Neofeudalism in the Microchip Age

Posted on September 6, 2007 in Privacy

During the Clinton days and for a little while before that, you used to hear a lot about the “Universal Bar Code” which was to be tattooed on every person’s arm by the [[Anti-Christ]]. This was a rallying point for right-wing zealots who feared Big Government. Here in California, a move is underway to ban companies from requiring employees to accept RFID implants as a means of tracking them. And who is behind the move to protect you? Of course, the Democrats!

Republican legislators led the opposition. Bob Margett (R-Arcadia) claimed that the legislature was creating a problem before it had appeared, despite two facts: first, Verichip has been licensed to manufacture radio-tracking implants by the USFDA; and that, second, one company, Cincinnatti-based (it would be Ohio) CityWatcher.com now requires its employees to have said microchips implanted in their arms.

There is a problem here and now. Any delaying action works in the favor of those who implement this invasion of personal privacy.

It would be interesting to see what kind of connections Margett has to the microchip industry or to businesses which are interested in implementing such technology within their workforces. Since 9/11 Republicans have sponsored a number of initiatives that erode our privacy and circumvent rules against government agencies using surveillance, torture, etc. by the vehicle of “private investment”. If there is a profit in it, there’s a company trying to do it.

Let’s look at it like this: there are two styles of government existing in the country today: public and private. We’ve seen public government disarmed — from protecting us from private governments. Republican initiatives have given many functions once reserved to governments — for example, the monopoly on coercion and violence — to for profit concerns. And this has meant that we have seen our power to have a vote over what these quasi-governmental agencies do taken away from us. Slowly, the Republicans have created undemocratic (and unrepublican) fiefs within our nation, little countries governed by warlords who cannot be voted out of office, whose shareholders want them in the business of violating human rights because there is money to be made at it.

It’s about time that our elected government is putting a stop to this neo-feudalism.