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Watching kids whip out their phone to pay for a candy bar with a gesture leads me to ponder “the cashless society.”


“We got your cashless society right here, suckers.”

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  • John the River March 1, 2022, 10:37 AM

    Julia
    You’re an Apple Whore. (Whoops! the spam I was talking about disappeared while I was writing this post)

    I have a link to the main reason I’m fighting with my bank over my new credit card.
    https://onthenorthriver.com/2022/03/01/cashless-society-may-not-mean-what-you-think-it-means/
    They intend to replace my chipped card with a ‘No-Contact’ card. A RFID card in other words. The last word in insecurity. As with the Key-Fobs (no ‘actual’ key) that replaced ignition keys in the steering column, real security takes a nose dive and car theft stats start climbing upwards again.

    Have you seen the extremely annoying and very insulting commercials that are on at every commercial break? The string of fumbling, stupid white people (more white people in this commercial, especially white men, then any other commercial perviously being shown) trying and failing to pay for a purchase with (How Stupid!) Cash, or cards with a (horrors!) magnetic strip.
    Suddenly a smart, cool, attractive Black Woman waves her magic card at the payment kiosk and instantly pays for her coffee, then strides away in time with the jaunty music while laughing at the stupid white people who are all staring in dumb confusion. Insulting much?

    I’m reading up on how to disable or punch up the Wireless chip buried in the card, as a stop-gap I’ll stuff the damn thing into a RF blocking sleeve or wallet.
    But one thing that has been made clear to me, the bank will not (NOT!) send me a new card without a RFID function buried inside. Nor can I find any other bank to take my business too that will either. You know what it means when they insist that you adopt a new technology or take another vaccine booster or whatever it is that they demand you do? That it is unlikely to be something that good for you.

    And gasoline locally just took a 25 cent per gallon jump in the last 24 hours, FJB.

    Timer just went off, Short-Ribs are ready!

    • azlibertarian March 1, 2022, 10:52 AM

      …And gasoline locally just took a 25 cent per gallon jump in the last 24 hours, FJB.

      I’ve been watching it today, and at the moment, oil is up 9.14%…..today! With my meager trading account…the one that Mrs. azlib lets me play with…I bought some USO yesterday, and it has had a nice bounce today. I’ll check back with you when I ride it down for a loss.

    • ghostsniper March 1, 2022, 11:07 AM

      How do you know it has an RFID chip?
      I haven’t done credit cards for more than 15 years but I’m just curious.

      • John Venlet March 1, 2022, 11:26 AM

        How do you know it has an RFID chip?

        Most, if not all, banks and credit unions are going to these wave your bankcard at the machine cards, whether it be simply a debit card, or credit card, rather than having to insert the card into a chip reading machine at checkout, Ghostsniper. It’s “progressive,” don’t ya know? People will be made to play the game by the banks rules, which are kinda like house rules in Vegas, hey?

        • John the River March 1, 2022, 11:55 AM

          I’m over ten years retired as a telcom engineer, which should mean that the technology has bypassed me completely.
          However, RFID technology was something I railed against at the end of my career because I felt it was inherently insecure. Even the RFID commuter monthly pass that Boston imposed was a ripoff. Walking past (at three feet away) the entrance/exit gates I saw them open and close as I went by and sucking $3.50 off my card each time. (Nope! Can’t happen! Said the MBTA)
          That attracted my attention. So I’ve paid attention to the whole “Contact-less” push to put these POS into our wallets ever since.

        • ghostsniper March 1, 2022, 2:57 PM

          John, can you tell by looking at it if it has the RFID?
          My wife recently received a renewed (Citi I think) card and I’d like to see if it’s RFID.
          My bank debit card has a chip but I don’t if it’s the RFID type.

          • John the River March 1, 2022, 7:40 PM

            The cards with RFID chips should have a symbol that looks like a dot with four right brackets “)” increasing in size as they go from left to right.
            But in these paranoid times anything I’d get in the mail that is to be carried in my wallet I would slam into a RF blocking wallet.

            • ghostsniper March 2, 2022, 4:49 AM

              Thanks. Yes, the RFID sleeves Dirk mentioned are probably a good thing. Can’t trust anything any more.

  • ghostsniper March 1, 2022, 11:02 AM

    Maybe we shouldn’t let Apple and Google have so much power.
    ==========
    I don’t.
    People that do are unredeemable and not worth further thought.

