like bitcoin and PMs where they can't control or censor people. If people didn't know it before, it became even clearer the when they shut off payment processing and speech for a billionaire president of the US with no pushback from 95% of the people. The so-called free press didn't care, the fascists, socialists, and communists in DC in fact loved it.
At that point it should've been pretty clear to most people that without a huge change, everything will be lost. It doesn't seem like it made much of an impression on many though. In fact the far-left extremists cheered it - not surprisingly.
