[skgough]

One counterpoint I can think of: most forms of electronic payment require the Internet now. Credit card transactions, Venmo et al. You could transition back to cash but there would be enormous switching costs and short-term chaos, and I could imagine paper-based transactions are also way less efficient in terms of transaction fees and literal loss of the cash.

[aleph_minus_one]

> You could transition back to cash but there would be enormous switching costs

How much of a switch this would be depends a lot on the country: in quite some countries cash is the common method for payment:

> https://www.forex.se/en/travel/forex-index/cash-index/

> https://dailypassport.com/countries-that-still-rely-on-cash/

> https://www.travelex.com.au/travelex-hub/travel-inspiration/...

[wavemode]

I think we're imagining a scenario where the internet never existed, not one in which it disappeared suddenly

Though, if we were going to discuss the "disappear suddenly" scenario, losing indoor plumbing seems even more horrifying...

[btilly]

One of the bizarre ironies of the world is that mobile phone based payment systems achieved widespread adoption in third world countries before the USA! (That's largely because the USA had less need, there were plenty of established alternatives.)

That's one of the reasons why poor villages found mobile phones to be so essential.