CYBERSPACE POSTINGS Subj: Cashless Society? Date: 94-1 2-091 1:1 0:09 EST From: Max Mktg Posted on: America Online Today, we can instruct our employers to send our paychecks directly to our bank, through Direct Deposit. When we need to transfer funds from one account to another, we simply direct our bank to the destination for a wire transfer. We pay our bills with checks from our checking account and buy groceries with our ATM card. When we make other purchases we "charge-it ' then pay the bill with another check. One hundred years ago this scenario would be fiction, a dreamer's imagination running wild. However, this is fact today. Then what can we say, or predict, about tomorrow? Will we become so dependent upon our bank, credit cards, ATM cards and checks that we will rule out cash entirely? Will we reach the point (which in some instances is already a reality) where we simply connect our computers with our bank and manage our entire financial affairs? When that time comes, will we be faced with the threat of potential computer hackers who can infiltrate our bank accounts and drain our entire savings? Even worse, will we have authorized intervention (the government) snooping into our financial affairs, monitoring our every transaction, keeping tabs on our spending habits, allowing them to draw up some "characteristics" of each and every one of us? Should this world ever allow a "One World-Government" to come into existence, will we then be forced to convert "dollars" to "credits" (as depicted in some futuristic" movies) for the purpose of having ONE single monetary unit? Believe it or not, this is becoming a reality... What will become of our Privacy? Hmmm... I wonder — is "privacy" a concept soon to become extinct? What other potential problems or situations may we be facing? You tell me... Subj: Re: Cashless Society? Date: 94-12-14 19:47:01 EST From: ARetch Posted on: America Online Hackers entering our accounts in a computerized cashless economy are nothing to be afraid of. I'd rather that than having burglars enter my home or punks mugging me for my cash. We would be risking our privacy if we allowed all of our records to become computerized with hookups to other computers, but even if the government is technologically capable of invading our privacy, it is still run by us and we can restrain its actions. We have been advancing technologically for awhile and we have managed to overcome most important problems caused by that advancement by adapting to the new technology, not by avoiding it. Subj: RE: Jay Wit Date: 94-12-1212:59:10 EST From: Max Mktg Posted on: America Online I personally, would prefer to make most of my transactions with "cash." There are many items or services that I purchase which I prefer to keep private. Not to say that they are immoral or illegal — but more to exercise my right to privacy. We Americans today have been brainwashed into believing that — should someone choose to exercise that right to privacy — maybe he/she has something to hide which is either immoral or illegal. It's a similar ploy of Communist governments in which they have brainwashed their people into believing the same — ultimately turning each citizen into an "informant," regardless of substance. How do I know this? Because I've lived in a communist country — and I've seen the results first-hand. Those who have never lived in or visited a communist country have absolutely no idea of what I'm talking about. Nowadays, the IRS will give you a "reward" if you turn in someone who you believe may be cheating on their taxes or failing to file their income taxes. The IRS will pay the "informant" a percentage of the amount collected. A U.S. Marshal can also collect a percentage of the property sold by the government in a drug case. Is this what America is all about? Is this what is becoming of America? Is this the type of society we WANT? Do we want to become a nation where neighbors turn in neighbors — not because their neighbor is doing something illegal but because we HATE our neighbor? When any society evolves this way — it becomes a dangerous society to live in. Why don't we just take the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence and just use it for toilet paper or burn it — hell, it would make more of a lasting impression than burning the American flag!!! Subj: Cashless Society Concerns Date: 95-01-14 18:26:44 EST From: BURKE 6646 Posted on. System As an entrepreneur with a need to use the high-tech tools available to me in the course of my business, I truly enjoy the convenience of the "plastic money." However, the problems outlined above are already here and the bankers and feds don't really want to talk about it! For instance, about five years ago in Houston a gang of Nigerian thieves created an entirely new form of crime, namely Credit Theft. They established front businesses, acquired a legitimate account with the credit rating services and began browsing at will through strangers' credit histories. Using low-tech mailing lists and publicly recorded personal information to identify people living in affluent neighborhoods, they phonied up credit applications to the major credit card companies and applied for new bank cards using a convenience P. O. Box as a new address. When the new card was issued, it went to the thieves' address, and the victims were unaware that they now had another credit card in their name. The rest is child's play. They ran up thousands of dollars in merchandise purchases and ATM withdrawals, maxing out the new credit limit and then ignoring the bills. The victims did not discover the scam until they applied for additional legitimate credit, at which time they were shocked to learn, upon being rejected, that their credit was ruined. Another version of this scam from mail boxes in affluent areas. Have you ever thought how much information you put on your checks to the grocery store? Give the wrong person your address, phone number, driver's license number and possibly one or two major bank card account numbers and the thief "owns" your credit. It's simple to order up some new checks from the bank with a new but phony address, apply for a replacement driver's license (report it stolen) to the new address, and start i applying for credit cards to their heart's content. It took several years for the police and banking execs to take this scam for real and try to do something about it. Several Nigerian nationals were arrested in Houston, promptly made bail, and disappeared, leaving hundreds of Texas citizens to clean up the wreckage of their financial lives. The price of convenience, like freedom, is eternal vigilance. Several steps are recommended: 1. Check your credit history regularly. TRW and the other players have even made this into another profit center by offering regularly scheduled credit ; reviews to individuals on a subscription basis. 