Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Austrian leader proposes enshrining the use of cash in country's constitution

apnews.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

71–80 of 176 posts

Re: Austrian leader proposes enshrining the use of cash in country's constitution

#71

Post by mdp2021 »

reaperducer wrote: post #66
BiteCode_dev wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It helps with accessibility, not with the problem that cashless is dangerous for democracy. Everytime you pay anything with something else than cash, it is recorded: the amount, the time, the place, and the nature of the thing you buy. There is no way to go to a gay bar (or another place loaded with consequences) without a trace. And this is needed for human dignity. There is way to support a controversial political…

There is no way to pay for something when electricity or network goes down. And this is necessary to deal with crisis. I've noticed that the loudest voices in favor of getting rid of cash usually seem to live in places that have few, if any, natural disasters.

> natural disasters

Infrastructure does not fail only because of natural disasters.

Re: Austrian leader proposes enshrining the use of cash in country's constitution

#72

Post by peterfirefly »

reaperducer wrote: post #63
bruce511 wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It'll vary from place to place, but dealing with cash can be quite an expensive exercise. There are costs to depositing it for example. Plus there's a whole layer of security that happens when you have cash on the premises. If you have employees, cash also makes it much (much) easier for theft, fraud, tax evasion, and so on. It's pretty easy for employees to skim cash if it's coming and going. If the "cash" part of t…

And yet millions of businesses have figured out how to make it work for the last thousand years. Cashless advocates are always talking about how "expensive" cash is, but never quantify it. Is handling cash more expensive than credit card fees, for example? If it were, businesses like supermarkets that operate on 1-2% margins wouldn't take cash. But they do. Some near me take cash freely, but charge extra to use debit…

Are businesses allowed to defend themselves in all states in the US these days? What will happen to thieves -- will they be released by the courts? will the police even bother to come and collect them if the businesses have caught them?

Re: Austrian leader proposes enshrining the use of cash in country's constitution

#73

Post by pessimizer »

BiteCode_dev wrote: post #40
Vespasian wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What Europe has since a few year though is a right to a bank account. Banks must offer basic accounts to anybody (at nondiscriminatory pricing) and unless it's used for fraud or if the fee cannot be paid isn't allowed to close it. That certainly helps.

It helps with accessibility, not with the problem that cashless is dangerous for democracy. Everytime you pay anything with something else than cash, it is recorded: the amount, the time, the place, and the nature of the thing you buy. There is no way to go to a gay bar (or another place loaded with consequences) without a trace. And this is needed for human dignity. There is way to support a controversial political…

> There is no way to go to a gay bar (or another place loaded with consequences) without a trace. And this is needed for human dignity.

We should remember that this is also true about phones.

Re: Austrian leader proposes enshrining the use of cash in country's constitution

#74

Post by pessimizer »

FirmwareBurner wrote: post #26
noah_buddy wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even the founders of the US did not expect the constitution to be used so long.

Yeah, their successors saw the "an update is required for your constitution, would you like to apply it?" pop-up and they keep clicking "remind me later" button for the last ~100 years.

We still have a "Fugitive Slave" clause.

Re: Austrian leader proposes enshrining the use of cash in country's constitution

#76

Post by mdp2021 »

FirmwareBurner wrote: post #38
debacle wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a very good idea to not assume public representatives are incompetent. I've worked with many people in Congress here in the US, and I haven't met one that wasn't startlingly smart. It feels good to think they're dumb, but it is very dangerous.

Yes, privately schooled people groomed for political positions are not idiots in the classical term, and while he might not be incompetent at doing things that further his own agenda but he's incompetent at tackling present day issues as going cashless was never an issue in Austria to begin with.

> going cashless was never an issue in Austria to begin with

I have had requests in Austria to pay with a card: some pressure exists. After 2020, such pressure was on signs spread in the territory.

And Austria is part of systems above. Or, for example, does one still find bank cards without "Contactless" NFC in Austria? Please let us know - I am sitting in the car right now.

Re: Austrian leader proposes enshrining the use of cash in country's constitution

#77

Post by hackyhacky »

debacle wrote: post #37
FirmwareBurner wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not. The guy is an incompetent right wing a-hole who babblers populist ideas like this to get the people riled up like he's standing up for them with their best interest at heart, instead of focusing on the real issues that people face (housing, cost of living, healthcare, education, immigration, the economy, etc) He's basically the Donald Trump equivalent of Austria but instead of raising border walls to "stop…

It's a very good idea to not assume public representatives are incompetent. I've worked with many people in Congress here in the US, and I haven't met one that wasn't startlingly smart. It feels good to think they're dumb, but it is very dangerous.

If they are so smart, why do they say so many dumb things?

Re: Austrian leader proposes enshrining the use of cash in country's constitution

#78

Post by wolfi1 »

nmstoker wrote: post #64

I recall a trip to Austria as a boy in the early nineties and having it related by an Austrian (who dealt with international types/tourists a lot) that the opening of a McDonald's Drive-Thru located somewhat up towards the mountains near Innsbruck had not gone smoothly! It seems that the locals, being from long established farming stock, were aghast at handing over money before they got their meals from a different w…

it wouldn't necessarily be farmers alone, there is a saying "Geld gegen Ware", meaning I give you the money you give me simultaneously the goods, it's simply not usual to give the money beforehand

Re: Austrian leader proposes enshrining the use of cash in country's constitution

#80

Post by Acrobatic_Road »

culi wrote: post #43
thestevesie wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Me too, those large Tech companies in California harvesting all of your data are known for their support and donations to Right Wing candidates

You're being sarcastic, but I think you have a pretty warped perception here. Take a look at OpenSecrets' data on Google Inc in 2012 or 2014[0] for example. (hint: They have pretty graphs if you scroll down a bit). Notice that it's pretty much neck and neck for total contributions to dems/republican candidates? Facebook, who set a lobbyist spending record, has historically donated more to Republicans than democrats[1…

I wouldn't call a 60-40 split "neck and neck". And I don't think this counts donations by employees, which I suspect are overwhelmingly to Democrats (because what isn't?)
Post reply on HN