We need only look to Britain. In the name of security, they
are pushing for a national ID card; to get the card you must
surrender extremely onerous information to the government for
whatever nefarious uses they might find.
But don’t worry, the program is optional. If you don’t
want to give them the information, you don’t have to.
But you’ll never
leave Britain again.
It seems that “Big Brother” is gaining ground in
Great Britain. Starting in 2009, in order to apply for a passport,
Britons will be required to register their fingerprints, facial
scans and a host of personal information such as second homes,
drivers licenses and insurance policy numbers. If they do this,
they will receive a national ID card and then their passport.
However, the program is not mandatory. The British government
has said that the program is voluntary and that people will
be allowed to opt out. However, those that do will be denied
receiving a British passport.
Since the program has been proposed one in eight Britons has
said that they would refuse to register their personal information
with the government. This could mean that up to five million
people would be refused the right to travel outside of Great
Britain.
Phil Booth, a member of the NO2ID group, said: “The idea
that ID cards scheme is voluntary, and people can opt-out, is
a joke. There are all sorts of reasons why people need to travel,
not just for holidays. There is work, visiting relatives. What
are these people supposed to do? It stretches the definition
of voluntary beyond breaking point. They will go to any length
to get personal information for this huge database. Who knows
what will happen to it then?”
The notion that this is a voluntary program comes in since
Britons need not receive one of the official ID cards, however
in order to receive a passport they will still need to surrender
their personal information and pay the full £93 price
for an ID card and a passport. So, in spite of the government’s
insistence that the program is mandatory, the only way in which
Britons will be able to avoid the program entirely is if they
never renew or apply for a passport again; this means that those
British citizens who refuse to participate for whatever reasons
will effectively be compelled to stay in Great Britain for the
rest of their lives, unable to leave the island nation for whatever
reason.
The right to exit your country as a response to their tyranny
is largely seen as fundamental. That right will only exist in
Britain until 2009. What happens when they link the same requirements
to the RealID they’re proposing here in the USA?