(edit: title corrected thanks to @Ghoelian@feddit.nl’s info)
cross-posted from: https://slrpnk.net/post/1624944
Saw a “no cash” sign at a bakery. Conversation went like this:
me: So, no cash? What’s going on there?
cashier: Yeah, we’re not allowed to accept cash.
me: Isn’t it the other way around? Isn’t there a legal tender law in #Netherlands?
cashier: Yeah, we’re not allowed to refuse cash.
me: So this sign posting says loud and clear “we are breaking the law”, in effect, no? Is that not being enforced?
cashier: That’s right. It’s unenforced in Netherlands.
The same thing is happening in #Belgium. This kind of forces me to revise my understanding of European culture & norms. In both the US & Europe there is a culture of certain laws (rightfully) going unenforced against individual natural people. E.g. small amounts of marijuana possession. But I previously thought when it came to moral/legal people (businesses), they simply complied with the law in Europe to a great extent.
IOW, companies complied with laws in Europe. Contrast that with the US where corporations small and large will blatantly disregard any laws that interfere with profit based on the calculated risk of getting caught and risk of penalties.
I just wonder if Europe is being influenced by cavalier US corps and changing to comply only when penalties are likely. Or is this something I had wrong all along… that EU companies were always loose with compliance?
#WarOnCash
A basic bank account can only be refused for very specific reasons. It sucks to be a convicted terrorist or money launderer, but that’s hardly something you don’t have control over.
You don’t have the right to use exclusively open source software. I have a preference for open source software as well. Luckily, various banking apps work fine on LineageOS. I haven’t checked Anbox on Linux, but that can probably be made to work with the right tools. Or you can use a bank account that just requires a browser and the free code validator they mail to you, no need to buy a smartphone.
The debtor created that situation themselves. If you can’t get any bank account, not even a basic bank account, you’ve fucked up bad.
Quite simple: your financial situation isn’t my problem if you want to do business with me.
If it’s an international treaty that has been ratified by all parties, then sure. In that case, any objections based on human rights should go straight to court. I don’t think you’ll have much of a chance, but it’s worth a shot.
In that case, any troubles you have for not having a bank account should be quickly resolved by a judge, shouldn’t they?
If the monitoring is bad enough to be considered a human rights violation, I doubt the banks will let the legislation stand. They’ll probably not do it and sue the government when the fines come in.
If they do comply, you can sue your bank for violating your rights, of course.
I don’t see the relevance. Whether you’re born Dutch and have a secondary citizenship in Canada or whether you’re a Canadian who gained Dutch citizenship, you’re still treated the same. If I have a Canadian bank account for some reason, I’d be subject to the same rules.
You have the right to housing, not the right to decide the exact terms for your mortgage. Life in a homeless shelter already provides you with housing.
Or merely to be suspect of financial crime because of a cryptocurrency operation. Banks are extremely skiddish and it’s far easier to marginalize someone than to take on risk for someone maintaining an account worth less than 5 figures.
They will also deny you a basic account if you already have another account. So e.g. if your bank imposes a broken app on you and you need to bounce, you must first close the account you have before you can open the basic account. That means cashing out. But you cannot deposit your cash in the new account because it’s “basic”.
Indeed, that’s the problem. You’re endorsing that problem.
Running a FOSS platform does not make the apps the run on it open source. Those various banking apps all have spyware in them.
As I think I mentioned, there was a website & a counter service. Now there is only an app. Get the app or get locked out. Or walk. Those are the choices. Banks have a right to pull the plug on whatever service they want. They can impose iOS if they want.
Certainly not. The debtor has zero control over their place of birth. The BANK had a choice. The bank chooses whether to show customers in the oppressed group the door, or to report their activity. You can say the consumer has a right to renounce their nationality, but then you’re just infringing on another human right.
Simply being born in the wrong place can get you denied service at 8 banks. Being born in the wrong place cannot be regarded as a “fuck up“.
So you finally acknowledge inability to solve the problem. Great. But you don’t seem to give a shit about equal treatment & people being marginalized. This does not help your position.
You overestimate the power of human rights. Human rights violations occur in high numbers and are rarely enforced. It’s improving but 2023 is not a good time to have your human rights violated.
Banks don’t get to overturn law. They are also pushovers. They choose to violate human rights because it’s the easy path and human rights are mostly symbolic & rarely enforced, especially when they have the guidance and backing of the gov.
No you are not. In one of those cases, your birthplace is known as Canada. In the other case the birthplace is Netherlands and the bank has no reason based on required paperwork to think someone was naturalized in Canada. It’s also strange how you tried (and failed) to cherry pick a dual nationality case. When you have an oppressed group, you can always find two people outside of that group who are treated the same. You only need to find one person inside the marginalized group and one outside to prove a UDHR art.1 breach.