Could cashless stores decrease crime

[Gannon]

And plastic does NOT decrease crime, it merely shifts it.

The biggest troubles I ever had with credit card fraud was after renting vehicles in Las Vegas...and buying gas at a few local gas stations. Twice in Vegas, my card number was used for one-way trips to Europe [[which, even beyond the wishes of the Fudgies, I probably would never take!), while the local gas stations for a while had someone scamming numbers into a criminal system that ran up a few cards...and emptied one debit card.

All of the problems were fixed...but only after the standard 3-month investigation delay. I have vowed to never, ever allow the banking system to have control over my cash/credit since. Of course, I then went on to forge my unique solution to identity theft by destroying my credit...


John

[hamtown mike]

Bank accounts create a trail. Trails lead to things. There are those who do not want to be found.

This is a great idea, however, as many posters have pointed out, it has many drawbacks.

I did some skimming. It looks like the coinage act does not requires private businesses to accept cash. So legally this idea works. see this article for more- http://www.slate.com/id/2151741/

Sadly, in practice I don't believe it would work in Detroit. There are far to many people who participate in illicit trades, run scams or hide assets that require cash in order to remain under the radar.

[Gannon]

That is a pretty ugly and largely false assessment, HamMike.

It may be partially true, but in no way represents the whole...whom you indict along with your assumptions.


Cheers, anyways!

[SWMAP]

The United States government has long wanted a cashless society. easier to track tax cheats and people paid under the counter when all transactions have a paper trail.

[hamtown mike]

That is a pretty ugly and largely false assessment, HamMike.

It may be partially true, but in no way represents the whole...whom you indict along with your assumptions.


Cheers, anyways!

Let me put the question to you Gannon... If going cashless is legal, and it appears as if it is, why, in your opinion, has it not already happened? What legitimate need is there for cash beyond the $10 bill in a birthday card? Would going cashless require people to actually "gulp" do something for themselves like open a bank account? I've discovered that the quickest way to not get something done is to tell somebody to do it.

Forgive my ugly assessment of the situation- you should have seen the original draft of my post. I realize my experience and perspective, among others, places me in the minority.

I will say that going cashless could create bigger street crimes. Instead of being mugged, I think more people might be taken hostage and drug off to ATM machines.

[Meddle]

If going cashless is legal, and it appears as if it is, why, in your opinion, has it not already happened? What legitimate need is there for cash beyond the $10 bill in a birthday card? Would going cashless require people to actually "gulp" do something for themselves like open a bank account?

In one word? Fees. Debit card fees, credit card fees, gift card fees, transaction fees, ATM fees, etc.

I will say that going cashless could create bigger street crimes. Instead of being mugged, I think more people might be taken hostage and drug off to ATM machines.

As I outlined a few posts up, to go truly cashless, there would be no ATMs that would give cash since there would be no cash.

[Gannon]

That makes absolutely no sense whatsoever.


Why would there BE ATMs if there was no cash...


You are programmed.

More people than you know need something tangible to keep track of...digits really don't mean shit to those who cannot even read...it is simply amazing how tiny some minds truly are...

[Detroitnerd]

Could cash-only stores decrease yuppies?

[illwill]

This conversation would only take place in Detroit.

Why should the status quo or standard be lowered for Detroit? We're just as good as any other city and a cashless system would be ridiculous.

Just another reason to stagnate the city. This is a band-aid solution to Detroits bigger issues.

[English]

Could cash-only stores decrease yuppies?

It has decreased buppies like me. I don't carry a lot of cash on me, if any. I have to remember if I'm going to be at a cash-only event or fair, and if I don't, then my money [[and credit) is staying put.

[Detroitnerd]

It has decreased buppies like me. I don't carry a lot of cash on me, if any. I have to remember if I'm going to be at a cash-only event or fair, and if I don't, then my money [[and credit) is staying put.

Oh, English. You know me. Tongue usually firmly in cheek.

