Why Not Implant A Microchip?

The Cato Institute ^ | February 7, 2002 | Charlotte Twight

[Plummz]

Sarcasm, people.

Some people do employ sans emoticons, you know.

Sheesh.

[dead]

So here's a modest proposal…

Even with this flashing neon light of a literary reference, some people still blow right past the author's point.

[ppaul]

The first family in the world to be implanted with microchips

[_Jim]

Why Not Implant A Microchip?

Something wrong with nature's unique ID feature?

(Sometimes referred to as 'fingerprints' ...)

[truenospinzone]

First they came for the Communists, and I didn’t speak up, because I wasn’t a Communist....

[steve-b]

You sound like one of those people who thought Jonathan Swift was actually advocating cannibalism in the original Modest Proposal.

[bwteim]

You all are absolutely correct regarding her sarcasm, as her "So here's a modest proposal" reference indicates. She has testified also against misuse of SSNs.
See her testimony

"H.R. 220, the "Freedom and Privacy Restoration Act"

"Pervasive government extraction of personal data, stored and linked via compulsory use of SSNs, is today's reality. The threat to privacy is clear. The restrictions contained in H.R. 220 represent our first real chance to counteract the erosion of privacy that has taken place through the burgeoning use of SSNs."

[Billthedrill]

Sound crazy? Well, it is. But as a thought experiment, it well illustrates how incremental incursions on liberty can lead to dramatic losses of privacy over time.

Good grief, people, could she have been clearer in her meaning? She's a well-known opponent of this sort of thing. What she was pointing out was the incrementalism that took Social Security numbers from nice-to-haves to mandatory, and she's suggesting that same method will be used to ease these chips into us. Jeez...

[BearCub]

Twight is an educated fool. No way do I want the govt access to any or all of my background in a single chip. It's too much control and an invasion of privacy. It's eliminating our freedoms granted under the Constitution.

...and you didn't read what she wrote. She was not advocating a chip.

-bc