Woolworths Café (not the stores) has announced that they are going cashless. A PNA store in Johannesburg has posted a sign on their entrance that read, “This store will soon be cashless.”

Some applauded the decision. Others were indifferent. But most financially literate people on social media were outraged, promising to take their cash elsewhere. One X (formally Twitter) user expressed bemusement at the legality and constitutionality of a business refusing to accept bank notes that the South African Reserve Bank prints for citizens to utilize for the payment of goods and services. Another user pointed out that the move towards a cashless society is not only inevitable but government-sponsored; declaring a business “cashless” is just the fashionable government-approved way of moving forward with the broader agenda of making cash obsolete.

Where do you stand on this? Are you aware of the implication but passive about it? Do you feel powerless watching our society move in this direction? Are you keeping your business from companies that refuse to accept cash?

Without much effort, I can list dozens more philosophical, financial, ethical, and practical arguments against the state’s move towards ending paper money than I can for the benefits of going cashless. Simply stated, the dangers will come from 1] our authoritarian corrupt communist-leaning governments (their ability to track every cent you spend digitally and confiscate funds digitally), 2] the payment facilitation technology companies and banks (and their insatiable appetite to monetise and sell your data to advertisers), and 3] the social media giants (and their track record of using every psychological trick in the book to extract spending from you). This unholy trinity almost certainly leads to a scenario in which all economic power is handed over to faceless bureaucrats to decide which transactions are legitimate and which are not.

  • Perhaps you want to buy a book that criticises the government! Sorry, your card was declined for that purchase.
  • Perhaps you want to try an alternative treatment for a novel virus! Sorry, that medicine is not approved … card declined.
  • Or maybe you have a traffic fine outstanding. Sorry, your card at the petrol station has been declined until you settle your debt to the state.

Cash represents the last bastion of privacy a human being possesses. It’s not about a desire to use dirty mothball smelling old-fashioned paper currency. It’s a battle against complete financial surveillance and control. As money transitions to become exclusively digital, we risk losing our freedom, identity, and privacy. Consequentially, we become economic data points destined to be impersonal economic cash cows for the state and its shareholders to milk.

Your silver and gold purchase is no longer a money spinner! It’s no longer just a proverbial investment or saving mechanism. No! Those days are gone. Every ounce of silver and gold will become invaluable wealth that represents security and privacy in a world where the government knows the brand of toilet paper you buy. Discovery already knows how many times I brake too hard each day when I drive, but I digress.

Heed the warning signals others have given decades ago! Become more aggressive in your savings in ounces. Treat silver and gold purchases like your privacy depends on it. Because I suspect, very soon, it will!