Why is it necessary to get – or renew a driver’s license given it has little if anything to do with whether a person is competent to drive?
They could save time – ours – and just issue one to every person who turns 16 and leave it at that, because we all know that a driver’s license is in fact an ID card. But it’d be harder to induce people to come in for a government ID card than for a driver’s license, which is why these ID cards are styled “driver’s licenses.”
You do not need one of these things in the same way that a private pilot does – in the sense that a person who has earned a private pilot’s license has demonstrated that he is competent to fly an airplane. He has shown that he can taxi, take-off and land the airplane.
What has the successful driver’s license applicant demonstrated? That he can fill out forms and answer a certain number of questions – not all of them! – correctly on a test of signage and road rules. He is not required to demonstrate that he can recover from a skid or even parallel park or (in the case of people with trucks who tow trailers) that he can back-up a trailer without the “assistance” of “technology.”
He does not need to demonstrate competence as a driver in any meaningful sense. But he does need that driver’s license (sic) in order to be allowed to cash a check or buy over-the-counter cough syrup. He is not even allowed to be a passenger in a commercial airplane without his ID – whoops, “driver’s license” – which must now be a REAL ID (and there you go).
So – again – why bother with the preposterous rituals at the DMV, to say nothing of the time-suck and costs involved? Well, for the obvious reasons just mentioned. The DMV is a vast government make-work operation with tens of thousands (if not more) make-workers spread all over the country and they want a check for doing the make-work. Somebody’s got to pay for that and the only way to make people pay for things they would otherwise refuse to pay for – such as a wait in line to pay to get a piece of paper or colored sticker or that government ID card – is to make them pay for it by making it necessary to get it.
One can drive quite well without a “license” – but try cashing a check or getting cough syrup. And if you get pulled over by a cop – not on account of poor driving but for any of the myriad “offenses” that have been written into the traffic code that have nothing to do with one’s driving, such as not wearing a seatbelt or not having the right-colored sticker affixed to your car – and the cop finds you do not have a “license” – he will probably arrest you and confiscate your vehicle.
Ergo the inducements to get that “license.”
This raises the question about this business of being coerced into getting a government ID. Is it not the hallmark characteristic of life in an authoritarian society? How is it that Americans got so insouciantly used to having to show ID practically every day – and not just to government goons but also to store clerks – just buy things, like over the counter cough syrup – or do things like board a commercial airplane or even a train, for that matter? 
Yes, I know. Because otherwise “terrorists” might get onto airplanes. Because we all know that terrorists lack the resources to create their own fake IDs. And we – it is always the royal “we,” isn’t it? – can’t have “druggies” buying “too much” cough syrup and how are checkout teens supposed to know for sure whether that gray-haired dude wanting to buy a bottle of wine is really “of age”?
Of course, we – meaning those of us who understand – know what this having to present ID for all these things (and more) that have absolutely nothing to do with driving is about eviscerating what used to be anonymity in this country, for one thing. The government wants to know that you bought cough syrup and that you took a flight to California (or to wherever). That you attended a football game – even a high school football game. Yes, they demand ID to watch them, too. 
Most of all, it is about instilling reflexive servility. As in: Your papers, please. The “please being entirely perfunctory. Like the “asking” you to pay what is styled your “fair share. As if someone else has a right to a portion of what you worked to earn.
They have gotten Americans used to having to show ID all the time in order to be allowed to do things that free men and women used to just do, without having to show ID to a government goon or a teenager manning a register at the supermarket. And that is why it does not matter whether a licensed driver isn’t necessarily competent to drive because that license has little, if anything, to do wether he has shown he is able to competently drive. It is merely the necessary inducement to get people identified – and get them used to having to identify themselves whenever a government goon or a teenaged clerk demands it.
They’re even using the the proper terminology now. See that business about the REAL ID. They are no longer even trying to hide what it is.
And what it isn’t.
. . .
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Germany’s new faux-Conservative socialist regime turns to slavery:
‘Friedrich Merz, head of the CDU/CSU bloc that won last month’s elections, has argued that in the era of US President Donald Trump, Europe will have to better handle its own security.
The defence policy spokesman of his centre-right alliance, Florian Hahn, told Bild daily that Germany’s “suspension of conscription no longer fits the current threat situation”.
“The first conscripts will have to walk through the barracks gates in 2025,” Hahn told the daily. “We cannot stand by and watch as the world around us becomes more unsafe.”
‘This week, Merz reiterated that he would favour the reintroduction of a compulsory year in which young people could perform either military or community service.’
https://www.barrons.com/news/calls-grow-in-germany-to-bring-back-military-service-2ecef228
Victory in Ukraine! /sarc
Somebody should remind Merz it didn’t go so well the last time Germany went up against Russia. Perhaps they can try E-Panzers this time since the government has been so insanely gimped by the “green” agenda.
“We don’t need no steekin’ badges”
Pancho on Blazing Saddles….
Kampfen macht Frei, nicht wahr?
Pope update. Today on the BBC news, the pope’s deteriorating condition was the top story, some woman described his condition, and it sounded an awful like what I read about Covid vaccine injuries, so I looked it up on the interwebs:
Pope Francis said getting the vaccine ‘an act of love’
https://www.the-sun.com/news/3496754/pope-francis-covid-vaccination-status-revealed/
“On January 14, 2021, Pope Francis received his first dose of the Pfizer Covid vaccine, the Vatican has announced.
The 84-year-old pontiff was among the first of the Vatican’s 450 residents to get the jab as the nation-state began its vaccine rollout.”
Pope got the Albert Bourla Pfizer death potion. Not good.
——————-
Are we at the end of Popes? An Irish saint’s eerie prophecy that Pope Francis will be the last Pontiff Irish Saint Malachy, the 12th-century bishop of Armagh, prophesied that there would be only one more pope after Benedict.
In a series of 112 cryptic Latin phrases, the Irish saint “predicts” the Roman Catholic popes. He predicted there would be only one more pope after Benedict, and during his reign comes the end of the world. So Francis could be the last.
Saint Malachy’s final prediction in full is: “In the final persecution of the Holy Roman Church there will reign Peter the Roman, who will feed his flock amid many tribulations, after which the seven-hilled city will be destroyed and the dreadful Judge will judge the people. The End.”
Morning, Jack –
It is contra my usual policy to speak harshly of the elderly, especially when the latter are sick and dying. But this pope won’t get any sympathy from me – because he had none for me. Or you or any other person who was ok with anyone who wanted to get “vaccinated” getting their shot – but objected to being forced or pressured to get “vaccinated” themselves. He may wear white, but he’s red. Good riddance to the old (probably) pederast.
‘the seven-hilled city will be destroyed’ — Saint Malachy
‘Jerusalem’s seven hills are Mount Scopus, Mount Olivet and the Mount of Corruption (all three are peaks in a mountain ridge that lies east of the Old City), Mount Ophel, the original Mount Zion, the New Mount Zion and the hill on which the Antonia Fortress was built.’ — the internet
Israel is our misfortune. — Jim H
I didn’t even have a learner’s permit and was driving a pickup truck on the gravel roads and the state highway. I was even taught to drive a small tractor. It was skeery, holy smoke.
