CLUELESS REBEL

     Have you ever stopped to really question certain things you do in life. I mean seriously took a look at them. I rarely do but every once in a while I get tempted. When I do it often surprises the hell out of me. The cash verses cards was one area I found real amazing. On top of that I learned some stuff in the process... If you like money you might just find this interesting.  

     Now the "advantages to cash" list is a little awkward since it goes against all the marketing that card companies have been dumping in our brains for years. So it is good to consider that when reading the list. Otherwise your brain will just go blank. If you do notice yourself blacking out just chalk it up to being over-marketed on the concept. No different than if you think Tim Horken makes good donuts, assuming of course you never just moved here from deep in the amazon jungle.

Here are the advantages of cash.

     It's peer to peer and works anywhere any time. Hell you could be cold and starving in the middle of the Arctic with a lawyer and still buy his last sandwich and down filled coat for a hundred bucks if you had the cash.

     It is very fast and extremely convenient. No codes to remember, static blocking the card, or the terminal down etc etc. etc.

     You don't need a third party approval like your mom, dad, bank or credit card company before you can make your desired purchase. You make the decision right there..., all by your self.

     It works even if the power is down or you have no phone reception. After all you don't need to call mom first right?

     I walked into a very busy gas station recently..., their debit system was down and on cash only. Man you could cut the frustration in there with a knife it was so thick! Everyone was standing there confused not knowing what to do. I popped the lady a hunbill and proceeded to fill my truck.

     Not carrying cash is very dangerous!!! I have read numerous times now that NOT carrying cash can seriously cost you your life! If a desperate junkie holds you up and all you have is credit cards he is apt to shoot you so he has time to use the cards at least a few times before they get cancelled. If you pull out the cash he will grab it and run off to his dealer. Not sure about you but my life is worth a couple of Canadian brown backed hundred notes to me! This is apparently especially true in big cities. It is seriously no longer safe to NOT be carrying cash with you!!!

      If someone steals your cash then yes you are out that cash. Big deal. But seriously though... have you ever heard of anyone being robbed of their cash at gun or knife point?

     I am guessing no only because I have been asking people this question for over twenty years now and so far not one person had or personally knew anyone who had. Wait!!! I thought that was why I got my "in-convenient" card in the first place???

     After realizing that I got the "in-convenient" card to save me from getting robbed at gun point, something that never happens I started to do some math. First was the fact that the card cost me thirty bucks a month in service charges back then!!! At that point I had used that card for ten years. The math was simple. $30 a month for twelve months equals... $360. Multiply that by the ten years I had it and that was $3600. Now a guy could multiply that by five million customers and you would find out why the banks pushed those "in-convenient" cards so persistently!!!

     But back to the $3600. I could have been robbed four times over that ten years at six hundred a pop and still would have been twelve hundred dollars ahead!!! Not to mention I would have had some interesting stories to tell, missed out on less deals, and saved a ton of time. But apparently getting robbed of cash is more like getting struck by lightning..., twice, unless of course you like taking hikes late at night in downtown back alleys.

     Now if someone steals your cards though it is a whole new nightmare! That's when all hell breaks loose, assuming of course they never shot you when they stole them in the first place. Sure it won't cost you money since your cards are insured. But it still means getting all new ID and cards. Should be simple just take in your old ID... Oh wait! ... you don't have your old ID... and dang... you have a plane to catch... "Sorry sir ... You have to fill out these twelve forms and hike back to the end of the line again...." "Your replacement cards should be here in five to ninety business days". Not to mention you have to update your credit card on all 65 online accounts you have. 

     Of course it is reassuring to remember that all big companies are run by low paid workers who are not allowed to steal your data and give it to their friends to do the dirty work for a small cut in the take.... Heck... They could lose their low paying long hour miserable jobs for that....

     On top of that the truth is they only need your numbers which is easy for crooks with a little online hacking. There are hundreds of places where your card numbers and digital vitals are open to theft. Not like with cash where you have to go out late at night in the rain with a gun to hunt for someone. That could take days before you find the right victim.

     All this of course lead me to asking another question... Have you ever heard of anyone who had their identity stolen? Yup!! I thought so... Why because everyone I asked that question tells me the same!!!???. Another nightmare story about them or someone they know that had their life almost ruined because of it!!! Your cards and digital data are the keys to the back door of your life!!!

     The government hates it. Now if you trust your government then you likely still watch/believe CNN and are over the age of sixty. If this is the case then most of this below will seem like hogwash to you. For rest of you though....

