Identity Card or "Cloak of Invisibility?"

The so-called "National Identity Card" has, of course, been the subject of much debate here in the United States as well. I thought the fact that many of the same issues appear to be popping up in India was interesting.

Here, of course, one cannot even start a new job without presenting a driver's license issued by one of the 50 states and a social security card or birth certificate (if one is a citizen -- other forms of authorization for non-citizens). A national identity card MIGHT have merits if it allowed us to streamline the various forms of identification we needed to present...but there are also myriad ways of abusing such a system as well in terms of the slow but inexorable creeping of additional information that the feds might require as a condition of issuing the card.

The one that pops immediately to mind is selective service registration (i.e., the requirement that has been law for many years now that boys register for any possible future military draft) I was required to register some 30 years ago or they would not release my scholarship money. Since that scholarship paid half of my college costs, it was a no-brainer -- even though it chapped my a@@ that it was a form of economic discrimination. Obviously, someone from a wealthy family who didn't NEED such a scholarship could, if they chose, decline to register. At the time, I had no qualms about serving if drafted, but I suspect I might have had to at least THINK about the notion at greater length if I had been of draft age during the past six years of the Iraq Debacle. I can certainly see the feds, for example, refusing to issue a national identity card without proof that the individual had registered.

On the other, other hand, such a system WOULD be useful if it could be combined with the push to put medical records online. I nearly died of Pneumonia two years ago while on vacation 2,000 miles from home. As I hovered in that state, I can guarantee you that I would have had NO objection to them using a national ID card with my wife's signature to access some central data storage computer to call up my medical records. I am terribly allergic to two types of antibiotics, for example, and was in no shape to tell anyone. They could have killed me trying to cure me if they had used either of them instead of the ones they did use (they actually had to IV me with three different kinds simultaneously to drag me back from the brink).

Interesting, however, to see in this article that it is the LOCAL identity cards that appear to be disenfranchising the woman in the example. Presumably, as she lives under a plastic tarp, the Civil Rights implications of a national identity card are probably well down her list of priorities compared to, say, not starving to death...

I thought to myself this morning: I need to post something about India. This is what I found. How can a country with a billion people have a "slow news day?"

Mr. Nilekani sure has his work cut out for him. I think there are many pros and cons to a national identity card. I'm not absolutley aginst the idea of having such a card in the US but i do have some reservations about the idea.

One, you can not compare the US to India just because they have a large population. India is a 3rd world country that has an economy that moves on bribes, the selling of children into labor camps, and corruption from the top of gov-mint down. (people still live in mud huts in rural areas, and make fuel from cow dung)
Two: What is stated in paragraph 6 "This is heady stuff, especially given the coercive abilities of India’s corrupt and territorial officials." is what the citizens of India can expect, they created this system after 1948, based on what they learned from British Colonials before their departure.
Three: voting is only allowed to those Indians who have money and power, they purchase votes and usually an outcome of a political race is decided before election day.
Four: While Indians still try to divide the population into a "caste" system which identifies their class/status in life, the reality is a 2 class system: the ones who are slaves/slave-workers, and those who employ slaves, slave-workers.
Five: The US already has a national identity card, it is called a passport, it is just not yet required to have it at all times or even get one unless you leave the country.

@masterzip,

One: The "green revolution" is investing large sums of capital to capture methane production and our modern society is finding new ways to make use of "cow dung". You might frown upon the idea of using cow dung for things but it is a universally accepted, zero waste, resource.....
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cow_dung - please do refer to this and many more articles for uses other than to offend your delicate sensibilities.
I do agree with the corruption part though.

Two: What are you actually suggesting? other than reiterating the point of the article, which is that this is whole process is going to be hard considering the corrupt officials......Please do feel free to point out one country without a corrupt official trying to break the will of the people.

Three: Voting in India is very democratic. Statistically, it is shown that the lower classes vote more that the middle and upper classes because to a certain degree, they understand the direct impact (or because they are bribed to vote... in either case, they vote and have a strong majority hold)... Please look up "coalition government" if you have a chance and don’t already know. (I am guessing you don’t from what you are saying... I am truly sorry if I am wrong)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coalition_government

Four: The caste system, although barely alive anymore, plays a role in the election but to the lower caste's advantage as they out number the upper castes and statistically / historically vote more. We might all agree, democracy is based on the idea that majority rules. FYI- most people that migrate to other countries now, because of the worth of their knowledge, are people belonging to lower castes.

Five: most people I know in America don’t have a passport but everybody (legal) has a social security card.

I am jus saying.....

Thank you for these informative posts. The caste system still seemed to be firmly in place in India as I was growing up during the 60s and 70s, so I am pleased to hear that so much progress has been made these past 30 years or so.

Like racism, sexism, ageism and so many other forms of discrimination, there always seems to be that one small group of Neanderthals (...hey, maybe I am onto something with that appellation...) that seems determined to hold onto old hatreds and, if they are allowed to do so, resurrect them.

Masterzip, I'm not sure where you got the idea that I thought India and the US were comparable because they both have large populations. I simply think that both countries face some of the same issues as they contemplate national identity cards.

I just celebrated my 48th birthday on the 4th and have yet to possess a passport. I WISH that I had one because I would like to USE one. My opportunities thus far have been limited to a dozen or so visits to Canada (though between visits to Quebec City, Montreal, Toronto, Edmonton, Calgary and Victoria I must say they have a lovely country up there).

I touched on social security cards in my first post. For a whole host of reasons, using the existing social security system to issue national identity cards would make a tremendous amount of sense. For one thing, there is so much fraud in that system that a top-down audit is overdue -- I seem to recall hearing of a case just last year in which somebody in my community was receiving 13 social security checks each month by somehow interfering with the system of notifying the feds that somebody receiving checks had passed away. I suppose when one of them reached the ostensible age of 150 years a red flag would have gone up somewhere...or not.

I think someday in the near future I will move to India, it sounds exciting. How can i apply for the move!

@cztheday,

I was really surprised to see how much things have changed in India over the last 20 years or so. I was born in India and grew up there till the age if 13 (I am 24 now and a US citizen.. ). I remember people from my family back then absolutely HAD to marry a Brahmin... and some were even picky about the sub-sect. I even remember instances where some fell in love with people from other castes and were never allowed back into their parent’s house. One close relation married a Muslim (which was a bigger no-no) and was never heard from again (till I got facebook..lol).

Now I find that, cousins close to my age - in India and the US - are dating/marring people of all different castes and colors around the world and it's not frowned upon. My mother (who was arrange married to my dad) went as far as to talk about how cute her grandkids would be if I married the white guy I am dating and my 86yr old grandmother in India agreed...

Of course, like you said, there always seems to be that one small group of Neanderthals.... in my opinion they are being phased out like the actual Neanderthals.

As for the SScard. There has to be am intelligent way to write an algorithm to match our drivers licenses and SSN and come up with a card which is a hybrid of the two... maybe do a 3 point match with address/phone#/name... or other pieces of info. This might solve some of the fraud issues with it because then you would have a central “record” and have a pic on it…. On the downside, I would be curious to know what “big brother” could do with all that… not that it would be really difficult for them to get all that info now.

On a personal note, HAPPY BIRTHDAY! You really should cztheday and get a passport and travel the world… I keep telling my friends this. There are some truly spectacular places worth seeing on our beautiful planet. I highly recommend Paris, London, Amsterdam, Hamburg, the Himalayas & any place in Australia.