Maybe I should not had read 1984 in 10 grade and been fascinated by dystopian societies sense then, but it seems that each year since 9/11/01 we as a nation are getting closer and closer to a police state where the government doesn’t function for the benefit of the people and operates simply out of self-preservation. At what point do the people no longer become the holder of the real power and become a commodity to be consumed for the protection of the State (which of course says that it is acting for the benefit and protection of the People).
First we get the Patriot Act. Now both houses of Congress are pushing through a fun little bill. Cnet ran an artical highlighting the House and Senate versions of the new bill today. The basic function of the bills is to reform communication between branches of the intelligence gathering arms of the US, some of the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission.. Databases will be integrate, offices linked, and access facilitated. They say that they will “preserve civil liberties”, but if the Patriot Act is any example what constitutes a civil liberty they seem up for interpretation.
If that weren’t enough to make your skin crawl, Senator John McCain put in an amendment to the bill that would call for the creation of a domestic, “integrated screening system”. Quoting the CNet article: ‘McCain envisions erecting physical checkpoints, dubbed “screening points,” near subways, airports, bus stations, train stations, federal buildings, telephone companies, Internet hubs and any other “critical infrastructure facility deemed vulnerable to terrorist attacks. Secretary Tom Ridge would appear to be authorized to issue new federal IDs–with biometric identifiers–that Americans could be required to show at checkpoints.’ Okay maybe the article’s author is a bit alarmist by bring in the proposed National ID system, but he goes on to outline how the States could made to subscribe to a standard (it worked for the drinking age). Basically if the Federal Government has a minimum ID requirement and your State does not issue an ID meeting them, you could be denied a passport, Social Security Benefits, and even entry onto Federal Property (court houses, parks, post office). I think I just lost some respect for John McCain.
So now that we have made the world hate us even more and proven that the terrorists are right about us, we have to spend more money, reduce freedom, and make our lives less inconvenient to make life safer here in the USA. Really all this should not be necessary, but it has become this way. Good thing that the FDA recently approved the sub-dermal ID tags for medical use. What happens when we trust our new identification systems too much, when they have too much information? Could not work against us if somebody figured out how to forge it (and they will)? Guess I’m just afraid that if my grandchildren are born in a hospital that they will have to be tagged like we now tag calves. But by that time the Poeple will just be fodder for the State anyway.
