In Belgium tracking customers is pretty limited. When I go to my supermarket, they are not able to track my buying habbit when I pay with a credit card, as they are not allowed to do so. The CC Co,pany knows where I was, but not what I bought.
That must be nice for if you live in Belgium...but we're talking about the US and its currency, and tracking here....and the companies here can exchange info on you at will.
So, cash here in the US, is about the only way to help protect your habits from being data tracked and analyzed.
Do you really pay money to transfer money from one bank account, to an other bank account? Your US Banks are really fucking their customers then.
Well, if you're talking about your OWN bank accounts, it isn't hard or charging you fees...you can move between your checking and savings at the same bank without a problem or fee...but if you're talking about moving money between banks, then yes, there can often be a fee. But it costs you nothing to write a check from one back to another.....
Aside from PayPal and the like in the US, it isn't that common to directly transfer bank account to bank account between individuals, which I'm starting to understand is more common these days in EU.
hey're not checking accounts, though, but personal accounts. Cheques were phased out in the 90s in most of the world.
Letting a young one have cash seems far more irresponsible - that creates a target for robbing, which I understand is a real concern for American children.
Well, this is Slashdot...which are largely US Centric discussions, so the assumption is that unless you state different, you can safely assume a US view on these things....and checks are still quite normal here.
Instant transfer between bank accounts isn't that common, and often involves a fee....
Cash is not a problem.
And no....most of us in the US do not live in constant fear of being robbed. Most crime has been trending downwards the past couple of decades or so...
Yes, because checks is something only a few people over 70 uses here.
So...where is here for you?
Slashdot is a US Centric site, so, most conversations are geared to assuming you are in the US....and checks, while not as common as they used to be, are certainly NOT a rare commodity. Direct electronic transfer is still fairly rare here, unless you use PayPal or the like....
Electronic transfer in the US still often entails paying a fee....checks do not.
Negative rates are nothing new. Banks have been doing this, but instead of "interest" they call it "fees". For any smallish balance, you've been getting a negative rate for a long time now.
Err...don't they offer "free checking" where you live?
I pretty much refuse to pay for my own money. I only do free checking, some actually pay small interest on my checking accounts...and I refuse to hit an ATM that charges a fee...unless it is an emergency. I just go to my own banks' ATMs, as that there are plenty of them out there.
I tend to do a little research before choosing a bank...
Damn...I'm sure glad I grew up in a time when as a kid, I didn't have to worry about being monitored 24/7, and having a fucking helicopter parent hovering above my every move.
Hell, I guess in todays Bizarro world, my folks would have been arrested for being neglectful parents, and I'd be in safe, loving foster care....
I'm sad that kids can't grow to be kids like we did back in the day....actually having the freedom to fail and fuck up, and learn valuable life lessons from said mistakes.
It also helped there wasn't a camera everywhere too, for obvious reasons.
The government hates cold hard cash. hey want to track everything we do all in the name of stopping crime.
I would posit that it is NOT just the govt that hates cold hard cash, but also big business too.
Retail and insurance companies would just LOVE to force everyone to shop cashless and be able to more readily track your purchasing habits.
Retailers, for the obvious reason.....insurance, well, thing of how much they could do if they could track your purchases, consumption of bad foods, alcohol and *gasp* smoking products?!?!
I'm having to think the Feds, since they are moving more and more into the health care area...would love to gather and digest that sort of information on you too. Spending habits can paint quite the picture of a person, and fill in gaps of information they might not have readily at this time.
I don't think it is just crime they are trying to prevent...
It will be housed on the phone, I how most use your fingerprint to unlock it.
I don't give my phone my fingerprint either....I have complex passcodes. You can't be forced by the authorities to give those up, but they can make you press your thumb/finger on the sensor to open it up.
The fact that driving standards are so low in the US says more about the US then it does about the licensing system. While it's hard to compare different countries (because of other societal variables), there generally is a tendency for stricter gun control laws to correspond with lower fatality rates. This is true even with-in the US: with states that have stronger laws (MA, MD, HI, CA) generally have lower per capita firearms-related rates than those states with looser laws (AK, TX, IN).
While the 2A is in US law, I really don't see a practical use for it--not even the idea of "fighting of the government" scenario. But that's just me.
Well, if you are from a country other than the US, and like it like that there, fine. But, really...you have no real right or need to comment on how we deal with things here with driving or gun laws. That is purely OUR business, and has nothing to do with you or your country's laws.
You don't need to understand it....
And if you actually look at some meaningful stats, look to see in cities/states that have concealed firearms ability....crime goes down.
And to get a more true picture..they need to remove suicide from the gun stats....that isn't a crime, that's just someone taking themselves out of the gene pool, the tool they use is irrelavent.
That said, even if they'd have not been filtered from a taxi service - that's probably still not justification for ignoring laws to operate a business. That's not civil disobedience, that's just being a criminal. That's my only issue with Uber.
