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Comment by minton | Hacker News Reader

I think people underestimate the importance of physical cash. It’s annoying, sure, but it affords a type of freedom that won’t be replaced once lost. I wish more people understood this. Sadly, most people seem willing to trade a tiny bit of convenience today for a worse future tomorrow—for example, the tipless, cash-only coffee shop on the HN front page. I guess, like smokers, people don’t believe there’ll be consequences until it’s too late.

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>>I guess, like smokers, people don’t believe there’ll be consequences until it’s too late.

I wonder with this comment is irony or not? So let me ask, did you support the banning of smoking by government there by denying people the right to body autonomy, deny business the right to control their property, and deny consumers the right to choose for themselves the types of business they transact with? (aka freedom of association) all under the mantra of "the greater good"

Because if you support that infringement upon liberty then it is indeed ironic for you to then use smokers as a prop to talk about further governmental infringement to liberty

I think all they were saying with that is that the long term consequences of smoking is often a problem that isn't apparent until it's too late, which is very much true, but it seems some jimmies were rustled.

The best analogy i've heard for digital currency is not that digital currency is the automobile to cash's horse drawn carriage, but that cash is a bicycle. both can (and should) co exist. the low tech cash is a better solution for many problems, and people without access to digital currency, but it risks being displaced by lobbyists and needs to be protected by the efforts of private citizens.

what I find baffling is that supposedly enlightened societies like Sweden are at the forefront of this cashless "revolution". Maybe they are simply overconfident / delusional about their ability to control the risks of the digital age or maybe the progressiveness was a shtick all along, confined to signature issues and not applicable towards the outstanding challenge of building a truly democratic and free digital society.

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