I decided to start a series of posts that detail some of my experiences in a socialist country. As we go along, I will as nearly as possible detail my experiences chronologically. From September 1998 to June of 2000, I lived in the nation of Austria. It is dominated politically by the "social democrats", and at least 50% of the urban population lives on any of the various entitlement programs. Although I spent most of my time in the rural areas, the hand of the government reached there too, especially when the FPO (the residue of the NAZI party) won control of the country and we were told to "blend in". Socialism creates fear.
As soon as I arrived at my first station in Ried im Innkreis, Oberoesterrich, Oesterreich, I was required to "anmeld", or register. The ramification of this procedure is that the government knows where everyone lives at every moment. When I left Ried in January in an "abmeld", they were concerned that nobody would be living in the flat. I assured them that someone would come behind me. My companion at the time refused to comply with Austrian law and register. I had nothing to hide.
What can the government do when they know where you live? It's not like in this country where they know who owns the property. They know EVERYONE who occupies the building at all times, and where in the building they are. Our building had only two apartments as we lived above a photography studio, but if you want to see what life is like when they know who lives where, watch Minority Report when Tom Cruise goes to get new eyes. They know where you are supposed to be. They know with whom you live. They know what you do. They really probably know where you are at every moment of every day, particularly when you start adding mass transit passes to the mix, since you basically get scanned when the conductor comes through.
They know where you are. They know who is there with you. They probably do this under the auspices that they can then track down lawbreakers and the like. Well, if you are Christian, you believe that everyone makes mistakes, but a mistake is different than a sin, and their system does not discriminate for motive.
This is why I oppose a national ID card and the federal sex offender registry as presently constituted. Did you know that you can go online and find out the names and addresses and even photographs of sex offenders in your neighborhood? That is a HUGE invasion of privacy. It is unconstitutional for any government official to be able to come up to you within the borders and demand to see your identification. The police may ask when they pull you over when driving to see if you are licensed to drive, but if you don't drive, then you don't need to carry identification in this country. That is a total government idea. I know you want to be safe, but our government, particularly at the federal level, is there to keep enemies out, not to find them once they get here. If you prevent them from entry, then you have no need to find them or track them once they are here.
Americans have one of the greatest freedoms ever given to man- the freedom to move about the country. We can just get up one day and decide to drive from Montana to Maine, from San Antonio to San Francisco, or to appear on the National Mall. National ID cards would severly curtail that freedom if you can be stopped at any time anywhere and asked to produce it. That is a burden arduous and illegal under our Federal Republic.
I still have all of my "Meldezettlen". I keep them as a reminder that it is such a blessing to live in America. Every time I come back to this country, I realize just how fortunate I am to be a citizen of this great land.
God bless the USA.
As soon as I arrived at my first station in Ried im Innkreis, Oberoesterrich, Oesterreich, I was required to "anmeld", or register. The ramification of this procedure is that the government knows where everyone lives at every moment. When I left Ried in January in an "abmeld", they were concerned that nobody would be living in the flat. I assured them that someone would come behind me. My companion at the time refused to comply with Austrian law and register. I had nothing to hide.
What can the government do when they know where you live? It's not like in this country where they know who owns the property. They know EVERYONE who occupies the building at all times, and where in the building they are. Our building had only two apartments as we lived above a photography studio, but if you want to see what life is like when they know who lives where, watch Minority Report when Tom Cruise goes to get new eyes. They know where you are supposed to be. They know with whom you live. They know what you do. They really probably know where you are at every moment of every day, particularly when you start adding mass transit passes to the mix, since you basically get scanned when the conductor comes through.
They know where you are. They know who is there with you. They probably do this under the auspices that they can then track down lawbreakers and the like. Well, if you are Christian, you believe that everyone makes mistakes, but a mistake is different than a sin, and their system does not discriminate for motive.
This is why I oppose a national ID card and the federal sex offender registry as presently constituted. Did you know that you can go online and find out the names and addresses and even photographs of sex offenders in your neighborhood? That is a HUGE invasion of privacy. It is unconstitutional for any government official to be able to come up to you within the borders and demand to see your identification. The police may ask when they pull you over when driving to see if you are licensed to drive, but if you don't drive, then you don't need to carry identification in this country. That is a total government idea. I know you want to be safe, but our government, particularly at the federal level, is there to keep enemies out, not to find them once they get here. If you prevent them from entry, then you have no need to find them or track them once they are here.
Americans have one of the greatest freedoms ever given to man- the freedom to move about the country. We can just get up one day and decide to drive from Montana to Maine, from San Antonio to San Francisco, or to appear on the National Mall. National ID cards would severly curtail that freedom if you can be stopped at any time anywhere and asked to produce it. That is a burden arduous and illegal under our Federal Republic.
I still have all of my "Meldezettlen". I keep them as a reminder that it is such a blessing to live in America. Every time I come back to this country, I realize just how fortunate I am to be a citizen of this great land.
God bless the USA.
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