By 2014, the US Department of Homeland Security will be able to scan you at the molecular level from 164 feet, and you won't even know it. Starting 2013, the US Department of the Treasury will be able to scan every bank and brokerage account you have in the world, save a few possibilities. In both cases, if the government doesn't like what it sees, they can make short work of you and your money.
Unfortunately, while the US has become the world's most invasive police state, combining intent with technology, it is not the only state policing its citizens' financial transactions. Indeed, many other nations are following in its footsteps, limiting individual freedom as well as financial freedom. One of the most common examples of financial fascism today is currency controls, that is, limiting how much cash one can withdraw over a period of time, what can be purchased with cash, and requiring the reporting of purchases and sales above a certain amount with cash. In the US, for example, transactions above $10,000 must be reported by banks and certain vendors, and suspicious transactions (however defined) also reported. Spain recently banned cash transactions above 2,500 euros.
Regrettably, Mexico, too, has now hopped on the capital control bandwagon. In 2010, Mexico instituted strict limits on foreign exchange cash transactions to $1,500 per person per month which made it tough on tourists and resulted in many dollar exchanges closing their doors.
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