Didn’t need no stinkin’ driber’s license, whatever that is.
I could have been killed-ed by my own stupidity, lots of that back then, too late schmart, too soon dead.
You learn by your own mistakes.
just what we need more government in our lives…
might as well issue every one a gun at birth.
might as well issue the ID at birth.
It is issued at birth. A nine digit number.
You can put on the form that you don’t want your baby assigned a SSN. But you need to put a BIG red check so they do as requested. Otherwise they might give your child one anyway. When applying for a passport or other US documents you just fill in all 0’s for the SSN.
Also, with regards to the “REAL ID” being symbolized by that yellow star. Imagine it with 6 sides. They’re not even trying to hide it, are they?
Our local sheriff already wears a six pointed star.
Should I complain about it being a religious symbol?
Whatever gives you giggles, Adi.
But I do have to wonder if the symbolism here is accidental.
Are you sure?
Usually there are 7 points for a sheriff, they stand for something but I don’t quite remember what.
>Usually there are 7 points for a sheriff
Yes, exactly.
So why have they morphed into the 6 pointed Star of David?
Also have a look at the “New Constellation” over the head of the eagle on the Great Seal of the United States on the reverse of a US$1 Federal Reverse Note.
In Days of Old, $1 bills were Silver Certificates, and the stars of the “New Constellation” were dispersed. On today’s FRNs, the stars have coalesced into a Star of David. These are observable facts. I draw no conclusion, but invite you to study the matter, and draw your own.
https://www.riversidesheriff.org/689/Sheriff-Chad-Bianco
When people argue for driver’s licenses, I remind them about how people everywhere drive these days. If there were no driver’s licenses, would they really drive any worse?
As far as showing ID everywhere goes, I’ll go one further.
Why does anyone need to know where I live?
Recently, not exactly having an address, I’ve began to wonder this more frequently. If you’d like to send me some piece of correspondence, I’ll give you my PO Box #. Why in the hell would I want you know where I live, especially if you’re from the government and might want to “help”.
I know the answer is that they just might see it necessary to come “help” me, should they think I have something or have done something that does not please the crown. Suffice it to say, it’s a rather uncompelling reason.
While
serfsindividuals are unable to use my PO Box (the only mail delivery mode we’ve got here in Skunk Holler) to find out my physical location, the post office demands a copy of my property tax bill every year, showing the physical address. So Big Gov knows where I am.Uniform street numbering, even in rural areas, was imposed by the Wireless Communications and Public Saaaaaafety Act of 1999, under the guise of ‘enhanced 911’ services. Let us show up at your door and ‘enhance’ your lifestyle. Or else …
Luckily, so far that hasn’t been demanded of us.
I don’t suppose that any Post Office competitors are “allowed” to just provide a mailbox for those of us not inclined to divulge such information, either?
RE: ” the post office demands a copy of my property tax bill every year”
That is wild. Some other words, too. Like: improper, supererogatory, & on the verge of ridiculous.
While living in The City, had a PO once, for many years. Showed my ID once, & maybe the outside of an electric bill perhaps, to get it. Nothing else afterwards. Pre-2000, though.
Can’t imagine being asked that, let alone, every year.
The annual re-application is to obtain a FREE p.o. box, in the absence of street delivery in my town. Otherwise it wouldn’t be necessary.
From Form 1093, post office box application:
ID REQUIRED
Whether you apply online or at a Post Office, two valid forms of identification (one photo and one non-photo) are required. You must present the IDs at a Post Office.
One item must contain a photograph and one must be traceable to the bearer
(prove your physical address). Both must be current.
https://about.usps.com/forms/ps1093.pdf
So either USPS delivers to your street address … or else they have your street address on your p.o. box application. 🙁
Ah, I see. It’s a “FREE” p.o. box & that’s the price you pay.
When I was a boy (1950s) my family’s mail address was:
R.D. #1
Cranbury, NJ
“R.D.” meant “Rural Delivery”
The family name was on the mailbox. but no such thing as a “Box #,” let alone a “street address.”
Ours in the 70’s & 80’s was RR 3. The ‘RR’ stood for Rural Route.
Then came that Public Saaaaaafety Act of 1999 Jim H was talking about & poof, it had a new number, and the gravel road off the hyway got a name. And, every plot of land in the State got a spiffy new green sign with white numbering attached to a heavy duty high Dollar square metal post.
…Did everyone else in the whole country get those, too?
Trump/Bondi Epstain release an epic farce. Trump is, once again, protecting his Jewish friends just as I said he would. Good luck learning anything new with the JFK files. Michael Collins Piper says in his JFK assassination book “Final Judgement” that Israel was the most likely primary player. Israel also did 911, and Trump protects Israel by lying about that as well. Trump is full of shit con man.
Want a good laugh, Stew Peters says the only thing the DC Draino guy is draining is Jewish dick:
https://x.com/RedPillSayian/status/1895612972145463521?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1895612972145463521%7Ctwgr%5E2609c54a6d9dc561a5f1b9c112473d859bd612b4%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.unz.com%2Fkbarrett%2Ftrump-is-so-full-of-sht%2F
Kevin Barret wrote a similar piece on how Trump is full of shit
Trump Is SO Full of Sh*t
Zelensky smackdown is a big lie. He’ll never do that to Bibi!
https://www.unz.com/kbarrett/trump-is-so-full-of-sht/
This is choice material and must watch for anyone who really wants to know how the Ukraine mess manifested, who did it, why, etc. I learned alot myself, and I’ve been paying attention, and writing on it.
https://www.unz.com/article/the-geopolitics-of-peace-jeffrey-sachs-in-the-european-parliament/
ZOG puppet Zelensky wrecked Ukraine. No way it can be fixed anytime soon, trillions needed. Britain and the EU want to continue the war, which would only double the catastrophe. There is no way to properly state what the USA did to Ukraine and Gaza is beyond the pale, more horrific than I can describe, as bad or worse than WW2.
Dresden 1945
Gaza 2025
Nothing ever changes…
Not to worry. Our new lord and savior is pushing digital id. It’s always been on the list of “to do” things but now with corpgov allowing in millions of unvetted trash the digital id will save us.
So,,, get ready! Eli’s coming…..
Tax Associate – Need People for Work from Home Intuit | new is Hiring!! Alert!!! I need staff as soon as possible. 8.00am to 2.00pm Monday to Friday. Good salary ✅ Here are all details. If you are interested click here__HighProfit1.Com
‘In Science We Trust’
“… the impending introduction of Elon Musk’s technocratic-dominated governmental system being launched under Donald Trump is more dangerous than almost any of us realize. […]
Technocracy’s ideology defies easy characterization. It was anti-capitalist and anti-democratic, but not fascist. It was anti-government, but not libertarian. It believed in a radical form of social and economic equality, but it was not Marxist.”…
https://www.lewrockwell.com/2025/02/chuck-baldwin/in-science-we-trust/
Hi helot, anti-human is the word.
