Some time ago I watched a film on environmental issues in New Zealand, in which someone made an interesting comment. We are, they said, working simply to pay interest. Much of what we earn doesn’t go into wealth, but paying banking systems.
There is a lot of truth in this; certainly my own outgoings include loans and mortgage, which amounts to a fairly hefty chunk of interest.
The importance of green banking
I’ve talked before about the importance of green banking; without loans most environmentally damaging companies could not operate. By banking ethically with banks that will only lend to ethical projects, we go some way to tackling the situation.
Another friend was talking recently about his love of car boot sales. It was, he said, one last bastion of anarchy; a place where people could trade freely. Where conversation and bartering could take place. Somewhere un-tethered from the state.
An Aldoux Huxley quote
In Brave New World, the author Aldoux Huxley comments “A really efficient totalitarian state would be one in which the all-powerful executive of political bosses and their army of managers control a population of slaves who do not have to be coerced, because they love their servitude.”
This is so true of our current situation. The reason we struggle to move from business as usual is because we are conditioned to believe it is what we need and want. We like our new sofas, our out-of-season fruit and vegetables, our freedom to travel wherever we want, whenever we want, despite the environmental cost.
The same is certainly true of the convenience of the credit or debit card. I use mine all the time without thinking; to rely on cash would now feel like a faff. However recently I’ve become increasingly aware of the importance of paper currency, and its role in a greener society.
A cash journey
To illustrate this I’d like to look at a cash journey. I confess this is shamelessly lifted and adapted from a Facebook post, so may seem familiar. However I do think it is well done.
Say for example I pay £40 for a meal and drinks at the local pub. The landlord then uses the money to pay his staff. They in turn use it for hairdressing, and the hairdresser uses it for groceries. After an unlimited number of payments that £40 is still the same value as it had when it left my pocket.
However if I pay by card the bank fees to my seller will be, let’s say, 2%. So now the value has reduced. With each subsequent transaction the value of the money becomes less and less, until it is whittled down to almost zero, and the remainder has become the property of the bank. With a credit card the fees are higher, while a debit card will be less, so if you do have to pay by card debit is the best option.
Having a buffer of cash will protect you when your phone dies, or you lose your card. It feels harder spending cash. I find it helps me to question whether I really need what I’m buying. Invisible money stored in the bank doesn’t have that same conscience. With easy borrowing we can easily overstep our means, which is impossible to do with cash.
It is going to take me a while to get use to using cash more frequently, but I can see its importance. And if we don’t use it, it will be easy for governments to legislate towards becoming a cashless society, with all the implications that has for greater control by financial overlords.
