Why can’t we just keep cash and when we issue cash, we issue cash whether that’s an envelope of bills, or a direct deposit?

Agree with this. Humans/civilians are not government employees or public entities just by being alive. I'm probably not as big of an advocate for privacy as many of my peers, but trying to keep a public spending ledger of individual people is crossing a line.

There isn't enough cash to do that.

That's what I'll do...simply cash out the Fed account, and pay cash as I go.

Once fed "digital cash" dollars exist and can be used by everyone, including the unbanked, they have a plausible reason for discontinuing the use of "inconvenient" paper cash. After all, it's only used for money laundering, drugs, criminals, gambling, and prostitution. Who wants that stuff?!

Once that happens, there is no option whatsoever for trading with everyday people that does not involve complete surveillance, recorded and saved for all time.

Your movement at all times will then be reported in realtime to the federal police, provided you eat or buy fuel or water at any point during your travels (just as it is today if you use a payment card or contactless payment).

From 2010: https://www.wired.com/2010/12/realtime/

> they have a plausible reason for discontinuing the use of "inconvenient" paper cash. After all, it's only used for money laundering, drugs, criminals, gambling, and prostitution.

This excuse is already being used against the £50 note:

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/consumer-affairs/bothering...

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-48993008

I won't disagree with any of that..but, for example, if I pay rent in cash, I will cash out the Fed account to pay rent. The Fed account is simply a mechanism for me to cash out. But yeah, someday the bills themsleves will have RFID-like strands, and monetary privacy lost.