Digitized Money...Sure, More Efficient, But at What Cost to Our Freedoms? Maybe All.

 

"The future of money is digital currency." Bill Gates 

For my class project I was assigned to write an essay on personal economics. I decided to interview my mom on how things have changed since the 2020s, when she was a child, and today. So what I thought I would focus on was how the move to total digital currencies changed society forever.

So where do I begin? I could point to how shopping is so much more convenient, and personalized. My mom said in her day you had to carry money or a plastic card to make a purchase. Now that is all handled with the digital wallet, or micro-chip, inserted into my hand.  Everything is connected to the bank and I get a notice when my funds are getting low.

As I noted, even shopping is personalized. All people have had their DNA filed and analyzed for instance. According to my DNA I stand a 60% chance of developing type-2 diabetes in my life. So once I go over a prescribed threshold for sweets or carbohydrates, I am not authorized to buy any more, unless my health monitor registers at least 20 thousand steps perday, or some other aerobic exercise.  At that, I can go over my authorized limit.

Speaking of limits, my grandmother is celebrating her last birthday; she is turning 80, and we would like to celebrate with buying real meat. Yes, it is expensive, and only the wealthy eat it on a regular basis anymore, but the pension agency met with her doctor, and they suggested she be environmentally processed at the end of this summer.  She no longer is getting around very well, and she was no longer able to work, so she will go to the environmental ministry, have a nice ceremony with the family, and after her life is ended the components of her body will be recycled into food for insects, the primary protein source for most people in urban, 15-minute, cities. My mom said people had to get used to having lifespans evaluated every two years after age 70, but at least elderly people homes are no longer needed, saving society a lot of money. 

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And in reference to money, before society became efficient with total currency digitization, people used to be able to work without reporting it, or buy things they were not authorized to buy. I mean, a person outside the city boundaries could raise a pig and sell the meat to someone not authorized to have meat in their approved dietary plan.  I know this sounds awful but that sort of transaction can no longer take place, thank goodness. And on top of that, people used to be able to donate to churches that did not follow guidelines for inclusivity, equity and diversity. Such "freedom" would obviously lead to chaos with people having views towards a creator that differed from that of the collective. Well, that sure was done away with. Of course, most churches complied, and those who did not closed for lack of funds.

Aside from my implant when I turned 14 I also had a birth control insertion. The government now issues permits for reproduction and will only give a guaranteed income to children properly conceived. Of course, rich people can purchase permits from people choosing not to reproduce, or from people choosing to change their gender, which renders them sterile. Children produced are still eligible for the income allowance, as if they needed it, but oh well.  My mom chose to get a donor to bring me into the world, but that was before the eugenic screening went into effect, thus the reason I am vulnerable to diabetes. Such mistakes would no longer be tolerated. Even married couples who have a genetic weakness are given financial awards for getting a healthy donor, or risk punishment if they insist on reproducing based on love, and produce a less-healthy child.

And while my mom works, we still get the income allowance as well as government-approved living arrangements based on our household size and age of occupants. And all recreational and shopping opportunities exist either in our apartment complex or nearby. There is no reason to leave our residential area, though my mom would like us to visit the countryside and see either the ocean or mountains. We have been really good with our carbon points and have almost saved enough to take this once-in-a-lifetime vacation! We are both hoping this could be my graduation present.

So in conclusion digitization of currency has made life so easy to efficient and easy to manage.  My mom sometimes seems nostalgic for the era of the 20s when she was my age, but I try to show her that these changes were made by people way smarter than us and for the good of society and earth itself.