By cone88
Dimensions @ Adobe Stock
UPDATE 12.6.24: The war in Ukraine has caused a rethinking of the benefits of a cashless society or perhaps a rethinking of its drawbacks. In Norway and Sweden, Russian hacking has caused second-guessing of the move to cashlessness. Miranda Bryant reports in The Guardian:
Sweden and Norway are backpedalling on plans for cashless societies over fears that fully digital payment systems would leave them vulnerable to Russian security threats, and concern for those unable to use them.
A combination of good high-speed internet coverage, high digital literacy rates, large rural populations and fast-growing fintech industries had put the Nordic neighbours on a fast track to a future without cash.
Swish, a mobile payment system that six banks launched in 2012, is ubiquitous in Sweden, from market stalls to coffee shops and clothes stores. The Norwegian equivalent, Vipps, which merged with Danish MobilePay in 2022 to form Vipps MobilePay, is also very popular. Last month, it also launched in Sweden.
The former deputy governor of Sweden’s central bank predicted in 2018 that Sweden would probably be cashless by 2025.
But Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and a subsequent rise in cross-border hybrid warfare and cyber-attacks blamed on pro-Russia groups have prompted a rethink.
The Swedish government has since completely overhauled its defence and preparedness strategy, joining Nato, starting a new form of national service and reactivating its psychological defence agency to combat disinformation from Russia and other adversaries. Norway has tightened controls on its previously porous border with Russia.
The security rethink extends to the fundamentals of how people pay for goods and services.
In a brochure with the title If Crisis or War Comes that will be sent to every home in Sweden next month, the defence ministry advises people to use cash regularly and keep at least a week’s supply in various denominations as well as access to other forms of payment such as bank cards and digital payment services. “If you can pay in several different ways, you strengthen your preparedness,” it says.
Do you have a week’s worth of cash put aside for emergencies? Maybe that’s not enough, but it’s a start.
UPDATE 1.25.24: For decades now, I have lived in Key West, continental America’s southernmost point, and only 60 miles from Cuba. The area is home to many Cuban refugees whom I respect and admire for their tenacity and clear-headedness when it comes to the real-world hell of living under a communist regime. Now those who remain in Cuba are being subjected to another infringement on their freedoms, the move to a cashless society. Small business owners are already having access to their cash rationed by the government. Reuters reports:
When Cuba in early August announced it was taking a major step towards electronic banking and a “cashless” society, the offices of fledgling small businesses across the communist-run country were left scrambling to figure out how to respond.Most alarming to many budding entrepreneurs was a new 5,000 peso ($20) daily cap on cash withdrawals for businesses, one of several measures the government said were aimed at forcing Cubans to do their transactions electronically, via transfer, online payment and bank cards.
The changes were needed to stem a cash shortage, Cuban central bank officials said, as the fast-falling peso and soaring consumer prices combined to drain bank reserves and ATM machines.“The demand for cash was growing faster than what we could provide to our bank branches,” said Alberto Quinones, vice president of Cuba’s central bank. The changes are being rolled out gradually over the next six months, officials say.But concerns over their impact are already causing difficulties, said Yulieta Hernandez, founder and manager of Pilares Construction, a private, Havana-based builder that employs 60 people.“We understand there is a crisis, and the need for banking, but this is our money,” Hernandez said. Her business had already adopted electronic banking but she often needs quick access to cash to pay for emergencies on job sites, she added.
UPDATE 1.2.24: A measure is being pushed forward in Florida that would ban businesses from refusing to accept cash as payment. Jesse Scheckner reports in Florida Politics:
‘We’re definitely leaving some people behind.’
A bill that would prohibit most brick-and-mortar businesses from refusing paper and coin payments has cleared its first Senate stop.
The measure (SB 106), sponsored by Miami Gardens Democratic Sen. Shevrin Jones, has two more panels to clear before reaching a floor vote.
It’s needed, Jones said, to help many Floridians — particularly seniors and minorities — to continue participating in America’s increasingly digital-forward economy.
“Now in Florida, many businesses have opted for cashless payment — and it’s definitely … clear that there has been a shift toward cashless payments over the years — but we’re definitely leaving some people behind,” he said. “This stipulation impacts individuals and families who may not have electronic payments as a method of payment.”
If passed, Jones’ measure would require businesses that offer in-person sales and services and provide change in cash without charging a fee for the transaction. It would not apply to sales that take place over the phone, by mail or the internet.
