Every year, hundreds of children in the US gain access to a firearm and unintentionally shoot themselves or someone else. So far in 2025, there have been at least 175 unintentional shootings by children, resulting in 72 deaths and 106 injuries nationally.

America is starting to reverse the trend with some local businesses only accepting credit card for purchases over a certain price due to fees.

One aspect I noticed recently is that in a setting where people are drinking booze it can make it hard to know how much is being spent and, therefore, drunk. Cash gave you a clear indicator.

and you should NOT be forced to sign up for a private surveillance company that will take your money above the asking price, take the merchant's money above the selling price, and tell the government + the highest bidder what you bought, what you paid and where you were (when).

In order to use a government's legal currency, someone should should just need a pulse. Nothing more. They shouldn't need to prove they are a citizen or have a "good" credit score. They shouldn't need to speak English or to afford or code a "smart" phone.

I’ve been trying to use cash more and it feels nice to be less surveilled/not have any of it skimmed off the top by a company, plus I think I am more careful about spending. You can see why those in power would hate it.

+ anyone who doesn't want their transactions tracked for a variety of reasons (sex worker, undocumented migrants, a woman with an abusive spouse, a person trying to evade their stalker, a college student trying to access birth control or HRT or gender affirming clothes w/o parents knowing, etc)

People who are increasingly locked out of mundane, small transactions, all over the world:

- the unbanked
- ppl w/o credit cards
- young ppl
- migrants
- ppl w/o homes
- ppl w/o cell phone
- ppl who cannot read
- ppl who are not computer literate
- ppl w "poor" credit
- many elderly & disabled ppl

P.S. Don’t choose a scam VPN, not all VPNs are created equal.

More context from Taylor Lorenz about why you should use a VPN and why it would be a mistake to ban them: