The Illusion of Money

We have discussed on a number of occasions how the cash in your wallet is nothing more than a representation of money (gold) - well, it used to be a representation of money, until 45 years ago today. It's interesting on the anniversary of Nixon "temporarily" closing the gold window that CBS is running a story about retail stores no longer accepting hard cash as payment. The dollar in your wallet used to represent gold, today they represent your belief they hold some type of value. Well, the value they hold belongs to you and your future labor. As long as you continue working and paying taxes that is the total value of the dollars in your wallet - future labor/future tax collections.

What is happening today, with technological changes of all kinds coming online everyday, is a major transformation. We are rapidly moving away from a "representation" of money (gold) to an illusion of money - plastic cards, online payments and mobile payments using your phone. This is an illusion of money/currency. The actual currency doesn't exist, only a belief that your "credits" have value. In my opinion this is extremely dangerous ground. We have discussed this on a number of occasions how your "credits" can be easily manipulated and your digital world completely disrupted. I would prefer to place that level of faith into something much larger than myself and a bunch of wires and lights producing zeros and ones to tell me how many "credits" I posses.

As CBS reported:

To get a glimpse of the future of commerce in America, look no further than Sweden.

The Scandinavian country is largely a cashless society, with consumers relying on mobile phone payments or plastic. While the U.S. is still far from achieving the same level of cash-free existence, increasing numbers of restaurants and retailers are now snubbing the lowly dollar bill.

Some merchants such as SweetGreen, a salad chain, refuse to open their registers for cash, telling customers they can pay only with mobile payments or cards. With some newer vending machines, only a card or mobile wallet will get that cold Coca-Cola to roll down the chute.

The stance may appear un-American -- after all, currency is considered legal tender for all debts or dues -- but the Treasury permits private businesses to set their own policies, which means going cashless is fine with Uncle Sam.

"What we've seen is a push toward electric payments because of convenience, especially for Generations X and Y and onward," said Greg Burch, vice president of strategic initiatives as Ingenico Group, which makes payment systems for merchants. "The phone has become more personal than the wallet has."

What people fail to see is how easily our lives become property of the bank. No phone - sorry, you can't eat, stay or do anything at this location. Network down, sorry, you can't fill your car with gas or pay your utility bill that is due today. Hacker breaks into the chain store or bank, empties your account, sorry, it will be 2-3 weeks, or longer, before we are able to straighten out the mess and replace your "credits". This is just off the top of my head! This doesn't really dive deep into all the pitfalls that are waiting for us with a cashless society.

Of course, the propagandist with the mainstream media will have no part of what I'm saying. It's all rainbow spewing unicorns as far as the eye can see with this bunch of bought and paid idiots.

See how this particular CBS "journalist" sings the praises of going cashless:

While going cashless is still at what Burch said is an experimental level, he predicted that more stores will be adding mobile payment options or their own mobile wallets, similar to Starbucks' (SBUX) payment app. The coffee chain's mobile wallet is gaining in popularity: It now accounts for about one out of every five purchases.

Using cards or mobile apps is increasingly popular with younger generations, but stores have good reason to like the trend, as well. Moving away from cash removes the cost of storing and transporting bills and coins, which merchants like. It also reduces the potential for physical theft.

The downsides? One is a loss of anonymity because cash allows consumers to make transactions without a paper trail.

Another negative impact is stores that refuse cash may be effectively shutting out many lower-income customers. About one out of 13 U.S. households are unbanked, which means they have don't traditional banking accounts, such as checking or savings accounts. Such families tend to be lower-income and rely on cash to make their purchases.

While federal law allows merchants to set their own rules about which types of payments to accept, at least one state makes it illegal to refuse cash: Massachusetts. The issue came to a head recently after a rash of stores catering to well-heeled young professionals posted "no cash allowed" at their registers.

SweetGreen, the salad chain, changed its cashless ways in its Boston locations after learning about the rule, according to The Boston Globe. SweetGreen didn't return CBS MoneyWatch requests for comment.

The state of Massachusetts giving the "magicians assistant" a hard time. No problem. We simply want announce we are no longer accepting cash, we just want be able to make change or be able to break that $5, $10 or $20 bill. Problem solved.

This is the crux of the problem for the "masters of the universe" - a loss of anonymity because cash allows consumers to make transactions without a paper trail. This allows me to move about without other people knowing who I've spent time with, where I've spent time or how much money I have spent. With cash this allows a person to be a lot closer to free. Why is it anyone's business that I had lunch at the local diner? The NSA seems to think it's important and IRS wants to be able to calculate my expenses vs my income - ah!!!! see now we are getting to the real issue. Does my income support my expenses? No, well, we may need to audit your account and figure out where all this extra "income" materialized. Cash allows a person to be a lot closer to free. "Representations" and "illusions" of money will always keep us away from gold. Gold is money and gold allows a person to be as close to free as possible. People that posses gold are typically happier and live with a sense of calm not found in people who only posses representations and illusions as a shield for their personal sovereignty. Get physical and banish the illusion.