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As the other commenter said, unless you are hiding your money under your matgress your money is being used by society in some manner.

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Hiding your money under the mattress increases the value of money being spent because it reduces the amount of money in circulation in the near term.

In a system where money is debt, money under the mattress means someone else is in debt. That is someone that has to be more risk averse. Normally this is balanced by someone who can take more risk because they have more money. If hoarding money under your mattress becomes a movement then it may be that it tilts society to unhealthily risk averse and no one is in a position to try ambitious investments.

I haven't fully thought this through so please poke holes in the argument if you can :)

Money is not debt its paper or equivalent whose only purpose is exchanging for things. The government can and does print as much as it likes without creating any obligation on anyone else. They could print a billion dollars to put under your couch without any affect on the economy at all until you spend it.

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