U.S. Government Wants to Eliminate Cash. But Gen Z Thinks Cash Is Cool.

We’ve written a lot about the government’s desire to eliminate cash. This is a longstanding struggle.

In 1968, the U.S. government eliminated the $500 bill. They were in circulation at the time, and even as a kid, I remember seeing a few of those around. After 1968, the largest bill in circulation was the $100 bill. That’s still the case. But because of inflation, the $100 bill of today is only worth $20 in terms of its 1968 purchasing power. So, even without eliminating the bill, the government has devalued it by 80% through the mere passage of time.

In 2019, the members of the Eurozone eliminated the €500 note (worth about $700 at the time); the €200 note is now the largest in circulation.

Last week, the Reserve Bank of India (the central bank) announced it was withdrawing the 2,000 Rupee note from circulation as of September 30, 2023. The central bank of Nigeria recently bungled its attempt to eliminate cash entirely by forcing citizens to use a new digital currency called the eNaira. Private merchants are helping governments eliminate cash by posting “No Cash Accepted” at the entrances to their stores.

Of course, this outright war on cash is in preparation for the forced use of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). CBDCs allow for total government surveillance of your activities and purchases. When combined with artificial intelligence and GPT, those purchase ledgers can be used to profile you and label you as an enemy of the people (according to Joe Biden). From there, it’s a short step to account freezes, account seizures, and “use it or lose it” rules applied to your income as a draconian form of economic stimulus.

The simple solution to this government terror is to use cash. That’s why it’s important to eliminate cash before the CBDC rollout begins.

Still, not all is lost. There’s a ray of hope! And it comes not from the old guard but from the youngest generation – Gen Z!

According to this article, Gen Z says cash is cool. Gen Z (those born between 2000 and today) has had to deal with stagnant real incomes, rising real estate prices, and student loan debt. Now, rising interest rates are an additional headwind.

They have difficulty moving out of their parent’s homes, buying their own places, and just paying their bills. One solution is to convert their paychecks to cash, divide the cash in separate envelopes for each monthly expense (rent, utilities, food, etc.) and then budget themselves to confine discretionary spending only to what’s left after the envelopes are filled. They call it “cash stuffing,” and it works. (It’s actually a method that was popular during hard times in the 1930s and war rationing in the 1940s; everything old is new again!).

Hashtags like #cashstuffing have over 1.1 billion views on TikTok. Let’s hope the trend continues. It may make it harder for the neo-fascists to impose their CBDC plans. Gen Z to the rescue!

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