Very interesting article about the thin line between safety and tyranny.
"I will show a passport to travel internationally. I'm not willing to show a passport to travel in my own country," Gilmore said. "I used to laugh at countries that had internal passports. And it's happened here and people don't even seem to know about it."
He's unable to travel because he refuses to present a government-approved ID
Worse-case scenario: if things get bad enough, will someone eventually have to "rescue" us from a tyrrannical government? If that happens, I wonder who would come to our aid?
Posted by: AmyWafl | 03/02/2005 at 09:34 AM
Fascinating. The issues are so complex, and my opinions of them so undetermined, that I hardly know where to start commenting. However, I do find a kind of welling rebelliousness within myself when reading the article, and I think it says something that I am more naturally inclined to agree with him than disagree. I think you are right, Amy, in articulating how people feel unable to provoke real change. We are a country with a constitution that calls on us to evoke change as it is necessary, but I fear the impetus to change is inversely linked to our economic well-being. That is, as long as there are powerful people getting rich here, relatively little will change. Unless, of course, the next MLK, or Ghandi is somewhere out there...
Posted by: cancer | 03/01/2005 at 01:36 PM
Well Wafl it got my dander up as well...number one, I wish I was rich enough I didn't have to fly, but since I'm not, and therefor have to show my identification when I travel - which doesn't bother me as bad as the stupid human tricks they make me do. Lose the shirt, shoes, belt...feel like Ned Beatty in Deliverance. In protest, I think I will create a tag like they use with cattle and pass them out to all my friends and family being herded through lines. Sort of a grassroots resistance...
Posted by: a.brain | 03/01/2005 at 10:02 AM
Very interesting. This, and all other complaints about how our country is run today makes me wonder: the Declaration of Independence states that it is the people's responsibility to eradicate a government that is abusing its power, which was manifested in the establishment of the U.S. What is the difference between now and 200 years ago, that people are so willing to complain, but feel like they can't do anything about it? This may be opening a can of worms, but I'm always interested in hearing people's opinions on this topic.
Posted by: AmyWafl | 03/01/2005 at 09:52 AM