My DMV near-miss:
I bought a 74 Norton Commando motorcycle from a private party not long ago. The Owner bought it from a seller in Texas and had a Texas Title on the bike. Took it to Washington State DMV for title and registration to which the counter person put the Title up to the light and saw a faint outline of the word *Import* as a watermark which I never even noticed. The DMV gal called headquarters (a big building with more sinecures in it but that doesn’t matter right now) and was told to reject my request for Title. I demanded why and she stated I needed to obtain from Homeland security an *Import Manifest* for the bike. I argued the bike is in the USA and was titled in Texas hence “in country and verified via the state of Texas”. No budging…rules are rules, and a decision was made from on high.
Homeland security has an office near the airport. I went in (no security to enter…interesting) and there was a sea of empty cubes. There was (2) uniformed guys in the back wearing Brezhnev braid on their uniforms. I stood there in the entry for a while when a guy popped his head around his cube and asked what I needed. I plead my story to him, and he took my Title and walked back to the uniformed officers. I could watch the conversation; they looked at me then the guy returned. He said, tell me what paperwork I needed and I will get if for you. I said I needed an Import Manifest. He grabbed a form and stamped it. I told him to write the vehicle info on it and he did. He wished me luck. It worked and got my registration thru the sinecures of Washinton DMV…just barely.
You know, it would be a decent expectation that the rules be applied equally if they even need to exist.
Exact same scenario with my son-in-law’s Land Rover Defender. Bought it in Europe, came back with it from deployment, to Texas. Titled in Texas no problem (1985 model year). Moved up here to central Washington and our small county retitled it to WA based on the Texas title no issues. Sorry yours was such a hassle.
Another DMV insanity story.
I bought a 1986 VW GTI new from a dealer here in NC. A couple years later I got a job and transfer to The People’s Republic of Maryland. It cost me over $1000 to bring this ~50k mile GTI up to snuff to get a tag. A year later I got eliminated in a corporate merger (F Unilever) and moved back to NC.
I went to get it tagged and was told I had to pay a “road use tax” because I was bringing a car in from out of state. I explained I bought the car new in NC (and had service papers showing that) and that I’d already paid NC tax on the car.
Tough darts.
Pay up.
And GovCo employees expect sympathy when they get DOGE’d.
Yet again, I get reminded of the book, ‘The Vampire Economy’. Check out the flowchart on the 1st page, “WHAT A GERMAN AUTO MANUFACTURER [had]
TO D0 TO GET 5,000 TIRES FOR HIS CARS” in the 1930’s & relate:
https://cdn.mises.org/the_vampire_economy_20201022.pdf
This looks like an interesting read, Helot. “The Vampire Economy” sums up most government “services” nicely.
It’s not just da goobemint, it’s sectors of the “private &/or private/public” companies, as well. Like they were bitten by the vampire?
Think: the Insurance Mafia. Or, with all the rules & regs, many others, i.e. F.I.L. stopped at a repair shop ’cause his car wasn’t running quite right. They found some issues & started telling him, “We can’t let you drive that car now. The regs. the rules.” same as if they were the .gov only they didn’t have the strong-arm-of-the-law to stop him from driving home & fixing it at his own price, pace & his own way. They would have, if they could have.
I bought a new Chevy truck in Oregon in 2000 and had it titled and registered in Oregon. In 2004 I moved to Alabama and went to change the title to Alabama and the big black DMV clerk said I needed to pay an additional Excise tax on the truck. I told her I paid it back in Oregon when I bought the truck. She said that Oregon was 2.4% and Alabama was 4.3% and that I needed to pay the difference. I told her I want to see her supervisor. He came out and I explained I bought the truck 4 year ago and I paid that Excise tax. He said to me hold on, he was gonna the Main DMV office in Montgomery, Sure enough I didn’t have to pay it and the boon got real prissy with me after he left. I told her you wanna go for seconds?
RE: “I told her you wanna go for seconds?”
Did you challenge a woman to a fight?
[You’re not a chick, are you?]
If I’m understanding this right – and maybe I’m totally misunderstanding things – the whole lot of ya’s is kinda outta wack except for maybe the supervisor. [Which is strange, me saying that of a .gov]
Howevah; Cederq. You’re maybe, kinda, the least of the fucked-up’ed-ness there ’cause you’re just fighting an unjust & B.S. Excise tax. [Unless, of course, you’re a dude challenging a chick to a fight. Which… oh, if I haf ta explain…]
I dunno, while you’re the hero for fighting the tax man, “her supervisor” seems to be the “~knight” in this story. [Notice the ~] Which is strange as all-get-out. “He said to me […] I didn’t have to pay it”.
Walk away, then. It’s about all us serfs can do in the age of Empire.
I do hope you’ve made peace with The People there & settled in well. At least it’s warm.
Hi Cederq,
It’s enraging, isn’t it? You pay income taxes on your earnings and then you pay sales and title taxes when you buy the vehicle and then the bastards extend their filthy paws again for “excise” taxes. Why do we even bother working anymore? I ask myself this every day lately.
I’m guessing if you were just to try your luck a second time with a different attendant (perhaps at a different DMV branch) the latter might not notice the watermark and just go ahead and transfer the title.
I thought a bit today about what you wrote, Raymond J.
Has that ever actually happened for you? I mean, “the latter might not notice […] and just go ahead”?
Not once in my life has anything like that ever happened with my interactions with .gov. I can’t imagine it, unless my girlfriend was on the other side of the counter. Or, maybe with the Librarian when I was 13 & a book was overdue.
Fortunate words: “not notice”. …Maybe, things are different in other parts of the country?
That Never happens in the Midwest. …Not that I’ve ever known of. …Unless there’s a brown envelope full of cash involved, that is.
Or, firm perky & a brite smile. …That, did happen, one Halloween night… but, i digress.
Most stupid people think Real ID will keep them safer? Well, Virginia, the government stages the false flags, like 911, they blow shit up and kill people, like 911 the blew up the world trade center, killed 3800 Amerikan tax slaves, all who had proper ID to get into the WTC complex. The guards in the WTC did not keep the worker slaves safe.
Government Goon #1 – Hey, we blowed up that building real good!
Government Goon #2 Yes we did, now they will all want Real ID to keep the safe!
#1 – Laughter and knee slapping, yes they will think they need us to keep them more safe. We should get some more C4 and blow up some more shit.
#2 I love my job, I am the worst villain in history yet people think I protect them, lolrofl!
When they take your photo at the DMV it gets entered into a national database. That gives them the ability to use software to find your face in a crowd. Stick out your tongue ;<)
My state does have a behind-the-wheel driving skills test. And yes, it does include parallel parking. And yes, I know of people who have failed the test for various reasons. And no, it’s not a blue state. It doesn’t prove you’re a race car driver, but it does demonstrate basic competence with your vehicle.
I’m glad to hear that, Ariel –
Even so, I would prefer that people could buy cough syrup (and so on) without having to show ID.
