The Right to Refuse

As I was lazily browsing Facebook this morning, I came across this news article posted on Dave Ramsey's FB page. The article features a woman named Diane who had been saving up her money for months to be able to purchase an Apple iPad. When she finally had enough cash, she went to the Apple store, walked up to the counter and told the sales clerk that she wished to purchase an iPad. When it was time to pay for her purchase, she pulled out her wad of cash, only to be told that Apple does not accept cash for the iPad--Credit card or debit card only. Apple claims that this is their policy because they are trying to prevent people from coming in, buying 100 iPads at a time with cash, and then selling them overseas for double the price.

After reading this article, I began reading some of the comments fellow FB users were making. Most of those who commented were upset with Apple, basically claiming that since our paper money is "legal tender for all debts public and private," Apple has no right to refuse anyone's cash. Some were even suggesting that this woman sue Apple. Go figure.

After thinking about this, I see nothing illegal or wrong in what Apple has done. There is no federal law that mandates businesses to accept cash as payment. And there should not be one, because private business owners have a right to accept whatever payment they choose. The federal government has no authority to make such a law. (As a side note, according to the Constitution of the United States of America, paper money is not legal tender. Article 1, Section 10 says this: "No state shall...make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts." According to the constitution, government does not even have authority to print paper money. Yet what does it do but continue to print and print and print until our dollar is all but worthless?)

I don't think that these people who believe that businesses should not be allowed to refuse cash truly understand what they are saying. In reality, they are saying that the federal government should be able to tell private business owners what they can and can not do. It's just like the smoking in restaurants issue. No business owner should be told that he or she can not allow smoking in their business. Am I saying I like smoking? Quite the contrary; I can't stand the smell of cigarettes. But I also can't stand a government who would force private citizens to make their private business non-smoking. That is a right entirely up to the owner of that business. Here in Kentucky, lawmakers are pushing to ban texting while driving. Ludicrous. Am I saying that texting while driving is safe? No, in fact, I don't like it at all and I never do it. But government can not tell people what they can and can not do in the privacy of their own vehicle. If they ban texting, where does it end? There are a gazillion other things that distract us while driving and cause accidents, like radio, eating, drinking, and even talking to passengers. Are they going to ban all of that, too? Back to the Apple store...am I saying I don't like cash? Not necessarily. As someone who does not own any credit cards, I use cash to pay for things quite often. What I am saying is that Apple, as a private company, has the right to refuse cash as payment for their services and merchandise.

I am terribly sorry that this post has gone from giving information to me "getting on my soap box", so to speak. If this article had come out 2 years ago, I would have been right there with most people, saying that I'm going to boycott Apple and that this lady should sue them. But, thanks to my dear husband, my thinking about liberty and government has drastically changed. I am just beginning to understand the purpose of government and what it is and is not supposed to do. Little by litte I am gaining a better understanding of our unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. And that these rights are given to us by God, our Creator, and not government; nor can they be taken from us by government.

Land of the Free?

Here is a news article that further shows how ridiculous our country is becoming. In this instance, it is the absurdity of a California public high school that tried to suspend students for wearing American flag t-shirts on Cinco de Mayo, a MEXICAN holiday. They claimed that it might "offend" the large population of Mexican-American students. Where does it end, people?