Recently passed health care reform (HC bill) raises a multitude of issues regarding personal privacy and government intrusion into peoples’ lives.

Page 58 contains the following statement: Government will have real-time access to individuals’ finance & a National ID Health card will be issued.

Page 59 contains the following statement: Government will have direct access to your bank accounts for elective funds transfer.

Looking at the text, it is not difficult to figure out that the government intrusion is implied. The question is, to what extent.

I grew up under communism, or rather witnessed the transition from a normal society to communism. It was not pleasant, to say the least. The country was Romania, population of 23 million, shortly after it fell under Soviet control.

Granted, communism was extreme in its police powers.

The present authoritarian presidency in conjunction with a like Congress, makes it somehow worrisome and we just have to be prepared for the consequences.

The following is based on my experience, while growing up.

Growing up under communism and National ID Card

There is much talk in this country about a national ID card to be used by government entities, to manage various programs, including illegal immigration, health care, criminals, and so on. I am dismayed how naive people supporting this concept are, and for a good reason. They have not witnessed the potential misuse of it, especially when the government has too much power.

As soon as the communists took hold of power, what do you think the first thing they did?

They implemented a mandatory national ID card. The communists believed in the concept of building a new society for the People. People to them were the poor, oppressed and the trodden.

The communist motto states: If You Are Not With Me, You Are My Enemy. If you are my enemy, you must be marginalized or destroyed.

This was the essence of the ID card. The communist government wants to know its enemy, where the enemy lives, and most importantly, marginalize the enemy by controlling its movements. Guess who the potential enemy is? You the individual are the potential enemy!

This is the same concept our government uses today to screen all the airline boarding passengers.

The ID card was adopted by Stalin in the Soviet Union and copied by all the Eastern European Countries, once under Soviet / Communist control.

In a nutshell, the ID card did not use something equivalent with Social Security number. It did not have to. It was a very simple card, like a small passport. It had the name, date of birth and most importantly, the residence address.

The communists declared all cities: Closed City arbitrarily.

This government decree required an official approval for anyone trying to relocate from one town to another, even while changing jobs. In fact, changing jobs had to be approved by the government since it owned the enterprises providing the jobs. Every individual was a government employee whether you worked for a bakery, chocolate factory or for the army.

When you traveled and spend the night in a different city you had to go to the police station in person and report where you were staying that night, even if you stayed with relatives or friends. The hotels handled that for you. There were police street blocks at night inspecting the ID cards. If you did not have an ID card, you were arrested. Police never reported these arrests to the family. You just disappeared – for years.

Stalin used the ID card to the fullest. He conscripted educated managers, engineers, doctors, and sent them to the non-Russian speaking Soviet Union nations hoping to annihilate and control the local cultures and its people. Think Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan even Ukraine. They were forced to live in these places for at least five years. They could not quit and leave, because the ID card would not allow them to apply for another job in a different city. The government had full control of each and all individuals even in a large country like Soviet Union.

Health Care Reform and National ID Cards

Identity theft and identity fraud is happening to many these days and its consequences can be life-altering and life-threatening. Identity theft is a crime that occurs when someone takes a portion of your personal information and then uses that information to fraudulently take away your identity, your money and other assets.

Items that are stolen to accomplish this terrible dead are names, social security numbers or a person’s date of birth. Other ways that are used to steal your identity are: watching you from a nearby location as you dial in your telephone calling card number or credit card number or listen secretly while you’re talking on the phone as you give your credit card number to a business. There are some who also go through one’s garbage cans, looking for checks, credit card numbers or bank statements.

In addition, many criminals use the Internet to seek out and find things such as passwords or personal bank information. In addition, by using information they steal coming from bank statements or password information, these criminals will apply for loans or credit cards and then buy expensive items. And, if the criminal goes so far as having the bills for these items sent to a different address that doesn’t belong to the victim, then he or she may not find out about the theft until untold damage has been done to the victim’s reputation and personal assets.

Knowing these facts, what can be done to prevent this terrible crime from happening? Here are some simple but very helpful steps to follow on how to avoid becoming an ID theft victim.

• Keep your personal data updated, simple and don’t put unneeded information on your checks such as your social security number or home phone number.

  How to Avoid Becoming an ID Theft Victim

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