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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

Image Credit: Brett Scott

      • shortwavesurfer@lemmy.zip
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        1 month ago

        If so, it was only partially successful. Surveys show about 15% of US adults own crypto and that number is rising as multiple cycles pass and people end up with multiple touch points. A person who heard about it in 2013 is probably like, no, I’ll check this out later and forget about it. And then in 2017, they hear about it again. And it’s like, oh, I’ll check this out later. And they forget about it. And then in 2021, they’re like, okay, this thing is still here. I really need to actually check it out now and go look into it.

      • shortwavesurfer@lemmy.zip
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        1 month ago

        That’s really not very doable since Monero acts as digital cash. Therefore, once you have it in Monero, you can spend it and they have no idea, you can lose it and they have no idea, or you can keep it and they have no idea. And you can move it around and they have no idea. So if they ask about it, you can very easily make the argument that you no longer have it unless they’re going to use force on you that is.

    • soloActivist@links.hackliberty.org
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      29 days ago

      Not sure what your point is. Monero is far more traceable than cash. Any self-respecting privacy advocate would fight against the war on cash first and foremost. Anything else is less important to fight for because it’s less private. When cash is gone, gold coins will probably be more private than Monero.

        • soloActivist@links.hackliberty.org
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          28 days ago

          There is no public ledger for cash. There is no attack surface on the devices of yourself or the other party by which your cash transaction can be compromised. There are no electronic records to exfiltrate unless one party proactively deliberately records a transaction. And if they do, there is no non-repudiation. There is no risk that any cryptanalytic advances can later expose the whole history of all cash transactions or even a chain of cash transactions. Cash transactions leave no trace unless you do them under surveillance.

          • shortwavesurfer@lemmy.zip
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            28 days ago

            True, and while Monero does technically use a public blockchain, the cinder, the receiver, and the amounts are all hidden. If Monero’s encryption is broken, then we have to worry about other fundamental parts of the internet, such as HTTPS and end-to-end encryption as well.