Homeless Starts With Cashless

[peristaltor]

Years ago, a friend dragged me to a new brew pub. I was underimpressed.

The beer was okay, sure. But they didn't accept cash.

Like, at all.

Since that day, I've felt like shoving a bill in that hipster mug and have him read the fine print on it, that part that says

THIS NOTE IS LEGAL TENDER
FOR ALL DEBTS PUBLIC AND PRIVATE

(I emboldened the bold, of course.)

So today I realized my paranoia and annoyance didn't go far enough. It may not be simply about increasing "safety" (by preventing robberies) or "hygiene" ('cause cash is icky): What if the end goal is to go upscale by decreasing poor people in the stores?

Eliminating cash disproportionately hurts minorities, immigrants and senior citizens, critics say.… Around 8.4 million US households, or 6.5% of the country, were "unbanked" in 2017 — meaning they did not have a checking or savings account….

Folks on the street trying to get enough change together for a hot cuppa or a sandwich won't be holding a card reader, after all. Keeping them out instantly classes up any establishment.

Which should be freaking illegal from the get-go.

Comments

[ironphoenix]

There are indeed good reasons for that being illegal!

[garote]

Fun fact: At the Oakland farmer's market that happens outside the Grand Lake Theatre on Saturdays, a new food stall appeared recently, selling - of all the hipster things you could imagine - avocado toast, with a variety of toppings. I wanted to try the place out, but when I inquired about cost, they said that they only accepted credit cards, unlike every other stall in the entire market.

I could not figure out why they did this. Was it some data tracking thing? A rule imposed by a restaurant that was running the stall? Oh shit they're charging TEN DOLLARS for a single piece of toast with avocado and lettuce on it. Forget this; I'm out of here...

Eventually I realized the reason: By not dealing in cash, they were attempting to do an end-run around the rules of the farmer's market, which demanded a small percentage of their cash takings for operating the stall.

Ten bucks for a glorified piece of toast, and they still felt the need to stiff the community...