Where does this Slashdot obsession with a cashless/e-gold/alternative currency come from?
Money has been around for 3200 years [pbs.org]. Trade "I'll give you 2 sheep for one cow" has been around for thousands more.
I remember hearing these "cashless society" arguments in 1980. I look in my wallet 23 years later, and I still have a wad of cash in there, along with a credit card and ATM card. Sure, much of my purchasing is electronic, but it's far from cashless.
Now people are again saying "We'll be a cashless society in 25 years", and I still don't believe them. I've heard it before.
It reminds me of the "computers will solve all your paperwork problems. We will be a paperless society in 25 years." Cash is not going away anytime soon just because some money-geeks think they found an alternative.
As Ivanova from Babylon 5 said: "Every time somebody says we're coming into a paperless society, I get 10 more forms to fill out."
You are incorrect in associating paper with wealth. There is no connection. That dollar bill in your wallet is no more or less money than a digit in a Wells Fargo computer. Both represent a unit of confidence in the issuing body - the US government. That is all they represent. You cannot redeem that dollar bill for a fraction of preciou metal. You cannot redeem the bill for a piece of a brick of a government building. You are not assured of receiving a set unit of a foreign currency for it either. It is a fiat currency. It has no inherent value. The paper bill is simply a physical container for a fractional unit of confidence in the US government, nothing more or less.
Paper money is fungible. It is easily understood and accepted anywhere.
A set of digits in a Wells Fargo bank is subject to what Wells Fargo decides you do or don't have.
Wells Fargo says I have $2000 in their bank. Great.
Whoops, due to a programming error (or something, Wells Fargo won't say), you now have nothing. Whoops.
Sure, dollar bills can be lost or destroyed, but because they represent a relatively small amount of value (unless you walk around with a briefcase full of cash), then your exposure and liability are small.
No, a digit in a bank and cash may be the same in principle, but in fact, they are a lot different. Hope you never find out how different.
I'm sorry, please read any of the established texts that describe the working of our economy and banking system. Maybe its better that you posted as an AC.
Dollar bills can be repudiated at ANY time. The US is on its fourth currency. Anyone holding bills from the previous three hold nothing.
Anyone holding bills from the previous three hold nothing. Try telling that to a collector. Even Confederate currency is worth something nowadays. I can't imagine I'd have *any* trouble spending Silver Certificates.
The ./ obsession with a cashless society? (Score:5, Insightful)
Money has been around for 3200 years [pbs.org]. Trade "I'll give you 2 sheep for one cow" has been around for thousands more.
I remember hearing these "cashless society" arguments in 1980. I look in my wallet 23 years later, and I still have a wad of cash in there, along with a credit card and ATM card. Sure, much of my purchasing is electronic, but it's far from cashless.
Now people are again saying "We'll be a cashless society in 25 years", and I still don't believe them. I've heard it before.
It reminds me of the "computers will solve all your paperwork problems. We will be a paperless society in 25 years." Cash is not going away anytime soon just because some money-geeks think they found an alternative.
As Ivanova from Babylon 5 said:
"Every time somebody says we're coming into a paperless society, I get 10 more forms to fill out."
What is money? (Score:5, Informative)
False. (Score:0)
A set of digits in a Wells Fargo bank is subject to what Wells Fargo decides you do or don't have.
Wells Fargo says I have $2000 in their bank. Great.
Whoops, due to a programming error (or something, Wells Fargo won't say), you now have nothing. Whoops.
Sure, dollar bills can be lost or destroyed, but because they represent a relatively small amount of value (unless you walk around with a briefcase full of cash), then your exposure and liability are small.
No, a digit in a bank and cash may be the same in principle, but in fact, they are a lot different. Hope you never find out how different.
NOT false. (Score:2)
Dollar bills can be repudiated at ANY time. The US is on its fourth currency. Anyone holding bills from the previous three hold nothing.
Re:NOT false. (Score:2)
Try telling that to a collector. Even Confederate currency is worth something nowadays. I can't imagine I'd have *any* trouble spending Silver Certificates.