The Naked Loss of Private Identity
Lunchtime is supposed to be one of nourishment and relaxation. I make a routine habit of turning off my cell phone (or not bringing it) so I can consume food, words, and sights free of technological and occupational encumbrance.
Walking back from lunch the other day in Westfield's Downtown Plaza, I came upon a troubling scene -- one that serves as disturbing reminder of how individual citizenship is perpetually at odds with the State's desire to control ever-increased aspects of one's life.
A gentleman in his late twenties or early thirties began playing his guitar in the center of the Plaza, which is a clear violation of the mall's code of conduct (which it actually distributes, no less). As the mall is private property, the songster had no right to either play his guitar or ask for contributions from the mall's patrons.
The remedy for this minor trespass is simple: ejectment from the premises. Mall security and Sacramento's finest saw to that, but the Sacramento police officers demanded to know the guy's name and (as I later learned) his Taxpayer Identification Number -- referred to by most as a "Social Security Number," which is a naked attempt to couch government issuance of identity papers with the values of "society" and "security." Indeed, Prussian aficionados and National Socialists would be very proud that the self-proclaimed beacon of freedom and liberty in the world tags most every one of its citizens with a number. This paradox will only be exacerbated when a Republican-controlled Congress and a Republican president will sign a law authorizing a national identification card, with the proviso that "this is not a national ID" emblazoned on the back, probably somewhere beneath the magnetic strip routinely found on state-issued identification cards today.
I am unsure as to whether California has a "stop and identify" statute that was upheld recently by the US Supreme court in the Hiibel case, but the force used by the Sacramento police to obtain the gentleman's identity information was unreasonable, including a good deal of arm-twisting, forcing the offender to the ground, and mistreating his possessions. But it was probably not as bad as it could have been. Thankfully, there were many witnesses to the ordeal, including several African-Americans -- one noted, "Damn, they're going after guys in suits now?" Two teenage girls gave the guy money as he was being escorted by the cops to the nearby light rail station, where I talked with him briefly. The demand for the number was dubious at best.
The whole affair reminded me that force -- including that which unreasonable and sometimes deadly -- lies at the root of all expressions of State power, even that which is purportedly benevolent. Those who exercise such force are routinely touted as "heroes," while in actuality they are little more than hired hands.
Perhaps the day will come when citizens become cognizant once more of the fact that they are individuals endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, as opposed to the pragmatic submission to the reality that one is a mere cretin subject to the varied caprices of the welfare-warfare state. As the protagonist played by Kirk Douglas in the splendid film Lonely are the Brave noted to a law enforcement officer who demanded his identification papers: "Papers? I don't need no papers. I know who I am."
Walking back from lunch the other day in Westfield's Downtown Plaza, I came upon a troubling scene -- one that serves as disturbing reminder of how individual citizenship is perpetually at odds with the State's desire to control ever-increased aspects of one's life.
A gentleman in his late twenties or early thirties began playing his guitar in the center of the Plaza, which is a clear violation of the mall's code of conduct (which it actually distributes, no less). As the mall is private property, the songster had no right to either play his guitar or ask for contributions from the mall's patrons.
The remedy for this minor trespass is simple: ejectment from the premises. Mall security and Sacramento's finest saw to that, but the Sacramento police officers demanded to know the guy's name and (as I later learned) his Taxpayer Identification Number -- referred to by most as a "Social Security Number," which is a naked attempt to couch government issuance of identity papers with the values of "society" and "security." Indeed, Prussian aficionados and National Socialists would be very proud that the self-proclaimed beacon of freedom and liberty in the world tags most every one of its citizens with a number. This paradox will only be exacerbated when a Republican-controlled Congress and a Republican president will sign a law authorizing a national identification card, with the proviso that "this is not a national ID" emblazoned on the back, probably somewhere beneath the magnetic strip routinely found on state-issued identification cards today.
I am unsure as to whether California has a "stop and identify" statute that was upheld recently by the US Supreme court in the Hiibel case, but the force used by the Sacramento police to obtain the gentleman's identity information was unreasonable, including a good deal of arm-twisting, forcing the offender to the ground, and mistreating his possessions. But it was probably not as bad as it could have been. Thankfully, there were many witnesses to the ordeal, including several African-Americans -- one noted, "Damn, they're going after guys in suits now?" Two teenage girls gave the guy money as he was being escorted by the cops to the nearby light rail station, where I talked with him briefly. The demand for the number was dubious at best.
The whole affair reminded me that force -- including that which unreasonable and sometimes deadly -- lies at the root of all expressions of State power, even that which is purportedly benevolent. Those who exercise such force are routinely touted as "heroes," while in actuality they are little more than hired hands.
Perhaps the day will come when citizens become cognizant once more of the fact that they are individuals endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, as opposed to the pragmatic submission to the reality that one is a mere cretin subject to the varied caprices of the welfare-warfare state. As the protagonist played by Kirk Douglas in the splendid film Lonely are the Brave noted to a law enforcement officer who demanded his identification papers: "Papers? I don't need no papers. I know who I am."
posted by Nikos A. Leverenz @ 11:11 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home