现金消费日渐式微。与此同时我们又在失去什么？ [英国媒体]

Cash is dying. But what are we losing along with it?

现金消费日渐式微。与此同时我们又在失去什么？



I’m sorry, mate, I don’t have any cash on me.” It’s acommon excuse, heard up and down the country outside pubs and supermarkets, andas people rush to work, especially as the homelessness crisis becomes worse andbegging increases. But while, 10 years ago, such a response may not have beenalways been firmly rooted in truth, these days it’s likely to be the honesttruth – many of us rarely carry spare change.

“抱歉，我没带现金。”这种借口，酒吧和超市外面经常能听到，人们匆忙通勤时也能听到，尤其在无家可归危机日益严重和乞讨行为越来越多时，更是常见。然而，十年前这样的回答也许并不总是真的，但这段日子以来，这已成为不争的事实——大多数人几乎都不带零钱。

As debit cards overtake cash to become number one retailpayment method in the UK, the amount of currency that any of us has on ourperson on any one time has dwindled, and we are fast on our way to becoming acashless society.

随着借记卡取代现金，成为英国首选的零售支付方式，人们随身携带的现金数额已经减少，我们正快速奔向无现金社会。

In 2017, it isn’t just the Queen who rarely carries cash.Lots of us – particularly younger generations – rarely see the point invisiting a cashpoint (I can’t actually remember the last time that I did). Whybother when you can use your contactless debit card on public transport, and topay for everything from a 50p pack of gum to a round of drinks?

2017年，不仅只有女王不怎么带现金。我们大部分人——尤其是年轻一代——都认为去自动取款机取钱几乎没有什么意义（我也不记得我最后一次这样做是什么时候了）。当你能在公共交通设施用无触点借记卡买任何东西，无论是五十便士的口香糖还是一杯饮料，为什么还要为现金操心呢？

What’s the point when the taxi company has your carddetails programmed into its app, as do all the online shopping outlets that youuse, and the takeaway company you’re getting your dinner from later? It’sperfectly possible to go days and days without needing ready money, and indeedI do. It’s a way of living that has long concerned my mother, who is convincedthat at some point I will be arrested for vagrancy.

出租车公司、网店以及外卖公司都把你的银行卡详细信息输入其应用程序中了，带现金还有什么意义呢？天天带着现金根本没有必要，不带现金的生活完全可以成为现实，事实上我就是这样过的。我母亲一直很担心我这样的生活方式，她认为在某种程度上，我将会因流浪罪被捕。

Technology has completely transformed the way that we usemoney, even in my lifetime. At university I used to pay my rent in cash,something that seems completely old fashioned now, even though it was only 10years ago. Anyone who has had what my family euphemistically refer to as a“cashflow problem” – ie been reduced to emptying old handbags and scrabblingdown the back of the sofa in order to get enough change together to buy a loafof bread – will remember how much coinage used to be lying around the house.

技术已经完全改变了我们的消费方式，即便是在我的一生中亦是如此。读大学的时候，我习惯用现金支付房租，而如今看来，这种方法已经完全过时了，尽管才过去了十年。每个人都会碰到这种问题，我家委婉地称之为“现金流问题”——他们会沦落到要翻遍旧手提包以及在沙发后乱翻一通才能凑够零钱来买一块面包——这些人会记起家里曾经有多少现钱。

I’d struggle to get anything together now, though somefriends have the opposite problem: they end up lugging change around for weeks,their handbags heavier than cartoon anvils (and just as lethal if you turnaround suddenly), because modern transactions in shops have become so fleetingand quickfire that they’d feel awkward painstakingly counting out change. Soinstead it hangs around.

现在，我将努力改变这一状况，尽管有些朋友有着截然相反的问题：最后他们总会一连几周都带着零钱，他们的手提包比卡通里面的铁砧还要重（要是突然转身，甚至可以致命），商店的现代交易方式花费的时间极少，所以他们会觉得一点一点数零钱很尴尬。所以这个问题就出现了。

Which brings me to what will be lost, if we as a societychoose to see the end of cash. Convenience has begun to trump everything else,to a point where our humanity could be what ends up being lost. We are expectedto present our shopping at the till, let the cashier scan it, tap our cards onthe console and get the hell out as quickly as possible.

