CASH IS KING

Many of us are aware there is a push by the technocrats, banks, by government bodies and many businesses to force digital currency on all of us. And many of us are concerned about the potential harms that a cashless society may bring.

Here is a deeper look into the harms of a cashless society. And when we look at the issues through a wider lens, it's clear the only winners in a cashless world are those pushing it. 

Below is a list, but not an exhaustive one, of the problems of a world that solely operates on digital currency:

• Bad for privacy. When you pay cash, there is no middleman; you pay, you receive goods or services — end of story. No one takes a cut and there is no risk of a privacy breach. And the government cannot insert themselves into the equation.
• Bad for low-income communities. Participation in a cashless society presumes a level of financial stability that not everyone has. Opening a bank account requires ID, which many poor and elderly people lack, as well as other documents such as a utility bill or other proof of address, which the homeless lack. This creates barriers to participating in electronic payment networks. Banks also charge fees that can be significant for people living on the economic margins. Finally, because merchants usually pass along the cost of credit card fees to all their customers through their prices, the current credit card system effectively serves to transfer money from poor households to high-income households.
• Bad for many merchants. Merchants pay roughly 2-3% of every transaction to the credit card companies, which can be a significant “tax,” especially on low-margin businesses. With the credit card sector dominated by an oligopoly of 2-3 companies, there is not enough competition to keep these “swipe fees” low. Big companies have the leverage to negotiate lower fees, but small merchants are out of luck. If cashless stores are allowed to become widespread, that will harm the many merchants who either discourage or flat-out refuse to accept credit cards due to these fees.
• Less resilient. The nationwide outage of electronic systems, as experienced in 2021 all across Canada left many without funds for hours. This should be a cautionary tale that electronic payments systems can mean extensive centralized points of failure. A cashless society would also leave people more susceptible to economic failure on an individual basis: if a hacker, bureaucratic error, or natural disaster shuts a consumer out of their account, the lack of a cash option would leave them few alternatives.

Proponents of non-cash payment systems point to one of the biggest downsides of cash: the risk of loss or theft. That security risk is real, and one should exercise caution with large purchases. That said, the security considerations are not one-sided. The harms that can result from privacy invasions (abuses, profiling, embarrassment, financial losses, etc.) should also be included in the concept of “security,” properly conceived. And payment networks have security risks that cash does not; ask anybody who has experienced identity theft and was forced to wrangle with a nightmare mix of credit card companies, debt collectors, credit scoring agencies, and others.

What can you do to STOP a digital economy?

• Register your objection at digital only establishments. Say to the staff, “I know this isn’t your policy personally, but I think it’s a bad one, and I hope you’ll pass that along to your management. Not accepting cash is bad for privacy and bad for marginalized people.”
• Refuse to provide a credit card. If you haven’t been given very clear advance notice that cash is not accepted, tell them you don’t have a credit card with you and see what they propose. There’s no law that a person has to possess a credit card or furnish one on demand. This may tie up their line, require the calling of a manager, create abandoned food that has already been prepared, and generally create inefficiencies that, if repeated among enough customers, will start to erode the advantages of going cashless for merchants.
• Choose another business. If you can do without, leave the establishment without buying anything after registering your objection to a staff person so they are aware they’ve lost your business over it.
• Contact your elected representatives. We have already seen some cities and states in the US ban cashless stores. We can do the same here, we must speak up now! 

A cashless society is a technocratic “dream”. It's a vision in which we discard what is left of the anonymity that has characterized urban life since the dawn of modernity, and our freedom from the power of centralized companies like banks. Doing without cash may be convenient at times, but if we lose cash as an option we’re going to regret it later.

You can download the "I USED CASH TODAY" business card template, just cut along the lines to make business cards you can carry with you to give to staff when you shop or dine. Spread the word!

KEEP CASH ALIVE!