Sweden's cashless society is no longer a utopia

Re:Sweden's cashless society is no longer a utopia by sparkie on Saturday November 10, 2018 @01:52PM (#18422821)

Another false comparison. There's a big difference between implementing society-wide regulations and unpersoning individuals.

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Re:Sweden's cashless society is no longer a utopia by jnurmine on Sunday November 11, 2018 @11:55AM (#18427257)

If the government wants to "unperson" someone, cash or no cash or electronic money, they will just come and collect you.

You having pieces of plastic/paper and/or metal trinkets in your pocket plays will not save you from this.

I understand the apparent privacy angle, but if you analyze it further, cash won't help in the presence of a malicious system. If the government cares enough about you to stop you from using e-cash/credit cards to buy or sell, they will also care enough to not let you roam free.

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Re:Sweden's cashless society is no longer a utopia by Paperweight on Saturday November 10, 2018 @02:34PM (#18423050)

And the black market is a key safety valve for a fully-functioning capitalist economy (like it or not).

Hell, even the USSR had paper cash in circulation allowing some privacy and trade between individuals.

Having solely account-based money under complete regulatory control amounts to a huge increase in what is practical to put under political control. It could drastically increase the incentives to ban and regulate trade in anything of interest to special interests. E.g. the pharmaceutical industry could finally get rid of herbal medicine.

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