How to be subversive
Exclusive: Patrice Lewis reveals what habit makes her family 'domestic terrorists'
2015/10/15

Sssshhhhhh. I have a secret, something I can’t let the government know about. It’s something incredibly subversive, certainly seditious, possibly traitorous, and maybe soon to be illegal.

Ready? Here’s my secret: We use … gasp … cash for almost all our transactions.

Shocking, I know.

Oddly enough, the trigger for our rapid transition to an all-cash (as much as possible) lifestyle happened almost three years ago when we discovered a large well-known store that carried supplies we use in our home woodcraft business. But the first time I went to purchase these supplies with a check, the following conversation ensued with the cashier:

Cashier: “May I have your phone number, please?”

Me: “No thanks, I don’t give out our phone number.”

Cashier: “But this way I can sign you up for our store card, which gives you discounts and cash back at the end of the year.”

Me: “No thank you, I just want to purchase these items.”

Cashier: “Are you sure? There are all sorts of benefits from having a store card.”

Me: “No thank you, I just want to purchase these items.”

Cashier: “How about your cell phone number?”

Me: “No thank you. I don’t give out that number.”

Cashier: “Then I can sign you up for the store card with an email address.”

Me (getting annoyed): “I don’t want a store card. I simply want to purchase these items.”

Cashier (shocked): “But you’re missing out on a great opportunity! A store card gives you cash back at the end of the year!”

Et cetera. Eventually the cashier took my check and gave me a receipt, but he wasn’t too pleased I declined his offer. I went home and related the experience to my husband. He had an almost identical experience a week later at the same store. Tracking everything we do is becoming so egregious and universal, that to refuse to participate is shocking.

Thereafter we agreed to use only cash when shopping at that particular store.

A month or two later, in December 2013, I made some small purchases – in cash – at a Target store. The very next day, news broke that Target was the subject of the biggest retail hack in U.S. history. Financial information from millions of customers was stolen. People are still fighting the identity theft that occurred.

Thereafter we eliminated all use of credit or debit cards except for online purchases. We use checks for mail-in bills. Our only automatic withdrawal with our bank is for our mortgage. An all-cash lifestyle is very handy. We don’t overspend, we don’t bounce checks, and we don’t risk identity theft.

We’re fully aware this doesn’t make us invisible. Since tracking is everywhere, people can’t just melt into obscurity like they could, say, 50 years ago. But using cash is just our small stubborn act of rebellion.

Cash is becoming rarer and rarer. It’s getting to the point where retailers simply don’t like dealing with it. Last summer, I nearly caused a heart attack in an upscale store by asking for change for the parking meter outside (the other option was to swipe my debit card in the meter). But we don’t like the idea of having a little cyber-trail following us all around town, monitoring what we buy (data mining is everywhere), so we prefer cash.

That little cyber-trail is precisely why our government is so eager to eliminate cash and transition us toward a cashless society. Knowledge is power.

“All over the planet, governments are starting to place restrictions on the use of cash for security reasons,” reports The Daily Sheeple. “As citizens, we are being told that this is being done to thwart criminals, terrorists, drug runners, money launderers and tax evaders.”

The effort to make cash suspicious starts early. Classic games such as Life and Monopoly are now offering cashless versions (can’t let the kiddies learn how to handle physical money!). Even innocuous things like parking meters now expect you to swipe your card rather than load in a few coins.

A few years ago the FBI and other agencies started sending brochures to “farm supply stores, gun shops, military surplus stores and even hotels and motels. The brochures ask proprietors, clerks and others to watch out for ‘potential indicators’ of terrorism, including ‘paying with cash.’”

See? I told you: Cash is subversive.

Naturally, withdrawing cash from a bank is, in itself, an act of domestic terrorism. “What a lot of people don’t realize is that banks are already unpaid government spies,” notes this article. Banks are required to report large cash withdrawals by filing “suspicious activity reports” (SARs), allegedly on the grounds that such withdrawals indicate nefarious activities. It can’t possibly be a simple desire to avoid using credit cards.

Right now we’re saving up for a car (our old one died over the summer). We refuse to go into debt for a vehicle, so when the time comes to purchase transportation, we’ll go to the bank, withdraw the money, then walk into a dealership with cash in our pocket, ready to negotiate. Will this get us arrested? We’ll see.

My point is, at a time when the government seems hell-bent on hunting down every (cough) “right-wing extremist,” using cash is apparently one of those horrifically subversive activities they look for.

Ironically, in an example of an “unintended consequence” of going cashless, ZeroHedge reports the underground cash-only segment of society “is one of the few bright spots in the U.S. economy.” There are whole businesses – mechanics, buy-and-sellers, gardeners, barbers – who have learned it’s too burdensome and expensive to run a “legitimate” business, and it’s easier to simply go underground and deal solely in cash. If cash is eliminated, barter will happen. It’s impossible for the government to suppress capitalism in its most basic, elemental form.

Remember, a cashless society isn’t about convenience, it’s about control. It isn’t about deterring theft, it’s about tracking consumers.

So in our own small way, we’ll continue to be “domestic terrorists” and keep up our habit of using cash whenever possible … until it’s no longer possible.

My – ahem – 2 cents’ worth.

Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2015/10/how-to-be-sub...HeDtzA3tpI14.99