So, as much as I might dislike 'em, Uber's not guilty of anything.
Geez, if we'd had this same type of support as we see for taxi cabs (outdated) vs the new kid on the block (Uber)....we'd still have a thriving, protected buggy whip consortium.
Uber is great...a new model, and frankly I see more services going this route, and breaking the existing monopolies...
More confirmed sales than springsteen. there are't that many artists bigger than kanye.
unless you're listening to ms swift, rihana or mariah, contemporary-wise they're not bigger than kanye.
Ugh...most of that list of 'artists' you put down, isn't much better than kanye....
I'd say Swift, and Gaga are up there with talent....Mariah's voice is gone, not what she had in her youth...riahana? Ugh....
I guess music has had a dearth of true musicians and musicianship for so long...people will pay money for *anything*. I guess that's why music of today is disposible.
Everything below $15K or whatever the minimum survivable income is, is tax free.
Anything above that..pays a flat tax.
That would be fair, and likely a reasonable amount (has to be less than the current 30%+ amounts I pay now and I am NOT rich) could be found, and pay for the basic Federal Govt, especially if we pare the Fed down a bit more to fit their constitutionally mandated functions.
Yes, I read how another 10% hits lower than higher wealth folks. But who is to say that a middle income families vacation is any more important that that 188th diamond on a yacht?
Is that for the govt to say? I hardly think so....I certainly don't read that in the constitution.
People paying taxes should be able to easily, on a post card....figure "You made $x. You pay y% of that...you owe $z.
Simple..fair.
Now..I don't have an answer for the capital gains taxes....sure you might wanna hit the rich there, but when you do...you also hit the lower wealth classes..as that they are investing their retirement and it gets hit with those same taxes, that as you say...affect them worse than it does the wealthy.
If you wanted to really get every last cent (even the money spent that was gained by illegal means)...do away with all income tax and do a national sales tax. NOT BOTH. You could either exempt necessities of life (food, meds, rent)..or offer a rebate on it EOY....that way you'd not over proportionatly hit the poor.
But you'd get all the tax from the wealthy that buy expensive things. You'd get money from folks that gain their income by criminal means, which usually is unreported.....but they too have to shop and buy things...etc.
If you did something like that...then you would have the individual voluntarily paying proportional taxes due to their increased spending power and desire to wield it to have the luxuries in life.
When you say "dodging"..that implies something illegal.
As far as I can tell, everything they, as well as any other responsible company does, is perfectly legal. It would not make sense for a company to not take full advantage of the current tax laws.
Do you yourself not take every deduction you can? Do you voluntarily pay more in tax that you really need to?
If you don't like the tax loopholes, have your congress-critters change the laws. Hell, make it really easy and transparent.
Slashdot Mirror
Wow..I have yet to see ANY charging stations anywhere in the city, much less at a parking lot where people work.
I would guess they're pretty much only prevalent out west in CA and the like and maybe in some of the North East states?
I guess one in 7+ years isn't what you would call *bad*...is it?
Why would you have a remote control feature on a car enabled at ALL?
That must be nice for if you live in Belgium...but we're talking about the US and its currency, and tracking here....and the companies here can exchange info on you at will.
So, cash here in the US, is about the only way to help protect your habits from being data tracked and analyzed.
Well, if you're talking about your OWN bank accounts, it isn't hard or charging you fees...you can move between your checking and savings at the same bank without a problem or fee...but if you're talking about moving money between banks, then yes, there can often be a fee. But it costs you nothing to write a check from one back to another.....
Aside from PayPal and the like in the US, it isn't that common to directly transfer bank account to bank account between individuals, which I'm starting to understand is more common these days in EU.
Well, this is Slashdot...which are largely US Centric discussions, so the assumption is that unless you state different, you can safely assume a US view on these things....and checks are still quite normal here.
Instant transfer between bank accounts isn't that common, and often involves a fee....
Cash is not a problem.
And no....most of us in the US do not live in constant fear of being robbed. Most crime has been trending downwards the past couple of decades or so...
So...where is here for you?
Slashdot is a US Centric site, so, most conversations are geared to assuming you are in the US....and checks, while not as common as they used to be, are certainly NOT a rare commodity. Direct electronic transfer is still fairly rare here, unless you use PayPal or the like....
Electronic transfer in the US still often entails paying a fee....checks do not.
Err....since when do 13yr olds have checking accounts??
I never had one, nor needed one till I was about 16yrs and got my first job....
Err...don't they offer "free checking" where you live?
I pretty much refuse to pay for my own money. I only do free checking, some actually pay small interest on my checking accounts...and I refuse to hit an ATM that charges a fee...unless it is an emergency. I just go to my own banks' ATMs, as that there are plenty of them out there.
I tend to do a little research before choosing a bank...
