I may become a wacky Chicken Little type character to most of you after this blog... or... you will just shake your head and give me a proverbial pat on the head.... like... "Good Smelmooo... now be quiet... you silly man..."
I have been worried for some time about the proliferation of credit cards in our society. It isn't really the credit cards that worry me so much -- it is more of the "credit" that worries me.
We have a standard in our society where we use a common paper money to trade and barter goods and services with each other. When I get a piece of that green paper, I recognize that it represents a value established by the United States government and, as a citizen of the United States, I accept the value.
To put it tangibly, the money used to represent gold but we went off the gold standard some years ago. Now, it represents "the full faith and credit of the United States government." The paper itself really has no worth, but it does represent a net worth if you will. I can take the $20 bill to the federal government and they will somehow honor this $20 bill.
WIth that said... money represents an abstract concept...a concept that 99.99 percent of the people in the United States accept.
With that said... credit represents money. I use my credit card in the local store and Visa or Mastercard offers the store money on behalf of me. The goods that the cards provide is an abstract concept itself.
Therefore... credit is an abstract concept of an abstract concept. With credit, you have officially taken the paper money, the first step withdrawn from value and replaced it with the idea of money.
I find this dangerous... but necessary. There may come a time when society completely rejects the paper money and replaces it with the credit/debit card.
I once heard someone say that we should move to a society where all we have is a card that debits and credits one big account... and get rid of money... oh boy... that is even scarier to me. Nothing will hold any value any more in our society and you will see the eventual collapse of society...
My brain officially hurts now... and to think... this whole line of reasoning all started when I noticed a sign on the local Wendy's -- "Now accepting credit cards!!" It disturbed me. That was one of the worlds of commerce where cash was essential.
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3 comments:
I happen to disagree with (what a shock)....I'm all for using less and less "physical money" ....I subscribe to EZPass, I use credit cards to buy almost everything, I barely even write checks anymore (electronic bill pay) and I think it's great. Makes it easier, never short of "cash" and it's up to me to be responsible with my money (credit).
I want vending machines to take credit cards, or maybe one day we can move to linking finger prints to bank accounts and cut out the credit card totally!!
Your comments are naive on a variety of levels.
1. The use of finger prints and eye scans is a scary prospect and completely removes the possibility of privacy.
2. The complete removal of cash eliminates the ability of tourists to effectively spend money throughout the country. We need them doing it. Spend your/our money!
Anyway... I would love to see a more reasonable use of credit cards only... and the use of cash... it makes game showes more interesting when they are playing for cash... how would the World Poker Tour look if the hot chicks brought out a measly credit card instead of the huge pile of cash...
Stupid...
Your comments are naive on a variety of levels.
1. The use of finger prints and eye scans is a scary prospect and completely removes the possibility of privacy.
2. The complete removal of cash eliminates the ability of tourists to effectively spend money throughout the country. We need them doing it. Spend your/our money!
Anyway... I would love to see a more reasonable use of credit cards only... and the use of cash... it makes game showes more interesting when they are playing for cash... how would the World Poker Tour look if the hot chicks brought out a measly credit card instead of the huge pile of cash...
Stupid...
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