Posted on 11/17/2016 4:41:39 AM PST by upchuck
In July 2016, Australian payments firm Tyro published an enormously self-serving blog post touting the benefits of a cashless society and saying, “it’s only a matter of time.”
Most notably, two days ago, Citibank (yes, THAT Citibank) announced that it was going cashless at some of its Australian branches.
The media and political establishments have chimed in as well.
In February of this year, the Sydney Morning Herald released a series of articles, some of which were written by officials from Australia’s Department of the Treasury, suggesting that eliminating cash will “save billions”, and that “moving to a cashless society is the next step for the Australian dollar”.
This is how it works.
The government, media, banks, and even academia have formed a single, unified chorus to push this idea out to consumers that “cashless” is good for everyone.
And it’s happening across the planet, from Australia to India to Europe to North America.
They’re partially right.
Going cashless probably will save a lot of money; paper currency is costly to transport in large quantities due to the need for security.
It’s also accurate to suggest that going cashless will be “good for the banks.”
As UBS pointed out yesterday, “de-monetizing” Australia’s $50 and $100 bills would force anyone holding those notes to deposit them back in the banking system.
Bank deposits would rise as a result, and consequently, so would bank profits.
Governments would benefit from a cashless society because all savings would be in the banking system, and they have full regulatory control over the banks.
This means that your politicians would have more control over your savings and fewer obstacles to impose capital controls or engage in Civil Asset Forfeiture.
Even policy wonk academics would have a rare opportunity to take their lousy theories and PhD dissertations for a test drive.
Everyone benefits from a cashless society… except for you.
For individuals, cash still has plenty of important advantages.
Cash is one of the few remaining options for financial privacy that doesn’t create a permanent record of every purchase or transaction you make.
It’s also an easy way to reduce your exposure to risks in the broader financial system.
Think about it– the banking system is full of institutions that never miss an opportunity to demonstrate they cannot be trusted with our money.
Hardly a month goes by without some major banking scandal; they’re caught colluding on exchange rates, manipulating interest rates, fraudulently establishing fake accounts without customer consent (and then charging us fees on top of that).
It’s disgraceful.
In addition, bank safety is far from certain.
In many banking systems across the world (especially in Europe right now), banks have precariously low levels of capital and are already suffering the effects of negative interest rates.
Even in the United States, banks routinely employ very clever accounting tricks to conceal their true financial condition.
There’s also the fact that, the moment you make a deposit at a bank, it’s no longer your money. It becomes the bank’s money.
And they can do with it as they please, whether it’s freezing you out of your account or making idiotic investments with minimal reserve requirements.
You have no say in the matter.
As a bank depositor, you’re nothing more than an unsecured creditor of a financial institution which may or may not allow you to withdraw your own savings.
If you don’t believe me, take a trip down to your bank and ask to withdraw $25,000. See how quickly they treat you like a criminal terrorist.
Bottom line, conventional banking is not risk-free. And holding cash is one way to reduce that risk.
Cash essentially eliminates the middleman between you and your savings… at least, the portion of your savings that can be easily exchanged for goods and services in the economy.
Cash is a pitiful store of value over the long-term. Precious metals and other real assets are much better alternatives.
But we still can’t walk into Starbucks and pay for a cup of coffee with a quarter-ounce silver coin.
So until that day comes, cash remains an asset that you’ll want to hold.
Just make sure you don’t go overboard. The War on Cash is very real. So if you have more than a couple of months worth of living expenses, you’re taking on unnecessary risk.
Also, keep the denominations low.
As the case with India shows, governments have no compunction about violating the public trust with immediate effect and without warning.
So if you’re in the US, don’t keep a mountain of $100 bills in your safe. Keep 10s, 20s, and 50s.
If you’re in Europe, definitely avoid the 500 and 200 euro notes, opt for 20s and 50s.
This article also available at: Zerohedge.
Bkmk
Far easier for them to seize digital money than real money.
