No, we don't need it. But having that one, all-important ID just makes it easier. And I'd prefer to not do that, if at all possible. And, in case you haven't been watching the news over the past couple of years, that "probable cause" and "warrant" stuff is becoming easier and easier for the government to forego entirely if they so choose.
So, yes, I think it's acceptable to be a little paranoid about this stuff. If you don't feel the same way, that's your prerogative.
I haven't seen anything said on here so far that so perfectly mirrors my problem with this situation as this comment does. The "making things easier" angle is an absolute farce; the government, as usual, wants a simple solution to its problems, rather than being willing to put some extra work into them for the benefit of the American people. The ID systems in place in the U.S. are already broken enough as is, and adding another layer onto it will not solve the problem, even though that is the sort of approach that's become so popular here. I think the real issue is that our government has become such a collection of great do-nothings, who waste their time arguing over things that don't matter and giving themselves pay raises when they haven't even done what they were chosen to do, that instead of buckling down and tackling the root of the problem, they want to just have a nice big database to do all the work.
Also, the loss of freedom that would occur from a wide-scale ID card program is not insignificant. Yes, you need to have a driver's license or some other form of ID to do lots of things. But, even so, if I wanted to, I could go out today, withdraw some cash from my bank account(yes, paper money, which has almost gone the way of the dinosaur and the written letter), and go just about anywhere in the country that I wanted without anyone really knowing. If I had a national ID card, that "only the government" is supposed to be able to read, forget about that. If I want to attend a peace protest? *BEEP* Buy a book by an author who's being all-but-blacklisted because of views unfavorable to the current admininstration? *BEEP* They're already trying to do that stuff, anyway, so I'd rather not make it any easier on them.
Don't forget, in most dystopian stories The Handmaid's Tale, Animal Farm, and (I believe, though not completely sure)1984, iron-fisted societies didn't start out that way. Their people gave up their freedoms one at a time.
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No, we don't need it. But having that one, all-important ID just makes it easier. And I'd prefer to not do that, if at all possible. And, in case you haven't been watching the news over the past couple of years, that "probable cause" and "warrant" stuff is becoming easier and easier for the government to forego entirely if they so choose. So, yes, I think it's acceptable to be a little paranoid about this stuff. If you don't feel the same way, that's your prerogative.
I haven't seen anything said on here so far that so perfectly mirrors my problem with this situation as this comment does. The "making things easier" angle is an absolute farce; the government, as usual, wants a simple solution to its problems, rather than being willing to put some extra work into them for the benefit of the American people. The ID systems in place in the U.S. are already broken enough as is, and adding another layer onto it will not solve the problem, even though that is the sort of approach that's become so popular here. I think the real issue is that our government has become such a collection of great do-nothings, who waste their time arguing over things that don't matter and giving themselves pay raises when they haven't even done what they were chosen to do, that instead of buckling down and tackling the root of the problem, they want to just have a nice big database to do all the work. Also, the loss of freedom that would occur from a wide-scale ID card program is not insignificant. Yes, you need to have a driver's license or some other form of ID to do lots of things. But, even so, if I wanted to, I could go out today, withdraw some cash from my bank account(yes, paper money, which has almost gone the way of the dinosaur and the written letter), and go just about anywhere in the country that I wanted without anyone really knowing. If I had a national ID card, that "only the government" is supposed to be able to read, forget about that. If I want to attend a peace protest? *BEEP* Buy a book by an author who's being all-but-blacklisted because of views unfavorable to the current admininstration? *BEEP* They're already trying to do that stuff, anyway, so I'd rather not make it any easier on them. Don't forget, in most dystopian stories The Handmaid's Tale, Animal Farm, and (I believe, though not completely sure)1984, iron-fisted societies didn't start out that way. Their people gave up their freedoms one at a time.