I live in New York City, where many homeless people rely on panhandling in order to get by. A few days ago I saw a Millennial woman turn down a request from a homeless man, saying, “I don’t carry cash.” I have long been concerned about the ramifications of our increasingly cashless society, like the ability of the government to lock down our bank accounts and ability to move freely. As usual, the poorest among us are paying the biggest price for what we’ve been told is progress.
Another Casualty of the Cashless Society
Ted Rall
Ted Rall is a syndicated political cartoonist for Andrews McMeel Syndication, WhoWhatWhy.org and Counterpoint. He is a frequent contributor to The Wall Street Journal, a graphic novelist and author of many books of art and prose, and an occasional war correspondent. He is, recently, the author of the graphic novel "The Stringer."
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The person saying, “I don’t carry cash”? More likely, “I don’t want to give you charity, but I want to seem like a ‘good’ person, too.”
But you’re absolutely right about the threat of a cashless society. And, frankly, I doubt it will take much time, if we ever reach that moment, for the economy to collapse. Once the whole thing becomes intangible? Something like this.