Am I wrong to be disturbed about this?

[Primula Baggins]

http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/08/16/ ... index.html

[JewelSong]

I think the cost would make it prohibitive.

But to be honest, I have long thought that a federal ID system would make a LOT of sense and save of LOT of hassle. Just one card for everyone...eventually all your info could be on it, including credit cards and so on and you wouldn't have to carry a dozen different cards.

And THEN they could microchip the info into you and you would never lose it and no one could steal it. Cash would become obsolete.

I am not being facetious. I really think this is a view of the future. I mean, did you ever see anyone on Star Trek with a purse or a wallet, I ask you?

[yovargas]

"We do have a right and an obligation to see that those licenses reflect the identity of the person who's presenting it."

A right??? God, I hate how empty and meaningless that word has become.

[axordil]

Well, I would say a right to expect people aren't committing fraud, which is what using a fake ID amounts to. But that's different from a "right" to expect that IDs be carried in the first place.

[Primula Baggins]

What specifically appalled me was the idea, presented as inevitable, that within a year or two those of us living in states that are refusing to comply with RealID will be required to show a U.S. passport to board a domestic flight or to enter a federal facility, including courthouses and national parks and monuments.

In other words, to move around our own country we will first have to show that our papers are in order. And new U.S. passports will be as trackable as the RealID cards.

[JewelSong]

Prim, I think that having to show some sort of Federal ID or passport for all flights is likely inevitable.

You already have to show ID to enter a federal building and to board a flight. What difference does it make what KIND of ID it is, really?

People who live in the EU have been doing this for years - their passport is a laminated card and most of them carry it with them all the time anyway.

[Primula Baggins]

It's just never been "the American way" to have to carry an internal passport at all times that has to be shown on demand. And there's a difference between carrying and showing a state-issued photo ID and showing a RealID-approved card, which contains machine-readable personal information and is linked to what is supposed to be a nationally linked network of databases (federally accessible) containing the same information on everyone.

States are rebelling for those reasons and because this is another federally imposed unfunded mandate.

[JewelSong]

Maybe "the American way" isn't always the best. I do think the day is coming when we will all need to carry some sort of universal ID...or have an embedded microchip.

I don't really care...in fact, I would feel better about not having to carry all sorts of cards and worrying about losing my passport or driver's license or whatever. At some point, we'll all be in some database somewhere. It is inevitable and may actually help make the world more united.

But, as I said, I think with this mandate, the cost will be prohibitive. I'm with you on the unfunded mandate part. (remember "No Child Left Behind?")

[Primula Baggins]

Many Americans across the whole political spectrum don't trust the government to that extent and would prefer to retain as much privacy as possible.

I agree that an end to those days is inevitable. I'm not happy about it, though. A system such as RealID could be misused not just by identity thieves (a big problem) but by state or federal officials. (Anyone comfortable with the idea right now should consider how that feeling might change if the "other" party was in charge of all that information.)

And it's not going to end the threat of terrorism.

[vison]

It is not the duty or obligation of a citizen to make it "easier" for the State to keep track of her. Period.

None of the 9/11 hijackers had fake ID, after all. This is SUCH a bullshit argument, that it somehow renders people SAFER. How? Really bad people commonly, routinely, on a daily basis, use fake ID that fools everyone from the local cops to the FBI to your banker to a credit card company. All the time.

Even implanted microchips are not foolproof. Anything can be faked.

It might be coming down the pike and we might have to give in to it, but it ain't gonna make anyone safer, nor stop fraud. It might simplify things, but mostly it's gonna simplify the State keeping track of us.

Time to start living outside the system?

[Holbytla]

Geez and here I thought it was 2007, but it looks like it is 1984.

I'm sorry to sound like a broken record, but ol' Ben said it best....

"Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. "

It isn't the type of card or the fact that it is necessary to be prudent and use caution. It is what the government will do with this power beyond its intended use.

You can rationalize this until the cows come home, but this will be a future source of abuse of power. At what point do we start implanting babies at birth with tracking devices?

Another quote, this time from a drill sergeant/bull rider/common sense type guy...

"A lock serves no purpose other than to keep an honest man honest. A thief will break in lock or no."

The last thing I want to do is relinquish any more freedom.

[JewelSong]

Sorry, but I think a universal ID is a good idea. And I like the microchip idea, too.

[Inanna]

The last thing I want to do is relinquish any more freedom.

Am not sure why this would lead to loss of freedom?

I admit it can be a pain to carry ID all the time - but we have to do that now anyway - with DL/State IDs to board flights, to enter bars, buy tobacco. And any purchase you make from your credit card is trackable, anyway.

[JewelSong]

At what point do we start implanting babies at birth with tracking devices?.

You know, I don't think this is such a bad idea, either.

Too many people on this earth. I think it would be an excellent idea to have an easy, uniform way to keep track of everybody. And implanting a microchip at birth would be the easiest way and least complicated way to do it.

[axordil]

Too many people on this earth. I think it would be an excellent idea to have an easy, uniform way to keep track of everybody. And implanting a microchip at birth would be the easiest way and least complicated way to do it.

Over the doctor's dead body.

[Holbytla]

Why is it necessary to keep track of everyone?
Am I some kind of lesser person that needs watching over by "people who know better"?

I'll do what I want, where I want and how I want, and as long as I am not endangering the public it isn't anyone's business but my own.

It isn't the id or the safety precautions. It is the use and abuse of this tool that is bound to happen, that has nothing to do with the original purpose.

Yes I am cynical, but that is more a product of what I have experienced than anything else.

[JewelSong]

*shrug*

I expected it to be an unpopular opinion here.

But, when I read the article, my gut reaction was "What a great idea. One ID for everyone."

It gets ridiculous, the amount of paperwork - and credit cards and passport and license and car registration and insurance card and discount PetSmart card and grocery cards and library cards and AAA membership card and Museum of Science card and bank card and...

Wouldn't it be nice just to have ONE THING to keep track of?

[nerdanel]

Wouldn't it be nice just to have ONE THING to keep track of?

...and wouldn't it be nice if we all carried ONE THING for the government to use to keep track of us? 1984: back to the future.

[Holbytla]

I tend to fall on the right side of center with regards to the military and the safety of the country.
I have no problem with the simplification of id's, or the need to be on the lookout for terrorism.
There is no way I trust the government to limit this power to its intended uses.

[JewelSong]

...and wouldn't it be nice if we all carried ONE THING for the government to use to keep track of us?

What? Instead of the 2 dozen things we carry now that "they" use to keep track of us?

I think it would be great to have a database of everyone living on the planet.