Read more here.
UPDATE 8.30.23: Many people believe that businesses must accept cash as payment, but that is not the case. At the federal level, there is no law forcing businesses to accept cash. There are some states that have banned the rejection of cash payments. Those states are (as of 11/14/2022, according to ATMIA):
- Colorado
- Delaware
- Oregon
- New York
- New Jersey
- Rhode Island
- Connecticut
- Massachusetts
Some states have opted instead to ban CBDCs. Those currently include Florida and Alabama, but others have legislation working its way through the process.
UPDATE 3.21.23: Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has proposed a law banning the use of central bank digital currencies in the state of Florida. CoinDesk’s Stephen Alpher reports:
A legislative proposal from Florida Gov. (and possible Republican U.S. presidential candidate) Ron DeSantis would prohibit the use of a national central bank digital currency (CBDC) as money within his state.
“Today’s announcement will protect Florida consumers and businesses from the reckless adoption of a ‘centralized digital dollar’ which will stifle innovation and promote government-sanctioned surveillance,” DeSantis said in a press release.
The proposed law would also prohibit in Florida the use of a CBDC issued by any overseas central bank. The governor’s statement calls on other states to adopt similar legislation.
President Joe Biden last year issued an executive order for the federal government to study the possible uses and risks of a CBDC.
In addition to privacy concerns, DeSantis said a federal CBDC would diminish the role of community banks and credit unions.
UPDATE 6.30.22: Alarm bells should be going off for Americans who want a dependable currency. The push for a “digital dollar” is intensifying, and now Congressman Jim Himes (D-CT), the chairman of Congress’s Select Committee on Economic Disparity, is pushing hard for digitizing your dollars. Why is it important that he’s the chairman of the Select Committee on Economic Disparity? A digital dollar will make manipulation of your money via negative interest rates a snap. And if all your money is digitized, wealth taxation becomes easy as the push of a button.
Of course, Himes isn’t advertising digital dollars that way. Instead, he’s using the troubles of cryptocurrencies to set up a digital dollar as a White Knight that can Americans from them. Though most Americans have never owned the speculative assets.
Himes recently released a document laying out his vision of a central bank digital currency for America. You can read his entire proposal paper here. He sets up the digitalization of the dollar as a race the U.S. must win or else, what? Or else the country maintain the strength of its currency and savers and investors maintain their independence from wealth taxation? A cashless society would be a debacle for Americans. No thanks.
Originally posted on May 2, 2022.
A cashless society will allow the elites of society to “monitor, control and tax every transaction,” explains Lewellyn H. Rockwell at LewRockwell.com. The aim, explains Rockwell, is the ability to “cut [Americans] off entirely,” if they resist. He writes (abridged):
The elites have been aiming to eliminate hand-to-hand cash for decades, as it will allow them to monitor, control and tax every transaction.
A story in The New York Times exposes what brain-dead Biden and the gang of neo-cons that controls him have in store for us.
According to an item that was published April 26, “When Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III declared Monday at the end of a stealth visit to Ukraine that America’s goal is to see Russia so ‘weakened’ that it would no longer have the power to invade a neighboring state, he was acknowledging a transformation of the conflict, from a battle over control of Ukraine to one that pits Washington more directly against Moscow. . . in word and deed, the United States has been gradually pushing in the direction of undercutting the Russian military.
Why is the US following this policy? Dr. Ron Paul has an important part of the answer. Just as in World War I, the “merchants of death” have a lot to gain financially. “One group of special interests profiting massively on the war is the US military-industrial complex. Raytheon CEO Greg Hayes recently told a meeting of shareholders that, ‘Everything that’s being shipped into Ukraine today, of course, is coming out of stockpiles, either at DOD or from our NATO allies, and that’s all great news. Eventually we’ll have to replenish it and we will see a benefit to the business’.”
The advocates of a New World Order don’t care about risking nuclear war. They aim to control us all so that there is no escape for anybody. This is a vast subject, but let’s look at just one more issue. Our “masters” in Washington want to take away our cash so they can keep tabs on all our transactions and, if we resist, cut us off entirely.
We don’t have much time left. Let’s do all we can to protest against the New World Order.
Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr. former editorial assistant to Ludwig von Mises and congressional chief of staff to Ron Paul, is founder and chairman of the Mises Institute, executor for the estate of Murray N. Rothbard, and editor of LewRockwell.com. He is the author of Against the State and Against the Left.
Read more here.
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