Just to be clear, the store selling gift cards had a signed out stating that they will report excessive number of cash transactions to the authorities because they are forced to by FinCEN and other U.S. regulatory bodies. If a merchant fails to report cash gift card sells over the legal limit per day, they can be criminally prosecuted and put in jail.

So please don't blame the merchants for this. I can assure you that the merchant doesn't care if someone wants to pay in cash. In fact, they prefer it usually (e.g., cash discounts at gas stations).

What people see as "corporate oppression" is quite often government oppression.

Personally, I think both corporations and multinational corporations are engaged in this kind of misbehavior. Indeed, the line between powerful politicians and powerful corporate leaders blurs more and more each passing year.

If each side of the political spectrum continues to ignore the fact that both government and large corporations are at fault here, things will never get better.