"The fall in the number of retailers accepting cash is hurting vulnerable people who rely on it to budget, charities and campaign groups have warned." Tell us something that we did not know. Whoever came out on top in France, there would be no change to Article 642-3 of the penal code, which bans traders from refusing cash payment. We need that here. No, the legal tender thing does not cover it. You are not in debt to the vendor until you have the goods.
A suspicious number of those who decry us sceptics about the cashless society also claim that we are under constant threat of cyberattacks, and a surprising number of those who are forthright against the cashless society are enthusiasts for cryptocurrencies.
But the clue is in the name. Things may be looking rosy for Bitcoin at the moment, but back in May 2022, there was a fairly effective operation to take down cryptocurrencies after the adoption of Bitcoin as legal tender in the Central African Republic had posed a threat to the CFA franc, itself pegged to the euro and so on. It gives me no pleasure, but that is where the power lies.
What matters is to get our hands on the power. Then there would be no cost of living crisis. Recession and inflation are both political choices. A sovereign state with its own free floating, fiat currency has as much of that currency as it chooses to issue to itself. All wars are fought on this understanding, but the principle applies universally. The State also has the fiscal and monetary means to control inflation, means that therefore need to be under democratic political control in both cases.
Cashless is to track every penny we spend, crypto is to put currencies beyond the reach of regulators and governments and therefore put the financial system beyond democratic oversight and control.
ReplyDeleteAnd the combination of the two is that level of tracking by those unaccountable corporations.
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