Uncle Scam Wants YOU
Wow. I just saw the biggest, most obvious piece of propaganda in quite a while. It advocates the use of check cards instead of cash, because cash "shouldn't slow you down." The commercial is amazingly choreographed, but the message is so blatantly obvious: A cashless society is ideal and anyone who says differently will just get in the way of your convenience.
That's right, kids - put every bit of your material worth into electronic signal so the government has the power to rape you of everything you've earned (after you pay federal income taxes, of course).
People are generally unconcerned about what form their money takes. What difference does it make when money is simply a medium by which to measure the respective worth of goods and services, as long as that stays relatively reliable? After all, we can trust the people in the government to have our best interest in mind. It's their job to decide what's best for the country; that's why we elect them.
The problem with this is that it isn't and should not be a question of what the government would or should do. It's what we give them the power to do. They already have access to pretty much every piece of information in existence on anyone they choose. They shouldn't have the choice. This doesn't bother people because the change is so gradual, which is why it's so surprising to see a commercial that so completely abandons subtlety.
I would continue to make this a good, solid rant, but homework and other forms of tedium call.