In our cashless society, we need to take digital jail seriously

Post by wrycoder » Wed, Feb 23, 2022, 4:17 AM UTC

anonAndOn wrote: post #123

forty wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can you pay taxes in cash? I don't think it's possible in my country.

In the US, public agencies are typically required to accept cash in any denomination. This occasionally makes the national media when a disgruntled citizen decides to pay their substantial tax or fee in bucketloads of pennies ($0.01). Private organizations, however, are not required to do so.[0] [0] https://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/faqs/Currency/Pages...

Post by shagie » Wed, Feb 23, 2022, 4:17 AM UTC

deathanatos wrote: post #407

giobox wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

EZ Pass website says debts can be settled in cash at their service centers. So yes you can settle in cash, but it is likely a massive pain to do as you suggest. Their site also says you can prepay your tolls in cash, to have account in credit, using the same service centers. I suspect almost no one does. "Cash or Credit/Debit cards are accepted at any of our Customer Service Centers." > https://www.ezdrivema.com/ezpa…

… so at the time of the example, I would have needed to travel ~3,000 mi, then. And… you have to sign up, get a transponder, keep said transponder in your car and allow them to track your movements with it. (Which, admittedly, they can probably already do by reading license plates. Might as well just broadcast it on radio?)

Post by [deleted] » Wed, Feb 23, 2022, 4:19 AM UTC

josephg wrote: post #228

nathanaldensr wrote: post #159

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is utterly amazing to me that despite all of human history being filled with stories of egregious human rights violations, lies, and propaganda coming from governments all across the political spectrum and world that people still trot out the "look, read this official information. This is proof!" excuse. How many more examples do we need before the opposite is assumed?

Eh. With 7.8 billion people on this planet, there is so much going on that you can find examples to support any narrative. Want examples to show governments tend toward corruption? Easy. Want examples showing governments working well? Sure! Examples showing citizens exercising power? Yep. Examples showing citizens being crushed under the heel of their government? We have that too! Black people being killed by police?…

Post by DON-MAC » Wed, Feb 23, 2022, 4:21 AM UTC

jakobdabo wrote: post #13

throwaway22032 wrote: post #3

The simple answer is to reject the cashless society. In the medium to long term it's simply incompatible with any reasonable definition of freedom. Surveillance is bad enough, but a system that allows governments to arbitrarily "turn off" thousands or millions of people at the push of a button is too powerful to not be abused. Even the mere existence of such a system has a chilling effect. Which I suspect is precisel…

> The simple answer is to reject the cashless society. No, that battle is lost. Cashless is easier and more convenient, it's hard to beat that. We need more constitutional human rights. It's not okay to take or freeze somebody's money/property without any court decision. Edit: some of the answers assume that I'm against cash or that by saying "battle is lost" I mean cash is gone; My point of "cashless winning" is tha…

Post by undersuit » Wed, Feb 23, 2022, 4:25 AM UTC

drsnow wrote: post #371

Nursie wrote: post #342

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a small business owner, why do I need to deal with the extra expense of taking cash? I need to hold a float, take security measures to protect it, take time to count up, take time to go to a physical bank to deposit, all sorts of extra costs in staffing or just plain time. And all for a fraction of a percentage of my customer base. It just doesn't make sense and I don't see why I should carry that burden.

It is a matter of principle.