For me the concept of 'cashless' society which most frightens me is the small countless activities which take place every day in our lives and which contribute to who we are and add meaning. Dropping a few coins in a homeless persons cup, tipping the refuge guys for taking an additional bag of refuse.... I don't know... just the myriad of things that make up day to day stuff. Here in South Africa one would be hard pressed to ONLY use cashless as we frequently do not have electricity for hours on end.
I believe a lot of the lockdown mandates was to squeeze the small business person out... and to consolidate retail, banking, independent contractors into huge corporations such as Blackrock , Walmart, Costco etc..... and make going cashless far more seamless.
Do our African brothers who peddle their ice cream carts around in blazing heat for a small cash profit on his stock now have to get card machine? The cost of the batteries wipes out 30% of his profit.... and the 9 year old child wanting to buy an ice cream needs to have a digital payment system.... oh yeah, I forgot, it is the IoT chip inserted between thumb and forefinger which mom and dad top up with weekly allowance... track all she spends on, what she is watching, what she is eating ..... {thinks} 'Grrrrr, I need , want a stiff drink'
Yes, you do make good points... I hadn't thought about a few of those! And definitely, the reliance of a good supply of electricity is another thing that doesn't spring to mind in our country!