Ireland has passed a law requiring all businesses to take cash along with other forms of payment.
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Until now, Ireland’s contract law merely has required that cash be accepted if it is to settle a debt. A legal loophole allows businesses to refuse cash as long as customers are notified before a service has been rendered. As a result, the Irish are increasingly being met with “Card Only” notification signs, and it’s sparking real-world frustration as elderly shoppers, low-income, and unbanked families are turned away, unable to buy groceries and basic necessities.
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Solari reminds us that digital payments can be hijacked remotely by thieves or canceled remotely by governments who don’t like your beliefs. Paper cash, like paper books, can’t be deleted or modified remotely.
Polistra and friends salute cash and Ireland!
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Later thought for fairness: The loophole wasn’t meant to be a loophole. Contrary to usual understanding, gold coins and paper bills were a late development. Abstract credit was the first money, and instruments like drafts and checks were the second. Credit and checks have ALWAYS been dominant. Coins and bills have ALWAYS been a small part of all transactions. So the older law, allowing bills but not requiring bills, matched the way commerce was conducted. Global digital control has created a new class divide based on party or belief, which wasn’t physically possible with the old system of checks and drafts. Requiring acceptance of non-blockable paper is more important now.
Polistra's Mill 