-Caveat Lector-
THURSDAY
AUGUST 19
1999
(Not) Everything
you ever wanted
to know about SSNs
� 1999 Claire Wolfe
Last week's column
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/bluesky_cwolfe/19990812_xccwo_keeping_ba.shtml
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
deprecate 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 their
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
vendor-partner, 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.
� 1999 WorldNetDaily.com, Inc.
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/bluesky_cwolfe/19990812_xccwo_keeping_ba.shtml
Bard
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