The fatal mistake of the Second World War that caused the slow death of money

On the morning of September 3rd, 1939, the British Ambassador in Berlin sent an ultimatum to the German Government.

The note indicated that unless the bell rings before 11:00. By announcing his intention to withdraw from Poland – which had invaded the first day of this month – there would be a state of war between the two countries.

"I must tell you that such a commitment has not been received (and consequently) this country is at war with GermanyPrime Minister Neville Chamberlain told the British at 11:15 am in a radio message.

Meanwhile, France did something similar and also declared war the same day, a few hours later.

Three days later, on 6 September, at 6 am, the new British radar system detected planes crossing the south coast of England.

Prior to the air alert, a team of Hawker Hurricanes fighters took off, followed by two other reservists.

But something has gone terribly wrong.

The first to fall

None of the pilots had been in combat.

They were flying between the clouds and in the morning sun.

To identify the enemy, the drivers depended on instant visual recognition.

The elegant Spitfire was easy to spot, but the hurricane was like the German Messerschmitt 109.

Both reserves were identified as enemy planes and both were shot down.

One of the pilots survived without being injured, but the other was hit in the back of the head by a bullet and probably died instantly. At this early stage of the war, the RAF fighter planes were not equipped with a head armor.

At 26, Montague Hulton-Harrop became the first British fighter pilot to die during World War II, a victim of what military jargon calls "friend of fire".

In a sense, his death was not in vain: he forced the RAF to develop efficient aircraft identification systems before the summer of 1940.

Do not pull!

The Battle of Barking Creek, as this tragic incident was called, intensified the efforts of those working on a secret project, so that radar operators could find out which points on their screens were friendly ships and which ones. , enemies.

The task team was led by Robert Alexander Watson-Watt and was the same as the one who had developed "the secret weapon of the British": the radar.

On this occasion, they created a device that became known as radio frequency identification or RFID: a substantial piece that, installed in allied aircraft, reacted to the radar by issuing a signal indicating: "We are at your sides, do not shoot! "

And, even though you may not have heard of her, you probably have a fence right now.

What is happening is that the signals they emit now mean something else and are not so substantial anymore.

The other victim

As silicon circuits began to shrink, it became possible to produce a label that could be attached to much less valuable objects than an airplane, and for less laudable reasons than saving lives.

RFID tags are ubiquitous in the modern world: they have been used to monitor cattle trains, passports have them, you find them on clothes, in short … there are even enthusiasts who implanted them in their bodies be able to open doors or enter the subway with just a movement of the hand.

RIFD is also the technology built into your credit and debit cards, with which you can make contactless payments, a technology that in many countries was dethroning cash as a preferred method of payment.

That's why some point out that another victim of the Barking Creek battle is the money constant and sonorous.

Goodbye?

Why should we abandon the method that humanity has used to buy and sell since China first coined 3,000 years ago?

For people, the most obvious reason is the commodity.

For some institutions, the list of benefits is long.

From one side, money is expensive. You have to print it, distribute it, delete it, spend it, receive it, have it in the bank, count it, secure it, over and over again.

In addition, direct transactions – those in which you only participate, receive or give money in exchange for a good do not generate benefits for third parties that only exist to take advantage of these exchanges.

You can add to that many other reasons in favor of digital mode, for example crimes easier to commit with banknotes and coins, including, according to studies, tax evasion.

Or the banquet of the benefits that bring the data. Digital transactions leave a trace that allows you to be classified, register your preferences and even sell that part of you.

The flip side

Money, on the other hand, has no memory.

And this feature will probably be one of his salvation tables.

Even in places like Hong Kong, where over 14 million daily transactions are made with the Octopus Card, one of the world's most successful electronic payment systems, long queues have been observed in front of the subway ticket machines.

Although it is quite likely that those who were waiting to buy them with money had an Octopus card, with which they could enter simply by bringing them closer to readers who abound in transport services, use them endangers them.

These were people who had participated in the protests against Beijing and who did not want to be identified.

Another feature in favor of the physical currency is that it does not depend on a digital infrastructure.

The collapse of the Visa card in the summer of 2018, which affected all of Europe, was an alarm signal for a continent that – despite some exceptions – is rapidly evolving into a cashless economy.

On this occasion, the consumer group Which? He warned that "the trend of card and contactless payment could be a systematic risk for the economy as a whole".

As a result, announcements about the ultimate death of money may be a bit premature, despite the considerable advances in RFID technology over current microchips.