Hi twfowler; I just started in on the collection of Buckley's speeches (that recently was remaindered and quite the bargain). I can't believe how well he was writing as long ago as 1952.
My own feeling about national ID cards is that the issue shouldn't be played up as an anti-terrorism measure. It's simply that it will be more convenient for all kinds of things.
As it is now, every time I move across state boundaries I'm supposed to go to the new state and get a new driver's license issued. This is just another unneeded hassle.
As it is now, if I'm visiting another state I can't write checks because they require "in-state driver's license". This is silly. This is the 21st century. A system where you can't write checks while visiting the Grand Canyon may have made sense in the 19th century, but with transportation tying this country much closer together than ever before, having this sort of restriction just doesn't make sense.
Once I had a driver's license from a rather obscure state, and tried to cross a boundary to one of our international neighbors. The customs officials ended up staring at the ID trying to remember if they'd ever seen one like that before, and if they had, did it look like the one I was offering. This is okay for the 19th century, when people hardly traveled, but this has no place in the 21st century where Bangkok is only a few hours away from Hawaii.
There was a time when the United States could be called a collection of independent states. I miss that time, I regret its passing. But the fact is that it is gone, why not simplify things? The system we have now is ridiculous. It's time to trash it and replace it with a system suitable to the times.
When it reaches the point where it's more convenient to travel in the EU than in the USA, I say let's fix it. If it catches a terrorist or far more likely, if it stops a thief, then more power to it. But the system we have is inefficient.
Maybe this doesn't matter to people who "cocoon" and never leave their neighborhood, but I'd like convenience when travelling around this free nation.
-- Carl |
