Say wha...no cash accepted?

Creative edit, but you left out the "but".

Is it overly intrusive for the government to say, hey, we issued this U.S. currency. By law it must be recognized as legal tender in commerce and to settle all debts. Of all the dumb laws on the books, you're going to hang your hat on that as being unreasonable or overly intrusive?

When businesses refuse to accept currency issued by the gov't, it not only creates chaos, it also in a sense forces you to do business with other private entities/businesses in order to engage in normal commerce. It forces you to carry a card issued by a private company and to abide by that company's regulations and policy. Those companies can collude together under the guise of "it's just company policy, sir" to manipulate commerce, to enrich themselves, create monopolies in commerce. You may have a card in your possession, and cash, but at the point of sale the card you are carrying is not eligible to make purchases....."we do not accept American Express"....and you can't use cash, because fraud. Suppose you are out in the middle of nowhere and need gas, and do not have an option to take your business elsewhere?

Actually that would be a pretty good racket, wouldn't it? Let's say you purchase one of those gas stations out in the middle of a long stretch of highway in the middle of the desert. Your policy (which is subject to change at any given moment, still working out the kinks *wink wink*), you don't accept cash. Credit cards, nope. Any of the national bank debit cards, nope. The only card you accept is the UrFuqt purchase card. Don't have one? Not a problem, you can apply here! Application fee, $15.00. Upon approval annual fee, $125.00. Activation fee, $25.00. 35% interest rate. Minimum purchase required, $135.00. Fee per purchase, $15.00. Sorry, company policy. Just put all your relevant personal information on this here application, your SS# right there, and sign there. Alrighty then. Y'all come back now, ya hear!

I know, sounds pretty messed up. But we wouldn't want for the gov't to go getting overly intrusive into private business practices by requiring businesses in this country to by law accept US Currency. Besides, the government has more important business to tend to.....afterall, everybody deserves the wedding cake of their choosing, by law.
 
I buy everything on Amazon. I do not think there should be a law requiring that they accept cash. You do. That's ok.
 
I buy everything on Amazon. I do not think there should be a law requiring that they accept cash. You do. That's ok.

Amazon is a problem. They are in on it. And Alex Jones is a double agent propagandist stooge for the man. There, I said it.

But seriously, Amazon is a problem.

Anyway. Amazon's business model is electronically based. There are no brick and mortar stores, no physical point of sale locations, and you can't stuff cash into your hard drive when making a purchase. It is entirely different than going into a restaurant with nothing but cash money in your pocket and being denied service.

Everything is not black and white. As with many laws there are caveats, special circumstances, exemptions. I'm sure with all of the money (electronic or otherwise) that Amazon has to grease the wheels of justice, they'd be quite successful in getting one of them exemptions. If you go into a restaurant and order one of them soy quinoa kale burgers w/ a side of turnip fries, I support your right to if you choose pay using legal tender gov't issued cash money. I got your back, bro.
 
Honestly, the way we make purchases today and always have before now is going to change. Every time I go to the grocery store or coffee shop and have to wait in line to pay for shit it drives me crazy. Everyone just standing there wasting time. All day, every day all over the country. It won't be like this in 10 years. Amazon is already rolling it out with the recent acquisition of Whole Foods. A couple of those stores are being tested with proximity devices. You grab what you need off the shelf and leave. It recognizes the purchase and bills your account when you leave the store. In my perfect world, this is how I will make all purchases I can't get online. Walk in, grab my shit and leave. Not just at Whole Foods. Everywhere. My watch already allows purchases with participating vendors like Starbucks. I prefer it.

I still think places should accommodate all patrons but I disagree with the idea that it should be mandated by law. If I own a brick and mortar business I should be able to accept whatever form of currency I choose to accept. But you're more of a big government kind of guy so it makes sense that you would want to see a law. :laughings:

 
Mick is big government? Could have fooled me.
It's simply a matter of your choice overruling my ability to have one.
I enjoy being able to pay in advance for things, walk in and pick them up. (or even have them delivered to me). Like PIZZA!!!!
I can buy a pizza online, and have it delivered, or pick it up while I'm out.
BUT, I don't want to not have the choice to use US legal currency wherever I am in the US...that's just not right. Don't take away my right to have the pizza delivered (or me pick it up) and pay cash on site.
It's just banks at the moment. I can't hand you cash, but I can buy your cashier's check and use that...as long as you get your fee, and can track who sent what where, eh?
Sounds like government has gotten too big already (and in the pocket of some select business groups)...to me at least.
 
