Opinion: U.S., a cashless society?

Jim Whelden had been my close friend for more than half a century. Last year, he took the Amtrak train from Bakersfield to Madera in order to visit me. In the course of conversation, he informed me that he hasn’t carried a wallet for several years. He said that he got by just fine with his driver’s license and a credit card tucked in his shirt pocket. He died a couple of months ago.

The other day, I was thinking about him and his comment, and I wondered if he had been ahead of a societal trend that is largely overlooked. Perhaps the United States is on its way to becoming a cashless society.

A cash society

In 1652, Massachusetts Bay Colony minted its own silver coins. In 1690, it printed its own paper money to help fund military action against Canada. When the thirteen American colonies went to war against Great Britain to win their independence, colonial leaders copied the Massachusetts innovation and began printing “Continentals.” The money was apportioned to colonies, but the exchange for gold or silver was complicated. According to Investopedia, “On a small scale, it might have worked, but so much money was printed that rapid inflation stripped them of all their value.”