A New Dollar on the Horizon?

[ktulu]

Quote[/b] (rattler_mt @ Dec. 05 2006,11:24)]speaking as an American who goes to Canada an aweful lot............$1+$2 coins SUCK.........i REALLY dont like them. paper weights ALOT less

changing the whole system because of the discomfort of few is idiotic........

after 3 knee surgeries that have left me pretty well crippled for periods varrying from a few days to most of a month i have to say boo-hoo........just cause i was on crutches and unable to bend my knee i didnt expect stores to put in ramps just cause i couldnt negotiate stairs short of sitting on my rear and going up and down them. i find this kinda thinking idiotic.

deal with it. if a certain store doesnt accept debit cards FIND ANOTHER STORE. even up here in the middle of nowhere i can use a debit almost everywhere.....and i can use it everywhere that i actually HAVE TO purchase stuff from. ppl need to quit crying, suck it up and deal with the hand they have been delt, asking everyone else to change because YOU dont feel like finding a way for yourself to deal is selfish.

I have also been to canada and alot of other countries that use more coins than paper money and you know what, you deal with it and it becomes no problem after a few days. It cost the government much more to print $1 bills than they are worth. Your concerned about cost until it inconviences you.

As for cruches, I have learned to walk up and down stairs on crutches and know someone who can carry a full cup of coffee while on crutches, so you could have learned to go up and down stairs. Also if you couldnt get up the stairs your not getting ripped off by dishonest people. I have a blind friend who will only go to certain stores because he knows the cashiers there are honest. Atleast once a week he finds out someone shorted him on change if he goes places he doesnt know, and thats just too often in my opinion. Lets see how you would feel about the situtation if people kept ripping you off.

You are esentally advocating the blind have to learn to rely on other people which is not something that I believe we shoudl force them to do. These people arnt crying, they instead are asking for minor modifications to make the living of an independent life possible. How hard would it be to put in a hole punching stamp that woudl punch the holes as the bills are cut out of the large sheet. Sure its buying a new die for that one cutter but the cost of that would pale in comparison to much larger changes. Why cant we do something that woudl in the end cost very little to make peoples lives easier?

 

[Mokele]

Quote[/b] ]after 3 knee surgeries that have left me pretty well crippled for periods varrying from a few days to most of a month i have to say boo-hoo........just cause i was on crutches and unable to bend my knee i didnt expect stores to put in ramps just cause i couldnt negotiate stairs short of sitting on my rear and going up and down them. i find this kinda thinking idiotic.

But your disability was temporary. What if you had a court date, and it was up a flight of stairs? What if you just spent a grand on a plane ticket, only to find out that the only way onto the plane is stairs because they switched planes at the last minute?

What if you're in a building that catches *ON FIRE*, and can't get down the stairs? What do you do, suck it up and burn to death while accepting your lot?

Sorry, but that's just moronic. There is a certain level of learning to cope, but there's absolutely no reason beyond petty selfishness not to make *some* effort to make people's lives a bit easier. There's bending over backward, and then there's common courtesy and human decency.

Quote[/b] ]deal with it. if a certain store doesnt accept debit cards FIND ANOTHER STORE. even up here in the middle of nowhere i can use a debit almost everywhere.....and i can use it everywhere that i actually HAVE TO purchase stuff from.

And if that isn't the case?

You act like this is a huge issue; a few bumps added and it's solved. That's *trivial* compared to the lengths we go to to prevent counterfeiting.

Perhaps you need to realize that society is not based around pure, unadulterated selfishness and consider the possibility that helping others might be a good thing.