Seriously, though, I hate the way discussions about "crime" are sooo retail. The wholesale criminals at the top never get time.

[Gianni]

Meddle I had the same idea. Eliminate all cash and you would eliminate most crime. It will never happen, though, because the tax cheaters and libertarians [[and libertarian tax cheaters), don't want their transactions traced any more than traditional criminals. And it would not eliminate all crime [[identity theft would probably skyrocket, and you could be held up or threatened to force you to buy something using your card. And tax cheating would still go on [[barter system).

BTW, there was an insurance agent who had an office in the Lafayette Park Shopping center for a few years recently. They had a sign that said they did not take cash. They are still in business, althought they moved to another Detroit location.

[English]

Oh, English. You know me. Tongue usually firmly in cheek.

Seriously, though, I hate the way discussions about "crime" are sooo retail. The wholesale criminals at the top never get time.

Of course! It's a shame. Yes, there are a few sociopaths walking the streets of Detroit. But many of these people are postmodern American society's dust. Where is the "Detroit revitalization" plan for them? Will we ever re-open residential mental health care facilities, or will people continue to have an out of sight, out of mind attitude? Will there ever be jobs that feed people who can engage in semi-skilled labor, or does everyone have to get an A in calculus in order not to live paycheck to paycheck.

I can't believe we're still asking the questions that Richard Wright asked in Native Son nearly 70 years ago. Are monsters born that way -- or are they created? Even more chillingly -- do we help to create them?

[kraig]

The best deterrent against crime is word of mouth amongst the crooks that you're not the person to rob.

Establish a very good catch and release program. But, you need to have a very thorough step between the catch and the release.

[ResurgetCineribus]

Removing cash from a till would only increase the stigma of an area like Detroit. Consider the ubiquitous bullet-proof glass throughout the city's stores; likewise one would have to have signs announcing that no cash is allowed for purchases. I'm not sure of the effectiveness of either, but these both definitely exemplify how an area is undesirable. It's easy to put such measures in place, but taking them out would probably take a whole new generational mindset. Unfortunately, in this case, it is mainly up to an insurance company, and I doubt they consider anything beyond the numbers.

[RickBeall]

They also have to make them mechandiseless.

[Gannon]

BTW, there was an insurance agent who had an office in the Lafayette Park Shopping center for a few years recently. They had a sign that said they did not take cash. They are still in business, althought they moved to another Detroit location.

My insurance agent during the 90s did not take cash...on Ford Road just west of Telegraph in Dearborn. Your myopia is showing...


Again, there is a SIGNIFICANT portion of the population that will be served the largest proportion of late fees and penalties because they simply don't have the ABILITY to keep track of digits on some page or screen. That is discrimination at its most blind...just because a few of you can do it does not mean that everyone can.

There is a positive function to tangibility. In general, if I have either time or money to spare...I give it freely to others...I've been that way all of my life, and this trait only became understandable when I learned about Asperger's Syndrome. NOW I make certain I tell those I meet and relate with that I have no concept of either until they run out.

That is the truth, and once I accepted it...and checked out of a system that merely loaded penalties upon what seems to be a handicap [[but is not, it is a total and complete BLESSING, but I digress)...I became free to discover novel ways to temper my cash hemmoraging.

I go to the bar with ONLY the amount of cash I can afford to spend that night. Period. When it is gone, I go home. Period. Take away my cash, then I once again have no limit function...so my solution would be to then simply find entertainment for free...or make my own.

Once I accepted this idiosyncracy of mine...I started seeing it in many others. I suspect half or more of the population has some portion of this same tendency. THOSE are the ones I'm arguing for with this discussion...take away the tangibility of hard currency, and the bankers win with their wanton punishment for not being like them. Well...[[avert your eyes if you're sensitive) FUCK THE BANKERS. Fuck them hard, they've been doing it to us and our ancestors for many years.


Sincerely,
John