  • James ONeil March 1, 2022, 11:32 AM

    Put not your trust in Bankers.
    I’m moving around half my banked assets to a second bank, a local one.
    Stocks and bonds split twix two brokerage houses.
    Converting as much of my assets as possible into tangible, in hand, in my pocket, on my own property, goods.
    Utah, Nevada, New Hampshire goldback dollars look good, by the way, although the present premium is a bit high.

  • TN Tuxedo March 1, 2022, 11:33 AM

    It’s never a good idea to have the ability to access (and completely liquidate) all your finances by simply getting close enough to something.

  • John A. Fleming March 1, 2022, 11:40 AM

    Purchases online don’t require the magstripe, chip reader, or rfid. Not yet. My work laptop already has a chip reader installed for company 2FA.

    Purchases in the real world: piss them off, pay cash. If they bellyache, point to the “This note is legal tender …”. Make ’em take it. You’ll have to incrementally ramp up your periodic cash withdrawals so that out-of-the-blue big cash withdrawals don’t attract the notice of the banking orcs.

    • John Venlet March 1, 2022, 11:51 AM

      Purchases in the real world: piss them off, pay cash. If they bellyache, point to the “This note is legal tender …”. Make ’em take it. You’ll have to incrementally ramp up your periodic cash withdrawals so that out-of-the-blue big cash withdrawals don’t attract the notice of the banking orcs.

      All true, John, especially that last part about incremental withdrawals, as even $600.00 transfers of money now have to be reported by the likes of Venmo, PayPal and Zelle, so just imagine what’s going to be reported by that ATM you’re using in the future about cash you’re pulling out, or, the ATM may just refuse to do business with you if you’re “on the list.”

      • John the River March 1, 2022, 12:43 PM

        Correct John and John!
        I had build up a reserve of cash in the strong box, but with the Bidenflation that was no longer an advantage. So I’ve been drawing it down in much the same way you have indicated.

        BTW. Off-topic. I always knew this day would come but it was still a shock. I was being bent, folded and (almost) spindled by a new young PT therapist when during the idle conversation that goes on while your leg is being bent backwards towards your ear she responded to my mention of December 7th as a momentous event; “What happened then on that day?”. Seriously.
        What the Hell passes for American History in todays High Schools and Colleges?

        • ghostsniper March 1, 2022, 3:00 PM

          About a year ago I started giving myself a paycheck every friday of $300 – the most I can get from the ATM at one time. It’s added up to a sizeable batch of ever increasingly worthless paper. But it’s right here in a desk drawer and not held by someone else. Been buying silver coins too.

          • John the River March 1, 2022, 7:42 PM

            turn the paper into silver…
            If you can get it.

            • ghostsniper March 2, 2022, 4:51 AM

              Been doing both. jmbullion.com

    • Mike Anderson March 1, 2022, 12:00 PM

      I’ve long claimed that Real Texans pay cash. I pay my plumbers, electricians, and repair folks cash, and–what a surprise!–there’s never a wait when I need service. “I’ll be over later today. Is 4pm OK?”

      Always tip with cash. That tip is a conversation between me and my server. Not the rest of the restaurant staff, not the manager or owner, and certainly not the IRS. My wife likes to get cute with this for the holidays; she tips with bills folded into origami.

    • azlibertarian March 1, 2022, 12:55 PM

      …”This note is legal tender …”. Make ’em take it.

      I wish what you say was so, but merchants have the right to refuse cash. That note really has to do with debts owed to governments.

      • John A. Fleming March 1, 2022, 2:03 PM

        “… LEGAL TENDER FOR ALL DEBTS, PUBLIC AND PRIVATE”, it says on the greenbacks. Yes, you are right, they can refuse to take cash, so you walk over to the Manager’s desk and try to give it to the Manager instead of the checkout person. If they still refuse, now you know which merchant not to patronize. You could always try a cashier’s check, but that’s an annoying time sink.

        Ask first when you come in to the merchant, don’t waste your time fighting them.

        Some online retailers will let you send them a check, cashier’s or personal, when you are checking out. That way, you prevent the bank from finding out, tracking, and reporting the itemized list of parts you have purchased. All they know is the retailer’s name.

        And always ask for the cash discount.

        • azlibertarian March 1, 2022, 3:16 PM

          It isn’t my rule, but it is a rule, or more precisely, the absence of a rule……

          …There is no federal statute mandating that a private business, a person, or an organization must accept currency or coins as payment for goods or services. Private businesses are free to develop their own policies on whether to accept cash unless there is a state law that says otherwise…..

          federalreserve.gov/faqs/currency_12772.htm

  • enn ess March 1, 2022, 11:52 AM

    The insane push for all the internet traded bitcoin, crypto currencies of various kinds, digital currency, emphasis on a cashless society, can be summed up in one single word – CONTROL.
    It all comes down to ultimate gommermint control of every single facet of your life. Nothing more.

