In the midst of the current economic crisis, which some experts predict could last for several years, I am wondering if it isn't time to move toward a "cashless" society. Is that even possible?
Consider that many transactions today do not involve cash, but credit (e.g.- credit cards, online transactions, electronic funds transfers). We use bills and coins less and less. Why not do away with them as we are doing away with newspapers and other relics of the past?
There was a time in the distant past when there was no money. People bartered instead. It's been done before. With our technological advances, shouldn't we be able to return to some updated version of the barter system? Online barter systems are already in place; they are just not very widespread.
Even credit may be an unnecessary intermediate step between needing something and actually procuring it.
Finally, technology has begun to move beyond putting a cost on things and instead offering goods for free. My Linux OS did not cost me a dime, and all the software updates and add-ons are also free unlike Windows OS, which costs several hundred dollars. Wikis and blogs offer free information from around the globe. Can we look for areas where we could practically expand on this concept?
If we shared goods and services freely, I can envision almost doing away with the greed that has become evident in the contemporary marketplace. And I say "almost" deliberately. I don't think we can eliminate greed, but if everyone had enough, we could possibly control the effects of greed better than we do now.
Consider that many transactions today do not involve cash, but credit (e.g.- credit cards, online transactions, electronic funds transfers). We use bills and coins less and less. Why not do away with them as we are doing away with newspapers and other relics of the past?
There was a time in the distant past when there was no money. People bartered instead. It's been done before. With our technological advances, shouldn't we be able to return to some updated version of the barter system? Online barter systems are already in place; they are just not very widespread.
Even credit may be an unnecessary intermediate step between needing something and actually procuring it.
Finally, technology has begun to move beyond putting a cost on things and instead offering goods for free. My Linux OS did not cost me a dime, and all the software updates and add-ons are also free unlike Windows OS, which costs several hundred dollars. Wikis and blogs offer free information from around the globe. Can we look for areas where we could practically expand on this concept?
If we shared goods and services freely, I can envision almost doing away with the greed that has become evident in the contemporary marketplace. And I say "almost" deliberately. I don't think we can eliminate greed, but if everyone had enough, we could possibly control the effects of greed better than we do now.
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