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Danish supermarket chain is setting up "Emergency Stores"

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Re: Danish supermarket chain is setting up "Emergency Stores"

#251

Post by ReptileMan »

ochrist wrote: post #227
ReptileMan wrote: post #162

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>We as a country are exposed to being attacked by Russia. No you are not. First - no one can find you on a map. You are so tiny. Second for a conventional warfare Russia will have to go trough many many countries to get to you, no matter which road they take (also anyone that thinks Russia is a credible threat is smoking something strong - they don't have the capacity to subdue backwater as eastern Ukraine, let alone…

The distance between Kalilingrad (Russia) and the island of Bornholm (Denmark) is only about 300 km (or 200 miles). They don't have to go to 'many many countries' to get to Denmark. Please look at a map.

Ahh yes. The military powerhouse that is Kaliningrad - which to make any kind of buildup or resupply you have to trample trough two NATO countries. Or to sail Russia's nonexistent or pathetic (in best of times) fleet trough a lot of hostile waters.

Re: Danish supermarket chain is setting up "Emergency Stores"

#252

Post by dijit »

guappa wrote: post #248
nandomrumber wrote: post #246

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What does gender have to do with this conversation?

Unfortunately there is no term for "stop explaining my own country to me", but there are similarities with that other situation so… a rhetorical figure? Heard of those?

There was a term: condescending, which is ironic because you were being quite condescending in your reply to me about my observed experience being somehow a personal choice.

I could write a huge diatribe of statistics and behaviours that back me up, it's quite public that even in 2022 across the entire country only 8% of transactions were made in cash- which is even lower in the cities. https://www.riksbank.se/globalassets/media/rapporter/betalni...

And it's also quite well known that many independent businesses do not accept cash (my Coffee Shop, the restaurants I frequent (Quan in Malmo, Marvin in Malmo)).

And yes I've visibly seen cashiers recoil after putting a transaction through to the payment terminal; only to have the person tell them that they'd rather pay in cash (leading to the cashier becoming flustered).

Yes, it's more common that old people use cash (from my observed experience) but increasingly they're using debit cards (not mobile payment methods like younger folks), but no: the country is pretty much cashless; and coming from the UK (where not accepting cash is definitely a more controversial decision outside of London): here it's seen as pretty normal to say "no cash" or "cash free".

Speaking for: Stockholm, Malmo, Gothenburg, Lund, Sundsvall, Oskarshamn and Umeå, and after being in the country for 11 years. I'm not sure what other representation I should be seeing.

Talking about my personal observed experience doesn't invalidate yours, but it feels like I can speak for the overwhelming majority of the population here.

And incidentally I'm also in Sweden right now (https://mrkoll.se/person/Jan-Martin-Harris-Harasym-Kattsunds...); if you'd like me to document a day trying to use only cash I'll let you know how it goes. But I won't be able to get to work (Malmo Busses do not take cash) and I won't be able to eat at any of the restaurants in Malmo (Saluhallen and the others I mentioned above are entirely cashless) so I'll have to use COOP, Willis or ICA exclusively.

Re: Danish supermarket chain is setting up "Emergency Stores"

#253

Post by lm28469 »

jandrewrogers wrote: post #160
lm28469 wrote: post #152

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How would you feel if ww3 never happens and you moved from Sweden to Mexico for nothing? It seems like a major step down except if you have Mexican relatives

I dunno, Mexico is a pretty great place. You could do a lot worse than Mexico. Many people have moved there “temporarily” and then never went back to their native country. The lifestyle is legit. No one requires you to go to the famously sketchy parts.

Still, you're giving up on your whole life for an hypothetical event that's been prophesied since the 50s. If you wanted to move in the first place or had family there why not, but if the sole reason is fear...

Imagine leaving the US for Mexico in 1962 because the "cold war is about to go warm"

Re: Danish supermarket chain is setting up "Emergency Stores"

#254

Post by inigoalonso »

Barrin92 wrote: post #62
ambicapter wrote: post #35

Wait, so we're now approaching risk levels high enough that's its economically feasible for businesses to prepare for situations where their stores lose power, telecom, and resupply? Are we already preparing for land war across western Europe?

we may or may not but I don't think this is reflective of it. This is just the fragility of digital societies were one hack or outage can kill entire national payment systems. A few decades ago any store could run three days without power or telecoms. Here in Germany foreigners often scoff about how prevalent cash is, but to this day nobody has yet invented a payment technology that works without electricity, without…

The “no transaction cost” claim is doing a lot of heavy lifting here. Cash may feel free to the person handing over a coin, but only because the costs are hidden upstream. Someone has to produce those notes and coins, swap out designs to keep ahead of counterfeiters, move them around in armored vans, count and recount them in tills, reconcile them at the bank, and insure against theft along the way. None of that is costless.

In fact, many retailers will tell you that cash is more expensive to handle than card, because every deposit requires staff time and often explicit bank fees. Society also pays indirectly through tax evasion and black-market activity, which cash enables far more easily than digital systems.

You’re right that cash is robust in a blackout, and there’s something elegant about a technology that works offline, peer-to-peer, and without needing servers to stay up. But the idea that it has no transaction costs is not realistic.

