"Since September 11, 2001, I have seen this transformation, such that Federal and State laws now mandate proof of a social security number just to renew a commercial driver's license, for example. Bank accounts, credit cards, everything is now tied to the social security number."
I hate to tell him, but this all started loooooong before 9/11.
It's not even true. The last two credit cards I applied for, they asked me for a SS number. I refused to give it to them. In both cases, the company simply said "OK" and gave me the card anyway.