by Simon 44 Replies latest social current
"IDing" people, one way or another, has been around for millenia...the slant of the eye, vocalization and colloquialisms, length of hair, absence (or presence) of facial hair, and so many other subtleties:
A "printed card" in and of itself makes no difference whatsoever; as if a Tutsi could hold up a piece of paper and prevent the summary execution.
edit to add: Nadsam, your testimony is heavy-weight, and I don't mean to diminish your personal experience.
We've had identity cards is the US for over 50 years. And the 9/11 terrorists had them as well. Drivers licences and social security cards are not the hardest things to get and I dont know what the big hoopla is. We are constantly being watched by security camera's much more so in Europe, we reveal so much about ourselves on the internet, how many of us have pictures of ourselves in this forum including you Simon?
Revised
Ok, a serious question for those of you who are extremely concerned about the cards.
I wonder how much of that worry can be attributed to years of crap told to us as jws?
Such as, we would all be marked by the government at the beginning of or during the great T?
Do they still preach that or have they given up and found new light on the subject?
Isn?t it possible the conditioning is causing "more" then normal uneasiness about carrying cards?
I think you bring up an interesting point, but I know loads of people who have never been JWs who who range from highly uncomfortable to outraged about the idea. And they aren't all just old hippie-wish-I'd-beens like me.
But I do have to add, just speaking for myself, cuz I don't know if all exJWs are like this, that I do think being brought up in the truth made me paranoid about governments, and I think that does linger.
oops, sorry, post 62 and 63 were for plmcrzy.
hi myauntfanny,
but I know loads of people who have never been JWs who who range from highly uncomfortable to outraged about the idea.
That's where I have the disadvantage regarding this issue. The only people I know who are upset about the cards are on this board. So I guess it was only natural for me to connect it.
I think it's something that can't be avoided good or bad. Who knows, in the next few decades we might have to use our personal ID cards for everything, including money. .
the point of the cards is to make the country more secure... surely terrorists discuss their plans in their homes!
Why wouldn't terrorists be legally in the country, why wouldn't they have been *born* here? Why wouldn't they have a legal ID card?
sorry, I thought you was implying ID cards were such an infringement of our privacy we might aswell have cameras in all our homes!!! DOH!
However, I feel ID cards are a step in the right direction, we have a big problem in the UK with benefit fraud and such like.
Compare this with the very real danger of governments using ID cards to track and even round up people it dislikes. Don't believe me? Look at the countries that have them and they have traditionally been very strict, authoritarian regimes (Russia, China ...USA*).Imagine what Nazi Germany would bave done had they been able to identify Jews much more easily ?!
We in Germany have them, too and we have to carry it anywhere we go. I personally do not have problem with it, it is an easy way to identify myself when starting an account or similar things.
But wait when they start join ID cards with RFID. Then "they" actually know where you are at any given time.
BTW, the Nazis had a lot of administration. For example, all jews had to put a yellow star onto their cloths. There was something called "Arish Passport" that certified "how much jew" was in you. Imagine they had our IT equipment back then.
The potential for authoritarians to abuse such a system seems self-evident.
*Sigh*. I wonder if reading threads like this every day is at all beneficial to my mental health. All it does is make me feel like we're heading towards a future of brutal, tyrannical authority, and I feel utterly helpless to do anything about it.
I think I'll just use this little post here to announce my departure from this board, maybe not permanently but for at least a while. Adios.
