NEW BOOK: THE WAR AGAINST CASH

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V21 2018 INDEX E-SYLUM ARCHIVE

The E-Sylum: Volume 21, Number 14, April 8, 2018, Article 4

In December a new book was published about the movement toward cashless societies. Here's a description from the publisher's web site. -Editor

We are constantly being told that we are on the cusp of a cashless society. The financial services industry would certainly like to see it that way. We are being enticed with contactless cards, mobile phone payment apps, and methods of bank transfer: all, apparently, for our convenience.

But as Ross Clark argues in this compelling new book, it is not in our interests to surrender the right to use cash. Commercial interests want us to pay electronically in order to collect valuable data on our spending habits, while governments would love us to move to cashless payments in order to control the economy in ways which suit them, not us.

If we choose to pay electronically, that is one thing, but we will regret it if we do not defend the right to pay with cash.

Here is a review from Currency News -Editor

Ross Clark is a respected journalist who has written extensively for a number of UK newspapers. He is also a best selling political author focussing on matters that are affecting society such as bureaucracy, globalisation and the surveillance society. In ‘The War on Cash’ he is perhaps more concerned about the future than the present, but by making the present danger clear, he exposes a future world not unlike that described in George Orwell’s 1984.

Each of the 14 chapters focuses on a different battleground in the war on cash, including such titles as My Little Car Park Problem, A Matter of Choice, The Cashless Nightmare, Who Would Trust a Bank?, The Negative Interest Rate Trap, Snooping On Our Shopping Habits, Finding Guinea Pigs in the Developing World, and What Would a Cashless Society Really Look Like?

This book presents the case for cash based on events taking place now right across the globe aimed directly or indirectly, at eliminating cash as a means of payment. What he says is happening is a programme of turning economies cashless by stealth. His plea – ‘don’t fall for it. Don’t let anyone tell you this is the modern way to pay and you are being a fuddy-duddy in resisting it. The electronic payments industry is doing its best to control us. We need to understand what is going on and do everything within our power to stop it’.

Someday perhaps, the usability and security issues will be well thought through and executed. But things are still a mess today, to be sure. The parking garages in nearby Reston Town Center are a nightmare from my standpoint - the last two times there I've nearly pulled my hair out in frustration trying to pay using their stupid custom app that takes several steps to set up. Maybe it works fine for regular daily users, but for the occasional user it's a completely horrible experience.

I learned about the book through Ursula Kampmann's article in the April 5, 2018 issue of CoinsWeekly. See below for a link to her article. -Editor

To read the complete CoinsWeekly article, see:
The War against Cash (http://www.coinsweekly.com/en/News/The-War-against-Cash/4?&id=5286)