     Seriously the government wants to get rid of all cash. There is a good reason for this. Once all money is all digital obedience will NOT be an option! This is something that you might want to stop and think about. Tax revolts will also be a thing of the past as will anyone not accepting their tax increases or paying their tax bill on time will just have their accounts shut down. If you don't think this will ever happen check out what China is already doing and they are a free country compared to North America. If you say something against the government over there you lose brownie points... Lose too many and they shut you down. Good luck hopping on a train when that happens!!!

     Oh and don't think you can count on your friends... If they never drink pale ale and you do yet all of a sudden pale ale shows up in their transactions then they could get shut down for assisting a criminal. Thanks to the beast it would take nothing to just ask it to spot any pale ale transactions where there were none before.

     Man could you imagine what governments could get people to do with this system???... OK maybe not..., after all you are human but believe me they could and would! In two days flat they would make Hitler look like Mr. Dressup!!!!! Of course by the time you find that out it's too late. On top of that you will be having the eye opening realization that humans still have not changed much since they invented the first club....

     Now of course if you are older they might not be able to convert you, especially if you are a free thinker, but they don't care. It is your kids they are converting. With the money they have and the power of modern hypnotic marketing your kids haven't got a chance in hell, unless of course they are hard core free thinkers with very high self esteme. After all if they don't "buy in" they could be labeled racist and never get a girl or boy friend!!! 

     The "nervous tinge". Have you ever noticed when punching in your card there's just a little tension until the clear beep sounds? I never did at least until I started using only cash a year ago. It took me a long time to figure out why using cash felt so much better. Finally I realized there was no "will the card glitch" tension. After all the last thing you want to be is like the lady in front of you who had to swipe her card ten times before it finally grabbed. All the while her "Miracle" turned hellion brat is screaming out an "I want candy" tantrum. Needless to say pissing off every hurried person including you in that line up.

     Everyone feels that tension at least a little without even noticing it. In fact you can even see it in most peoples posture. Sorta like when you were a kid and wanting five bucks to go out with your friends to a movie. ($40 now) It was hell right up until you mom gave you that approval if she did...

     I study physiology and love watching people trying to be cool about the "swipe" or "tap". They may think they are calm and cool but physiology never lies and you can see the change for a few seconds until it beeps. 

     With cash that never happens... You give the guy a hundred dollars and he gives you that stack of hollowed out bibles hiding handguns. Done deal. There is a cleanness to it as you don't have that little nervous attack every time you buy something with your card. Now even though my account had more cushion than I could carry out of there I still felt a twinge each time. Not any more when using cash.

     It took a while to notice these subtleties. In the last two years now I have only used my debit card once. OK for Amazombie which I used to shop on daily until I decided it was time to boycott China I had no choice. (That is another coming post that was the best thing ever)  But for everywhere else if there is a face there I use cash or go home.  

     Cash is private. Now you might not have nothing to hide but you definitely have everything to lose. Once your privacy is gone you are nothing more than a slave..., which is not much different than most people now anyway. Of course some people might actually like this. I'm not sure it's my gig though. Like most people I like to keep my business my business. If I wanted to expose my life I would try to get on a reality show. At least there I would be getting paid or potentially winning the big jackpot.

     Using cash is a lot of fun! Cash has an incredibly fun feel to it. In fact that's why all the banks like using images of cash in their marketing still. They aint stupid. They know humans like cash. They use it as bait to get you to come in and buy a card so they can keep the cash and charge you service fees. All while making your identity easier to steal!!! 

     Seriously though have you ever spotted a twenty lying on the sidewalk somewhere and no one around? You instantly feel like a kid! "Free money!!!" Everyone's, by far, two favorite words!!!

     Not only that but when I paid the guy for my Harley in cash he was grinning ear to ear. We had a few good laughs about banks,  middle men and other criminals. There is something human, organic, fun and natural about paying cash. Sorta like sex in a way. You want the exchange to be between just you and your partner. You don't want to be forced to get clearance with the local sperm bank every time you are going to make out!!!

     Now what happens when you spot a credit card on the ground? Have you ever noticed it is not quite the same. First, right after the knot in your stomach, you wonder if you should pick it up. Maybe it is a trap. Maybe it is stolen and you would have to explain to the officer that you just found it. It carries a creepy ugly energy to it. Even if it is just the fact that you know the person has the depressing job of cancelling the card and waiting for the new one to arrive.

     Now you could pick it up and spend half the afternoon trying to track down the owner only to find out they cancelled the card anyway. So you just wasted your afternoon for nothing. Even worse the people you track down think you are just the crook trying to dig up some reward money by saying you "found" the wallet. No their is nothing pretty about finding a debit or credit card... At least if you are a normal honest person.

     Missed opportunities. I can't remember the number of times I found the deal of a lifetime at a garage sale and did not have enough cash. By the time I raced around looking for a "cash cow" the deal was gone. I learned that lesson the hard way more than once.

