Chilkat Valley News - Serving Haines and Klukwan, Alaska since 1966

I don’t drive, have not been on the Chilkat State Park Road in years. However, some friends of mine recently complained about the condition of that road while warily wondering about the labor, the costs, and the implications of that plastic-card-accepting machine for camping fees. A good question I thought and as I’m the letter-writer among us, I ask that and more. How many of us raise our hands and say great, count me in, please collect my data, please track me while I hug a tree? Surely, I’ll notice when time-in-nature equals breaking the law, surely, I won’t be lulled by all the offered convenience, surely, I have clear-thinking, surely, I’ll notice that CBDC’s (Central Bank Digital Currency) aren’t currency at all, but rather vouchers pretending to be money that someone else, not me, controls. I surely won’t say “Thank you, Daddy Government and Mommy Medicine, for taking such good care of me.” From yours truly with sarcasm, rage, humility because I’m still an active participant in the food stamp program, I have not said no thank you to that voucher program.

Back to the park road — my friends who do drive would surely appreciate an update on the plans for improvement. We all would like to see a slot on the back of that machine for cash or checks. Our currency is certainly a fiat currency, easily printable with nothing of value backing it up but it still acts more like money because it still belongs to us.