    • Brian_E March 6, 2022, 9:52 AM

      The problem with not dealing with cash (assuming electronic payments of some sort or another), is that the government can stop your account(s) from being used – leaving you effectively penniless, and only able to barter and/or rely on your reputation as collateral – for whatever it is that you may need.

      Cash, and hard currencies (precious metals and other things with tangible value) can be held and used WITHOUT GOVERNMENT PERMISSION. That’s why governments HATE cash and cash equivalents – because they cannot control them, and by extension – YOU.

      If things continue to go downhill here and abroad, don’t be surprised to find some day that you will have lost access to any ‘money’ that you have ‘on account’ at banks or investment firms – either temporarily, or even permanently – if you are not in favor with the current administration.

      People called me crazy for saying things like that – until the Canadian ‘Emergencies Act’ did EXACTLY THIS to the truckers parked in the city of Ottawa, and more recently in Russia for Visa/MC. Don’t let this happen to you! Keep some cash on hand, and if possible, at least some of your wealth in precious metals: copper, silver, gold, and brass and lead. Shelf stable foods are good too, just harder to carry around – and have the added benefit of providing ‘food independence’ – should the ‘supply chain interruptions’ get worse. And they will, barring divine intervention.

      Plan accordingly!

  • Dirk March 1, 2022, 12:12 PM

    Consider a local tiny Credit Union. “Members owned”, were told G7 rules don’t apply. We use one, for twenty plus years now. The only down side we’ve discovered is when we travel, we need to notify the CU which states we are visiting/ traveling thru,,,,, when we’re leaving and when we’re returning.

    We carry our cards between RFID, shields. Not exposed. My new wallets supposed to be RDI
    F shielded aswell.

    Who knows. Here it’s never been a problem.

  • Casey Klahn March 1, 2022, 1:17 PM

    The Canadian truckers event showed the next level Twilight Zone scenario of all-of-a-sudden your bank account is frozen. Perhaps the ATM eats your card, or maybe they don’t do you that favor any longer – perhaps they just wipe your chip. We should’ve seen this after 1/6 but that draconian authoritarian nightmare has been covered up like a bad smell. The govt. finds your social posts and your purchase of an airline ticket to go to DC and [fuckyou] your money’s gone and here’s a plainclothesman at your door.

    Watching Russian school kids get turned away at the metro might be humorous and I’d say go for it, except it cuts both ways. A currency kill switch works both ways: you like it on your enemy and then suddenly you’re the enemy of the state.

    My favorite dystopian future nightmare is the kill switch they want in your car. Merging on the freeway into heavy traffic? Kill switch.

    OK cash is king but soon money will be worthless. Confederate bills.

  • gw March 1, 2022, 2:32 PM

    Governments have decided some time ago that a financial digital ID is the future. It can allow them to control choice and limit resistance. Cash is inconsistent with that model.

    The ID can be tied to all financial transactions and can be used to derive a social credit score not unlike the Chinese model.

    Canadian banks are advancing this project and U.S. banks and others will probably not be far behind.
    Governments sought to accomplish this through vaccine passports but seem to now believe that a financial solution is more feasible.

    Your location, travel, attendance, actions, associations, internet activity, purchases and sales, etc., could be monitored and controlled. You can be rated as anywhere from being acceptable to outcast. Your rights and privileges can be allocated or withdrawn accordingly without due process.

    You may recall: “And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.” (Revelation 13:17).

    It would appear our governments take guidance from some questionable sources. The media will inform you of all the benefits to a cashless society, and that there is nothing to worry about.

  • Sid V March 1, 2022, 5:28 PM

    The stunt Castreau pulled with the truckers opened my eyes even wider as to the path we’re on. Not that I had any respect for government (and the feds in particular) in the first place, but I will definitely never look at my government the same way again after that. Dark days ahead. Especially if you engage in any wrongthink like we all seem to do here.

    Libs eat this shit up because IT’S ALL ABOUT CONTROL and so you know this is only going to get worse. My brother in law is a big lib. Loves him some NPR and is all in with the cashless society as he explained to me a couple months back, so they must be pushing this garbage 24/7.

    • ghostsniper March 2, 2022, 4:54 AM

      Your BIL will gut you like a fish given half a chance. Better create an unpassable canyon between you and him while you still can.