What would make Amazon.go even better would be if the app scanned locally for better prices and refunded your account sort of like the Wal Mart app is supposed to (welllll, it kinda does that. It watches for sales locally for a few days and if there's a better price that is or comes out it gives that amount on a gift card...). Even better, if it could do it real time and just not charge you in t he first place.
 
You know better than that, i'm not a big government kind of guy. Ooooh, i get it, you were being facetious! You kidder you.

I don't know, that Amazon go, some creepy shit right there. Just curious, how would you feel about just getting a chip implanted somewhere under your skin? You wouldn't even need to carry a card, or phone. Would make things much easier. Yeah? What if it was the only payment option accepted in your Amazon store? You game?

And fraud?..fugetaboutit. I'd heard something a couple of years ago that I didn't really pay that much attention to, because it didn't really concern me. I either pay cash or swipe the magnetic strip on my card(although at times now I am given no option other than inserting card so chip can be read). Those chip cards and the like, apparently they can be scanned stealthily from a distance, even when it is in your pocket. And what if your phone gets hacked?

Isn't all of this stuff a bit economically discriminatory and elitist? What if you can't afford a smart phone, or do not have the wherewithal to establish a banking/checking account? What if the best you can manage is to scrape up a little cash to feed yourself? I guess the homeless and/or panhandlers are screwed if/when we become an even more cashless society. Everybody avoiding pain in the ass human contact rushing around with their little plastic chips and smart phones. Where the hell you going so fast? Slow down and smell the roses, have some actual face to face human interaction. What a cold and narcissistic existence. I don't know, man, I don't like it.

Call me a fuddy-duddy, but that Amazon Go thing looks sterile, creepy and cold. Sad, even. Me? I actually talk to people while shopping and standing in line at the grocery store. Yeah, I know, crazy or what? Given that I am somewhat tall, sometimes even asked by little old ladies to help reach an item. The really weird thing is, I actually enjoy it all.
 
And what if your phone gets hacked?.

Well, the phone would have to be with you at the time you entered to store. I suppose if you lost your phone and the person that found it knew how to crack the password before you deactivated your Amazon app they could technically go into the store and shop, but that's an unlikely scenario. And besides, most people that use Amazon have the app installed on their phone anyways and if you lost it they could still go on a virtual shopping spree IF they could get into your phone.
 
So long as you understand the terms of trade of any particular establishment before dealing with them, I don't see what the big deal is.

As an ex-small-business-owner (pizza delivery - multiple shops in a chain), long before all these other payment options became available, cash is a fucking nightmare - leaves you open to robbery at a store level, you have to count it, store it overnight in a safe, you have to take it to the bank or arrange for it to be taken away for you - another risk - so I can completely see why business owners may say "no cash!" and so long as you understand that before you engage, what's the problem?

If you don't like it, then there are other places that will still take cash, I'm sure.

These days I work for a bank that offers this tech, so I have the phone app and I have the wearable band / watch attachment so I can buy my groceries or whatever by dinking my watch on the credit card machine like a wanker if I want to - if there was a serious risk of your phone being "hacked" then the banks would be really worried - but they're not, because it doesn't happen that much - the phone has to be unlocked. So far anyway, there's less risk of fraud with this payments tech than a standard credit card.

I can go to the beach and buy stuff on the way home because I no longer need a wallet, a card or cash, so I don't have to worry about things being nicked, etc. etc. etc. It's great stuff.

The US, incidentally, from what I read, is way, way, way behind many other places with the adoption of this technology too, so if you don't like what's happening now, fast forward 5 years and you're really going to be getting into a twist about it. What's called the new payments platform is coming soon too - peer to peer payments instantaneously via your device. No effing around with "What's your Pay Pal address? Oh, you don't have Pay Pal? Sorry, I don't have cash..." any more.

I still carry cash everywhere but I won't use it unless I have to because of credit card points. I know many people who don't bother with cash AT ALL any more - it's quite possible over here. They have their phone and they have their transport card and a backup credit card in a holder on the back of their phone and that's it. No wallet. No cash.
 
