Going cashless is a bad idea, but it’s not a conspiracy | Aeon Essays
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It’s not in the interests of the ordinary person but it’s not a conspiracy either. A cashless society is a system run amok

cross-posted from: https://links.hackliberty.org/post/2932106

Image Transcription:

WHAT WILL A CASHLESS SOCIETY MEAN?

THE PROS

CONVENIENCE — THERE WILL NO LONGER BE ANY NEED TO CARRY CASH AROUND

THE CONS

EVERY TRANSACTION YOU MAKE WILL BE TRACKED YOUR SPENDING HABITS CAN BE LINKED TO YOUR CARBON FOOTPRINT

YOU WILL ONLY BE PERMITTED TO SPEND ON THINGS THE GOVERNMENT APPROVES OF. THINGS THAT ARE DEEMED TO BE LUXURIES — MEAT, FUEL, TRAVEL — CAN BE RESTRICTED

YOUR MONEY CAN BE PROGRAMMED WITH AN EXPIRY DATE — IF YOU DON’T SPEND IT BY A CERTAIN DATE, YOU’LL LOSE IT

THERE WILL BE NO ‘BLACK’ ECONOMY. IT WILL NOT BE POSSIBLE TO AVOID TAX, BUT THEN YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO GIVE POCKET MONEY TO CHILDREN OR GRANDCHILDREN AND NEITHER WILL YOU BE ABLE TO BORROW OR LEND MONEY TO FRIENDS WITHOUT THAT BEING TAXED BY THE GOVERNMENT

PARKING AND SPEEDING FINES WILL BE TAKEN AT SOURCE, WITHOUT THE POSSIBILITY OF CHALLENGE AND POSSIBLY EVEN WITHOUT YOUR KNOWLEDGE

IF YOU PROTEST THE ACTIONS OF THE GOVERNMENT, YOUR MONEY CAN BE SWITCHED OFF. IF YOU THINK THAT’S UNLIKELY, IT’S ALREADY HAPPENED TO TENS OF THOUSANDS OF CANADIANS WHEN THEY PROTESTED AND IT ALSO HAPPENED TO A BRITISH JOURNALIST

A CASHLESS SOCIETY MEANS THE END OF HUMAN FREEDOM

IF YOU WANT THAT, DO NOTHING

IF YOU DON’T, THE FIRST THING YOU MUST DO IS RESPOND TO THE GOVERNMENT’S PROPOSAL ON DIGITAL ID, UPON WHICH A CASHLESS SOCIETY MUST BE BASED

https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/draft-legislation-to-help-more-people-prove-their- identity-online/consultation-on-draft-legislation-to-support-identity-verificat

Image Credit: Brett Scott

    • LWD@lemm.eeEnglish
      19·
      9 hours ago

      I wasn’t going to make a generic comment about how cryptocurrency is only worth money to people if they can convince other people to also purchase the cryptocurrency…

      … But then I looked at your post history, and it’s like a week of pivoting conversations to be about Monero.

      • ReversalHatchery@beehaw.orgEnglish
        3·
        7 hours ago

        It’s (actually) funny being put that way, especially the last one. well they are active in the Monero community too, so there’s that. maybe they’re just hyped for it. I mean I was excited too for the first purchase I made with Monero, but yeah, this above might be another level

    • ReversalHatchery@beehaw.orgEnglish
      6·
      9 hours ago

      I love Monero, I really do, but we do still need something offline for resiliency. Monero is unusable without any of electricity and a coherent internet, and a device with you all the time you would need to pay.

      Cash is basically analog Monero. We should preserve it to always remain an option.

      • shortwavesurfer@lemmy.zipEnglish
        1·
        8 hours ago

        I agree, except for the part about cash, because cash is issued by the government, or central bank, and is therefore shit. Now, if you were talking about goldbacks or something, then I would completely agree with you.

        • thesmokingman@programming.devEnglish
          2·
          6 hours ago

          Wait, you want to use a private currency pegged to the value of gold which is pegged to government currency? That kinda sounds like government currency with extra steps.

          So instead using something we sort of agree has some value we should instead reject the government while using utilities it controls and regulates to access the internet it controls and regulates to use a currency susceptible to a 51% attack that could easily be executed by not just one but many governments? That’s a really novel idea. Do you have plans to run fiber across the oceans paying for everything with Monero so we can break free of these oppressive regimes?

          • shortwavesurfer@lemmy.zipEnglish
            1·
            6 hours ago

            No, what I’m saying is that Monero would be the digital currency for sending across the world or wherever it needs to go and goldbacks would be what you traded in person for like a tip for your pizza or whatever. As far as all those systems, they control. Check out mesh networking.

            • thesmokingman@programming.devEnglish
              4·
              6 hours ago

              Oh, so we run mesh networks across the ocean? Very interesting. I’m sure we’ll be able to just use a metal with fake value that has nothing to do with fiat currency to buy all the equipment we’d need to power all that. Is there a big Monero group out there with the coins to pay all those local installers? They’d probably need to define some standards for what a network would look like and how they connect and how the local installers how and who gets paid what and how the networks interact. Standards? Regulations? I’m sure there’s a word for some sort of governing body that does all that.

        • ReversalHatchery@beehaw.orgEnglish
          2·
          7 hours ago

          because cash is issued by the government, or central bank, and is therefore shit

          sorry, I don’t follow your conclusion. Except if you are afraid of price manipulation, which I understand, but that should equally affect your money stored at the bank too

          my reasoning is that we already have it, and it’s already widely accepted as a valuable, while it’s basically untraceable and so private, and also cannot really be selectively revoked or marked “dirty” as it is with shitcoins (yeah, I called bitcoin a shitcoin)

          • shortwavesurfer@lemmy.zipEnglish
            2·
            7 hours ago

            Oh, I don’t like money at a bank either. Because you’re right, they can both be manipulated. The only difference there is that the money at the bank can be revoked at any time for any reason, because it’s not actually yours. It’s just an IOU that they conditionally can revoke where the cash is not. So I would take a Monero any day over a follar. Offer me a dollar or Monero, and I’ll take the Monero.