The Changing Currents of Money
April 2023 Editorial
www.ink2qull.com

There is a big difference between a thing that is a store of value and the place that a thing of value is stored in. Wealth has always moved to emerging industries or different parts of our Globe. That is nothing new. But what is this change in the state of money? A change in the nature of money we call “crypto” or “digital”. This is an entirely new beast. Transactions can be faster and way more numerous. Transactions can now cross borders and change geographical currencies with unprecedented ease. But the buying power of the individual is greatly diminished and controllable. Their lives are far easier to control which takes some power from the individual. So what would be the effects on society from the analog age to the digital one? What would walking into a company or government office be like in this emerging age?

The first thing that would come to mind is the quiet. Gone would be the background voices and murmuring of people talking, arguing and just friendly coworker chat. Stepping into a government office would not necessarily be cleaner even though the cleaning robots would be on for full shifts at a time with no breaks. I think that there would still be that feel of being in a building that’s quietly aging. So you might still have outdated office furniture, old signs for the various departments and offices etc. The information robots mounted on tables or waiting in human form by the door would be less helpful than a person but far more polite. So if, for example, if you had a question about parking the information robot might just tell you it doesn’t know or maybe blurt out the answer to a question you did not ask like the office hours. And, just like in analog times, getting upset would do absolutely no good. I wonder if they would equip the information robots in government offices with electrical stun sticks. So imagine how going to the DMV and getting stunned by a robot that didn’t like your tone. (That will never happen.)

Now imagine you finally reach the counter to get help (because the digital age will not get rid of waiting in lines) and the person there to help you tells you that you’re missing a 37-854739-A form before you even open your mouth. You try to explain but they talk over you asking if you have a 37-854739-A form. You notice the information robot with its stun stick walk by behind you and decide not use any expletives. You try to speak again but are talked over again by the person. Do you give up or try something else?

You pull out the tablet from your bag and say “Do you mean this?”.

Now they’ll answer “No. that’s a blah, blah, blah.”

To which you are able to squeeze your question in without any electrocution whatsoever from an information robot. You want to moo like a cow because you feel like cattle, but you don’t. Today was a day to boast about with family and friends. Today you’re a winner.

So in short, the digital age will not get rid of waiting in lines or apathetic bureaucrats, whether you are dealing with people or robots. In this day and age we have lost our privacy and that’s a very big loss but a nice trip somewhere, far away, will make us forget that fact.

This is just a peek at what might wait for us in this new age we’ve built. Whether it’s the DMV or any other government office I still think that a visit to those places we’ll continue to be a thing of dread. It’s just that there will be less people and a disturbing sense of stillness.

Written by John Ink2Quill

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