Posted on 04/23/2014 3:32:14 PM PDT by SkyPilot
We're finally on the brink of the cashless society that futurists and other have been forecasting for years. The average consumer owns at least two credit cards and early adopters have begun ditching plastic for virtual wallets. Even businesses that used to rely heavily on cash — think taxis, food trucks or even craft fairs — can now go cashless, thanks to new technology like Square.
Yet, the more we abandon paper bills for plastic, smartphone payments and even cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, the perils of the new, cashless economy are becoming more apparent. Recent security breaches at Target, Neiman Marcus and other retailers illustrate the vulnerability of electronic payments to hacking attacks.
There were 2,164 reported security incidents exposing 822 million records last year, nearly doubling the previous highest year, 2011, according to Risk Based Security, a data security firm. The pace seems to be continuing this year.
Chip-and-pin cards, in use in Europe for years, would remove some of the threat. Computer chips embedded on the cards verify unique personal identification numbers consumers punch into terminals.
The new credit and debit card chips should replace all magnetic card strips by 2015 or 2016 at the very latest.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnbc.com ...
“Governments would LOVE a cashless society. Your every transaction would be subject to control.”
That’s my problem with a national sales tax: every purchase gets monitored, and will be subject to legislative analysis and instant processing/taxing/punishing thereof. Don’t think they won’t tax you more on the spot because you’re buying a single-serving soda when documenting symptoms of looming diabetes.
Electronic money IS debt.
That wasn’t free.
Card companies get some 3% of the transaction. Of course sellers just jack up prices accordingly. So, you pay more for the same thing, then they give you a fraction of the difference back to entice you to use cards more often.
I don't know who supports the national sales tax idea, but its a bad one. Once again, it makes states subservient to the Federal Government. It will simply empower and even more dictatorial tax-collection agency to monitor every sales outlet in the country. Terrible idea. I support a low flat-tax. No deductions. Same rate for individual and corporate. Only a very limited tax agency is needed. as tax liability is very easily calculated.
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"Sir, would you like crystal meth with that?"
That's the point, they don't want you to not be under greater security. Paper fiat currency and coins will simply be withdrawn from the world.
Myself, I draw my worldview from the this lens: God exists, God is sovereign, and God has given us His word, which is 100% reliable and true (the scriptures).
Without a global cashless worldwide "currency" - there is no way for Revelation 13 to take place. And Revelation 13 will take place, as will all of Revelation. Ergo, we are going cashless. The signs are everywhere, and things are moving faster and faster.
Very nice....
If you made $100,000 per year after taxes then you could buy anything you could ever need in the free market because someone would produce it for money( look at the millions of products for sale on Google , internet , ebay , amazon,Walmart, Dollar Tree etc etc). So we don’t need government for ANYTHING. A private company created a whole city DISNEY WORLD in Florida. So democrats create fake crisis like “global warming”,”no health insurance crisis” to justify the very existence of government and the continued growth of government(socialism)
government is the enemy and the problem. the news media and democrat party are also the enemy and the problem
Exactly.
It was before the cuts and Sequestration. It was ~20% in 2009. Today it is closer to 16%.
Most of the money in the world is already just blips in computer memories - a fact that many people don’t realize. Makes it easy for the unscrupulous to get more of it.
That's one reason why I think a global stock market crash can happen at any time.
This could be "The Big One", and would make 1987 and 2008 look like picnics.
Then we end up with alternative currencies, from gold coins to silver jewelry.
In many parts of Africa, calling cards with cell phone air time are treated as currency. You can call home, transfer funds, check prices, check the weather, read news and call a nurse for medical advice or place orders using the phones. Such a thing isn’t unreasonable here given the prevalence of cell phones.
I think I will be dead and gone when that catastrophe happens. In the meanwhile I could not live without the incredible convenience of credit cards. It helps my cash flow management because bills are due several days after money is spent. I always pay in full so there are no interest charges.
if we had a lot of cash, everything we buy would be by cash....as it is the credit cards paid off each month are very easy and convenient.....
By the way the car is running great! And has every option I ever wanted, even a moon roof.
HIPPA rules seriously protect you from the nurses telling your condition to your mother or your father, but every single insurance company or life insurance company or police dept or govt agency can get whatever they want whenever they want it.
Yes, to force compliance they can easily just deny access to electronic cash within a local or a region. They don’t have to take your cash, just deny your access, so then how will you feel about the local political dissidents when you can’t buy a red box movie, hot pocket and 2 liter soda...you’ll be pissed off. (Kidding.)
In such situations, cash, gold, silver, guns, ammo, food or some barterable skill (shoe repair maybe) will quickly be king.
Yes - there will always be bartering and that is very hard to eradicate. In post WW II, the Germans bartered in cigarettes and their few remaining household items. Some of the women even resorted to prostitution to survive (not recommended). But there will always be bartering.
Agreed. As I stated earlier on the thread, my world view is shaped by my Christianity. My faith is very clear (through the Scriptures) that the entire world will one day (no one knows exactly when) will be under a global economic system controlled by marks on your forehead or forearm (where there is very little soft tissue underneath). No one will even be able to purchase food without this mark/tattoo/implant, etc.
In order to implement that, I would guess there will have to be a worldwide economic collapse that preceeds this implementation. It would have to be a catastrophe unlike any other in human history, and humanity will look for a "man with a plan" to get the world out of it. The Antichirst is prophesied to be (initially) a world leader with solutions. The world will follow him, and people will have a false hope.
"Never let a good crisis go to waste."
I will happen.
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