So long as you understand the terms of trade of any particular establishment before dealing with them, I don't see what the big deal is.

As an ex-small-business-owner (pizza delivery - multiple shops in a chain), long before all these other payment options became available, cash is a fucking nightmare - leaves you open to robbery at a store level, you have to count it, store it overnight in a safe, you have to take it to the bank or arrange for it to be taken away for you - another risk - so I can completely see why business owners may say "no cash!" and so long as you understand that before you engage, what's the problem?

If you don't like it, then there are other places that will still take cash, I'm sure.

These days I work for a bank that offers this tech, so I have the phone app and I have the wearable band / watch attachment so I can buy my groceries or whatever by dinking my watch on the credit card machine like a wanker if I want to - if there was a serious risk of your phone being "hacked" then the banks would be really worried - but they're not, because it doesn't happen that much - the phone has to be unlocked. So far anyway, there's less risk of fraud with this payments tech than a standard credit card.

I can go to the beach and buy stuff on the way home because I no longer need a wallet, a card or cash, so I don't have to worry about things being nicked, etc. etc. etc. It's great stuff.

The US, incidentally, from what I read, is way, way, way behind many other places with the adoption of this technology too, so if you don't like what's happening now, fast forward 5 years and you're really going to be getting into a twist about it. What's called the new payments platform is coming soon too - peer to peer payments instantaneously via your device. No effing around with "What's your Pay Pal address? Oh, you don't have Pay Pal? Sorry, I don't have cash..." any more.

I still carry cash everywhere but I won't use it unless I have to because of credit card points. I know many people who don't bother with cash AT ALL any more - it's quite possible over here. They have their phone and they have their transport card and a backup credit card in a holder on the back of their phone and that's it. No wallet. No cash.

Yes. This. Exactly.
 
Here in Korea- paying cash into someone else's bank account is a pretty typical way of doing business.

I got a parking ticket once.. and the ticket said- "go to the bank and put the money in XXX account. Get a receipt."
I wanted to book a club VIP style for New Years? The same--- "just put $XXX in our bank account to secure your reservation".

That said- they are hella controlled here. Money supply. Sim Cards, etc.. all on lock. You can't get a burner phone. You cant order a pizza online without Identity Verification. So I am not sure if I follow the 'This is how they control you" narrative. We are well-controlled here, even with cash. I think its more a- "the Big Corporations want the Credit Card Fees" kind of deal in America.
I's The Free Market at its finest.
A Cashless society encourages more spending, more debt, more interest, more VISA Machines, More $$$ for the Big Corps.
 
You're not the only one. :laughings:

They "control" you with a driver's license and a tax payer ID. Mick thinks the government is out to get him.

Uh, did you read the entirety of his post other than what you quoted? Personally, I don't care to be "well controlled", thank you very much. However, on the other hand, in Korea there doesn't seem to be a problem if you go into a bank and deposit cash money into an account which is not your own. That is the type of circumstance which started this thread, here (in Bank of America) you can't.

Proper identification is at times logical and necessary. As I said, things are not always black and white. But this isn't Korea. The US wasn't founded on the principle of a well controlled citizenry. Quite the opposite. It was founded on the principle of a well controlled government. I like it that way. It is not and should not be necessary that I explain why I like it that way.

Funny, 99% of the time when I make a purchase using a credit or bank card, they never ask for proper ID. Some businesses are now only accepting cards for payment, no cash, because fraud? It's about choices, the freedom to use legal government issued paper currency if that is what you choose. Others may choose to use a card. Some may not care if there is the potential for their every purchase to be tracked, recorded, shared....how much alcohol you purchase/drink, what you eat, when you shop/drink/eat, if/how much you smoke, how much gasoline you consume, etc etc etc. If there was ever a total gov't take over of health care, i'm sure the gov't would be very much interested in some of that personal information.You might say, fine, I don't have anything to hide. Yeah, that's a slippery slope, and dumb.

Here's some Bob Seger for the head.

 
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How old are you, Mick? I'm not a young man but it seems like the older the person the less trusting of technology they are. I'm not looking to insult you I'm just curious. The US is behind Korean technology but we're heading in that direction so you might need to get used to it. Unless you're old. Then you might avoid the inevitable.

