Barclay's payment gloves: The Microchip Agenda

Handy gadget?

While you were doing your Christmas shopping did you idly wish you had some gloves you could use to pay with? From the website of Barclay's bank: "To make shoppers’ wishes come true, Barclaycard has developed a small number of ‘pay-glove’ prototypes which are being trialled". The gloves, to be given a mass market release next year, use the Barclay's contact less payment system.

This looks suspiciously like "the microchip agenda," which we've been warned about for so long by the conspiracy theory community. The theory, which has been around for decades now[1], is that the global power elites want to put ID chips in their cattle (you) so everyone can easily be tracked and controlled. Many argue these chips will also ultimately emit radio waves and regulate your thoughts and behavior, as well as being able to read your mind. These chips will be linked to a global computer and used to pay for goods and services. Ultimately leading to a cashless society.

As with all conspiracy theories, or to be more accurate 'counter narratives,' it's essential to keep an open mind. It's possible there is a high demand for gloves that work like a credit card capable of making small payments, Barclays may have substantial research to show that's the case. If they do though it's surely not the market research they're using on the linked to page, carried out a mere two weeks ago[1].

Or, they may be an attempt by people higher up our global pyramid of power to push forward the notion that payments are made by a wave of the hand and an ID chip, rather than cash or a card which you carry separately from yourself in a purse or a wallet.

The absurd nature of the idea has confused people on Twitter.

Must be nice to have the money Barclays has to fart with app for contactless gloves for shopping-can't make it up http://t.co/3vRPG1CVlj
— MedicalQuack (@MedicalQuack) December 18, 2014

Barclays tests #contactless gloves: http://t.co/IeullYNgEj. Seems slightly bonkers given how often gloves are lost: http://t.co/0eMLXaNEcy
— Kieran Hines (@KieranH_Ovum) December 17, 2014

The technique here is often referred to as "boiling the frog". The idea goes that if a frog is placed in boiling water, it will jump out, but if it is placed in cold water that is slowly heated it will not perceive the danger and will be cooked to death. Just as, if they'd announced back in the '90's they were going to microchip the population, the populous would have been outraged and opposed the idea. Better to move slowly towards it with ideas like this[1].

I am one of the only UK national radio presenters to have hosted a phone in on the topic of "the microchip agenda", on Kerrang Radio. The original unedited piece is here on my podcast, about 15 minutes in:

Nick Margerrison

COMMENTS WELCOME.

[1] I first encountered it when listening to Alex Jones in the late 90's. David Icke has been going on about it for years, it's in his classic, "The Biggest Secret".

Here's some old video of the film maker Aaron Russo talking about it:

[2] FROM Wikipedia:

The boiling frog story is a widespread anecdote describing a frog slowly being boiled alive. The premise is that if a frog is placed in boiling water, it will jump out, but if it is placed in cold water that is slowly heated, it will not perceive the danger and will be cooked to death. The story is often used as a metaphor for the inability or unwillingness of people to react to significant changes that occur gradually.

This idea appears to be echoed in the "nudge theory" which is favored by David Cameron's Constervative Party.  A good wikipedia article about that here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nudge_theory

From which:

Most recently, the political machinery of both President Barack Obama in the United States and Prime Minister David Cameron in the UK have sought to employ Nudge Theory to advance their respective domestic policy goals. In both the UK and the Australian state of NSW there is a Behavioural Insights Team in the government