From Scandinavia to Amsterdam to India and elsewhere, the trend of going “cashless” is gaining traction.
We have been covering the shortcomings of what is rightly called the War On Cash here at TDV for a while now and have shown just how negative the effects can be on an unsuspecting nation’s people.
Chandigarh, India, which is the capital of the northern Indian states of Punjab and Haryana, is like one of India’s labrats. Indian officials are working hard toward making it into India’s first cashless city.
This initiative is part of the Prime Minister of India’s call for state governments to begin developing what he’s calling “smart” cities.
That means cities attached to the latest internet technology. However there is nothing intelligent about his plan.
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I have voluntarily gone cashless as much as possible. I believe that from not handling filthy money, I have gained a health benefit that is better than an annual flu shot. Cash money is a serious disease vector.
ReplyDeleteHadn't heard that.
DeleteThe use of cash is such a normal part of life, going back many centuries, that most people are not ready to even look at different possibilities.
DeleteIn America, you can use debit cards for almost all transactions. The only exceptions I know of are my dry cleaning and my haircuts. For everything else, I use debit. And debit card transaction fees are a lot smaller than the credit card merchant fees (normally 3%).
But by using debits for common purchases instead of cash, I an not touching the money that everyone else handles with their bare unwashed hands, sneezes, food preparation, etc. When you think about it, cash is the one thing that total strangers pass to each other from hand to hand. Besides prostitution, it is the most intimate contact between strangers that is practiced.
I remember back during the big anthrax scare after 9-11, there was a product in the market that was a cash drawer for point of sale businesses that had a UV light inside the cash drawer to sterilize cash and prevent the spread of diseases on money. I guess that didn't sell well enough to become a standard practice.
Deletedebit card transaction fees are a lot smaller
DeleteMy bank doesn't charge anything as far as I know.
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Besides cash is the one thing that total strangers pass to each other from hand to hand. Besides prostitution, it is the most intimate contact between strangers that is practiced.
Should go with the latter then. :) I certainly have/do. :)
I remember back during the big anthrax scare after 9-11, there was a product in the market that was a cash drawer for point of sale businesses that had a UV light inside the cash drawer to sterilize cash and prevent the spread of diseases on money. I guess that didn't sell well enough to become a standard practice.
DeleteCertainly sounds like a good idea.