[max_power29]

I was wondering. If they move us to to a Global cashless society, what will the (well documented) goverment drug traffickers do?

How will they sell their goods?

Could this be why we still have cash?

[max_power29]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('ElijahJones', 'T')he vendor knows the cash is good, and the buyer knows that nobody is watching their card be scanned on a computer screen 1900 miles away.

[Specop_007]

Cashless SCARES me, because anytime something is wrappped up in electronics its not yours.
If all your money if in banks and credit cards and you use online bill pay and have direct deposit.....Whos money is it really?

You can go to bed at night and wake up the next morning with NOTHING. Companies can freeze your assets, put claims on a percentage of your check........

If you dont have any "secured" assets to fall back on, you can end up penniless overnight. And a cashless society makes it that much easier to just grind a man into the dust. Freeze his account, watch his bills not get paid, what him squirm.....

Yeah, cashless scares me.

[Doly]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Specop_007', 'C')ashless SCARES me, because anytime something is wrappped up in electronics its not yours.
If all your money if in banks and credit cards and you use online bill pay and have direct deposit.....Whos money is it really?

[Eli]

Yeah and look how well that has worked out, Fiat currency and private bankers controlling the dollar is awesome!

What scares me about a cashless society is that we are already just one step away from it.

We all are predicting a global economic melt down that will be the perfect time to move the whole world to a cashless monetary system.

I find it weird that saying something like that 10 or 20 years ago would make you a nut, but now it is a real possibility.

[Kingcoal]

Illegal drug dealers will have no problem in a cashless society. "You want your coke, buy me this, buy me that." Gold comes to mind.

Going cashless would help the IRS out a lot. Every cent could be taxed and if the tax is not paid, confiscated. It would help out the government in many ways. They could track funds as they move around the globe. Instead of having to actually witness a transaction, they could just dig up the electronic records. Like I said though, gifts would become the new cash for undocumented transactions.

[Specop_007]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Doly', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Specop_007', 'C')ashless SCARES me, because anytime something is wrappped up in electronics its not yours.
If all your money if in banks and credit cards and you use online bill pay and have direct deposit.....Whos money is it really?

[PrairieMule]

I agree it, a cashless society just opens up the underground economy. It just means the drug dealer will have to open a pawn shop. One big swap meet.

[EnergyUnlimited]

I do not think that there is much chance of cashless society to materialise in short or medium term future.

IMO it could only happen, if current "ethernal growth" economy proves successful for next several decades at least. That is unlikely...
You need sufficiently LARGE economy to go completely cashless, and our existing economy is far more likely to shrink than grow in not too distant future.

Otherwise return to precious metals currencies and barter exchange is something, what I expect. If governments made this kind of behaviour illegal, then it is likely that most of actual economic activity will be done in illegal way anyway and authorities will keep themself busy with prosecuting Tom for making repair to a sink of Jim in exchange of suck of potatoes.

I am a bit more concerned about entirely different type of "cashless" life under economic depression scenario.
It is quite likely, that great number of workers will have to work and yet they will not actually get paid.
Companies, while on the brink of bankruptcy, will delay payments (and promise, that payment will come soon...) and workforce will keep on working, because of no alternative job available.
It is then possible, that tyre factory workers will get paid in tyres, insurance reps will get their homes insured for free and bank staff will get paid in promises of share options of their employer bank.

[Tyler_JC]

The transaction fees would have to come down substantially.

Otherwise, this would be a huge additional burden for small businesses.

Credit cards charge vendors a couple % points for every transaction. The big merchants get charged a much lower rate than the small merchants.

Ever wonder why they require that all purchases under $20 be done in cash at some places? The credit card fees would make any purchase under 20 bucks unprofitable for the small business.

Support your local Mom & Pop shops! Say no to the cashless society!

PS. Will the pimps take baseball cards as payment?

[Benzin]

How does a cashless society differ from one that uses fiat currency? We give money its value; it isn't backed up by physical assets.

Does it matter whether one has $1000 in the bank or $1000 in cash? Either way it could all meltdown and be worth zero in a instant. Franklins or Euros could make some nice wallpaper someday.

Kinda like the Matrix, choice is an illusion and you really don't own anything. Unless you're the eye of the pyramid.

[Tyler_JC]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('stungmaster', 'H')ow does a cashless society differ from one that uses fiat currency? We give money its value; it isn't backed up by physical assets.

Does it matter whether one has $1000 in the bank or $1000 in cash? Either way it could all meltdown and be worth zero in a instant. Franklins or Euros could make some nice wallpaper someday.

Kinda like the Matrix, choice is an illusion and you really don't own anything. Unless you're the eye of the pyramid.

[TheTurtle]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('stungmaster', 'H')ow does a cashless society differ from one that uses fiat currency? We give money its value; it isn't backed up by physical assets.

[Kylon]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Tyler_JC', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('stungmaster', 'H')ow does a cashless society differ from one that uses fiat currency? We give money its value; it isn't backed up by physical assets.

Does it matter whether one has $1000 in the bank or $1000 in cash? Either way it could all meltdown and be worth zero in a instant. Franklins or Euros could make some nice wallpaper someday.

Kinda like the Matrix, choice is an illusion and you really don't own anything. Unless you're the eye of the pyramid.

[128shot]

Conspiracy theories ride again.


The "cashless" society is completely voluntary. We're nearly living in it as we speak.


Cash, fundamentally however, has to be "physical" to some extent.

[EnergyUnlimited]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Kylon', '
')If you're worried about people trading on the black market, and buying/living off the grid using gold or what not, all they have to do is outlaw gold or any other easily transportable material that could be used as money, and there would be nothing you could do.

[rogerhb]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('128shot', 'C')ash, fundamentally however, has to be "physical" to some extent.