AP: In Sweden Cash Is King No More

Careful, bud. I've seen people on this very forum be reported to the FBI by other members for making nearly identical statements.

 

Liberals love this. If someone displeases the govt, the dictator can just have all their accounts zeroed and they can't buy anthing.

 

"The dictator" hypothetically already could do this. He could make all of the money you have disappear except for whatever currency you may happen to have on your person at the moment he does it. I'm pretty sure that most dollars are digital already.

 

Such a person probably only deals in cash already, or isn't smart enough to tak on the government to begin with.

Take away cash, and you take away the ability of yourself and others to convert their currency to cash. You take away the possibility of even trying to prepare for the government before they freeze your account. The government already has a lot of power to look into and freeze your accounts, this is no reason to hand the rest over.

I hope the have the ability to make anonymous accounts. Problem is getting money into the account without giving yourself away.

 

Make it totally digital and then anonymous can wreck havoc.

 

If the government has the ability to look through your bank account I assure you they also have a warrant to search your house most likely.

 

I'm not talking about today's government, which is (theoretically) just, fair, and would not look through your bank account without a search warrant.

I'm talking about the hypothetical future government that might not be so just and fair. 10, 20, 50, or 500 years for from now, such an action as this is taking away the ability of future generations to act in anonymity. This may not be important for us today when our governments are just and act by the rule of law, but it takes away the tools for the future generations.

 

A hypothetical future government that would be so corrupt as to search your bank account without a warrant would also search all your other possessions. Physical money doesn't protect you.

 

Assuming such a government had the resources to look through all the physical belongings of everyone in their jurisdiction. It's unlikely even a government of the future has the time and resources to do that, and it's much easier to hide things physically... bury it under your house, leave it at a friends house, within a secret compartment. There are a variety of non-sophisticated means by which people can hide things and act anonymously, such as to not raise the suspicion of their government.

Making money all digital hands all the information over to them on a silver platter. Maybe I'm wrong, but this doesn't strike me as the type of theory we need to test. I'd rather be safe than sorry.

 

I suppose it's ok to have something like this in Sweden or Finland, but I don't think it would work so well here.

 

Actually... Gold standard people should be happy about this. If cash disappears, multiple barter systems will soon develop, likely with silver/gold and other rare items as a base.

 

"A hypothetical future government"????

They do this right now, today. Ever hear of a National Security Letter?

 

I suspect a new currency will develop for black-markets.