Street Musicians Going Cashless

I have always wondered how a cashless society would work

Not that I am a fan of it. Sure, it is much more convenient (except for when the system breaks down or there is no electricity), but I can also see it being a fundamental part for total surveillance of the citizens. We already know that this is where it leads to when we look at countries like China. Privacy is a thing of the past and it's shocking that the government was so easily able to make this transition. But also here in the "west" I am starting to see it moving in that direction. People are easily convinced of going cashless since cash is literally a burden in one's wallet - it's heavy, clumsy and dirty(?). Paying electronically is modern, it's quick and fast, one can do it with a card, with a watch, a phone... One can only resist this change for so long and this digital route seems like a predestination for society as a whole.

So there I was in London and saw what I always wondered: how would street musicians handle this change? Well here you have:

Sorry for the bad quality, but it was a big crowded and I had to quickly take this shot. But I needn't have had to, since I saw a couple more of these examples later that night. Simply place your card on the machine and donate 2 pounds. Easy! But it's probably set that high since they have to pay a fee on that transaction which I would guess would be around 50 cents. Street musicians would never do this by choice - who would want to pay a 25% fee? They are forced to. London is a place where cash has become a dirty word. It's outdated, and actually made of plastic. They dumped the paper notes and replaced them with shiny plastic ones that feel more modern but have a translucent feel to them as if this was the final step before dissolving into oblivion.

A cashless society sucks. And many do not even understand why. Maybe they will realize this when they experience that they have no financial privacy when cash is gone. Everything will be on record. No place to hide. Well, there is still crypto, right? At least here on Hive we seem to be taking a different route, empowering the people with financial autonomy.

Check out the Love The Clouds Community if you share the love for clouds!