The entire premise behind “driving is a PRIVILEGE”, which legally, is quite incorrect, as one can “drive” an animal-drawn conveyance (or even a Richshaw pulled by a coolie), or ride a horse (or a Brahma bull, like Mongo, who’s only a pawn in the game of life…), or simply WALK. And, of course, take a common commercial carrier, like stage coaches, buses, trains, ships, and aircraft. Especially with the last, it’s amazing how the anal-retentive control freaks treat one’s inherent right to contract with an airline and readily board a flight, provided the terms of carriage are met, especially the PAYING part, as some “privilege” to be revoked for arbitrary reasons, like whom you may have pissed off.
The actual “privilege” is in OPERATING a motor vehicle. I guess that it’s inherent power and performance capabilities, along with the slight possibility that it could be a runaway, may give the state an interest in its regulation, including testing for competence and restricting those that demonstrate they aren’t nor want to be. However, like Insurance (mafia) mandates, DMV testing is a JOKE. They’ve an interest in NOT really testing for competence, but in collecting fees and maintaining our “papers, please”. It’s a tad less intrusive than in the 1982 Clint Eastwood movie, “Firefox”, where, once Maj. Mitchell Gant, USAF (Ret.) is on a spy mission and intends to steal their latest and greatest combat aircraft, the MiG-31 “Firefox”, he’s repeatedly accosted in Moscow by KGB agents and “Militizia” for “Fumaga” (papers). His handler is used to this harassment and the boredom and ennui on his face when thus confronted by these clowns is obvious.
Yeah, no Real ID, Ill find ways to bear that system so I dont get pinched by it. Arent they talking about doing away with the Real IDs anyway?
Also just prefer driving to flying anyway, save the hassle and enjoy the peace and serenity of the open road to being stuffed inside an airbus and groped by the TSA
…’SHOW ME YOUR PAPERS !’…if you have a ‘D’ behind your name then you are clear to rape, rob and plunder….if you have a ‘R’ behind your name then you must be a terrible person and must go to jail…
Hi Arizona,
Indeed. Now better buckle up for saaaaaaaaaaafety!
Think that’s bad? Our local hospital, during Covid, was taking the name of everyone entering the bldg, whether for Medical purposes or not, and writing it down along with your ID #. In Texas, no one but a law enforcement official has the right to force you to identify yourself. I’m retired LEO. I challenged them, and gave them my Pseudonym for a name…Donald Duck. The very young person taking info and putting it into a laptop was indignant, and got snotty about it. Tearing up, she said don’t you care about Covid? My aunt died recently from it. I said, “So I could have saved her by giving you my ID? I walked into the bldg, where my dentist had his office, and told her to send a cop if she needed to, to call me out. No one ever showed up.
So I told my dentist about it, who is on the board of the Hospital Tyranny Group locally, and he gave it to the Hospital Administrator. Several days later I received an arrogant letter from him saying, “You’re willing to stand on principle during a national emergency?” I also wrote Gov. Abbott about it. Before I had a chance to reply to the fool Administator, a few days laters, they stopped taking IDs. Abbott’s press people actually notified the guy that he could NOT require random ID from all entries into the Hospital. Sometimes it pays to speak up against Tyranny of the Self-important.
Had these folks told me to leave if I didn’t comply, I would have missed my appt. thus having standing to sue the Hospital. Keep that in mind when they try to push you around. Don’t try it with a cop…he or she has the authority to identify you in the course of duty, and can arrest for Failure to ID if you don’t. Texas Penal Code.
Well done, Bob. It is amazing what a little pushback will do.
Most cops still have a spine…at least I do. I also live in a county with 80% Catholic voters, and ALL local and county officials are Catholics. Here, they comply like dying sheep…which they will be soon enough. In case you’re one, wise up: https://www.born-again-christian.info/roman-catholics.htm
Minions for my former physician demanded that I SURRENDER MY DRIVER’S LICENSE TO THEM as a condition of allowing me to keep my medical appointment, which I refused to do. Previously, they had demanded that I surrender a credit card, to guarantee payment.
I put up with the credit card nonsense, but drew the line at confiscating my driving license. Needless to say, she is no longer my physician. [This is a group practice, of which she is an employee. She does not have the power to set policy. I wrote her a polite letter explaining why she would never see me again. She did not respond.]
A local seller of alcoholic beverages demanded to SCAN my driving license in order to sell me an alcoholic beverage. I refused, and walked out without purchasing anything, nor is it likely I would ever enter their store again. I am >70 years of age, and have a full gray beard.
Good for you, Adi. I never understood businesses that make it their sole mission to abuse their customer. I walked into my dentist office once and they said they wanted a picture to put with my file. I told them no. One, I absolutely abhor my picture being taken. I don’t believe I suffered from any childhood trauma to cause this, but I just don’t like it. Two, I have been a patient there for six years already if don’t already know me is the picture going to help?
We are supposed to make our clients feel comfortable and valued not treat them like a herd of cattle.
>We are supposed to make our clients feel comfortable and valued not treat them like a herd of cattle.
Exactly.
Problem is, to the Medical-Industrial Complex, “patients” are raw material, not clients. Do the employees wielding the captive bolt stun guns at the slaughterhouse want their victims to feel “valued?” I think not, comrade.
Comfortable, maybe.
Amen, Adi –
Hence the change in terminology from personnel to “human resources.”
Hi Adi,
“A local seller of alcoholic beverages demanded to SCAN my driving license in order to sell me an alcoholic beverage.”
Fred Meyers (Kroger) in my area just around Covid time, started demanding removal from my wallet and physical scanning of my ID to purchase alcoholic beverages. I told them I would *show* my ID (I’m 65) but I don’t want my ID entered into any databases. (Even though my credit card likely retains this information but FU to Kroger). Fred Meyers demanded, and I walked out without my purchases and told them I will avoid their store from now on. I think I wasn’t the only one to take this stand…they dropped scanning ID’s. They still ask but when refused they enter your B Day. (Likely also being collected)
Another store Grocery Outlet demands to scan your ID (no exceptions) while another Grocery Outlet does not. The one that does I sure is selling this data out to the internet.
Just say no to these whores.
Two words…self checkout. I won’t name the stores, but there are a handful of them that the self checkout lane has the inability to scan your DL. Sometimes the attendants will ask for your DOB and input it that way others just wave you through seeing that you truly look like you are old and realizing it is a waste of your and their time.
Never! LOL
I refuse to use “self-checkout” unless the business offers me a significant discount for being a temporary employee.
Hi Philo,
If it gets me beer without being forced into arguing with some clerk over my DL or worse, scanning my DL I have no problem running a 12 pack through it.
If there are loopholes I will gladly use them.
I agree, RG.
If I use the “manned” check-out, they will almost invariably ask to see The Card. But the clerk at the self-checkout often doesn’t even speak to me, but just comes and punches in some fictitious date to expedite the process.
Nope. I’m not paying them and doing their job for them. This kind of capitulation gives rise to WEF type attitudes you find among the management of Walmart. Only two checkout lanes open on a Friday afternoon.
