It is the Christmas season again! The bell ringers of the Salvation Army can be heard everywhere and generous people throw loose change or dollar bills into the Christmas kettles. Unfortunately, the kettles are not as full recently. Last year, the Salvation Army observed a 10% drop in the donations raised by the Christmas Kettles program. According to Major Ron Busroe of the Salvation Army, a significant factor in this decline is that people have fewer coins and dollar bills in their pockets these days. It is the cards (credit or debit) and mobile payment systems causing this cash-decline in our pockets. A study by MasterCard found that 80% of U.S. based consumer-transactions are electronic already. With only 3% cash-transactions, Swedish society further adopted electronic payments. Even the homeless of Stockholm carry card readers to accept electronic alms in this mostly cashless Swedish society.....

To us, the ringing bells of the Salvation Army represent more than just a charity tradition. To prevent the total disappearance of our dollar bills and pennies in the future, we recommend Americans to spend at least a portion of their monies by cash to keep it alive. Unfortunately, disappearance of the Salvation Army’s bell ringers also point to a cashless society in which our freedoms are under serious threat as well.