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
In the US debtors are /entitled/ to pay their debts using legal tender, and mortgages are not excluded AFAIK. In the UK, you can legally pay your mortgage with legal tender.
You need not carry a mobile phone. I don’t. Cash is part of that equation. If I walk into an unsurveilled shop with cash, no phone, and no loyalty card to buy liquor, how does that get pinned on me?
It could become criminal in the future to not carry a smartphone (with the direction things are going in), but that’s not yet the case in most of the world.