Silver snd gold will be theundetground coin of those of us who do not yield to the NWO fascists.
Are you non-believers ready for the chip in your arm allowing you to buy and sell, access healthcare?
He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark of the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
Government sponsored Bitcoin. When the government wants to shut down the entire economy, or just target certain portions, they can do so with the click of a mouse.
What happens when the little girl scouts come to your front door? Pay her with a smart phone app? PayPal?
And when there’s a power outage....
No matter what form it takes.
Gold Coins to Bottle caps
“What happens when the little girl scouts come to your front door? Pay her with a smart phone app? PayPal?”
Yes. Little kids are practically born with touchscreens these days. Kid devices are waterproof, padded and for more indestructible than paper cash.
So a Girl Scout would theoretically punch in your order on her device. Then you’d review the price and tap your device to pay. I know kids in middle school already using phones to exchange cash with friends.
Payment instantly made, no change needed and you get emailed a receipt. Every transaction is traced and no way to lose it or get robbed.
There’s many advantages to a cashless system. But giving up all privacy and control to banks outweighs them IMO
But isn’t this racists? Wouldn’t it force black people to get an ID in order to open a bank account?
Australia has always been at the forefront of social engineering. If a society goes cashless, then next step is a chip implant.
Never let cash die.
Of interest.
Or .22’$.
Good way to push the world back to a barter economy.
From my cold dead hands.
Big Brother Government will own your soul before they get finished.
Then you won't mind me hacking into your account.
Go right ahead. Someone hacking my account was less of a deal for me than ordering lunch. The bank can see how much was in your account and instantly restore funds after 1 phonecall. Then trace who did the hacking.
That’s MUCH less big of a deal than someone stealing your stack of cash.
Of course, the problem is what happens when the bank starts stealing from you...
These globalists are always trying to force their demonic plans down our throats.
The globalist media has suffered severe and perhaps fatal damage. It is our duty to resist this move to all digital currency.
The idea among the globalists is to freeze currency transactions at the moment of their choosing. Greece and Cyprus were crude precursor beta tests for bank closures. However, these countries were not sufficiently cashless and barter-less for a total collapse. If nearly all commerce is is digital, almost all commerce will cease if the digital currency is withdrawn. We will be worse than a heroin addict running out of heroin. A domino effect would begin starting with non-functioning EBT cards, riots, people not showing up for critical jobs (power plants, water and sewer, fire, police, truckers), and the public will be begging for martial law and food.
I think we might see another beta test. Perhaps, the globalists will do it on a nearly cashless society such as the Scandinavian countries.
Everyone benefits from a cashless society… except for you.(emphasis mine)
For individuals, cash still has plenty of important advantages.
Cash is one of the few remaining options for financial privacy that doesn’t create a permanent record of every purchase or transaction you make.
It’s also an easy way to reduce your exposure to risks in the broader financial system. "
Citibank is a commercial bank, generally not holding many individual customer accounts, with an emphasis on Corporate funds and accounts.
This is little more than an commercial banking exercise of monetary control with "more control over your savings
and fewer obstacles to impose capital controls or engage in Civil Asset Forfeiture" if you don't conform.
The best way to control dissidents is to control financial expenditures and assets; the most recent and best example is the 7 year IRS discrimination with Tea Party activists.
By denying them non-profit status, the IRS effectively denied them a funding source, income , and they financially starved them out; an exercise of governmental control.
The decision by a middle-level IRS manager, a nondescript governmental bureaucrat made that policy decision, but that decision killed a Conservative grassroots political uprising.
Any control of the population, whose income and assets are controlled by government or by the banking system, should be viewed with a jaundiced eye
since there is a revolving door from government to the banking and financials industry.
Citibank is just the start, and is an experiment to see if the population is as prepared to join the cashless society as are both government and the banking system.
What about when the hackers come around and clean out your accounts? What proof do you have they even existed?
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