No NID!
By Don L. Tiggre
[email protected]
Special to The Libertarian Enterprise
Just in case any of you haven't heard about the national ID that's
about to be shoved down the nation's collective throat, or have
dismissed it as right-wing extremist hype, let me assure you that this
thing is very real, very dangerous, and almost a done deal.
You may have heard the president talk about a national health ID
card on television recently -- that's a different angle on the same
goal. Basically, the 104th Congress passed the enabling legislation
-- under the pretext of controlling illegal immigration -- that will
result in every citizen having a federal ID number and card, without
which life will become very difficult.
The Department of Transportation is working on coercing all states
(not that many states need much coercing) to issue drivers licenses
that will include the Social Security number and other information of
interest to the fedgoons on the mag-strip. It'll look like 50
different IDs (plus territories), but each card will contain the same
info, including the federal tracking number (the SS number). The
American people have acted like cattle for so long, they are about to
be branded. For more information, please see the NO-NID information
page Sunni Maravillosa has assembled and put up on the LRT web site.
If anyone does not understand what a serious threat to freedom
this is, what an incredibly powerful instrument for control this would
be in the hands of unscrupulous government agencies, they should go
watch any old World War II movie in which the Gestapo are always
asking people for their papers. Or, ask a Russian who had to have an
internal passport to travel around the old Soviet Union.
This is a coalition-building issue that cuts across party
affiliation and even many philosophical differences. It's something
that concerns libertarians, Republicans, anarchists, various
Christians, pre-Roosevelt Democrats, and other groups as well. So,
naturally, the Knights of Non-Aggression and the Friends of the
Liberty Round Table want to do something before it's too late!
The first thing we've come up with is very easy. We want to
spread the word -- the meme -- that we don't want a national ID
number or card:
NO NID!!!
In order to increase public awareness, we are launching a World
Wide Web campaign, like the green ribbon and blue ribbon campaigns
before it (or like L. Neil Smith's Bill Of Rights Enforcement
graphic). We have created a NO-NID graphic and placed it on our home
page -- we encourage those of you who have web pages to copy the
graphic and feature it prominently on your pages. Just doing that,
and encouraging other webmasters to do the same -- would be an
important thing.
It will make a difference!
Folks who don't have web pages can encourage organizations they
work with or for, or affiliate with, to put the graphic on their home
pages. They can also inform themselves, and put NO-NID in their sig.
files. That way, when people ask what "NO-NID" means, they can tell
them about it. Or they could use NO-NID and the URL for the LRT
NO-NID informational pages.
Webmasters could also establish the logo on their pages as a link
to the LRT NO-NID informational pages
(http://www.lrt.org/lrt.nonid.faq.htm) -- that way they wouldn't have
to clutter their own pages with explanations.
All individuals are encouraged to use the NO-NID graphic (ours is
kinda large, but you should be able to size it to suit) whenever they
do anything to protest the national ID. For example, there are
several letter-writing campaigns circulating the internet. If you
were to decide to download one of the letter templates and send one to
the president or the head of the DOT, you could affix the NO-NID
graphic to the letter, or print it on the envelope.
Heck, if you think you'd be good at explaining the problem, you
could print it on all your envelopes and stationery ... The more
places the logo shows up, the better! Congresscritters are very good
at ignoring letters from constituents that complain about things they
have no intention of dealing with -- but if lots of the fedgoons
involved start seeing the NO-NID logo on lots of correspondence, or on
billboards, newspaper ads, or other places ... Or if people just
started calling their offices and saying, "NO NID!" and hanging up, it
would get noticed! If politicians think there is a constituency for
something, then they are much more likely to take action.
I have no way to tell how far this will go, but I do know that
these suggestions won't cost you anything to implement, and every bit
will help. Freedom is never given to people, it is won by people who
will not allow themselves to be herded, corralled, and branded. Every
single individual who refuses to go along with this NID thing is
priceless, even if they stand alone (like the guy in front of the
tanks in Tiananmen Square). If enough individuals decide to refuse to
be treated like cattle, we can stop this thing.
So please join us in this protest!
It's easy, painless, legal, quick, and free. It's also crucially
important. No excuses. No mooing. We will not be cattle! Stop by
today and get your NO-NID graphic at:
http://www.lrt.org
No time like the present!
As this thing picks up steam, we will be adding projects to the
NO-NID program. One idea is to organize a national "burn the NID
card" day -- other ideas are percolating. Anyone with ideas is
welcome to send them to me or join our project discussion list by
sending the word "subscribe" (without the quotes) in the subject field
of a message to:
[email protected]
Please forward this article to anyone you know who cares about
freedom (or who might just object to being treated like hamburger
stock by the feds)!
Do freedom!
NO NID!
"Don L. Tiggre", founder of the Liberty Round Table (1101 Main Street,
#104-254 Evanston, WY 82930) urges Libertarian Enterprise readers to
"Do Freedom!!!" -- and check out VIRTUAL-CON 1: Science-Fiction and
Freedom-Lover's convention on-line, at http://home.lrt.org. Also,
check out the third annual essay contest for young people! Coming
soon: Y2K: The Millennium Bug, a novel by DLT!