"If you have control of the servers belonging to Visa or MasterCard, you have control of Sweden," Engström says.
It is hard to argue that you cannot trust the government when the government isn't really all that bad. This is the problem facing the small but growing number of Swedes anxious about their country's rush to embrace a cash-free society.
Most consumers already say they manage without cash altogether, while shops and cafes increasingly refuse to accept notes and coins because of the costs and risk involved. Until recently, however, it has been hard for critics to find a hearing.
"The Swedish government is a rather nice one, we have been lucky enough to have mostly nice ones for the past 100 years," says Christian Engström, a former MEP for the Pirate Party and an early opponent of the cashless economy.
"In other countries there is much more awareness that you cannot trust the government all the time. In Sweden it is hard to get people mobilised."
There are signs this might be changing. In February, the head of Sweden's central bank warned that Sweden could soon face a situation where all payments were controlled by private sector banks.
The Riksbank governor, Stefan Ingves, called for new legislation to secure public control over the payments system, arguing that being able to make and receive payments is a "collective good" like defence, the courts, or public statistics.
[...] "Most citizens would feel uncomfortable to surrender these social functions to private companies," he said.
(Score: 4, Funny) by Appalbarry on Sunday April 08 2018, @03:09AM (4 children)
blah blah BLOCKCHAIN blah blah...
Also, all of our cars could powered by hemp!
And next year will be the year of Linux on the desktop!
(you're welcome)
(Score: 2, Interesting) by fustakrakich on Sunday April 08 2018, @03:30AM (2 children)
Well, the impossible has happened before. We now have lights at Wrigley, and the Cubs won the World Series
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 08 2018, @04:25AM (1 child)
and i got laid
(Score: 4, Funny) by Runaway1956 on Sunday April 08 2018, @05:28AM
You mean you crawled up a chicken's ass and waited?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 08 2018, @06:52PM
i don't know about hemp powered cars, but monero and linux desktop adoption would be a big improvement. too bad people seem to "quite enjoy their servitude" (Aldous Huxley Berkeley interview)