Went inside to pick up a bore brush, and some break free for my 45LC, then picked up some arrows for my bow, then remembered I needed some pecan chips for my smoker, then some vitamin C packets for my wife. got to the front, and the line to checkout was six and seven deep populated by land whales with carts full of salty and sugary shit, self checkout was even longer. Listened to the poor old guy in line next to me bemoaning the lack of ten items or less. Also about him just having a loaf of bread and a jar of pickles cause thats all he could afford, and how the inept donkeys running the register now make 2O bucks an hour.
Once again, as happens at least half the time I visit Cottonwoods crappy Walmart, I left the basket in the middle of the floor, and walked TF out empty handed.
What? You didn’t even offer to help unload the trucks? For free, too.
Maybe, stock a few items on the shelf on the way out?
Our G Outlet, the clerk just enters their own birthdate instead of hassling the customers.
Whoregon, land of tiny kotex.
Good for you, Hans.
It seems we ae birds of a feather.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVc0wBLri1A
>“You’re willing to stand on principle during a national emergency?”
Yes. “Give me liberty, or give me death.”
During so called “emergencies” is when principles are most important.
Did they make you wear a mask in there though?
The only thing you don’t need ID for is to vote. Funny how that works.
Signed – 16 year old who is terrified he’ll fail his driving test for the 3rd time.
I’m glad I read the first paragraph and skimmed a couple of lead sentence. It was all it took to realize this article was ridiculous. I don’t care if the requirements are minimal. I want to make sure people can at least stay in their lanes and know what speed limits, stop signs, and right of way means…because kids and foreigners DON’T. Writer..lyou’re a moron.
Hi Glee,
“You’re a moron” isn’t much of an argument. And you sound like a Good German!
Seriously: Who doesn’t know what a Stop sign means? And what makes you think being “licensed” results in people staying in their travel lanes? I see “licensed” drivers wandering across the double yellow and off onto the shoulder literally every time I am out driving. Don’t you?
Am I wrong?
“Who doesn’t know what a Stop sign means?
Am I wrong? ”
Yes. I give drivers licenses tests and we regularly have young new drivers who do not know the standard ‘rules of the road’, even driving right through a 4 way stop by saying ‘no one here!’.
I have read this site for quite awhile, but based on this article it puts all the previous things I have read in question.
Hi Bob,
A person who has reached the age of 16 who does not understand that a bright red sign that says Stop means just that is either illiterate or retarded and in the case of the latter ought not to be driving regardless.
I don’t believe you, Bob. That is a ridiculous story you’ve told.
In Oregon and Idaho bicyclists and pedestrians legally ignore red stop signs if intersection is unoccupied.
As a former LEO, every DUI I ever arrested, had a DL, except for some of the wets, who always abandoned their POS car and left the scene.
So in 3 posts you’ve already stole us how special cops are. Ugh!
Here in WA the “wets” equal mayhem on the highways. And yes like you say, they run they always run. This sounds a bit callous but their cultural norm is no seatbelt use so when they launch they get thrown and die. Lost another one near TriCities last weekend, fortunately didn’t take out any innocent citizens. Crash, thrown from the vehicle, dead.
Fully represented on the WA State Patrol most wanted list.
Hi Bob,
If we must have driver’s licenses – and I object to this on principle in that roads are public rights-of-way and no one ought to have to seek state permission to use them (imagine Washington and Jefferson having to get a license to ride their horses) at least let’s make them meaningful as indicators of competence. An easy way to do that would be to require the applicant to take a road test – including parallel parking – using a vehicle with a manual transmission. Alternatively, anyone who demonstrates they can ride a motorcycle automatically qualifies to drive a car.
Eric: “including parallel parking”
I got my license in SSNJ in 1956, and did have to parallel park and make a K-turn on a narrow street to pass. Nothing to it.
But around 2015, after living in the south for 40 years and, as I recall, never having to parallel park in all those years, I visited my sister there and really “made a hash of it”. To make it worse, I was right in front of the window of a small-town restaurant, and a bunch of locals were watching. I finally got within walking distance of the curb and decided I had humiliated myself enough and considered the car parked. Use it or Lose it was never more relevant.
Hey Bob,
A former cop you say? Go fuck yourself. You’re part of the problem.
>you sound like a Good German!
Insulting to people of German heritage.
[raising hand]
You should know better, Eric.
Here’s the problem:
The Germans did what they did.
The Germans were allowed to immigrate and brought many of their attitudes with them. Not all but many. See the Arnold and his screw your freedoms attitude
The Germans are currently on an anti-free speech crusade as we speak.
Stereotypes are often true.
My family heritage comes via the French ie cheese eating surrender monkeys
That doesn’t mean you or I have to fit the stereotype. But let’s not deny they exist for true reasons or that we should take it personally.
“The Germans”
So, is it OK to say “The Jews?”
That’s a good point, Adi.
No, blanket condemnations are lazy and ignorant.
I’d venture to guess that one reason my German ancestors came to America was because they were anti-authoritarian and didn’t care for the “Reich”, long before it entered its infamous Third iteration.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_revolutions_of_1848–1849
Morning, BID!
Arnold is particularly despicable in that he availed himself of the freedoms Americans used to enjoy and became a rich celebrity and real estate mogul. Good for him. I do not begrudge him his success. I used to admire him for it. But now I have contempt for him, due to his “screw your freedoms” comment. He’s a rich old man now and so doesn’t care about your (or my) freedoms.
>doesn’t care about your (or my) freedoms.
But there is not a damned thing he can do about it, AFAIK. 🙂
“The Germans”
So, is it OK to say “The Jews?”
I’m also of German heritage. When someone uses the term “Good German” it’s to denote a slavish attitude toward authoritarian rule, not an insult to Germans per se.
I would like to think that many Germans were of the White Rose type but, feared for their lives and therefore didn’t take up a resistance position publicly.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Rose
I once had to teach a Chinese guy how to pump gas, so I could get my turn at the pump.
I’m pretty sure he had a driver’s license, given that he apparently had just purchased the car.
“make sure people can at least stay in their lanes and know what speed limits, stop signs, and right of way means”
And a “driver’s license” insures none of the above past the date and time of the test. You’re the moron.
Amen John,
Our ninety year old mother in law insists the DMV wouldn’t have given her a license if she wasn’t capable of driving. She probably has’nt taken a test in thirty years. Wife and I are trying to figure out how to convince her to give up her DL without serious gnashing of teeth. When she asked us what makes us think she cant drive, I Spouted off with, ‘Well your insurance premium going up from 2K$ to 6K$ a year might be trying to tell you something.’ That didn’t go over very well.
Last time I was at DMV getting renewed, the old lady next to me while we did the vision test, flat-out failed.
They gave a license regardless.
Whoops, “They gave HER a license regardless.”
Az and Ca are full of such stories. I know a guy here, 75 years old, his license is still good for another fifteen years.
My late father never took a driving test. When he got his it was like buying a fishing license.
Ya couldn’t use hunting license in place of a fishing one, there. Today.
Gotta show proof of having taken a State approved ‘Hunter Safety Course’, & agree to all kinds of extras, like entering into the DNR website how many ducks you got. And, nevermind that by getting one ‘they’ can now warrantlessly search your freezer for out-of-season game any time they want. [At least, that’s my read on it.]
