Government Plan Would Transform Israel Into The Worlds First Cashless SocietyMichael Snyder In fact, it has been reported that Israeli officials believe that cash is bad because it fuels the underground economy and allows people to avoid paying taxes. It is hoped that requiring most transactions to be conducted in cash will reduce crime and help balance the national budget. And once 98 or 99 percent of all transactions are cashless, it will not be difficult for the Israeli government (or any other government) to go the rest of the way and ban cash transactions altogether. But is a cashless society actually desirable? This is a question that people all over the world will have to start asking as governments increasingly restrict the use of cash. Back in September, it was announced that the Israeli government had formed a committee toexamine ways to eliminate cash from the Israeli economy The committee has had quite a few months to examine these issues, and now they have come back with their recommendations. Just this week we learned thata three-phase plan is being proposed So what do the specifics of the plan look like? Well, there will be very strict limits on the use of cash for individuals and businesses, any violations will be considered criminal offenses, and all Israeli banks will be required to issue debit cards to all account holders In conjunction with these new restrictions, Israeli banks would be required to provide all account holders with debit cards to further promote electronic payments. But of course this move toward a cashless society is not just happening in Israel. In Sweden, it is estimated that just 3 percent of all transactions involve cash at this point. In fact, according to an article in the Washington Post, some Swedish banks do not handle cash at all anymore And the U.S. is starting to move in that direction as well. According to a study conducted by MasterCard, approximately80 percent of all consumer transactions in the United States are now cashless. But isnt there a downside to all of this? Just about everything that we do in life involves money. So yes, a government can track electronic payments to make sure taxes are being paid and money laundering is not happening, but it would also enable a government to do so much more. If a government can track all of your transactions, it will essentially be able to monitor everywhere you go and pretty much keep track of virtually everything that you do. If you doubt this, just try to live without any money some time. You wont get very far without putting some gas in your vehicle. And without being able to buy food, you will get hungry pretty quickly. Are you starting to understand? This is why governments love the idea of moving toward a cashless society. It would give them an immensely powerful surveillance tool. So let us hope that this does not happen in Israel or anywhere else in the world either. This article first appeared here at the American Dream. Michael Snyder is a writer, speaker and activist who writes and edits his own blogs The American Dream and Economic Collapse Blog. Follow him on Twitter here. 