Cashless society? Not so fast, my friend!

There is still a huge portion of the US population that deals only in cash. Many people work off the books for cash thus avoiding the taxman and possibly collecting other government benefits at the same time. I'm not judging here but we all know that this underground economy certainly exists.

If cash were to be discontinued and replaced with only electronic transactions it probably won't happen soon and possibly never especially if the general population rejects that concept. Eliminating cash completely would cause an unforseen snowball effect that could collapse the economy.

 

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You would think so but it's not. 10 years ago I walked into a Kinko's and I needed to make 1 copy. It was around a nickel. Refused cash payment. They wanted me to buy a $10 credit worth of copies. "But I only need 1 copy, it's a nickel." Then they said I could use a credit card. I have one, but I didn't want to use it, out of principle. I mean I understand it is easier for them not to use cash, but I thought that was crappy and I have never patronized them again nor will I ever. I had used them in the past for much larger transactions, in college, doing manuscripts before home printers were a thing back in the Stone Age etc.
Also, there are places that will refuse change. Like if you try to pay a parking ticket with all pennies or nickels, they are not required to accept it as a cash payment.

 

Without cash the biggest travesty would be the disappearance of gentleman's clubs
Who wants to leave that digital trail?

 

My daughter-in-law is Japanese, and we visited Japan two years ago. You see very few transactions with credit cards there - everyone uses cash. Merchants accepting credit cards were adding on 3% to the transactions to cover their costs. It's a cultural thing over there, cash is going to be around a long time for them.

 

My local dealer is cash only!

 

Power outages. Yeah. I'm pretty sure we've already reached the point of "no power? can't shop". At least in a grocery store or big-box retailer, most items don't have price tags -- just barcodes that point to price and inventory entries in the company database. And besides, who's going to trust the cashiers to do math without a calculator?

Yes, I know it's different in some small towns and rural areas. If it all falls down, we'll regret moving away from Amish country up north. They know how to hold things together without electricity, although even they grudgingly use it for some things now. (Have to be able to do business with the English, and can't do business with the English without a phone.)

 

Wait, what kind of dealer are we talking about again?

 

Huh. I can't remember the last time I saw a pump that wasn't fully electronic.

 

Don't let anyone fool you about this. It is in the interest not just of business but of government to get rid of cash, as electronic currencies admit of a control over a populace that individual possession of a storage of value outside of government control does not. Having one's life savings and investments stored on a computer chip which can be erased, deleted or frozen by a keystroke is the ultimate form of coercion that government or Wall St or Silicon Valley can exert. Having cash, especially in the form of coinage which has some extrinsic value, gives an individual a freedom and liberty of commerce and property that both government and big business would prefer citizens not to have.

 

Maybe I'm too optimistic, but I believe we won't be struggling to get by without electricity. I've visited four large data centers that were prepared for outages by having backups, even the one that served the Las Vegas area. And then there are the hospitals that have backup generators. Even my small county had a backup plan in case the main electrical source went down. What I'm saying is, I believe we will be ok.

 

Living in South Florida, Cash is required in the case of Hurricanes. It's also nice to have on hand just in case it's needed to pay for services (landscaping, pool service) etc. Where the owners of such services would prefer to be paid that way. I have also been trough a time where my credit union was limiting withdrawals because at the time we were on strike and the bank was afraid of a run on cash. The credit union was affiliated with the company so they had reason to fear. I will say that an awful lot of members closed their accounts once the limits were lifted. The company and the credit union both eventually went out of business. It was about that time that I realized that I could not depend on the bank to do things in my best interest. It was also the time that the coin collection was really getting too big for a safe deposit box, and we bought a safe and always keep at least a couple if thousand in the safe along with lots of bullion (and Ammo too !)

 

Perhaps, but how many of these have their systems hard wired to withstand an EMP from solar flares or a hostile act? Having a coffee can filled with silver coins may turn out to be a wise investment as well as an interesting hobby.

 

You... you don't actually think those reserve dollars are all coins and paper money, do you?

Total paper money in circulation amounts to somewhere around a trillion and a half dollars. Most by far is overseas. That amounts to less than one quarter of global "dollar reserves".

 

You've apparently haven't seen them use a generator too to power the pumps ?

for @almostgem was alluding too ... Here's a State Law for Florida of "Alternate generated power capacity for motor fuel dispensing facilities" circa 2007 ==> http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes...ute&URL=0500-0599/0526/Sections/0526.143.html

You can check other states if you want. But some places voluntarily do this in areas that are susceptible to black outs.

 

But what happens when they run out of fuel for the generator... oh.

 

Which type of generator?
There's more than one type of generator.

The local one here just attaches a standard gasoline generator that you can quickly buy at Home Depot. Other ones may have a more permanent installation with a fuel line to their tank, others are fueled by natural gas which could come from tanks or a direct line. Then you have the multifuel generators ...

plus, they can always siphon gas from an inground tank ...

 

Rats, another joke that falls flat.

 

These laws were in response to hurricane Wilma when a good percentage of South Florida was without power. At the same time the law was also passed that Grocery stores have back up power generation capabilities also. I know that all of the Publix supermarkets have either natural gas or if that's not available, then propane generators with huge tanks to get them through several days without power.

 

even around here, stores that are susceptible to blackouts have power backup, if anything just for their main refrigerator. having the entire refrigerated/frozen food sections get thrown out .. sometimes more than once per month is hard to swallow.