Big Brother Alert #438
When a place gets crowded enough to require ID’s, social collapse is not far away. It is time to go elsewhere.
Lazarus Long, Time Enough For Love
And it looks like it’s just as true as most of Heinleins other thoughts that he put into that Character.
Too true, Jag. Heinlein rules.
If you’ve read much of Dostoevsky, some curt officials is always saying, “Papers please”.
We’d be much more secure if the cops could search anyone anytime, or break into homes the same.
If a nation values anything more than freedom, it will lose its freedom; and the irony of it is that if it is comfort or money that it values more, it will lose that too.-Somerset Maugham
Posted by Oink
10/17/2005 at 07:53 PM
I’ll go along with that, Jaguar.
How long before we get the subdermal (subcutaneous) microchip with RF transponder? It’s coming. The technology already exists.
I know that the old Soviet Union had internal passports. When Heinlein and his wife (who learned Russian for the occasion) visited the USSR many years ago they got in the habit of presenting their passports to people they met there who would return the courtesy by presenting their own for examination. I guess it’s a cultural thing. I forget where he wrote about it but that stuck with me.
Our present driver’s license or state ID cards are almost there. Congress is pushing for it though. It’s gonna happen here all too soon.
Skipper, a couple of points about this. Firstly the actual cost will be a lot more than £30. This is just a bogus attempt by the government to sweeten the deal. Independant researchers said it would be more like £90. Then there is the issue of carrying the ID. It won’t be illegal to not have one in your possession. So what’s the point?
Actually I know what the point is. The hidden agenda is to get Britain to join the “Schengen agreement” In Europe they all carry ID cards. Once you cross into a Schengen country there are no borders. Kind of like in the US. The downside of this is Britain will rely on countries like Bulgaria and Greece for their border control as there will be no borders between EU countries. They aren’t telling the people this of course because it would cause an uproar.
Something else to muddy the waters part of the reason that biometric data is required is to comply with US requirements. Britain (and most European countries) are part of the US visa waiver scheme. No visa is required as long as the visit does not go beyond 90 days. Passports from next year for visitors to the US will need biometric data in a chip. So Stin I guess you are right it’s only a matter of time before US passports incorporate this too.
At one time I was in favour of this as we have wholesale abuse of the benefits industry by dirtbags all from all over the world. Also our national health system is constantly being abused by people who are not entitled to free treatment. However from what I have seen of how Britain operates these days, I doubt the introduction of an ID card would make the slightest difference. It is a huge waste of money in my view.
10/18/2005 at 08:44 AM
