zenmaster10665

I am not sure if this belongs in Paranoia, feel free to move it if you see fit.

OK, so I am not the most religious of people, but the idea of having a microchip implanted in my arm strikes me as a bit strange.

Beastly

For some reason this really strikes me as a bit strange and a even a bit apocalyptic...It smacks of the "Mark of the Beast" which all of us who were raised a Suthern Baptis's were taught to avoid like the plague. (which, apparently might be on its way too )

At the very least, it seems like a damn good way for the government to keep tabs on everyone...just add in a small GPS device and you are well on your way to an Orwellian nightmare.

Am I just being paranoid?

Is this the beginning of the end?

Most importantly: Will I be able to pay for my beers with my arm?

(seriously though...I would never allow a microchip to be implanted in me or anyone else I care about.)

__________________
"Beware of the man who works hard to learn something, learns it, and finds himself no wiser than before.
He is full of murderous resentment of people who are ignorant without having come by their ignorance the hard way."
-Kurt Vonnegut

DEI37

I'm not sure what the whole idea is behind the chip...I saw the headline the other day...didn't read the article. It's NOT a good idea, as like you said, it could allow the gov't to keep tabs on where we are, and when. I think it's a good idea for people with a serious criminal background, but other than that, BAD idea. I think you're absolutely justified in being nervous about it.

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Generally speaking, if you were to get what you really deserve, you might be unpleasantly surprised.

d*d

so the government would know where you are - it's not like they would be monitoring you constantly, it would more likely be used as market research to try and sell us more stuff we don't want. i think it is inevitable the way technology is going.

raeanna74

I was raised Baptist as well and was fearful of anything like this. Logically if (IF) it was used ONLY for the purpose stated here it could be useful. Not everyone would really need this but those with special medical needs, i.e. those who would wear medical ID bracelets, would benefit from this. The only problem with this is medical professionals WITH the equipement to scan and the records available on that person. I still think it would be better for those people to wear their ID bracelets so that first responders and those who assist in an emergency before the professionals get there are more aware of what the person needs. For example a diabetic can be helped but may be unable to communicate their problem, a person with an asthma problem can be given their inhaler, a person with a heart condition could be given their tablets. But if the information is on the inside of the person instead of on a chain or bracelet no one will know until the professionals arrive which can sometimes take too long. I personally would not use it except for medication allergies or something else that isn't as time critical. Also - how will the professionals know who is tagged and who isn't without checking everyone? Could take up useful time if there is no tag.

Personally if people don't want to wear a tag I think a small tattoo somewhere with the same kind of information as a Medical ID tag would have would be more useful.

Besides - I DO NOT want the government or anyone else knowing EVERYWHERE I go. It's bad enough that I can't go anywhere in my town it seems without my Mom finding out. But that's a small town. I can see the GPS thing being useful though to find lost children or hikers but it should be an optional thing.

__________________
"Always learn the rules so that you can break them properly." Dalai Lama
My Karma just ran over your Dogma.

zenmaster10665

yipes. Read 1984...you might have a different opinion.

__________________
"Beware of the man who works hard to learn something, learns it, and finds himself no wiser than before.
He is full of murderous resentment of people who are ignorant without having come by their ignorance the hard way."
-Kurt Vonnegut

thefictionweliv

I feel that microchips implanted for non-medical/criminal related monitoring systems cross the line of the need to know area of personal lives. The goverment would have to take my life before they take my body.

Master_Shake

Oh please, like the government doesn't already know where we are.

I saw a decent film last night that had an even spookier premise. In "The FInal Cut," Robin Williams plays a sort of neo-mortician who extracts the memories of people who have had a recorder placed in them. These people walk around all day, recording everything they or anyone else does. Would you act differently around people if you thought they were recording everything you were saying and doing?

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You know something, I don't think the sun even... exists... in this place. 'Cause I've been up for hours, and hours, and hours, and the night never ends here.

EmotivE

Yeah, wtf, why would anyone want any government (especially the current U.S. one) to be keeping tabs on them? Unless you don't plan on doing anything particularily stupid or radical, I don't see any benfits. Aren't the Patriot Acts enough violation of privacy already? yeesh. If they stuck one of those suckers in me I'd get some cool bionic arm to replace my old one the goverment invaded, then I'd ....um, punch them, I guess...yeah, that'd show em, punch em really really hard....n stuff.....mwhahaha.

Master_Shake

Bionic arms, now you're talking!

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You know something, I don't think the sun even... exists... in this place. 'Cause I've been up for hours, and hours, and hours, and the night never ends here.

d*d

Have done and I wish people would stop wheeling it out as an argument every time a discussion about id cards come up, it won't turn us totalitarian overnight you know, I would be more worried about media censorship with respects to 1984

Slavakion

It'll take a week

Well, I'm not paranoid by nature, but no way are they putting that thing in my arm.

zenmaster10665

Yeah, overnight or not, I dont want any creep towards totalitarianism.

__________________
"Beware of the man who works hard to learn something, learns it, and finds himself no wiser than before.
He is full of murderous resentment of people who are ignorant without having come by their ignorance the hard way."
-Kurt Vonnegut

t193r7

I'm more worried about the possible elimination of cash from all transactions.

Suave

If the government wants to, they can embed gps chips into any number of things that you regularly carry around with you. If they cared enough to do it, they'd already be doing it. The computer chips being described, I believe, are used for security clearance, medical information, et cetera. I wouldn't be too comfortable having one implanted either, but I'll bet in a few decades the chips'll be just as obiqutous as cell phones.

d*d

don't think I've made my point:
id cards does not equal totalitarianism
all id cards are suffering from is bad marketing - cctv cameras are a "creep" toward totalitarianism by this "it was in 1984 then it must be evil" definition

borg7171

Good Topic!

I'll admit, when I first read the article, my first thought was the mark of the beast. Yea, I was brought up a S. Baptists. There is so much here, I hardly know where to begin. The stated purposes of the chip are noble, and I believe that if used in only that way, it would be fine, for anyone. However, I hardly think that is where it would stop. It would not take long for scanners to be in every federal and state facility, and they would know exactly who visited those places. Having the scanners in public places would soon follow, and it does not take much imagination to believe that the law enforcement folks would get access to that information. Ergo, we could all be tracked everywhere we go.

Another step would be to have your unique number tied into your bank account. Now we would not longer need to carry a plastic card around with us. Good idea yes? No more loosing it or having it stolen, sounds great. We are already moving toward a cashless society with those cards, this would be the next logical step. But yea, that whole mark of the beast thing comes back to my mind. Yikes, what if they are right???

Just today, I read a followup article, talking about using these chips for inventory tracking and control. Warehouses is where they are originally talking about, keeping tabs on pallets of merchandise, ect. However, they also talked about how the price on them will continue to drop, and secretly tagging all merchandise is not far off. It would be nigh impossible to detect a chip sewn into the hem of your cloths. Keeps you from stealing it, but could potentially track you as well. There have been two states already that have tried to pass bills controlling this type of chip.

So, after all this rambling, I have no answers, just a lot of questions and more "gut" reactions. Not for me thank you. Not until there is some type of safeguards that can be used, and I'm not talking about laws either. My 2 cents.