Practically, All these licenses are actually licenses for our overlords to go & do all kinds of extra stuff they can’t normally do.
An, anti-something-or-other license?
Oh buddy. Any kid riding around with mom and dad for 16 years has a decent understanding of how traffic “rules” work here in the USA. The only ones that don’t are “morons” as seems your favorite descriptor.
What would be useful is to enroll in a real driving school that taught useful skills such as skid control, cornering, braking, emergency evasive technique. Instead we pass people via a simple test, hand them a license then they roll on their way convinced anti lock brakes and traction control will be their savior.
Indeed. The test I took consisted of driving around a few city blocks. “You are now qualified to drive 70 mph on a 6 lane highway.”
Oh yeah, dude. I never see people on the road blasting thru stop signs or speeding. That little card sure is doing the trick.
Ask CA about (illegal) foreigners and drivers licenses.
‘See that business about the REAL ID.’ – eric
The only silver lining in the dark cloud conjured by the REAL ID Act of 2005 is that its original deadline for full rollout was in 2008.
But Congress Clowns grossly overestimated the capacity and competence of Dickensian state DMV agencies, with their quill pens and clarty inkwells. Currently, the deadline is May 7, 2025 — a mere twenty years of fumbling, bumbling and mumbling.
Something similar is playing out with BOI — Beneficial Ownership Information for businesses, imposed by FinCEN. Thanks to ongoing lawsuits, FinCEN is in turmoil:
With the February 18, 2025, decision by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas in Smith v. U.S. Department of the Treasury, BOI reporting requirements are once again back in effect.
However, because Treasury recognizes that companies may need additional time to comply, FinCEN is generally extending the deadline 30 calendar days from February 19, 2025, for most companies.
During this 30-day period FinCEN will assess its options to further modify deadlines, while prioritizing reporting for those entities that pose the most significant national security risks.
FinCEN also intends to initiate a process this year to revise the BOI reporting rule to reduce burden for lower-risk entities, including many U.S. small businesses.
https://fincen.gov/boi
Filling out redundant paperwork somehow is going to mitigate ‘national security risks’?
HA HA HA HA … you lying, retarded clowns.
And this is why I voted for him….
https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-corporate-transparency-act-boi-treasury-2038564
The Donald wins my affection today.
Also, a big thank you to the new Treasury Secretary Bessent. I love people that still possess common sense.
This entire law was an information grab for control. It is in the dustbin where it belongs.
Orange Man Good… so far!
Eric: “Orange Man Good… so far!”
Define far…..I had already had a small problem with that when you wrote it this morning. His position concerning a certain country in the middle east has always been too far (out). Then I saw the “Strategic Crypto Reserve” headline. To top it off, this afternoon his “beautiful tariffs” cost me a bundle on my oil stocks. For me, “so far” isn’t even as good as it was when I woke up.
On balance, I am still sending home a C for Melania to sign. Of course, he has never earned “Plays well with others”, reinforced by the recent enconter with the Ukranian Leech (even though that was admirable).
Give it time, your small problem may yet grow?
‘Tariffs Are Wealth Destroyers’
“… the same qualitative effects take place when a tariff is levied on a whole nation as when it is levied on one or two people; the difference is merely one of degree.” …
https://mises.org/mises-wire/tariffs-are-wealth-destroyers
With due deference to you and RG, I still don’t see how anyone can say Orange Man is doing a “good job” so far. He’s making serious incursions on our ability to use physical cash (e.g. removing the penny from production), is committed to AI infrastructure (spying and data collection), crypto assets (digital currency), taxes and inflation (via tariffs), vaccines (for bird flu and cancer of all things) and hasn’t done a single thing to end eggflation but is in fact making it worse. Please inform me when he does something to end censorship on social media or mitigate living costs for the middle class.
Hi Jason,
Well, it’s only been about a month – and in that short time, Trump has fired thousands of useless eater government”workers” and – much more important – delegitimized the “work.” This is . . . huge. And it’s a fine start. I don’t expect a libertarian renaissance. But I am hopeful- so far – that we won’t end up with Woke Communism.
‘In March 2024, a federal court in Alabama ruled the Corporate Transparency Act unconstitutional.’ — Newsweek
The February 2025 decision of the federal district court in East Texas injects a new element, which seems to have emboldened FinCEN to claim that BOI reporting is back on the table.
This story is not over yet. Here’s a message I sent to muh Congress Clowns a couple of weeks ago:
Repeal BOI (Beneficial Ownership Information) Filing
Please support S.100 to repeal the Corporate Transparency Act.
This gross overreach by FinCEN serves to gratuitously harass and punish small businesses. Felony penalties for failing to file useless paperwork are un-American.
I urge you not only to support this bill, but to add your name to its 25 cosponsors.
Hi Jim,
I agree with you that this change needs to go through Congress. I am not a fan of the EO. Since the law was passed by Congress it also needs to be repealed by Congress, but at least the Trump Administration will not pursue it for the next four years.
This is the one major fault I have with this Administration. The constant back and forth of policy and regulation. Tariffs on, tariffs off. BOI required, BOI not required, EPA mileage regs increased, EPA mileage regs decreased, etc. Businesses and citizens alike cannot operate like this. If we are to have a functioning market place consistency and stability are needed.
A.k.a. regime uncertainty.
Or perhaps, micro-regime uncertainty?
“Regime uncertainty pertains to more than the government’s laws, regulations, and administrative decisions. For one thing, as the saying goes, “personnel is policy.””…
https://mises.org/mises-daily/regime-uncertainty-some-clarifications
And make the “Student Driver” stickers illegal. Tired of seeing incompetent adults using them as a crutch for their poor driving skills hoping to get compassion.
I thought I was the only one seeing this all over the place (SE MI for me). When I look over expecting to see some pimply faced kid at the wheel it’s almost always an adult, who looks to be here on a work visa!
Oh great, let’s give the Armed Government Workers another pretext to pull over. Great idea from a libertarian perspective.
I think Mike wants to make it illegal for state governments to issue them. Not illegal for people to had to put them on.
Face it, 2020 demonstrated that Mericans are just compliant animals.
The story and principles shared here are the exceptions.
Ya all keep on keeping on (and I will too) but we are surrounded by lemmings. 2020 left no doubt in my mind as to how much my fellow Mericans enjoy freedom and liberty.
Even worse, you have to supply an ID for purchasing precious metals and Bitcoin. Because you might be “laundering” money. I’ve heard you have to show an ID to cash out above some arbitrary amount in most casinos too (I’ve never come close to that amount, so I can’t say for sure). What does tracking financial transactions have to do with driving?
A major exception to the so-called Know Your Customer™ laws is buying fine art or antiques at auction. It’s thought that most of the activity around the art world is just moving money around without drawing attention.
If you have to show ID to buy or sell PMs, you’re doing it wrong. Anything under 1OK daily, in cash, requires nothing more than a smile and the cash when dealing with an honest LCS. Over 1OK [per IRS] you need a check or plastic to complete the purchase. Unless of course you deal entirely with private parties.
