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Pandemic Protection or the War Against Cash?


I saw STILLWATER on a night out recently. 

I won't discuss the movie here (maybe another day). What struck me was that this was the first time I had seen the new contact-free snack bar in operation. They don't give change. They still allow you to hand over exact amounts in cash, but short of exactitude you're expected to use a plastic card or one of those swipe-with-your-phone things. 

It was an odd feeling,. I was standing there with my newly purchased coke in hand unsure whether I was going to get a paper receipt or something. 

Eventually, the clerk had to tell me, "You're all set sir" to get me out of there. 

This is sold as pandemic protection. And I'm not a conspiratorial kind of guy. 

But I gotta tell you, ladies and germs, this seems to me like part of a broader War on Cash. The powers that be don't like us to have cash, because it allows for difficult-to-trace transactions.

My humble purchase of that bottle of Coca-Cola is in a database now. If I had had exact change, it wouldn't be. And in a simpler time, if the clerk had been in a position to make change, still it wouldn't be.   

There is nothing very interesting that the Powers that Be can make of the fact that Christopher Faille bought a Coca-Cola at a certain moment. It may add to a broader picture of my consumer habits, and demonstrate how thoroughly caffeinated my life is  But each is old news by now, surely.

Anyway, the "exact change" rule is a gentle step away from banning cash altogether. And the fewer uses cash has, the less it will be in circulation. All heading to a day when EVERYTHING, every little detail of every transaction, gets into everyone's database.

I'm not a fan of the idea. 

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