I fail to see how a digital ID scheme will help combat illegal aliens. They are already "undocumented", so how is it supposed to smoke them out by ... not giving them documents?
There is apparent concern that they are making an illegal living in "the black economy", which I presume is what we call "the black market" here. If they are in the black market, they are, by definition, already off the grid and doing fine. How is refusing them work in the regular economy going to put a dent in that? They are already not working in it, as they make their living from the black market. So how is that supposed to smoke them out?
We have a saying around here - "locks is for honest folks". "Dishonest" folks - those who just don't care to participate in the societal hamster wheel - will always find a workaround. Digital ID is the same. Folks who are already living without ID are not going to give the least of a shit that they don't have any of the new forms of ID - they've already mastered living "undocumented", without any ID. This would only apply to folks who give a shit about having ID... you know, "honest folks"... and the "honest folks" will be the only ones regulated and controlled by their digital IDs. It does nothing against illegals or anyone else who doesn't care about having an ID.
And what about old coffin-dodgers like me? You know, folks who have no "smart phone". How in the hell are they going to give us digital IDs - are they going to give us the phone to carry them around on, too?
Just another unworkable scheme brought to you by the fine folks at L.I.A.R.S. - Liberals In Action Regulating Society.
ETA - I know these things because (in spite of the fact that I was born here) I lived, worked, and thrived here in the US for 10 years - TEN YEARS - "undocumented". No driver's license, no social security card, no birth certificate, no entry in Census Records, no nothing. I actually skipped two censuses, I think, just by not being where census takers were, and having no address of my own, and no credit to be tracked by credit bureaus. I still have no credit, and I still don't miss it. I still have no "smart phone" for the same reason - I don't care to assist folks in tracking me.. I have no bank account, and don't miss that, either. I deal in cash, and cash only... or the occasional trade. What I learned from that was that I could be any damned body I said I was, and no one, NO ONE, could prove otherwise. Fuck them, and the digital ID's they're trying to ride in on.
The ID I have now is not even a "Real ID ™ ". When I went to get an ID, They wanted to charge me 30 bucks more for a "Real ID ™ ". So I said "what would it benefit me?" and they said "You can't get on to airplanes, Federal court houses, or military bases without one." Well, I don't want to get on to any airplanes any more - the lines are too long, and I'd rather drive than wait - the last time I was on a military base was in 2010, and I don't expect to ever need to get on one again, and if the Feds ever want me in a Federal court house, I'm sure they can find a way to get me there - probably in handcuffs - in spite of my lack of a "Real ID ™ ". So I wasn't about to pay another 30 bucks for an ID that differed from normal IDs only in having a tiny blue star in the upper corner. I've never seen a tiny blue star that I'd pay 30 dollars for.
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There is apparent concern that they are making an illegal living in "the black economy", which I presume is what we call "the black market" here. If they are in the black market, they are, by definition, already off the grid and doing fine. How is refusing them work in the regular economy going to put a dent in that? They are already not working in it, as they make their living from the black market. So how is that supposed to smoke them out?
We have a saying around here - "locks is for honest folks". "Dishonest" folks - those who just don't care to participate in the societal hamster wheel - will always find a workaround. Digital ID is the same. Folks who are already living without ID are not going to give the least of a shit that they don't have any of the new forms of ID - they've already mastered living "undocumented", without any ID. This would only apply to folks who give a shit about having ID... you know, "honest folks"... and the "honest folks" will be the only ones regulated and controlled by their digital IDs. It does nothing against illegals or anyone else who doesn't care about having an ID.
And what about old coffin-dodgers like me? You know, folks who have no "smart phone". How in the hell are they going to give us digital IDs - are they going to give us the phone to carry them around on, too?
Just another unworkable scheme brought to you by the fine folks at L.I.A.R.S. - Liberals In Action Regulating Society.
ETA - I know these things because (in spite of the fact that I was born here) I lived, worked, and thrived here in the US for 10 years - TEN YEARS - "undocumented". No driver's license, no social security card, no birth certificate, no entry in Census Records, no nothing. I actually skipped two censuses, I think, just by not being where census takers were, and having no address of my own, and no credit to be tracked by credit bureaus. I still have no credit, and I still don't miss it. I still have no "smart phone" for the same reason - I don't care to assist folks in tracking me.. I have no bank account, and don't miss that, either. I deal in cash, and cash only... or the occasional trade. What I learned from that was that I could be any damned body I said I was, and no one, NO ONE, could prove otherwise. Fuck them, and the digital ID's they're trying to ride in on.
The ID I have now is not even a "Real ID ™ ". When I went to get an ID, They wanted to charge me 30 bucks more for a "Real ID ™ ". So I said "what would it benefit me?" and they said "You can't get on to airplanes, Federal court houses, or military bases without one." Well, I don't want to get on to any airplanes any more - the lines are too long, and I'd rather drive than wait - the last time I was on a military base was in 2010, and I don't expect to ever need to get on one again, and if the Feds ever want me in a Federal court house, I'm sure they can find a way to get me there - probably in handcuffs - in spite of my lack of a "Real ID ™ ". So I wasn't about to pay another 30 bucks for an ID that differed from normal IDs only in having a tiny blue star in the upper corner. I've never seen a tiny blue star that I'd pay 30 dollars for.
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“Trouble rather the tiger in his lair than the sage among his books. For to you kingdoms and their armies are things mighty and enduring, but to him they are but toys of the moment, to be overturned with the flick of a finger.”
― Gordon R. Dickson, Tactics of Mistake
― Gordon R. Dickson, Tactics of Mistake