Mokele

 

[rattler]

as Finch said cutting hols in paper money causes more duribility issues than we already have.

i realize coins cost less than printing paper money, however in order to switch to coin your going to have to change the ways you deal with the money. its going to cost buisness ppl money to convert, the government is not going to pass on its savings from not printing the bills.

what i am unhapy about is the fact that a very minor part of the population thinks they need to change things to the point its going to seriously impare others(in this case through taxes and retrofitting or rebuilding our current ways of dealing with our current money)

i have been ripped of by thousands of dollars by dishonest buisness men. i chalk it up to learning experiance as im to far away to put a boot up their rear. am i happy about it? hell no. did i learn something from it? hell yes. did i change the way i do buisness? hell yes. there are enough places in the US today that a blind person should have zero problems using a debit or credit card if they so choose. i fail to see how changing the way we print money is going to keep ppl from getting ripped off. hell the current system rips of ppl who can see just fine........ever have a bank pass on to you a counterfiet bill on accident because they didnt realize it was? once you pick the money up off the counter it is no longer their responsibility and you cant exchange it back.

 

[herenorthere]

Considering everything else that's been tacked onto our currency - the buried stripe, the ghost face and so on - it can't be significantly more difficult or expensive to add something to make it user-friendly for blind people.

 

[Clint]

I think gold coins would be cool, personally. I could wear them in a sachel around my neck and covet them like Golem.


My precious....

 

[rattler]

Mokele i belong to two service organizations and wind up donating more time than i prolly should to helping others..........if ppl actually care they will find away to deal.

as for the burning building thats just idiotic. busted leg or not a flight of stairs aint stopping me from attempting to save my arse but in such situations im not the type to sit and mope about what i can and cant do. i would do my best to get my arse to safety.

and in this situation your not talking about safety. your talking inconvienence. a store clerk shorts you sue the nice guys.........any jury will side with you.

 

[Finch]

here is what the tresury department has to say about this topic and their durability. EVERYONE should read this.

Quote[/b] ] I believe that the Treasury Department should add braille markings to our currency to help the visually impaired. Are there any plans to do this?

You may be aware that over the years, the Congress considered several legislative initiatives to incorporate such features in United States currency. However, it never enacted any of them into law. Also, our Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP) has conducted several reviews in the past of our currency system. They evaluated the incorporation of Braille symbols and/or other design features into currency to help the visually impaired.

We understand that the National Academy of Sciences and the Committee on Currency Features for the Visually Impaired have also studied this question. In these studies, individuals evaluated features that could be incorporated in the production of United States currency notes that would enable blind and visually disabled people to more easily determine the denomination of a note. Previous studies surrounding this issue suggested that several modifications were possible, including Braille dots, raised symbols, cutting corners, producing notes of different sizes, or with perforations. The studies have shown that the durability of these modifications is limited. Research into features to help the blind will continue.

You may be interested to know that the Series 1996 $50, $20, $10 and $5 currency notes include a large dark numeral on the back of the note that will help millions of people with low vision to identify the denomination of their currency.

http://www.treas.gov/education/faq/currency/production.shtml

Quote[/b] ]It cost the government much more to print $1 bills than they are worth.  Your concerned about cost until it inconviences you.

Even if that were true (source), money AS A WHOLE does not cost more to produce than its value. A 25 cent coin does not cost 25 cents to produce, an 20$ bil does not cost 20$ to produce

 

[herenorthere]

Making that big of a change is beyond us.  We need to lower our expectations.  Start simply, such as by developing a system of giant laser guns to shoot speeding missiles out of space.  Or maybe by building a giant wall to keep the Mexicans away.

We like to stay within our limits and how can we ever hope to match Europe's or Canada's advancements in paper money?  Like different sizes - how will technology ever cope with that?  Hmmm . . . maybe that kind of advanced technology could even work for coins.  Imagine a vending machine that could take different sized coins.  Wow.

 

[Clint]

LMAO!

 

[rattler]

Quote[/b] ] Or maybe by building a giant wall to keep the Mexicans away

would prefer a wall that kept the cold air in Canada.........that would do far more good for the US

 

[ktulu]

OK i solved the problem. All we need is the laser. with some modifications i bet we can make it not only shoot down missles but also shoot down the illegal immigrants, then we use it to give laser eye surgery to the blind, and when we are done there we can use it to warm up Canada so that there isnt the cold air anymore. This will save us billions. I expect everyones vote in 2008 when I run for president for coming up with this brilliant plan. With the save money I as president would then take a vacation. LOL.

