For people who think that Crypto will solve these issues, it won't. In a mass-adoption scenario, a few coins will be accepted as currency while the rest remain mostly useless for commerce. Those orgs behind those coins and their exchange platforms will then become just like the banks of old. Any attempt at democratizing Crypto is illusory, it's a fantasy.
I live in New York City. The current way to pay for buses and subways is with a Metrocard. You can buy them at some stores and check cashing places, or at most subway stations. You can pay with cash or a card. Now, at great cost, they are introducing a 'better' system where you pay for your rides with a credit card or smart device. They are planning on getting completely rid of the Metrocards. Soon, they will be able to trace anyone's movements.
Sweden is a mostly cashless society. Let me try to respond to those points
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In case of domestic violence, you go to the police.
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You can still give individual people money with things like Swish. Yes, even "homeless" people have swish and they use it. Kids of all ages can have swish.
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It costs 0(for individuals) or 10-30 cents(for companies) to transact on swish and minimum transaction is basically 10cents(1sek).
There are privacy issues and it is kinda controlled by banks. Maybe eventually things like digital euro can improve on that in the future. You can have an anonymous digital payment system with near 0 fees, it is just that the governments arent incentivized to do it. Thats where cryptocurrency could fit, if it wasnt a pump and dump, to the moon hellhole.
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Not that I think society should be cashless but why couldn't you donate to homeless people and do garage sales in a cashless society?
Pretty much everyone has a phone here, including beggars and homeless people. It's a necessity these days.
My country is basically cashless (as in almost no one uses cash and quite a few stores don't accept it at all) and we just send money with an app that almost everyone uses. It's easier than cash, bank transfers, and cards. It's also instant.
Hell, I have even gotten some money from my grandparents that way a few years ago.
All of these reasons are why the corporations want to force us all to use digital currency completely controlled by them.
They could make the digital money invalid at stores they don't like, they could make it invalid for buying something they don't want you to buy and they can make it expire after awhile, forcing you to spend it instead of saving it.
If you deposit your money at a bank, or PayPal, or some online digital bank transfer service,** you do not have your money anymore.** They have your money.
Now you have some kind of contract that says they'll give you your money on demand. But sometimes they won't give it to you when you want it. If any judge or cop wants to see every person or business I've ever transacted with the bank will happily give it over.
On the other hand, cash is cash. If I possess it, then I have it. And nobody gets to know how much, or how suspicious, or with whom I'm transacting.
Spot on. The wild part is that people will still justify it and even hope for it. The replies here are evidence of that. You can't fix stupid, sadly.
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Serious boomer energy here
We aren't at the point as a society to be fully cashless. Maybe someday it could work but I think that day is very far away. Look how fucked up even the most basic parts of society are. We can't even get societies and cultures to live together in peace or something that resembles balance and harmony. Lack of privacy and security is holding back the star trek future. Trying to make these good intentioned theoretical changes in society before society is humanly ready will fuck us all.
I think humanity is a lot further behind than most think. ... And it almost feels like social life and community is getting more and more primitive, wild, and fragmented as time goes on. These different future paths are marketed from and for them, the corporations and greedy, not for the benefit of us.
I've been cashless for about a decade now. I have no problem with donating money, giving or recieving monay as a gift. I never give the homeless money, but I often buy them food. Why couldn't you buy or sell something to people? You can easily transfer someone a small sum of money using their phone number. Same with garage sales. When was the last time You saw a Piggy Bank?
We need cash but these are just silly reasons and hurt the idea more than they help
Debit is cash but
We can tap for yard sales and homeless people
People include gift cards in birthday cards or etransfer
You could do that for your child’s teeth
Oh no, what will i do without a ceramic pig
Last 4 points I’m sure you can figure out also aren’t true
And if you’re worried about being tracked then surely you don’t use a phone/go online/appear in public
This is so myopic. Most of the world can send money via email. None of those things in the bottom will go away, save for a few tangibles. The gestures and transactions can still absolutely happen.
Every single point raised in this post is already solved with current technology.
I think we need to ban cash
"No cash donations to hungry homeless you pass"
i.e. Drug addicts and mental patients that you keep giving money to, so they tell all their friends and you start stocking up on vagrants in the area.
Stop fucking doing this. Volunteer at a soup kitchen, give homeless food, etc -- stop giving them cash to spend on drugs and alcohol. This just enables their own self-destructive habits and doesn't help them.
