What does Les say the mark of the beast is?
The mark of the beast is described as a common number—an 18-digit number of 666—linked to systems able to track every human being. The context connects it with supermarket scanners, a massive computer capable of tracking everyone, and cashless-society experiments.
Les explains that the mark of the beast should be understood through something already common: a number, an 18-digit number of 666. He points out that if supermarket scanners can keep track of products down to the last detail, then technology can keep track of every human being. He mentions the largest computer on earth, located in Brussels, Belgium, housed in a city-block-sized building and capable of tracking every person on earth. He also notes cashless-society trials in America and Scandinavia, where communities went 30 or 60 days without checkbooks or billfolds. It worked, but checkout lines backed up because people could not find their cards and purses.