Here are two newsletters that I have found on the justiceleads.bravehost.com message forum and I thought that they were interesting articles for others to read and comment on. What do you think?
--Tony, from Virginia

IS THE GOVERNMENT TRYING TO GET RID OF CASH AND COINS?

What if everyone's money were on cards, all logged in a computer? Will the world be a better place, financially? With money on cards, the government is sure to know your every move! Everyone shops, whether it be in person, over the phone, or on the internet. Money cards can actually prevent the writing of bad checks. With cash on cards, will individuals be able to keep a better budget, knowing their limitations? People already have a hard time keeping track of their funds on credit and debit cards. And what about the right to privacy? Individuals may have nothing to hide, but with a card like this recording our every transaction, we have no privacy. There are just some things that we would like to keep to ourselves. Would you like for someone to know how often you shop at the cigarrette store, the ABC store, an intimate apparrel franchise, or an adult store? Although it may be a good source to possibly find alcoholics, fanatics, arsonists, and possible perverts, it does interfere with the privacy of those that are innocent. A card like this can keep track of everything you do habitually. It can help others know your favorite clothing store, favorite movie store, and your favorite hang-outs. How do you feel about it?
--From K. Renee, JLeads Rep in VA


WHAT IF DEBIT CARDS WERE LIKE GIFT CARDS?

How can banks help prevent a customer from receiving overdraft fees? When you use debit cards, it takes a while for some transactions to post on your account. If you are not an extremely cautious and organized individual, then this could be a problem. You can lose track of your debit card transactions and therefore lose track of your available funds. This can cause you to overdraft your account. If it is overdrawn by one dollar because of your doing, you will be charged a large overdraft fee. This can hurt your pockets as well as your credit. What can help to prevent this? What if a bank was to develop a debit card that functions like a gift card? A gift card automatically stores the current balance on the card after every transaction. Once the card's funds are depleted, it is not able to be used for any other transactions until money is put back on the card. If debit cards were to function the same as a gift card, this can actually prevent or reduce the problems of delayed or pending transactions, overdrafts, and overdraft fees. Many customers will fall in love with their very own debit gift card! What do you think? Is it possible?
--From K. Renee, JLeads Rep in VA

Recommended Answers

All 22 Replies

Yes, cash is dead. Please send your cash to me so I can dispose of it properly.

I like the option of debit cards and gift cards everywhere, but I also like to pay cash. Heck, I avoid grocery stores that discount purchases with their cards; it's too Orwellian for me.

I prefer keeping my money in gold bars :)

i put all my money in an old maynaise jar and then bury it in the backyard for 30 years.

In the Netherlands there's been a movement by banks to get rid of cash for years now.
They have now outfitted every bankcard to be a chipcard (as well as a traditional magnetic strip swipecard), and installed machines where one can transfer money from your bankaccount onto the chip. Payment is then anonymous, no information about the chip is recorded by the recipient (and on the chip only the amount of the transaction and a timestamp are kept for a while).
Since a few years the government is stepping into the thing as well by making ever more payment machines in parking garages and on the streets accept only chips (or to accept both chips and cash).

The system works well but isn't generally accepted. Not only do banks charge people to accept payment using the system which is higher than the payment they charge to deposit cash (why the heck do they charge for that btw?) but the chips are somewhat fragile (I've had to replace my bankcard every year since the chips were introduced because the chip was damaged rather than once every 5 years previously which is the normal replacement period for the cards).

It does seem stores are now starting to get into the system as well at last, as they're starting to refuse very small cash payments just as they refuse large cash payments already (in favour of bank cards direct debit).

People here in the US use credit and debit cards for all kinds of stuff, and there are many advantages to not carrying cash. Still, cash is wonderfully anonomous. Also, here in the SF bay area, when there is an earthquake the power may be out so credit/debit card systems will not work. In those cases, cash can be your best option. I've purchased groceries in a store running on emergency power and they would take cash and checks but couldn't take debit/credit cards.

you were lucky.
Happens here sometimes that the power fails in a store and almost invariably they'll be unable to accept even cash.
The cash registers use electricity, so do the barcode scanners.
And since the cashiers are all highschool dropouts who can't even add up and in many stores the items aren't priced anymore so without the barcode scanner (and/or the database server of product codes) they can't know the price they can't help you...

But then we don't get earthquakes and less brownouts than SoCal so maybe we're just less prepared for emergencies ;)

Now in the us, they are implanting tiny chips in peoples hands that they use to buy and sell! :eek: Now that's prity scarry for me cause I'm a christion and it sounds a lot like the mark of the beats! Not only that though! The have implanted chips into monkeys and made them fly fighter jets! My dad read an article from a reliable source that was talking about it. There was a guy working on it that said that once it was finnished he was going to do his best to dissapear as far as recards and identitys go! :eek: With the chip, they have it send brain signals to tell the monkey what to do. About that time a air force officer said to some pilets, "you guys better step it up, or you'll be replaced by monkeys"!!!!!!!
Belive all that or not, just don't be shocked when it hapens in your local store! My dad's freind is the distrect judge and she said she say it first hand! (and she wasn't some one to lie!)

I prefer keeping my money in gold bars :)

That's the best way to do it! And to think when the US started printing money, the outlawed owning gold! Good thing they don't do that any more.

Now in the us, they are implanting tiny chips in peoples hands that they use to buy and sell! :eek:

They're doing that in Europe too now. Problem is there's no single system so if you frequent several places that do this you end up with quite a few implanted chips.
Luckily it's just a few widely spaced bars and discos experimenting with it at the moment, but I think it won't be long before supermarket chains catch on and start using it for their customer incentive programs.

