I D Cards First Step Down Slippery Slope?

by Englishman 41 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  Englishman

  The UK Government has announced that it is very serious about making it compulsory for citizens to carry an ID card in view of the risk of subversive activity increasing.

  It seems to me that this is the thin edge of the wedge. I spent years trying to get out of a repressive organisation, and then even more years getting that organisations brain-washing out of my head. The last thing I want is for my already tenuous freedom to be infringed upon by over-zealous officialdom seeking to examine my credentials every time that I board public transport or make a financial transaction.

  Surely, fighting terrorism should be all about keeping our freedom to go where we like without question. Repressing our own citizens with ID cards is the first step towards ending democracy.

  Englishman.

  Nostalgia isn't what it used to be....
• 

  myMichelle

  Hi Englishman,

  Interesting. Does one have to carry any other ID normally such as a driver's license? Or is this in conjuction with such ID?

  Michelle
• 

  Amazing

  Hi Englishman: I have mixed feelings about it. In the USA we have already had a natinal ID card since the early 1930s called the Social Security Card with each person having a unique number. Originally, the SS Card was only to be used for employment purposes, but has become a universal ID Card for tracking Credit, military records, medical records, etc. Back in the 1930s the SS Card was feared so much that many Christian grups viewed it as the 'Mark of the Beast.'

  We also have Driver Licenses which used to be much easier to get in the 1960s and 1970s, but now required insurance, SS Number, and Borth Certificate in most states. And the States do cooperate with one another to share Driver Lincense data base.

  So, a National ID Card is also nw proposed here, and it seems like just another piece of paper (Plastic). I am sure that bad guys will find ways to falsify and steal them.It is much like the efforts here to outlaw guns, because then only outlaws will have guns. [I don't want to get into a gun debate, but my point is that criminals all have a common feature - they don't like to obey the law. So passing more and more laws and controls only costs us lots of money, and never really helps that much.]

  We already have eye and hand scans in some secured facilities. Maybe taking Optical Scans at birth, or during childhood, to use for life might be the way to go. I don't know. I don't like the Natinal ID Card idea. But, how do we deal with 280,000,000 people?

  Maybe we need to go back to the ways of the old west. Every man and woman pack a gun. Then when a terrorist shows up on a plane - he will get killed. 250 guns to one is hard for a few terrorists to compete with. I think to defeat their ability to carry out their acts will go a long way in stopping them. I agree with Bush this morning regarding freezing assets of known front organizations for Terrorists. Maybe they will make a mistake and accidently freeze Watch Tower Assets - Thanks again. - Amazing
• 

  radar

  Englishman

  
  I can see that already you have got a false Identity card.
  Might it have been wiser though, to have a card with at least some likeness to yourself?
  Unless your a cross dresser?

  Radar
• 

  LDH

  OMG Radar that is hysterical.

  Amazing,

  Succinctly stated, I agree with every thing you said.

  Lisa
• 

  julien

  If they do a ID card here (US) or anywhere I hope it is a smart card with big time encryption on the chip, otherwise it will be a piece of cake to make fake IDs.
• 

  ballistic

  Englishman, I know exactly where you're coming from, but surely you have to weigh the pros against the cons. On the balance of it, I think we should have compulsory ID cards.

  To my michelle, the answer is no. Although we have driving licenses, these do not need to be carried at any time, even while driving. An officer can ask to see it, and may ask you to present it at a station if you don't have it on you.

  Also Englishman, I feel very strongly about benefit fraud which puts our taxes up which is rife in the UK. Any measure which will help put an end to this is good in my book.
• 

  conflicted

  I don't see what the big deal is. Yes I do agree that this could infringe upon the freedom of law abiding citizens a little bit, but there has to be changes in our everyday lives for this conflict against terrorism to finish with positive results.

  An ID card isn't that big of an issue in my opinion. In the US a drivers license must be carried if you are going to drive, some sort of picture ID must be presented when you write a check or use a credit card. If this universal ID could be incorporated into the drivers license (which we have to carry anyway) our lives in the US wouldn't change at all, and your lives in the UK would only change in that you need to carry a card that you own already. Not really a big deal.
• 

  Englishman

  Conflicted,

  I think that our lives would definitely change. Our police would obviously be given the power of arrest over someone who didn't carry the ID card and there are many people who would simply refuse point blank to carry it as a matter of principle. So, the people who would be arrested would most likely be persons who object to the infringement upon their civil liberties.

  Being asked for one's ID is in effect, being asked for the States Permission to exist , it's nothing like a driving licence which means that you are qualified to drive a vehicle, it's nothing like a credit card which means that you are allowed to have credit up to a certain value, its nothing like a National insurance card which means that you are entitled to certain State benefits.

  An ID card is used mainly by authoritarian and suppresive regimes to monitor it's citizens behaviour and whereabouts. The only modern-day European country to have tried it is France, and their police - the Gendarmerie - are absolute sods to say the least.

  The whole of society will change, IMO, for any nation that inflicts ID cards upon its citizens.

  Englishman.

  Nostalgia isn't what it used to be....
• 

  Seeker

  Whenever something serious happens, politicians like to be seen as doing something. Since they usually don't know what to do, what they come up with is the equivalent of 'busy work.' The national ID system is one such result.

  Will it prevent terrorism? Nope. Would it have helped two weeks ago in America? Nope. Terrorists just create fake IDs. That's what the guys did in America. So creating a new ID system won't help one bit. Ah, but the politicians can be seen as "doing something." It sounds good on the nightly news! It makes the politicians look tough on terrorists!

  Bollocks, as my British friends might say.

  All this will accomplish is to create more control over law-abiding citizens. We are a short hop and a skip away from the "show me your papers" stage of totalitarian governments. It's a simple equation: People in power wish to remain in power, and increase their level of power. This is another method they will use, but don't worry: it'll be "for your good."