Years ago, I begrudgingly got the “star id” in order to travel for work. Had to take birth certificate, passport, and social security card. At the same courthouse, illegal aliens just showed up to get a “driver’s license” without proof of, errr, anything so they could drive without insurance to work for which they pay no taxes on.
If you already have a passport you can travel on that – no need for a “Real ID”.
If you have to provide the same documents for a “Real ID” as a passport, you might as well get the passport. In theory that document will allow you to slip out of the jail cell (oops I mean country) for the moment but always subject to worldwide “lockdown” as we saw in 2020.
Yes but when you transfer your internal passport from one state to the next, you are required to have the yellow star affixed.
Only if you are renewing a non-real-id-compliant internal passport, within the same state, are you allowed to remain noncompliant. And that’s only within certain states.
Nope – just moved states in 2022
Wasn’t required to get Real ID
Just checked state .gov to be sure
Nothing has changed – real ID isn’t mandatory
Same, had Real ID in one state, moved to another and do not have a Real ID currently.
Maybe it depends on the state.
I tried. Twice. Two different states.
Mandatory yellow star, both times.
Aliens have taxes taken out of their paychecks, even if they have a fake SS card. They never see that money again, because no one is actually behind that SS number. So they do, if they work in an organized workplace or factory, pay taxes with no benefit to them. The American citizen gets the benefit of their taxes, in their SS payments upon retirement.
Thanks, Bob. You’ve convinced me. Let’s just open up the borders and let the hoards come it.
There must still be some USAID money in the system paying for Bob’s “services” today.
The problem is the rules apply to citizens. In NJ, His Majesty Phil Murphy issued an edict that he would grant driver’s licenses to illegal aliens he invited to provide cheap housekeepers and property maintenance staff. To implement that, he had the photo ID driver license making equipment moved out of the local agencies into the Trenton office to minimize the number of employees with knowledge of the licensing manufacturing process. Instead of a new DL, citizens get a slip of paper for a 30 day temporary DL.
Notice that when you are asked by a cashier to present documentation of age most older clerks ask for your drivers license. If they are under ~45 they will ask for your “ID”.
To that point I was buying beer at the Ingle’s grocery story and some cute teen girl asked for my “ID”. I replied, “Do you really think I’m under 21?” She said, “I don’t know. I’ll have to check.” I then told her, “Gee, I’m not doing anything this weekend, you wanna go out?” You could actually see her skin crawl.
Ironically the NC GovCo liquor stores have NEVER asked me to show proof of age.
Since the Cootie Madness, fog a mirror, write a check, get a license. And they wonder why drivers taught by GovCo and certified by GovCo have a 50% accident rate in their first year of driving.
GovCo Sux
HA! ““Gee, I’m not doing anything this weekend, you wanna go out?” You could actually see her skin crawl.”
Love it! …Much better than my urge to say, “Are you retarded?”.
Showing my license is a “line in the sand” to me. No one is going to mistake me for anywhere close to 21 years of age and I hate that we have lost common sense to push these absurd laws.
I have learned “work arounds” for this when buying alcohol, ammo, etc. Last week I had a client send a tax package to me requiring “21 years or older request of ID”. To put it bluntly, I was pissed, especially since it was my corporate mail account that he was using. I have no issue with signing for someone’s tax package. I do have a problem when the carrier requires identification to prove who I say I am.
The mail carrier shows up at my door with the package requesting my ID. My reply, “No”. He said the sender requires it. I said the sender is my corporation and my client far exceeded his authority on my account. What is my issue with showing my ID? The scanning. I don’t know who controls this information or where it is going. I should have the ability to know who has the ability to access it and why.
My goal was not to piss off FedEx or to make the delivery driver’s life more difficult so I told him I would provide the year of my birth and sign for the package or he could return the package to sender. FYI Since I was the “sender” it was coming back to me anyway. The carrier sighed and I got my way. Of course I also reamed out the client for abusing his privilege for the use of my corporate account.
We need to learn to say the word “no” a bit more. We control our personal information. We need to be a bit stricter on who has its availability and why they need it.
Nice attitude. I like it. I had similar happen with a pkg drop off. Politely saying, “No.” was sufficient. The delivery guy took it in stride, as if that happened often.
In The Before Times, it irked the hell out of me when it was a ‘new thing’ for a cashier to take my ID and run it through a scanner at the checkout lane in order to buy something. There was just ‘something’ very very wrong about that magnetic strip on my ID sliding through that scanner. (A bit like a rape, or something? Or, being arrested? Never asked if it was ok to do.)
I let it happen a few times, but after that icky feeling in the pit of my stomach lingered too long, too many times, I stopped letting my ID leave my hand when I showed it.
Wasn’t it enough that I let the cashier see it? Sometimes, the answer was, no.
Later on, after I watched a teenager demand an ID from an obviously 80+ yr old couple in line in front of me at a Target attempting to buy a pile of groceries with a simple bottle of wine mixed in, and seeing the old guy comply, there was just so many things wrong with that, on so many different levels. It’d take 10 paragraphs to flesh out.
When it was my turn I set everything on the counter and walked out, never to return to a Target, and with few exceptions (seatbelt ticket, court system, DMV, the bank.) never to show my ID again.
I’ve left quite a few wanted items on checkout counters since then over my refusal to show ID. …They don’t care.
But, I do.
It’s more than, ‘the principle of the thing’. Prolly futile, though. Sigh.
Hi helot,
I agree with you, it is the scanning that bothers me the most, but also the lack of critical thinking of carding someone who is 40, 50, 80 years of age. I am also irritated if hubby and I are dining out and we order a cocktail or a bottle of wine and they request to see ID. Usually the fine dining establishments do not do this and it has probably been a few years since we have been asked, but if they do I laugh and politely say, “You caught me. I am under 21. I will just have a glass of water then. Thank you.” Passive aggressive? Absolutely. But, I refuse to suffer foolishness. All I ask for is common sense. If you need to card my nephew (mid 20s) I completely understand. But, when I am old enough to be his mother. No. I am not playing the game.
I couldn’t agree with you more on this point, RG. I placed a sticker on the my license so they can’t just scan it.
I don’t suffer fools well either. Saying NO to the stupid waiter or waitress and drinking water is a pretty good statement. It lowers the total bill and virtually ensures no tip will be gotten from me. The message: Displease your customer and it’ll cost you.
Ooh, I like the sticker idea. I didn’t think of that. I will put one on this morning.
Thats a great reply! They lost the booze in your order and their tip just got lower too. Instant karma!
I’m confused about the premise of the article. In my province you must prove you’re a competent driver and know the rules of the road before you are issued a drivers license. Are there many jurisdictions where you get one with no written and road test?
Hi Dave,
In VA if you are older than 18 you must hold a learner’s permit for 60 days before you apply for a driver’s license or you can bypass that if you take a driving course.
There is a mandatory vision test and a computer exam, but that is it. There is no one to determine if you can actually drive or even read.