---------- Update ----------

BTW, I fucking LOVE Bob Seger,
 
BTW, I fucking LOVE Bob Seger,

Man, for a loooong time I was done with Bob Seger, was over it, didn't want to hear it. About 2 years ago for whatever reason I pulled one up on the yootoobs. What're you gonna do, the voice, the song writing, the spirit, the dude had it. There is also a certain amount of Americana attached to and expressed through it. I like it.

Just between you and me (wink wink), I'm 55, just turned.

I know it is coming. That doesn't mean I have to like it, or it's for the best. One cannot deny the awesomeness of some of the new technology, the internet is great. That doesn't mean all of the new technology is for the best, or has improved societal norms. It is up to we the people to proceed with caution, to keep it in check. But it ain't happening. Apathy.

I'll give you an example: A couple of days ago I logged into one of my email accounts. I get a message. "We have teamed up with (blah blah company) to better serve your experience. Blah blah terms of use requires you to agree that we can read all of your emails and share information blah blah blah. Just click here to proceed!" I guarantee you 98% of people agree to those terms. Is that good? I say no. Of course I can always choose to use a different email provider. But what if this one does it, and that one does it, so all of them adopt that terms of use policy? After all, 98% of people don't have a problem with having the content of their personal emails being read, analyzed, and shared by people and companies that don't give a shit about you other than what can be gleaned from your email content. I don't like it. I don't know why anybody would. Actually I really don't think it is a question of whether they like it or not, they just don't care. What is the harm? Only old paranoid freaks who can't seem to keep up with the times care about such things as choice, privacy, freedom.

I'm telling you, with AI coming, it ain't gonna be good. I'll probably be dead by then. Good.
 
Man, for a loooong time I was done with Bob Seger, was over it, didn't want to hear it. About 2 years ago for whatever reason I pulled one up on the yootoobs. What're you gonna do, the voice, the song writing, the spirit, the dude had it. There is also a certain amount of Americana attached to and expressed through it. I like it.
.

Definitely!

Just between you and me (wink wink), I'm 55, just turned.

.

I'll be 48 Saturday so we're close. I have embraced technology. I work with it and trust it. It makes lives easier and more convenient. Just a different view of it though and that's ok. I hate targeted advertising more than anything but if I need to know something I always google it then get a related ad on Twitter or Instagram the next day. lol.
 
Happy early B-day, dude.

I agree to a certain extent. Technology makes things easier and more convenient. But sometimes easier and more convenient results in laziness, apathy, and compromise of that which we should not. Who in the days of old with snail mail would we have been okay with someone opening reading and sharing our mail in transit? Now that email is easier than snail mail we should be okay with such invasions of privacy? That is crazy, in no way should we be okay with such practices. Step by step we are allowing this shit to happen, with a shrug. Embrace the technology doesn't make it okay. At what cost?

A sort of funny thing: A while back some kid came here to HR.com and posted a video of another kid playing a song on an acoustic guitar. He requested for someone here to help him learn the song. I learned the song. The best I could I wrote out tab for the kid. I wrote it out upside down...ha...oops. I'm not a tab guy. Aaanyway. The consensus from myself and others who commented, why can't you learn it yourself? You've heard it, liked it, and searched out the song on the net. You can listen and watch someone sitting right there before you playing the song....it's right there before your eyes! You're being lazy. And he was.

Back in our day we learned that shit on our own, by ourselves, from albums/recordings. Practice. We had to train our ears to listen, to tune out and focus on the parts we wanted to learn, be it guitar bass or keys(and walk 5 miles to school in the pouring rain or snow, uphill, both ways..ha).

But you get the point. Technology has made that kid and millions upon millions of others lazy. It is not enough that he can go on the internet and pull up a recording of the song at will, or find someone who is actually playing the song very clearly on video, sit and watch his fingers and take as long as it necessary to learn the song. It's not enough, that would be too hard. He wants to use the internet capabilities at his disposal to go on a musician's website, post the video, have someone else learn the song and hand feed it to him.....embracing that technology, he is.

Eh, anyway. Hope you have something fun planned for your birthday, EZ. Saturday night, sweet!
 
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