2. Talk to the manager at the grocery store and other merchants you regularly leave with checks and give them the information they need rather than allowing the : check-out clerk to write your entire financial biography on that $25.57 check for frozen pizza. 3. Find out when your credit card and bank statements are scheduled and LOOK for them. Don't assume that your Amex bill was lost in the mail. 4. Consider having your bank statements held for you to pick up personally. 5. BE ALERT without falling into paranoia. 6. Write your Congressperson and DEMAND credit bureau reform NOW! The cashless society is here NOW, so learn how to protect yourself. A Free Citizen Subj: Re: Cashless Society Date: 95-02-06 08:43:27 EST From: OldHippie7 Posted on: America Online If the government would allow 'public key' cryptography, we could have a cashless, untraceable society with no trail for anyone to make a database from — except that we actually paid the bills on time — which is all anyone needs to know anyway. That solves the privacy issue — it is, at this point, completely unsolvable by hackers. Subj: Private Pensions cure for Social Sec. problems Date: Tues. Aug 15,1995 12:08 PM EDT From: cato@cato.org X-From: cato@cato.org (Cato Institute) PRIVATE PENSIONS ANTIDOTE TO LOOMING SOCIAL SECURITY CRISIS Social Security is a fundamentally flawed program that faces an impending financial crisis if significant reforms are not made, according to a new Cato study. In "Dismantling the Pyramid: The Why and How of Privatizing Social Security," Karl Borden compares the current pay-as-you-go program to illegal pyramid schemes. He says a shift to a mandatory private pension system would alleviate the financial crisis and provide a more adequate lifestyle for pension recipients. The looming crisis Estimates suggest that the Social Security trust fund will go broke by 2030, but Borden says the real financial crisis could begin as early as 2014 when the trust fund peaks and starts to decline. At that point the trust fund managers must cash in federal bonds to finance benefits. Since the federal government has no cash or assets with which to pay off those bonds, it can obtain the needed funds only by running a bigger deficit, increasing taxes, or cutting government spending. The private pension system Borden says that even if these financial problems could be fixed, Social Security would remain a bad deal for today's young workers. He says payroll taxes are already so high that Social Security benefits provide a below- market return compared to potential earnings from private savings, investment, and insurance. After reviewing options for reforming Social Security, Borden concludes that a private system, similar to the pension system adopted by the Chilean government in 1981, would provide pension recipients with the best quality of life. Borden's private pension plan would do the following: Establish personal retirement accounts (PRA) by redirecting an individual's Social Security taxes into a private account. These PRAs would operate much like individual retirement accounts. Allow individuals to make contributions to their accounts in excess of the mandated amount. Ensure minimum retirement security by requiring a minimum amount of account funds to be allocated to limited risk investments. For deposits that exceed the minimum. Iow-risk level allow individuals to determine the level of risk they want to assume. Allow individuals to choose their retirement age, provided their account is sufficiently funded to ensure a life income equivalent to the real national minimum wage. At the onset, allow individuals to transfer money from existing retirement accounts into their new PRAs. Keep fund distribution options simple and flexible. Minimize government involvement in the program, allowing the financial securities industry that today provides IRA and 401 K plans to manage PRA activity. Why it matters Reform is long overdue. If we fail to act soon, our children will either inherit a bankrupt system or be forced to pay an impossibly high level of taxes. Politicians have long understood the coming catastrophe, but they have been unwilling to confront the hard choices necessary to meet it. The question now is whether they will have the courage to act, or whether our children will be the next victims of a failed and unsustainable system. Contact: Anna McCollister, director of public affairs, Cato Institute 202-789-5225 or Michael Tanner, director of health and welfare studies, Cato Institute, 202-789-5258 Visit our Freethought Forum on AOL in the Capital Connection (Keyword "Politics"). On some IBM platforms you'll find us under PACs, Lobbies, Think Tanks & More. On CompuServe's Issues Forum you'll find us in the Politics and Religion sect. Table of Contents | 1995 Issues | Subscribe Truth Seeker | Feedback | Freethought.com Webmaster Credit card Orders call: 800-321-9054 or fax: (619)676-0433 Or send check or money order to: Truth Seeker / 16935 W. Bernardo Drive, Suite 103 / San Diego, CA 92127 $20.00 annual U.S. subscription ($35.00 international). Individual issues—$10.00 + $2.50 postage and handling Or be a committed freethinker and send $35.00 for a two year subscription. Truth Seeker is published by Truth Seeker Co., Inc. (ISSN 0041-3712) © 1996