What would happen to the homeless if we had a completely cashless economy?
And other consequences. XO
Always wondered why people stopped liking cash and counting notes. Is it such a crime?! and people tap tap tap with their phones/ cards. It changed so suddenly from a partial cash economy to a tap tap tap digital economy, probably because people were encouraged not to touch cash during the past couple of years (then should we not touch anything?) Of course, people who oppose cash vehemently link it to a central digital currency and a social credit score that may be transported from undemocratic nations to Europe and the states ( There is definitely a worry of that) but more importantly, I just wonder why people stopped paying with cash. There was a drive to use digital modes of payment and digital payment was deemed as cool. I think that’s the predominant reason so many people switched to only using digital payment. Have a few thoughts:
How does the homeless sleeping rough accept donations? Can’t they have the dignity of at least receiving some help in a simple way instead of electronic transfers? We can’t always buy them food and clothes. Put aside some judgement first. There is the day to day survival before long-term solutions. How will they buy food if businesses don’t accept cash? Some of them don’t have bank accounts or cards. Is it the worst crime to be homeless and poor? There are many other bad things in the world people do, besides being homeless.
In China and also in the tiny island where I live, people give money to their grandchildren’s electronic wallets. There are good feelings linked to giving others physical cash. Why can’t we keep cash as one of the many forms of payment? Is the digital money movement really about preventing money laundering or more of convenience and to save the climate? There seems to be less of a need to teach counting to kids in school if all they need is accounting software, artificial intelligence and digital wallets.
There’s a certain mental acuity linked to counting money during payments on both ends and a sense that you’re spending money. You can’t also lose more money than the money you have spent or divulge security details.
Why is it cool and acceptable to pay with a phone tap and not cash? The marketing campaign was quite successful.
This’s a short article. But I wonder whether people still like using cash. Let me know your thoughts. XO
What happens if you want to purchase something from a farm stall and there is no cell coverage for your network provider. How do you pay for your vaccine and antibiotic free eggs.
What if there is a network or power failure and small traders cannot trade.
What if a small trader cannot use digital payments because he has been declared insolvent and now is prevented from trying to earn a living selling mushrooms or berries or chopping firewood.
There are many transactions on the fringes of society that use cash even in predominantly electronic payment societies.
Sex workers are one and even sex toy shops. If you want to surprise your SO with a little something and do not want it to show up on your card statement before the day how do you pay for it. If you fall into a river and your phone is drowned how to you phone without coins for a pay phone (almost all gone in many places) or pay for a taxi if your phone was your wallet.
How to buy or sell random goods in a garage sale if the customer or seller does not support your mode of funds transfer.
What if the dilution of value to the banks for each transaction rubs you up the wrong way.
Giving government additional power over your wealth is a bad thing. They could have a computer crash and everyone is broke until further notice. They will not be happy for you to make any transaction without paying tax.
You may not trust that the seller is not mining your purchase history and selling it to aggregators.
What is equally concerning is that property deeds are being converted to digital in many countries. The banks used to hold the deed if you had a loan and when you paid your loan you would get the deed back. Now banks are saying they are destroying the deed and offer you a printout from a central register, what if you want to sell your property and the bank says you do not own it, the deeds database was corrupted 12 years ago and you have to go to the high court to prove you own your own home because the database says BlackRock owns it or Bill Gates seems to own your farm.