A cashless society is continually being thrust upon the masses by a number of entities, be it credit card companies, banks, big tech companies, retailers that only accept cashless payment methods, and even governments. While cashless payment methods may seem convenient, their dominance leads to dystopian control over the purchasing power of the general public.
In China, cash is functionally a relic of days long gone. Everything from the Beijing Subway to vegetable stalls in remote mountain villages operates using two ubiquitous mobile apps: Alipay and WeChat Pay. While this makes payment universal and effortless, it also results in some serious implications: every single purchase is logged - it is known when, where, and between whom money changes hands. There is no privacy, ever. There is also a more serious consequence: because all transactions are done digitally, one's ability to make purchases can be cut off on a whim. That is incredibly dangerous. For example, an account being erroneously suspended could result in someone being unable to buy groceries. Or perhaps someone is an outspoken critic of the government. Because all Chinese companies are subject to state intervention, the government could remove one's ability to buy anything anywhere. The consequences of that could be deadly.
While a cashless society is undoubtedly a convenient one, it feeds privacy to the woodchipper and gives companies complete control over our finances. That is an unacceptable proposition, and one against which we must fight, lest we lose control over yet another aspect of our lives.