It's already been proposed the government start chipping all people to make them easier to identify if they're murdered or die in an accident without ID on them.
After all it works for dogs (it's now mandatory for dogs here or soon will be...).
That's of course a chilling thought, especially given the idea that these be made highpower RFID chips which can be tracked over long distances. Using those the police would just need to drive through an area and they can detect who is where and in which building. Big Brother coming to life in the name of victim identification...

They're doing that in Europe too now. Problem is there's no single system so if you frequent several places that do this you end up with quite a few implanted chips.
Luckily it's just a few widely spaced bars and discos experimenting with it at the moment, but I think it won't be long before supermarket chains catch on and start using it for their customer incentive programs.

In the US, they already work for all stores cause they use tham sort of like a creadit card. Also, they are going start to start putting chips in us pass ports so that from say, 5 ft away (I guess you don't use feet as a messuerment :) ), they can tell every thing about you that is on your pass port. And that's really bad for ammaricans because we are hated around the world. It's kind of humerous, go to like northeren Nicoraga, and say your an Amarican and they'll kill you... but if you say your from the US, they will be all freindly!

sorry, I said, "but if you say your from the US, they will be all freindly!", but I ment to say, "but if you say your from the Canada, they will be all freindly!"

Call me a Luddite, but I don't even shop at grocery stores that have a discount card like Safeway. The mere fact that they will give you a discount if they in turn get all your information shows how valuable privacy really is.

I'll pay more and use cash, thanks.

Not having an ID chip in your passport or in your body does not make you a criminal under any constitution I know of. However, it is in a government's interest (well, it simplifies their job), so they will advocate for that. I seem to recall a piece of paper with the words "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized." I like that.

I don't shop at stores that have cards ether. Partly cause I don't like the idea, and partly cause I'm only 14 and don't shope! :D

Chainsaw...
Obviously you have not read the Patriot Act...
All of that is out the window...

Along with the Geneva Convention...

Along with the right to a lawyer and access to the judicial system...

No Warrants or Subponeas needed...

Manual system is in still use up to today. It's has its own convenient way on certain transactions.

SNIP

In the US, they already work for all stores cause they use tham sort of like a creadit card. Also, they are going start to start putting chips in us pass ports so that from say, 5 ft away (I guess you don't use feet as a messuerment :) ), they can tell every thing about you that is on your pass port. And that's really bad for ammaricans because we are hated around the world. It's kind of humerous, go to like northeren Nicoraga, and say your an Amarican and they'll kill you... but if you say your from the US, they will be all freindly!

The trick with the new US passports is to whack them with a rubber hammer as soon as you get it. Americans are not hated around the world - only someone who does not travel would think this. If you say you are from the US, they used to say - we like Americans but dislike your government (this may have changed lately). RFID is a pretty common technology - years ago Benneton put the tags on all their sweaters; most shippers put the tags on shipments, many are putting then on the items.

An interesting 'test' would be to install a reader somewhere with a lot of foot traffic then broadcast the trigger-frequency (whatever they call that signal) and look at what sort of response you get. The way RFID works (dumbed-down for me) is a high frequency signal is caught by the RFID and some of the energy of the signal is used to power a lower frequency signal response. I would be interested in how much information we are unknowingly broadcasting.

Call me a Luddite, but I don't even shop at grocery stores that have a discount card like Safeway. The mere fact that they will give you a discount if they in turn get all your information shows how valuable privacy really is.

I'll pay more and use cash, thanks.

Not having an ID chip in your passport or in your body does not make you a criminal under any constitution I know of. However, it is in a government's interest (well, it simplifies their job), so they will advocate for that. I seem to recall a piece of paper with the words "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized." I like that.

I use cash when I can; I have 3 different Safeway 'scam cards' - none of which have any info attached to them (I never filled out the info that comes with the cards) - I mix them up and only use a particular one of them when I am going to use my debit card. The 4th amendment has been whittled at for years. Since cars, computers, cell phones, etc were not considered when the 4th amendment was drafted some strict constitutionalists do not think those items should be covered.

A bundle of cash is still the best way to a politician's heart and soul. Don't see how the government would ever want to get rid of it.

The trick with the new US passports is to whack them with a rubber hammer as soon as you get it. Americans are not hated around the world - only someone who does not travel would think this.

I hate how your stupid laws doubled the cost of my passport. We all need new passports now if we want to travel to the US (as well as getting our fingerprints taken and eyes scanned), at a huge cost to us. Annoys me, as i dont hardly travel abroad, but need a passport for work and bank stuffl.

I heard that GOLD was dead, I mean Lead.

Sincerely though, I was just listening to an NPR story today that spoke of the HOTTEST industry yet, $25 Billion a year.

The banks are using it, specifically the credit card people.

It's called Data Profiling.

They watch for odd transactions or habits or trends and react accordingly. In examples given, an increased bar tab, lawyer fees, massages in the middle of the week were all stress indicators of impending doom. In their behalf, they are just trying to avoid more card defaults.

As for me, I'm leaving my cc at home when I go partying from now on.

Thats nothing new, banks have been doing that for the last 20 years

Thats *why* store-branded cards exist and its how banks prevent fraud. They learn your habits, so that any suspicious activity is flagged.

As for me, I'm leaving my cc at home when I go partying from now on.

Thats generaally a good idea as you tend to get robbed / get drunk and push the wrong button at the cashpoint and take out £300 and then get robbed/lose it/spend it at tge pub

I just heard that same story - and it brings me to a state of hyper-paranoia

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