-Caveat Lector-
> THURSDAY
> AUGUST 19
> 1999
>
>
> <Picture: FreeLife><Picture: Claire Wolfe>
> -----------------------------------------------------------------
> ------- <Picture: WND Exclusive Commentary>
> -----------------------------------------------------------------
> ------- (Not) Everything you ever wanted to know about SSNs
>
> -----------------------------------------------------------------
> -------
>
> � 1999 Claire Wolfe
>
> Last week's column about babies without Social Security numbers
> drew a ton of mail. Usually, that's good. This time it was a
> mixed bag. I heard from gutsy people refusing to cooperate with
> government child-tracking schemes. I heard from people with
> helpful info. But I also heard from lots who either didn't get or
> didn't like what "Lawyer X" and I had to say. This week I want to
> deal with some of their objections.
>
> "How will baby drive, get credit or buy a house without a
> government number?"
>
> Last week's column argued, "Give baby a chance to choose whether
> or not he wants a number. He can't do that when he's an hour
> old."
>
> I didn't take a stand against all government citizen-numbering
> (though, in fact, I do and will). I just said that the decision
> to bear a tracking number has far-reaching consequences for
> freedom and privacy, and that an individual is entitled to make
> that decision for himself, not to have it imposed upon him at
> birth.
>
> Yep, years from now -- when it comes time to drive or go to
> college -- grown-up baby will have some tough decisions to make.
> Of course, baby might face a more hopeful future if enough people
> -- today -- tell the government (and its Little Brother
> corporations) to take a leap into the abyss with their control
> schemes.
>
> "But how will I get my tax deduction if I don't number the baby?"
>
>
> The government wants more of your freedom. If you don't give in,
> it'll extract more of your money. And if you do give in, it'll
> know it can take even more money or freedom from you next time.
> Are these the kinds of choices you want to continue to be
> pressured to make? Or do you want to say a resounding NO to such
> blackmail?
>
> There is an alternate government number you might be able to
> wheedle for your baby in order to write him off. Ask the IRS
> about it. You can always make deals -- if that's the kind of
> world you want.
>
> "But you have to use an SS number. Otherwise, you can't live a
> normal life!"
>
> This objection -- repeated by more correspondents than I care to
> think about -- depressed me for days. Of course it's true.
> Absolutely, totally, completely true. If you don't have -- or if
> you refuse to use -- an SS number for ordinary activities like
> driving, connecting utilities, purchasing firearms, renting
> videos, etc. -- you'll find yourself leading a curtailed life or
> constantly fighting with bureaucrats, store clerks and company
> officials.
>
> But can't you see? That's exactly why it's so crucial to fight
> this universal numbering business as fiercely as if you were a
> rabid Tasmanian devil!
>
> The abuse of SS numbers has been growing since the first SS
> legislation was spawned. But only since 1996 have the worst
> abuses been codified into law. You -- and your children -- are
> slowly being squeezed into a position of absolute submission to
> authority -- with your SS number as the lever. It's being used to
> control your access to everything from credit to health care to
> work to investments to education to insurance to housing to
> travel -- and eventually, to food. Free people do not tolerate
> such control over their lives. It must be halted -- and reversed.
>
>
> "You didn't tell me how I can get a credit card or health
> insurance without a number."
>
> Right. First of all, it was a 1,500-word column about babies. You
> darn betcha I didn't solve the entire SS problem in that limited
> space. I couldn't solve it in a book -- though in fact, I have
> written one on the subject.
>
> Anyone who imagines 1) that regaining freedom is going to be an
> easy little thing or 2) that any writer, adviser, expert,
> consultant, guru -- or politician -- is going to give them all
> the answers -- all wrapped up in a nice, tidy package -- is
> dreaming.
>
> I'll do what I can to supply leads and info on various ways to
> live free. I hope to have much, much more on this topic, over
> time. But actually getting free takes dedication, research and
> risk -- on the part of each and every person who seriously wants
> freedom. The only question is: Do you consider freedom important
> enough to make the effort?
>
> As former slave Frederick Douglass observed: "Those who profess
> to favor freedom yet depreciate agitation are men who want the
> crops without plowing up the ground. They want rain without
> thunder. They want the ocean without the awful roar of its many
> waters. ... Power concedes nothing without demand. It never has
> and never will. ... The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the
> endurance of those whom they oppose."
>
> "I just don't like your method of resisting."
