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Posted on 12/23/2001 8:21:51 PM PST by forest
Do you have your papers in order? Sure you do. We all do nowadays. We have our birth certificate, Social Security card and driver's license available any time some lowly bureaucrat requests them. Many of us have a passport, too.
Of course, we do not normally carry all that with us at all times. Many of us do, however, always carry debit and credit cards and insurance identification along with our State drivers license or ID card. That's more than should be necessary, say some federal bureaucrats. So, they want to "help" us solve the problem.
Their idea is a single card that could include all government permissions, like driving, carrying a gun, Social Security or welfare and medical data. It would also act as an universal debit and credit card and carry credit, criminal and employment history. The smart identification card will also include our Internet information and provide a secure encryption method for both e-mail and telephone calls.
Something like that is already being issued to military personnel. The Defense Department card is officially called the Common Access Card. The one designated for civilians will also have a snappy name.
The military smart ID cards allow Defense Department officials to look into their databases and see everything their personnel do -- including doctors seen, the department doorways passed through, the computers accessed, and how much activity each person has on the Internet.
Civilian cards will be a little better. They will compile all the same data as their military cousins, but will also allow government to sell income data and buying trends to private business concerns.
Americans have already given up their privacy by allowing credit bureaus and advertising corporations free rein to compile any and all information they can find. The new federal smart cards will only add a few odds and ends to that, which officials say "will not bother anyone but the most avid privacy freaks."
Already there is a strong consortium made up of media, advertisers and their associated business partners quietly pressuring federal bureaucrats to make the smart card program happen for at least a significant segment of society. The military was just a beginning.
For instance, the Air Transport Association wants a "voluntary" travel card for passengers, which would include a biometric identifier. The card is to link to a system of government databases and include criminal, intelligence and financial records. The American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators, a group of state bureaucrats, is working on a plan to create a national identification system to link all driver databases to high- tech driver's license cards with computer chips, bar codes and/or biometric identifiers. The Justice Department and General Services Administration admitted they are also working with motor vehicle officials and commercial vendors on some sort of high-tech ID system. Already, Rep. Stephen Horn (R-CA) introduced a bill that would establish a Commission on Homeland Security to study the use of national identification systems.
And, of course, there is the multimillionaire Clinton supporter, Larry Ellison, chief executive of Oracle Corp, calling for a smart-card of his own design for all citizens -- a card surprisingly close to what's on the wish list of many federal bureaucrats.
So, what's the problem with such a smart ID card that is also our travel card or "mini-passport," as well as our banking, medical and employment card? Having great encryption for all of our cell phone calls and e-mail would be handy. It would also be great to only have one card to carry around that does everything.
According to bureaucrats who presently prefer to remain anonymous (for damn good reasons, we shall soon see), there are a number of interesting reasons smart "identification" cards are desirable to government officials: All the better to control the serf citizens with, of course.
Sure, Americans could have a great encryption system for e-mail and cell phone calls. However, government will have a universal decoding procedure, just in case they care to snoop. Along with that, of course, government will also be able disrupt any citizen's communication at any time.
A cashless society is desirable in conjunction with the credit-debit function of the card. Then, all financial transactions of every individual will be available to be scrutinized by bureaucrats. Furthermore, by withholding card access, bureaucrats will also be able to stop all financial transactions of any person any time they wish. Work and travel permission could also be denied by a simple command in the government's main computers.
So, anyone not paying a ticket or child support on time, not showing up at a court hearing, or just becoming a suspect of a crime, could have all travel, work, medical, and commercial transactions cut off by any minor bureaucrat with access to the computer. It would then be the responsibility of the citizen to present themselves to the proper government office to rectify the matter. Else, all liberty would be suspended.
And so goes the story behind the story of the "smart card." It is no more than a modern means of complete control.
F, ALL transactions will have to go through godgov's selected middleman {merchant} and recorded by godgov's approved banks {moneychangers}. A person will NOT be able to buy fresh vegetables from farmers for their kids, nor honey from the beekeeper. ALL transactions must go through godgov's approved middleman. Makes one feel sort of "all nice and fuzzy cuddly" don't it?? Peace and love, George.
Message to our amazing President Bush:
Don't restrict the freedoms of 300 million Americans to find a handful of illegally-immigrated Arab males.
Say NO to body cavity searches for Swedish grandmothers while Achmed the Arab flies unrestricted on a one-way ticket with C-4 in his shoes.
P-C is dead - date of death was 9/11.
Stand up for your rights and freedoms Freepers, and tell our government to focus ONLY on the bad guys.
F@CK Political Correctness. And Dassh@le and Hillary too.
The bureaucrats MUST remain anonymous until G.W. Bush publicly supports the idea. Then the idea will even find support here on FreeRepublic.
COMRADE DAGOSAVITCH
COMMUNIST AGENT
OCCUPIED USSA
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