Should Our Societies Go Cashless?

The rise of contactless payment and digital wallets is making cash useless in a lot of cities. In fact, those who are still used to paying with “real” cash would feel like aliens in Sweden. While the Nordic country is still singled out as a rarity for taking the cashless route, it won't be long before more countries join it by venturing down the same path.

One of the biggest benefits of getting rid of cash is the elimination of its anonymity (匿名性). Cash plays a major role in the crime world, which makes going cashless a more transparent (透明的) alternative. Since all digital transactions leave a record behind, anyone with an interest in learning about the cash flow of a business or individual could easily trace where the money came from.

There is another benefit to cashless societies: there no longer needs to be an intermediary to pay extra fees. Today, banks and financial institutions are necessary for supporting the whole wealth system. For those services, intermediaries charge predefined fees that are always paid by the customers.

However, we should not rush into things. A completely digital system would leave a lot of people on the outside looking in not just the homeless, but also the elderly who would not know how to deal with cashless systems.

Going cashless also has the issue of trace-ability. In a time where there are major concerns surrounding security and privacy, we have a good reason to worry about how the government is going to be able to protect our money. What's more, the users themselves will have to avoid falling victim to identity theft and online fraud.

These are challenges that won’t be easy to solve. It feels like our best bet is leaving space for the shift to happen naturally. It is the only way to ensure no one is left out as we figure out if people are ready to live in a world with no physical wallets.

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The World Rice Conference has voted Cambodian rice the best rice in the world. Cambodia produced just one percent of the world’s rice. It is trying to increase that amount, and the award may help.

The country’s rice industry is small and not well-organized. As a result large amounts of unprocessed rice are sent to Thailand and Vietnam where it is sold for a higher price. But rice means a lot to Cambodia’s economy. Many Cambodians survive in part by growing rice on small pieces of land.

Sok Puthyvuth is the president of Cambodia Rice Federation. “We need better seeds, we need a better collection process, we need better storage, we need better logistic(物流), and also our export needs to brand Cambodian rice to be one of the top brands in the world.” Keat Chhon is Cambodia’s former deputy Prime Minister. He says increasing rice export will improve the lives of many of the country’s farmers. He says the purpose of the rice policy is to reduce poverty and help people in rural areas earn more. This is highly beneficial to making the development gap between rural and urban areas in Cambodia smaller.

But exporter David Van says the country’s rice industry continues to suffer from the same problems it has had for many years. He says these include the high cost of electricity and a lack of good seeds. And he says the country’s rice industry needs to change the way it markets its product to show it is different from what other countries offer. “You need to differentiate your product from that of your competitor next door. Otherwise, your product will continue being compared automatically to what the next-door competitor is offering.” Cambodia faces other problems as well. Countries like Myanmar also want to increase their rice export. And Thailand has extra rice, which is forcing down prices.