IN JUST A FEW WEEKS, ALL AMERICANS WILL NEED A REAL ID TO FLY ON DOMESTIC FLIGHTS
I haven’t been particularly curious about the “new” REAL ID. Basically, I saw that it cost extra money to get at the DMV and simply didn’t see the point. And then I essentially stopped thinking about it, and definitely didn’t consider the political and privacy context. And since I don’t have or want one, that would have been fine. Except for the fact that it’s about to be the required form of photo identification to fly domestic in the U.S., starting on May 7th. And that’s when we’re really going to see reactions of regular ole’ Americans feeling the yoke of totalitarian practice.
Read More: New Nature Poll Finds That 75% Of Young Scientists Could Leave United States
FOR AMERICANS WITHOUT A PASSPORT, REAL ID IS THE ONLY WAY THEY CAN FLY LEGALLY WITHIN U.S.
And no, that’s not a cheap or dramatic use of the term totalitarianism. Because we Americans have long made fun of actual totalitarian regimes that required their citizens to use internal passports for domestic travel. I can’t help but remember a scene from the movie, The Hunt for Red October, when one Russian submariner asked his captain (Sean Connery) if you could travel state to state in the U.S. without papers (like a REAL ID). And so far, that’s still true for driving. But if you want to fly from Boise to Portland (and Portland), you will either need a REAL ID or a passport.
Related:
Lots Of Countries Issuing Travel Warnings For the United States
IT’S TAKEN 20 YEARS FOR THE AMERICAN GOVERNMENT TO ROLLOUT THIS “NECESSARY” REAL ID
And even worse, the REAL ID has been in development since the House approved it 261-161 back in 2005. It’s taken twenty damn years for this to get implemented, and we simply don’t need it. Pretty much everyone has at least a driver’s license (a regular state-issued ID). And for the next month and 4 days, a driver’s license is still good enough. But for Americans with no passport, they’ll have to get a REAL ID to fly anywhere in their own country. And to get one, they’ll need to provide a copy of their original birth certificate, social security card, marriage license (if applicable), and two forms of proof of residence.
And then comes the privacy aspect, when all that info gets added into linked (secure?) databases that teenagers working for Elon Musk have access to. It’s not clear yet what the inception of REAL ID means, but it’s not good.
