People aren't entering a new jail, it is the same jail as they were in before with a new name.
The goal of CBDCs is to eliminate cash and have everything electronic, and therefore have everything 100% traceable and 100% censorable. This is definitely worse than the current system, where you can at least escape some surveillance and retain some control by using cash.
That's true but my point is that we have been on this path of digitalization and full monitoring for a long time, even before the concept of CBDC was introduced. They are just trying to centralize it more and force it on the population under a fancy name. Otherwise in this day and age people aren't using cash that much already and majority of their transactions are already easily surveilled.
The current banking system doesn't have: 1) carbon credits, 2) social credit score.
Current banking system already has a record of all your financial activity that goes through them without having a fancy disguise for it and on top of that there is a massive database in NSA with your every move inside of it, your financial activity is the least of it. After all they have to use their tens of billions of dollars budget for something!
They're "optional" only if you don't mind losing access to workplaces, universities, hospitals, cafes/restaurants (remember the QR/Green Pass?) etc.
THEY aren't optional, Bitcoin is. You have the option to choose bitcoin to exit that corrupt system and cut the hands that are in your pocket.