这不禁让我想到，如果我们的社会选择不再使用现金，我们将失去什么。便利会开始凌驾一切，到一定地步后，我们的人性很可能会丧失。我们就把买的东西放在柜台上，让收银员扫一扫，在收银电脑上刷下卡，就赶紧走出去。

But what does this mean for older people, especiallythose who are lonely? We’ve all seen an elderly man or woman get flustered atthe till when they are counting out their change to make a purchase. There’s anincreasing pressure on us all not to “waste time” and to get on with it. Butwhat if your only human interaction that day was a chat with the shopkeeper?Where does that leave you?

但这对老年人，尤其是那些孤寡老人又意味着什么呢？我们都见过老爷爷或是老奶奶在柜台前数着零钱付账时的狼狈不堪。我们都面临着这种压力，不要“浪费时间”，就这么凑活吧。但是，如果你在一天中唯一与人交流的机会就是和店老板聊聊天呢？你又怎么看待呢？

Beggars are losing out, as are the people rattlingcharity boxes. Not to mention waiters and waitresses. I spent years working inbars and restaurants, where the pay is often scandalous, and the respect youreceive both from the kitchen and the customer is negligible. Cash tips are away for customers to show their appreciation especially when numerous scandalshave revealed that serving staff often never see the credit card tips thatdiners reasonably believe are contributing towards service. I always feelterrible when I’m caught short after a meal out but I still never get to thecashpoint.

乞丐在退出我们的视线，翻找慈善箱的人也越来越少。更不用说服务员了。我在酒吧和餐厅工作过几年，那里薪水低到令人难以启齿，不管是厨房还是顾客都对你置若罔闻。大量丑闻曝出，即人们在刷卡消费时不给服务员小费，而这些小费本应是顾客对行业认可的一些表示，此时，顾客给现金小费是他们表示欣赏的方式。我一顿饭吃完什么小费都没给的时候总会有些罪恶感，但我还是没去提款机取钱。

There are arguments in favour of digital payments. Cashis not as trackable, and if you’re one of those people – like Tony Blair’sformer policy chief Matthew Taylor – who is somewhat preoccupied with thefinances of the babysitters, tradespeople and cabbies who are so frequentlypaid in cash, then a cashless society could put paid to the possibility of anytax dodging (not that digital systems ever seem to deter large corporationsfrom doing the same). To others, an economy in which every transaction can bemeticulously tracked could seem Orwellian. Street drug dealers might suffer,but many people already buy their drugs on the dark web using cryptocurrency.

以下是支持电子支付的几点理由。不像电子支付，现金没有那么容易追踪。如果你是这些人中的一员——比如托尼·布莱尔的前政策顾问马修·泰勒——总是时不时盘算着与保姆、零售商、出租车司机等经常用现金交易的人相关的财政问题，那么一个没有现金的社会可以避免出现逃税避税（也不是说电子系统好像就能解决大公司偷税漏税的问题）。对其他人来说，每笔交易都会被精准的追踪，这样的经济体似乎有些太极权主义了。街头的毒贩子很可能会深受其害，但也有很多人已经在深网上用加密货币买毒品了。

Despite my own spending habits, I’d be sad to see the endof cash. In my experience, the more alienated you are from the materiality ofthe money you spend, the more likely you are to overspend. It’s so easy to justtap, tap, tap and click, click, click without thinking, until, of course, youhit your overdraft limit and need some loose change for lunch.

尽管我已经习惯电子消费了，但看到现金日渐式微，还是有些感伤。我的经验是，离花钱的实体感越遥远，超支的可能性就越大。人们很容易就不加思考的刷刷刷，点点点，直到已经达到透支上限，但你还得用零钱来买午饭吃。