Boring statistic — as of 2011, there were 261 million Visa credit cards in existence. Exciting statistic — 90 percent of all paper currency in this country contains trace mounts of cocaine. Made up statistic — paper currency is 86 percent better than credit cards.
The trend seems to be that society is using more plastic and less paper currency for how it pays for goods and services. Some think that we will get rid of paper currency entirely and go to an entirely electronic system. This shouldn’t be the case. Like the made up statistic said, paper currency is far better and here are a few reasons why.
1. The Feel — While paper currency sounds like it would be made of wood pulp, in the United States it is a unique blend of 25 percent linen and 75 percent cotton. This gives it a truly special feel. Who would want a hard chunk of plastic in their hands when they could hold a crisp, new, unblemished dollar bill? Or a lovingly worn dollar, as soft and as comfortable as a pair of broken in jeans.
2. The Budget — While at Wal-Mart, I finally find that limited edition, life-size garden gnome I’ve spent months looking for. With a credit card in hand, I can simply make this impulse buy, ignoring my budget and then won’t have to worry if I will be able to pay my rent. However, if I am limited to cash on hand, I might not be able to purchase it at this time. I’ll have to walk to my bank, mattress, sugar momma or wherever else people keep currency in and get the money I need. This walk might give me the time to reflect upon the purchase I’m about to make and keep me
on budget.
3. The Bill — We’ve all been out to dinner with that guy. It’s time to pay and the bill needs to be split. The guy, of course only has a card on him. He demands exact change from everyone so he can pay with his card. Without exact change everyone just rounds up. Suddenly his $8 meatloaf platter is down to $4, and everyone else secretly resents him for this. Everyone hates that guy; don’t be that guy.
4. The Find — Find a credit card on the ground and all you really have is a piece of plastic. Try and use it, and that’s theft, which means jail time. Return it to the owner and you’ll be lucky to get a “thank you.” Find a $20 bill on the ground and you can be living off Taco Bell for the entire weekend, worry free. Few things in life give the same joy as finding a wad of 13 singles crumbled up in your jacket pocket, forgotten in the back of the closet since last winter. It’s sort of like winning a miniature lottery you threw
for yourself.
5. The Theft — The average identity theft costs the victim $4,841. Lose your wallet (bursting with credit cards, receipts and other important documents) and you can lose a large chunk of change. It costs on average almost $1,000 dollars to clean up after that pesky identity theft. Lose that same wallet loaded down with paper currency, but not credit cards, and you’re out $37, a condom and some expired Dairy Queen coupons. It just seems to make sense to avoid carrying those credit cards around.
While this old school approach to settling our debts both private and public, might not seem“progressive,““logical“ or “for everyone,“ there are quite a few arguments that can be made in favor of paper currency. While I don’t see the country switching over to this way of thinking, it hopefully will provide some food for thought about getting rid of paper
currency entirely.
http://www.westerncourier.com/opinions/the-argument-in-favor-of-paper-currency/article_72126b72-6cc0-11e2-98b5-0019bb30f31a.html
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