Re: Danish supermarket chain is setting up "Emergency Stores"

#255

Post by mytailorisrich »

xp84 wrote: post #126
ambicapter wrote: post #35

Wait, so we're now approaching risk levels high enough that's its economically feasible for businesses to prepare for situations where their stores lose power, telecom, and resupply? Are we already preparing for land war across western Europe?

Yeah, in my humble opinion anyone in Europe that considers wider war breaking out to be farfetched is not paying enough attention. You can be forgiven however if you're a millennial (as I am) or younger, because the long peace has been so long that it seems crazy that Russia might start dropping bombs, say, on Copenhagen or London. "They wouldn't dare attack NATO" we would have said 10 years ago. But today, NATO is a…

Actually, those who remember the 90s and, before that, the Cold War see and understand that Europe is much safer now that it was then. The USSR was much stronger relative to Western Europe then. Now Russia is probably at its weakest relative to NATO (it might have been weaker in the early 90s but NATO had also not expanded to its current footprint).

Rememeber also that there was a hot war in the middle of Europe (former Yugoslavia) during the 90s with the US even carrying airstrikes on an European capital (Belgrade).

Obviously this does not mean that European countries should have weak militaries or not show strength. But the threat of Russia is overblown and used to manufacture consent in public opinion for more spending and more EU integration at a time when people already suffer economically and are already squeezed, and growing disatisfied with the EU.

IMHO, the highest risk of violent instability in Western Europe now and in the coming years is not Russia but mass immigration and islamist terrorism at large. And perhaps that's also partly why governments are trying to deflect attention...

> it seems crazy that Russia might start dropping bombs, say, on Copenhagen or London.

Yes, that is totally crazy.

Re: Danish supermarket chain is setting up "Emergency Stores"

#256

Post by 0dayz »

chvid wrote: post #199
jamesblonde wrote: post #166

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The worst thing is the lack of solidarity towards the danes here in Sweden. If Trump turns off Microsoft, Sweden will shrug its shoulders and privately say - thank god it's not us. yet.

It is crazy; but it is wake up time for us Europeans. We are already seeing US campaigns against judges and legal scholars in the Netherlands, Italy, and Brazil.

Mind sharing those articles?

Re: Danish supermarket chain is setting up "Emergency Stores"

#257

Post by arunabha »

chvid wrote: post #118

One of our biggest practical vulnerabilities is that our payment and electronic id infrastructure (nets, dankort, mitid) has been sold off to a private company (Mastercard) even though it was at one point a government owned and developed setup.

A lot of countries have learnt from this and maintain a govt mandated /supported standard for digital payments.

In India, the universal payments interface (UPI) has been hugely successful in providing instant, commission less payments for a vast majority of the population.

Similarly, RuPay is the common standard for credit and debit cards.

It's eye opening to see just how effective and impactful these two have been, particularly UPI. The smallest seller in the remotest village will likely accept UPI payments.

What's mind blowing is that all of this came about in the short span of just under a decade.

Re: Danish supermarket chain is setting up "Emergency Stores"

#258

Post by guappa »

dijit wrote: post #252
guappa wrote: post #248

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unfortunately there is no term for "stop explaining my own country to me", but there are similarities with that other situation so… a rhetorical figure? Heard of those?

There was a term: condescending, which is ironic because you were being quite condescending in your reply to me about my observed experience being somehow a personal choice. I could write a huge diatribe of statistics and behaviours that back me up, it's quite public that even in 2022 across the entire country only 8% of transactions were made in cash- which is even lower in the cities. https://www.riksbank.se/global…

Well I've seen a lot of incompetent cashiers. Especially in summer when the real ones are on vacation. I'm not sure what that proves besides that being a cashier isn't as easy as you might think.

I assure you that pressbyrån accepts cash and you can buy tickets there to get to work. Also having a long subscription for public transport on the phone is a bad idea, because if you drop your phone you'll also lose your subscription. And depending on how many days you had left and what phone you had, it could cost you more than the phone.

And handpicking restaurants that don't accept cash is no more a proof than if I were to do the same but handpicking restaurants that don't accept cards.

Re: Danish supermarket chain is setting up "Emergency Stores"

#259

Post by guappa »

BDPW wrote: post #242
guappa wrote: post #212

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's your personal choice. Doesn't mean stores don't accept cash.

Many many restaurants and stores never accept cash here. This would be a huge problem if cash suddenly becomes the only way of paying for everyone at the same time.

Stores accept cash. Some restaurants don't, but restaurants aren't really something necessary for survival.

Re: Danish supermarket chain is setting up "Emergency Stores"

#260

Post by dijit »

guappa wrote: post #258
dijit wrote: post #252

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There was a term: condescending, which is ironic because you were being quite condescending in your reply to me about my observed experience being somehow a personal choice. I could write a huge diatribe of statistics and behaviours that back me up, it's quite public that even in 2022 across the entire country only 8% of transactions were made in cash- which is even lower in the cities. https://www.riksbank.se/global…

Well I've seen a lot of incompetent cashiers. Especially in summer when the real ones are on vacation. I'm not sure what that proves besides that being a cashier isn't as easy as you might think. I assure you that pressbyrån accepts cash and you can buy tickets there to get to work. Also having a long subscription for public transport on the phone is a bad idea, because if you drop your phone you'll also lose your su…

Happy to hear of any restaurants that only take cash in Sweden tbh
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