I agree, it is troubling. The reason it’s tempting, besides keeping an electronic trail of what people do, is that it does work very well during normalcy conditions.
But when a bad day does come, and power is out, all that is left is bartering. And while bartering may sound romantic, try bringing your 1/2” Craftsman Ratchet to Sam’s Club to exchange for a carton of toilet paper and see how far you get. Sell that same ratchet to your neighbor for $15 in cash, bring the cash to Sam’s and you’ll likely have your toilet paper (if there’s any left, that is). BIG DIFFERENCE.
Also, having cash around doesn’t preclude bartering...it just gives you more options.
Silver coins or foreign cash are acceptable substitutes.
However way to few people have any of this.
During one major ice storm, power went out. We were well stocked up until the kid got sick, so I walked over to the Walgreens that was open. It had power, but the satellite system was down.
A line of people were begging to give them credit card information, debit card information, etc. I held up my items and a $20 and said, “I can pay for this right now.” Waved to front, paid, went home.
No one else could pay.