On The Write Path

Cash is anonymous; a credit card is not.

I travel the world... or is that travelled?

Most everywhere I've been they accepted cash... except Sweden... which was going plastic years ago (cashless by 2023 they say).

Cash is actually easier. I give you 100 dinari you give me burek! I give you NT$100 you give me sushi. I knew my numbers when I was 10 years old. But plastic. It seems easier until you don't have the right type of plastic, when you need one for buses, another for trains, one for food, a third to pay for the room... ah, Sweden... you're a p.i.t.a. Cash isn't universally accepted.

So you like paying by phone? Nice! You're also paying fees and your phone knows where you are and that means someone somewhere knows what you bought when and where. It's funny that Americans who demand "freedom" are so willing to give it up when $$$ are involved.

And yes, I do have a debit card for major purchases. I don't have credit because it's too easily abused. Try buying a plane ticket with cash though...

I pay rent by old fashioned check.

When I travel I always hide a $20 in the bottom of my suitcase. I also tend to stash a bill or three elsewhere. I keep track of my foreign money because it cannot always be exchanged easily in other countries. Except in Serbia... where borders with Bosnia, Romania, Hungary, Makedonia, Bulgaria... means money exchangers (it seems at every corner in Beograd). The dinar (RSD) is the only currency acceptable in Serbia.

Dollars are not accepted everywhere. Euros are not accepted everywhere. But neither is Visa or Mastercard or UnionPay.

So... in a cashless society, how does someone, anyone, buy anything without a smartphone, internet connection or a piece of plastic? They don't. I imagine myself sitting on the street corner begging for food because the money in my bank is worthless.

You might want to think about that in a cashless society.

~325 words

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