Honestly how much can this cost. And regaurdless of how much it costs maybe its time the United States focused more on things with in its own borders than on dominating, I mean influencing the rest of the world.

 

[Clint]

We can also finish off the icecaps. That'll teach them to break off into the sea.....

 

[ktulu]

Quote[/b] (JustLikeAPill @ Dec. 06 2006,3:12)]We can also finish off the icecaps. That'll teach them to break off into the sea.....

good idea with less ice around = warmer air. We can also save money cause with global warming we dont need these heat for the poor programs. Or even better lets just eat the poor that would save a ton of money on welfare, heating programs, low income housing, and so many other problems and it will be earth friendly cause it will lower the impact of humans on the planet.

 

[Finch]

Quote[/b] ]earth friendly cause it will lower the impact of humans on the planet.

If thats the goal then prehaps we should start with the rich...

 

[xvart]

I also think that debit cards are a reasonable solution in the meantime. I know that personally, if I was afraid that I was going to be taken advantage of, I would do as much as possible to eliminate every possible risk. Of course, I can say this because I'm not blind, so anything that comes after is just speculative.

If I were blind, I do not think it would be inconvienent to frequent stores that could accomodate my secure behavior; and, if I had been blind my entire life I doubt I would've established relationships with people at stores that did not accomodate my secure behavior; and, if I had, then I would not have to worry about being taken advantage of.

Of course, the only problem would be if for some reason I was stranded and had an emergency at "mom and pop store" that didn't take debit cards.

If I were blind I would be using a debit card without think I had been screwed because of my disability. Heck, I can see and I almost use a debit card exclusively.

Again, I am in no way trying to presume what it is like to be blind.
xvart.

 

[Hans Breuer]

Quote[/b] (rattler_mt @ Dec. 05 2006,12:38)]still say the best solution is for the blind to use the readily availible debit cards but prehaps that solution is to simple to work. ....cant figure out how it wont work for the blind.

The exclusive use of debit cards won't work for the blind. My in-laws are both blind, and although we live in a highly progressive country (Taiwan), debit cards are not a be-all-end-all solution because there are always situations where you need cash. Not everyone lives in cities, and not every mom&pop store in the boonies store accepts debit cards.

Not to mention the many ways debit cards can be used to manipulate blind people, especially seniors ("Sorry, old man, this card's empty. Here, let me throw it away for you. Now, how about some cash?")

And yes, as a practical tool, US banknotes are a sad mess.
Same color, same size, same feel - this is unique in the world, and the only reason it's never been changed is that Americans are used to work around the problems it causes and don't care much about the odd foreign tourist's opinion.

 

[throckmoron]

I think the scanner concept put out earlier sounds like a viable solution. It could be built into some other useful object like a cel phone. I don't know though, just another piece of overpriced technology to break down. And possibly one that would be hard to afford for some blind folks--

 

[Mokele]

Quote[/b] ]Not to mention the many ways debit cards can be used to manipulate blind people, especially seniors ("Sorry, old man, this card's empty. Here, let me throw it away for you. Now, how about some cash?")

And what's to stop them writing down the debit-card number and using it to make an load of purchases later? Or changing the price they ring up?

Mokele

 

[rattler]

#1 you cant stop criminals...............its impossible, someone will always be out to take advantage of you

#2 as a blind person i would much rather have a debit card than be carrying a wad of cash..............what the heck am i supposed to do if some one tried to take my money...........i cant identify the person to the police, gotta hope someone else saw what went down. lets see a debit card that can be protected against theft, not to mention most companies would return funds to the card if it is stolen. and the fact with one phone call i could cancel the card and prevent its use.

you guys seem to forget where i live and where i travel. i live in a town of 4500 ppl and there isnt a town any bigger for 100 miles. i have no issues using a debit card for most everything and i deal with alot of mom and pop stores and yet i have no problem using a debit card in any of the places i shop within 100 miles of my door, living in one of the poorest areas of the state.

 

[Ozzy]

Only problem I have with dept cards is that some places have a $10 min. on purchases.