Actually, in terms of "tagging citizens", this seems like a sort of ultimate extrapolation of where things might be heading. In a way, citizens are all "property" of their governments. It's just that the individual heads in the herd are allowed to roam freely within the borders of the "free countries."
It costs $22,000 per year to keep a prisoner in jail. Many of those prisoners are nonviolent. Those might be the first to test market such a program. Some people, without much of a work ethic, might consider working (out of "financial necessity") to be a form of slavery or imprisonment. I know there are a lot of shareware programmers who have trouble making ends meet.
I'm basically for decriminalizing drug use. But as a pragmatist, it doesn't look like the heavily theocratic popular vote in the U.S. is going to do that any time soon. Maybe thos sort of technocratic solution would satisfy all parties involved (sooner rather than later).
You could go with the "difficult to remove" bracelet, like the Wherify Wireless child tracker. However, I'm guessing that it could be removed by the resourceful. There'd just have to be a method that is inconvenient to circumvent, but not impossible.
So, that brings us to an implant: a little subcutaneous id chip, which provides the localizer with a signal when it's in close proximity. Perhaps it could be placed in the skin on the top of the wrist. Nothing impossible to remove, but inconvenient enough that spoofing would be uncommon.
It would be totally voluntary. Just an optional alternative to other forms of slavery and imprisonment. A rather painless way to remain engaged in society, around family, friends, and children. Definitely preferable to incarceration, and possibly preferable to working a 40+ hour week at an unpleasant job.
The Really Transparent Society:
I'm looking forward to ultrawideband localizers. I'll wear one in exchange for an allowance, to be paid by the minute as electronic deposits to my checking account.
It would cut down on crime, since would-be criminals would have an income source, and wouldn't commit crimes while wearing it.
Ultimately, each tracker could be an e-wallet, passport, drivers license, and biomonitor.
This would be interesting, since instead of the wearer *paying* taxes, the government would actually be paying *them* an allowance, as a compensation for surrendering a degree of privacy.
Maybe instead of there being a great centralized global x,y,z database, you could have local agencies that administer the tracking and payments. My local city police department is pretty libertarian and tolerant, so I'd let them have my coordinates.
If ever you choose to opt out, you just stop using it and go back to working for a living.
Slashdot Mirror
Actually, in terms of "tagging citizens", this seems like a sort of ultimate extrapolation of where things might be heading. In a way, citizens are all "property" of their governments. It's just that the individual heads in the herd are allowed to roam freely within the borders of the "free countries."
It costs $22,000 per year to keep a prisoner in jail. Many of those prisoners are nonviolent. Those might be the first to test market such a program. Some people, without much of a work ethic, might consider working (out of "financial necessity") to be a form of slavery or imprisonment. I know there are a lot of shareware programmers who have trouble making ends meet.
I'm basically for decriminalizing drug use. But as a pragmatist, it doesn't look like the heavily theocratic popular vote in the U.S. is going to do that any time soon. Maybe thos sort of technocratic solution would satisfy all parties involved (sooner rather than later).
You could go with the "difficult to remove" bracelet, like the Wherify Wireless child tracker. However, I'm guessing that it could be removed by the resourceful. There'd just have to be a method that is inconvenient to circumvent, but not impossible.
So, that brings us to an implant: a little subcutaneous id chip, which provides the localizer with a signal when it's in close proximity. Perhaps it could be placed in the skin on the top of the wrist. Nothing impossible to remove, but inconvenient enough that spoofing would be uncommon.
It would be totally voluntary. Just an optional alternative to other forms of slavery and imprisonment. A rather painless way to remain engaged in society, around family, friends, and children. Definitely preferable to incarceration, and possibly preferable to working a 40+ hour week at an unpleasant job.
The Really Transparent Society: I'm looking forward to ultrawideband localizers. I'll wear one in exchange for an allowance, to be paid by the minute as electronic deposits to my checking account. It would cut down on crime, since would-be criminals would have an income source, and wouldn't commit crimes while wearing it. Ultimately, each tracker could be an e-wallet, passport, drivers license, and biomonitor. This would be interesting, since instead of the wearer *paying* taxes, the government would actually be paying *them* an allowance, as a compensation for surrendering a degree of privacy. Maybe instead of there being a great centralized global x,y,z database, you could have local agencies that administer the tracking and payments. My local city police department is pretty libertarian and tolerant, so I'd let them have my coordinates. If ever you choose to opt out, you just stop using it and go back to working for a living.