by Outcast_Searcher » Sun 09 Apr 2017, 12:39:30
I know doomers have to see virtually everything as doom. But isn't this just a wee bit over the top in 2017?
What if in relatively stable first world countries, cash was eliminated because 99% of people had little or no use for it. (In other words, demand shrunk considerably over time)?
This conversation / fear has been present for the 4 decades I've been paying attention. Say, 35 years ago, early in my career, when I only got a credit card because I needed one to travel (rent a car) for business -- then eliminating cash sounded really nasty.
Today? In a place like the US? So what?
1). For everything of substance for an honest person who isn't trying to avoid taxes, we're already there.
a). The IRS and/or feds track most stuff on computers. Tax records, major transactions like moving cash over $9999, all your 1099's, etc. etc.
b). For example, I had a friend in KY Revenue compliance a few years back. He went to businesses and threatened them for not paying their taxes. An example of one of his best weapons? Their CC billing history. And the CC data for all their CUSTOMERS (i.e. the huge preponderance of their revenue).
c). Speaking of credit cards, aside from credit cards or checks, the ONLY cash I spend now is:
i). Gardners, mowers, etc. that prefer cash.
ii). Quarters for parking meters and laundromats. (In my city, "old people" lacking smart phones find the electronic parking meters do NOT work with credit cards, despite what the directions say (our government at work), so we just haul around some quarters. It's not just me -- I have several older friends who do the same thing. (And no, parking meters aren' the "killer app" to get me to spend $50ish a month on a smart phone).
2). Cash can be lost and stolen or even destroyed. Cash is often very dirty (germs, drugs, etc). Credit card histories help me with knowing what I spent without lots of records or budgeting. If I lose my credit card, no problem.
3). If I really want to do something with serious underground spending with a lot of money, I can use common gold bullion coins. The last time I considered doing something like that was over 30 years ago when a coin dealer offered to waive the sales tax if I paid for the coins in cash.
(After pondering for 30 seconds, I decided I preferred to just always be honest and have records, and not have to to worry about stuff. If I get an envelope from a tax agency all I think is "Darn. I must have made a mistake." If a cop pulls me over, all I think is "Did I miss a speed limit sign?" Or "Oops, I'm X over the limit. The stupid court costs are gonna hurt.)" I DON'T get scared and worry about if they've discovered me for my significant misdeeds. (I think I can handle the fines and jail time for the occasional jaywalking or public profanity).
And finally, as an honest person, I'm doing my "share" re taxes. If you're not and eliminating cash helps make you start, don't expect sympathy from me or the other 90ish+% of people who pay the vast majority of the taxes they owe.
But I really don't get this. In modern times, governments don't need to eliminate cash to know where the huge bulk of transactions are going -- and make you pay up if you try to blatantly cheat.
So unless you believe big governments will sit by and let crypto-currencies replace electronically trackable cash, is there even a good option? Using chickens, or even gold or diamonds as currency for everyday transactions, and worrying about all the cameras out there isn't what I'd call a "good" solution.
Given the track record of the perma-doomer blogs, I wouldn't bet a fast crash doomer's money on their predictions.