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I totally agree, but I wonder if physical cash is really the only way get there. I fear that trying to keep a cash infrastructure in place will turn out to be

I totally agree, but I wonder if physical cash is really the only way get there. I fear that trying to keep a cash infrastructure in place will turn out to be a futile effort because it is so expensive. Long before cash is completely gone I bet that almost everyone who needs it will be priced out of actually using it. Also, cash has the downside of not being usable online. The problem is that I know of no government wise enough to legislate/regulate in order to keep all the very important things you mention. Right now these possibilities exist only because they are side-effects of the physical properties of cash. I suspect that once we really do lose cash, some sort of grass roots replacement will emerge (cryptocurrencies?). The danger is that it will be something that lends itself to money laundering and tax evasion on a grand scale. That would make it far too high risk for the purposes you're talking about. The best solution I can think of is a constitutional right to make and receive smallish payments anonymously and a constitutional obligation for all vendors to accept one such form of payment that is available to everyone. That would make cash one option without equating the struggle for a right to anonymous small scale payments with a specific solution that is easy to reject because it is so expensive.

username223 8y ago
I doubt you can ever eliminate "cash," but only make it worse. For example, prisoners can't have cash, so they use cigarettes or cans of mackerel as a medium of exchange and store of value. They're heavier and bulkier than cash, but they work the same. I think any barter system will inevitably develop a "cash," because sellers want more potential buyers, and buyers want more places to shop.
- fauigerzigerk 8y ago
  >I doubt you can ever eliminate "cash," but only make it worse. Isn't it pretty bad that you can't use cash to buy online? Cash is becoming far less useful than it once used to be because more and more things can only be bought online or cost a lot more if you don't.
sametmax 8y ago
No electronic system is safe enough to guaranty secret because it depends on too many other systems. It would just be a trojan horse for total control. In fact, it would allow big actors to pretend giving freedom while in fact having perfect discreet local control when they want. At least with cash, it's clear when you face a hostile system.
- fauigerzigerk 8y ago
  I don't think it is technically impossible. But the likelihood of pushing through the necessary constitutional changes to protect any right to such a system is extremely small. Unfortunately the longer term likelihood of retaining a cash infrastructure is equally small, at least as a realistic, effective and affordable option to pay for what people actually want to pay for.

username223 8y ago

I doubt you can ever eliminate "cash," but only make it worse. For example, prisoners can't have cash, so they use cigarettes or cans of mackerel as a medium of exchange and store of value. They're heavier and bulkier than cash, but they work the same. I think any barter system will inevitably develop a "cash," because sellers want more potential buyers, and buyers want more places to shop.

fauigerzigerk 8y ago
>I doubt you can ever eliminate "cash," but only make it worse. Isn't it pretty bad that you can't use cash to buy online? Cash is becoming far less useful than it once used to be because more and more things can only be bought online or cost a lot more if you don't.

sametmax 8y ago

No electronic system is safe enough to guaranty secret because it depends on too many other systems. It would just be a trojan horse for total control. In fact, it would allow big actors to pretend giving freedom while in fact having perfect discreet local control when they want. At least with cash, it's clear when you face a hostile system.

fauigerzigerk 8y ago
I don't think it is technically impossible. But the likelihood of pushing through the necessary constitutional changes to protect any right to such a system is extremely small. Unfortunately the longer term likelihood of retaining a cash infrastructure is equally small, at least as a realistic, effective and affordable option to pay for what people actually want to pay for.