     Helping the homeless. You know as much as we all like to think we "did it all ourselves" we seriously are just fooling ourselves. You may think you are a great self made millionaire but nobody does anything here alone. Not only that as good as you were you likely never made the fortune 500 list. Apparently the top twenty companies on that list from 20 years ago are long gondi. Shit happens. Life changes. Sometimes not the way we want. Thus it never pays to be too proud.

    Of course if you are using cash you will always have a little extra on hand to "buy a little good karma" off one of those "homeless street vendors". Because I am pretty sure they don't take credit cards!!! I have been doing this to buy back my soul for awhile now. I figure another 80 years and I will be home free!!! Oh and if you want to read something scary about those bastards check out my post on STREET BUMS. 

     Oh.., and according to my underpaid friend at the government who isn't supposed to say anything about what he gets to see in peoples files, your slate is not as clean as you are trying to convince people it is!!! Seems to me the good karma of giving could really help your case!!!  : ) By the way..... I didn't think you would mind him telling me after all you have nothing to hide... right? : ) Oh... and just a side note... viagra and vagasil are way cheaper across the line. By the look of things it could save you guys a lot of cash....

     One last picky little thing I found out about banks.  It all started when I went to pull out a large sum from my savings account. OK not that much but in the 12k range to buy my Harley. First they would not give it to me. I was like "pardon me?" that's my money. Well even though she agreed they just didn't have that kind of cash lying around. That made me feel like War-On Buffet for a second before snapping out of my Walter Mitty like trance. Who was I kidding 12k is not even a drop in the ocean these days!!! They said they could only give me 3k a day for four days but I would have to let them know a few days in advance as they just didn't have the cash on hand.

     Well needless to say I was mad but as I found out later "my" cash in "my" account is not "my cash" even though it looks like it is "my cash". That cash is now "their cash". My account is actually a record of the "unsecured loan" I gave them when I deposited the money.

     Now if the bank is doing ok and I go in there they will give me some of that loan back, at least three grand a day anyway. If things are tight then they can legally refuse by saying, "we just don't have that much cash on hand sir". If you don't know about this you may want to check into it. If you want to know where to begin search "bail-ins". That's a bit of an eye opener to those who never read the fine print in life!!! (which of course is most of us) or never pay attention to new laws the mob keeps implementing every five minutes. 

     In Cyprus not long ago both the rich and the poor found out about this the hard way. From what I read the lesson cost the rich a hell of a lot more than it cost the poor. A little research could save you some cry-babying later. Oh and of course not much sense asking your teller about this. That would be like asking the wolf if he knew who killed the sheep!!!

     So the sum of the summary is... I found that after three years now of using only cash to be an absolute riot. It was quicker in almost every case. I was far more conscious about my spending though I did spend as much if not more. I never missed any deals. When I bought something I knew that transaction was done deal right there. This freed up some empty space in my head. This was mostly due to the fact I did not have to think about remembering to pay the amount again at the end of the month. I always had money for street bums. I got a great deal on bibles once just because I had the cash in hand. To top it off I felt a lot more secure. In the event there was an earthquake and the computers were down I could still transact with smaller stores without having to join the window breaking mob going crazy. 

     I now no longer keep credit cards on me unless I am traveling. The same with debit cards. I know it is pretty dam scary almost like not having my other security blanket..., my phone which I can't of course give up because of the ARC.

     Now admittedly it means I couldn't  "take the bait" the cc cards were offering in the form of free points/miles in trade for my valuable purchasing info. I know it adds up but if I want free shit I will just buy it when I want it. Now I realize passing up free shit is pretty hard especially if one is low on cash. Just the same nothing is "free" these days. in fact never has been.

     Years ago us whities gave pretty bits of glass to the local natives in exchange for beaver pelts. The natives at the time couldn't believe the deal they were getting and, at the time at least, loved it. Not sure you would find any local natives these days who would do the same trade.... One day, likely sooner than later, we will find out those free points were not so "free" after all.  

     There are some people out there who use cash to get around taxes but of course it doesn't work if you are self employed like myself. I need the tax write-off's way more than saving the measly taxes. Thus I have to get a receipt. Not to mention as a gst registrant I get my gst back.

     I honestly have to say now that I have snapped out of the hypnosis, debit and cc cards do feel pretty dam slow, creepy, dangerous and invasive. Cash on the other hand feels like a ton of fun, fast, clean and private. Just something to think about in case you have just been following the "herd" when it comes to your money.  Just sayin.....   : )

     Oh...., one added note. If you do decide to start using cash more your bank won't like it. Whenever I try to pull out too much they have to set a timer for five minutes.... used to be four minutes awhile back. I am guessing so that will give me time to change my mind. After all they hate to let "their cash" go..... it's too much fun!!! : )