>
> One acquaintance wrote:
>
> I don't see the merits that you do of separating oneself from the
> advantages of mass society just because some idiots are in charge
> and are making a pest of themselves.
>
> My orientation has always been to either "get out" entirely
> (through, e.g., establishing several alternative identities along
> with passports for each) or to simply ignore the bastards
> whenever possible, comply meekly like a good little sheepie when
> you can't avoid them, and throw grit in the gears over one's
> shoulder.
>
>
>
> And to this I say, "Great!" "Gopherit!" "Hooray for you!"
>
> I've written frequently that the rowdy, unpredictable power of
> the individual -- millions of individuals -- is the most potent
> weapon against tyranny. You do whatever works for you. Just as
> one car, one color, one book isn't the one for everyone, neither
> is there only one road to freedom. We can confuse the heck out of
> the control-freaking creeps by following our individual
> inclinations and opportunities.
>
> I have just one fear about freedom lovers who choose apparent
> submission -- with heartfelt beliefs that they'll monkeywrench
> the tyranny works along the way. And that is that, too often,
> they're fooling themselves. They suck up the benefits, accept the
> easy life -- and never take a real, effective step for freedom.
> Oh, but they will someday. Sure, someday. ...
>
> But heck, however you can screw up a tyrant's plans -- why not?
> Toss that monkeywrench. Misspell your name a dozen times in that
> database. Sue the SOBs. Whatever moves you. Just don't submit.
>
> But I still say your child has the right to make her own choices
> -- when she's old enough.
>
> Finally: a tribute and a sigh
>
> Consequences? There are so many -- and so many heroes who endure
> them for freedom's sake.
>
> Here's the story of one young man, Trey Felton -- 18-year-old
> Eagle Scout and 4H clubber -- a sociable kid from a family that
> "doesn't stand out from the crowd." He has no citizen number
> because of his religious objections. His mother wrote to explain
> just one of his struggles.
>
> First, Trey was hired by Burger King -- after being up-front
> about not having an SS number. A month later (after he pointed
> out that they shouldn't be withholding SS taxes) the franchise
> owner -- whom he had never even met -- came in and fired him.
>
> Then he was hired by a major department store -- again, being
> up-front about not being in the SS system. He worked for one day,
> then was told to get a number. His mother says, "He has since
> furnished them with written documentation explaining there is no
> law that requires him to get a ssn against his religious
> convictions, a complete breakdown of the IRC which explains the
> proper procedure for an employer to follow in such a situation in
> order to avoid penalties, etc., from the IRS, and a copy of an
> EEOC ruling which supports his position."
>
> An attorney for the store -- attempting to utilize a loophole in
> the (non-binding) EEOC ruling -- pointed out that business aren't
> "required to accommodate the employee without a ssn if it would
> place undue hardship on the company." The attorney then claimed
> that reprogramming the store's human resource software to list
> Trey without an SS number would be cost prohibitive.
>
> Trey's mother continues: "I have an extensive background with
> computers and software. I made a call to the software company and
> spoke with a person in the know there who said it could be done
> in any of four simple ways without any expense at all."
>
> The family and the department store are still trying to work
> things out. But when this worried mother -- seeing the
> possibility of a religious discrimination suit on the horizon --
> e-mailed WorldNetDaily's own advertiser, Pre-Paid Legal Services
> Pre-Paid's rep, Faith Thomas told her bluntly:
>
> [A] SS# is required for membership. The SS# is used as a
> membership number.
> and again -- after full discussion of the family's religious
> opposition to numbering:
>
> If you want this service ... then give a SS#. If not I wish you
> the best.
>
>
>
> Pre-Paid Legal has the right to set whatever membership policies
> it wishes. But when a company can confidently expect that an
> audience filled with conservative Christians and libertarians
> will humbly submit their federally issued tracking numbers as a
> condition of doing business, we have indeed come far down the
> road to universal submission.
>
> -----------------------------------------------------------------
> -------
>
>
> Claire Wolfe illustration by Wayne D. Holt
>
>
> -----------------------------------------------------------------
> -------
>
> E-MAIL CLAIRE WOLFE | GO TO CLAIRE WOLFE'S ARCHIVE
>
> CONTACT WND | GO TO PAGE ONE | SEARCH WND
>
>
> <Picture: WorldNetDaily.com>
>
> -----------------------------------------------------------------
> ------- � 1999 WorldNetDaily.com, Inc.
> -----------------------------------------------------------------
>From WorldNetDaily.CoM
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