Microsoft Word - ECCU Creative Youth Competition Essay KAH
that the system went cashless; notwithstanding that its introduction would be a process and not
an event. What prepares Carla for a world without cash?
Sure, you can sell her on its advantages. No cash for thieves to steal and her customers
would be safe, because ‘cashlessness’ can potentially stop crimes like robberies and muggings.
There would also be no need for the storage of her daily earnings, since it would be digital.
However, in Carla’s world, cash is king and she will have to deal with the fact that she can ill afford to buy the machines required for the cashless currency regime and she doesn’t understand
how that even works. At 60 and with limited education, Carla is not willing to learn. She is fine
in that world. She’s comfortable and change, though inevitable, frightens her.
Meet Shaun. He’s an attorney, works in a thriving practice and Shaun loves his digit al
cards. His hauteur towards cash is amusing. He likes the ease of conducting financial
transactions without having to get in line to pay his bills. Shaun puts his mobile wallet to good
use, which Scott A Shay of Signature Bank in New York labels as “Econgularity” . Shaun then
experiences a conspiracy of circumstances that made him question his commitment to being
cashless. His credit was compromised, due to his account being hacked and it took him six
months to fix it. He had realized that his identity had been stolen, when he saw unfamiliar
charges on his account and was receiving calls from collectors about debt that he did not incur.
Just when Shaun was getting back on his feet, nature took its course and a terrible hurricane hit
St. Lucia where he lived. Systems were down, prohibiting access to funds. Like everyone else
on the island, Shaun was fighting to survive.
The preceding scenarios are used as an allegory of the reality that will face the people of
the Eastern Caribbean in the face of the implementation of the cashless system. For context, the
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