Hell, I guess in todays Bizarro world, my folks would have been arrested for being neglectful parents, and I'd be in safe, loving foster care....
I'm sad that kids can't grow to be kids like we did back in the day....actually having the freedom to fail and fuck up, and learn valuable life lessons from said mistakes.
It also helped there wasn't a camera everywhere too, for obvious reasons.
I would posit that it is NOT just the govt that hates cold hard cash, but also big business too.
Retail and insurance companies would just LOVE to force everyone to shop cashless and be able to more readily track your purchasing habits.
Retailers, for the obvious reason.....insurance, well, thing of how much they could do if they could track your purchases, consumption of bad foods, alcohol and *gasp* smoking products?!?!
I'm having to think the Feds, since they are moving more and more into the health care area...would love to gather and digest that sort of information on you too. Spending habits can paint quite the picture of a person, and fill in gaps of information they might not have readily at this time.
I don't think it is just crime they are trying to prevent...
Are there banks that *seriously* expect the customer to pay them money to keep their money for them....?
I don't give my phone my fingerprint either....I have complex passcodes. You can't be forced by the authorities to give those up, but they can make you press your thumb/finger on the sensor to open it up.
Yeah, but what if you don't have a passport?
I'd dare say most US citizens do not have a passport, and never have had one....so, not really a common denominator.
They don't need it and I don't want them to have them.
Fuck it, if they try to force this in the US, I'll cancel my cards and just do all cash...which I try to do more and more every day anyway.
Well, if you are from a country other than the US, and like it like that there, fine. But, really...you have no real right or need to comment on how we deal with things here with driving or gun laws. That is purely OUR business, and has nothing to do with you or your country's laws.
You don't need to understand it....
And if you actually look at some meaningful stats, look to see in cities/states that have concealed firearms ability....crime goes down.
And to get a more true picture..they need to remove suicide from the gun stats....that isn't a crime, that's just someone taking themselves out of the gene pool, the tool they use is irrelavent.
Geez, if we'd had this same type of support as we see for taxi cabs (outdated) vs the new kid on the block (Uber)....we'd still have a thriving, protected buggy whip consortium.
Uber is great...a new model, and frankly I see more services going this route, and breaking the existing monopolies...
Ugh...most of that list of 'artists' you put down, isn't much better than kanye....
I'd say Swift, and Gaga are up there with talent....Mariah's voice is gone, not what she had in her youth...riahana? Ugh....
I guess music has had a dearth of true musicians and musicianship for so long...people will pay money for *anything*. I guess that's why music of today is disposible.
Because at that point, you remove all musical talent from the creation....and become a rapper.
Everything below $15K or whatever the minimum survivable income is, is tax free.
Anything above that..pays a flat tax.
That would be fair, and likely a reasonable amount (has to be less than the current 30%+ amounts I pay now and I am NOT rich) could be found, and pay for the basic Federal Govt, especially if we pare the Fed down a bit more to fit their constitutionally mandated functions.
Yes, I read how another 10% hits lower than higher wealth folks. But who is to say that a middle income families vacation is any more important that that 188th diamond on a yacht?
Is that for the govt to say? I hardly think so....I certainly don't read that in the constitution.
People paying taxes should be able to easily, on a post card....figure "You made $x. You pay y% of that...you owe $z.
Simple..fair.
Now..I don't have an answer for the capital gains taxes....sure you might wanna hit the rich there, but when you do...you also hit the lower wealth classes..as that they are investing their retirement and it gets hit with those same taxes, that as you say...affect them worse than it does the wealthy.
If you wanted to really get every last cent (even the money spent that was gained by illegal means)...do away with all income tax and do a national sales tax. NOT BOTH. You could either exempt necessities of life (food, meds, rent)..or offer a rebate on it EOY....that way you'd not over proportionatly hit the poor.
But you'd get all the tax from the wealthy that buy expensive things. You'd get money from folks that gain their income by criminal means, which usually is unreported.....but they too have to shop and buy things...etc.
If you did something like that...then you would have the individual voluntarily paying proportional taxes due to their increased spending power and desire to wield it to have the luxuries in life.
They left Keith Moon out of the list.
When he wasn't passing out from animal tranquilizers at a concert...in his younger days he was amazingly fast.....
Are there actually THAT many people willing to listen to his..*ahem* "music"...much less pay for it?
Can one *pop* the RFID chips in ones cards with a quick trip in the microwave...10-15 seconds to blow the chip, but not harm the plastic card?
When you say "dodging"..that implies something illegal.
As far as I can tell, everything they, as well as any other responsible company does, is perfectly legal. It would not make sense for a company to not take full advantage of the current tax laws.
Do you yourself not take every deduction you can? Do you voluntarily pay more in tax that you really need to?
If you don't like the tax loopholes, have your congress-critters change the laws. Hell, make it really easy and transparent.
You made $x...you pay $y.