Wow! Thanks for that. I just assumed that that all jurisdictions would have a competency test to get the license. In that case, yes, it just seems like another arbitrary and useless “hoop” that the gub-mint makes people jump through.
My Dad told me that when he got his driver’s license in the mid 1930’s (Maine), it was the only year where there was no road test or written test. All he had to do was send in 25 cents and they sent him back a license. This is how is should be.
Amen, Dan –
If that. The public roads are exactly that. The public – you and I – have a right to use these public right-of-ways, without needing permission from the government. Imagine the reaction of Jefferson and Washington if they were told they needed a license to ride their horses…
>magnetic strip on my ID
I have mutilated the magnetic stripe (severely scratched it with a pocket knife) with the intent to make it unscannable. AFAIK, it is still a valid DL.
Neither do I have an arm tattoo, nor an embedded microchip. And I like to wear sunglasses inside retail stores. 🙂
Hi Adi,
I put my DL in the microwave (along with a cup of water to avoid frying the magnetron) and run it for about ten seconds. Guaranteed to scramble everything.
Preach it, RG!
I will not abide being “carded” to buy beer or alcohol because I do not suffer fools – or mindless adherence to “rules.” When I was 28, ok – there was a possibility I might have been 20. Maybe. But in my 50s? With gray chin stubble and salt and pepper hair? It’s enraging – because it’s mindlessly stupid. Designed to turn us all into degraded automata who accept mindlessness rather than exercise our minds.
You are 100 percent about not playing along with this. It is the only way to end this. NO! Even if it means not getting what you want right now. I have left a whole pile of groceries on the conveyor belt and walked out when they refused to sell me beer or wine because I refused to play their stupid game.
Aren’t adults supposed to be capable of deferring gratification?
Hi Eric,
It is mindlessly stupid, but also demeaning. It is implemented to get citizens comfortable with being and tracked and that is extremely dangerous, because the next step is always the forfeiture of our rights.
Just another vent…I hate it when a store requests my phone number or email address. When I tell them no most shrug their shoulders and move on, but I have had a few push back, “Don’t you want to save money?”. I am sorry for not wanting to sign up on saving $10 today so you can forward my information to your affiliates, jam up my spam folder, or track my purchases. The consolidation prize isn’t worth it.
The cashiers at the local Safeway used to just key in the same phone number for anyone who refused to supply one. Apparently management put the kibosh to that when someone at corporate noticed a half dozen phone numbers were shopping 20X a day.
It really throws their clutch into neutral when you simply reply, “I don’t have a phone.” and leave it at that.
Their minds rev, but go nowhere, ’cause they can’t compute.
[If you don’t have a phone in your hands, it’s not lying. Imho.]
Or better yet, don’t own a cell phone in the first place.
I’ve told this story here before here, but I bought some trailer tires from Harbor Freight. They demanded to know my phone number (DOT regulations the cashier claimed). I refused for a while and we had an angry stalemate. I then said: “Fine, my number is [area code] 867-5309.” The cashier’s response was: “Oh, you’re already in the system. Jenny, right?” To which I replied: “Yup, that’s me.” The people in line behind me chuckled. The young cashier, not knowing any better, smiled with a bit of a puzzled look and then completed the transaction.
Brilliant. I’ll steal that.
Mister Liberty
But someone used my number at the store in south Alabama, and I stopped getting “we haven’t seen you lately” 25% off coupons from that store. I was using them at a store 350 miles away on a regular basis. Jenny may have been running the same racket.
>when a store requests my phone number
You could always give them this one, RG:
602-1023
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avogadro_constant
The problem is that you are almost always dealing with stupid minimum-wage retards who are following corporate policy. “Card everyone or you get fired. No exceptions.”
On a couple of occasions I have said “Ya know, even Hitler didn’t make people show ID to buy beer in Nazi Germany” but if you’re talking to some morbidly obese 19-year old girl with purple hair, facial piercings and tats she has no fucking idea what you’re talking about.
True, that, X. The Corporate managers might be terrified of a stoogie kid bullied by the cops into coming in with dyed hair to make it look grey & maybe some fancy Hollywood type sheet on their faces to make their skin look wrinkly so’s the cops can give a big fat ticket$ and possibly revoke their liquor license.
There is, that aspect.
How often does that happen? I wonder.
Back in The Day, when I worked as a cashier at a truck stop, I had a classmate narc try to convince me to sell him some beer. About 5 minutes after I said, “No.” a Sheriff Deputy walked in.
The timing on that was remarkable. Through my time working there I never saw a single cop in the place before or since. Creepy.
“Not playing along is the only way to end this. Even if it means not getting what you want right now. Aren’t adults supposed to be capable of deferring gratification?”
I remember the experience of being disillusioned back in 2019-2020 as I watched my countrymen line up with their little masks to buy milk and eggs. They were herded into the drug-stores and vaccine centers so easily. And how they just sat by and watched mercenary cops raid Sunday church gatherings.
When you looked around, no one was sick anywhere, everyone “knew of someone”, and most were scared. When you saw someone else without a mask, you made eye-contact, and for a surreal moment it was as if an unseen handshake passed between you that had a grip of American steel. And another type revealed themselves, the female tyrant.
Even at my age and experience of judging character, I still don’t think I could discover them in a crowd. They only manifested when it was on the line. The rebels, and the tyrants, always among us.
If people won’t start demanding common sense, refusing to show their ID when it’s reasonable, refuse to show their receipts while leaving a store, even if it’s temporarily inconvenient, then they’ll wake up one day to see the sun has stopped rising on them.
Amen, Ross –
I experienced the same – and did my best to document it via my infamous Diaper Reports, which are all archived here!
I watched a lawyer on YouTube explain in detail how you don’t have to show a receipt when leaving a store, howevah; looks like the cops, or moonlighting off duty cops, might give you a throw-down ass whoopin’ for doing so and from this story in Kansas they say they are justified to detain you.
‘Are you required to show a receipt before leaving a store in Kansas?’
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eoHy9X-ZLco
Hi Helot,
I just dealt with this – at Wal Mart – yesterday. Bought – and paid for – a push mower and was on my way out the door when confronted by a frau demanding to see my receipt. I said NO to the frau and kept on walking. Rude? I don’t think so. Once I paid for the mower, it became my property; that is to say, it was no longer Wal-Mart’s property. So they have no right to demand I show them a receipt. Loss prevention? If they believe I am a thief – if they have evidence to support that belief – then have me arrested. But they damned well better have evidence. My refusal to prove that my property is mine ain’t it.
Yup. If they’re going to unlawfully arrest you, they’re gonna get sued.
That wallys will soon have most EVERYTHING locked up behind glass. Happened here really fast.
Here’s the deal I offer at Walmart. I’ll accept the duty of self-scanning (begrudgingly) and will hold up the receipt in the air as I walk out with a cart full of groceries. But, if the moron demands that I stop for an inspection, I say “no thanks” and walk past him. If he persists I tell him that he should not expect me to do his job without compensation and then expect me to submit to his critique of my free labor. I’ve never had any trouble.
“When you saw someone else without a mask, you made eye-contact, and for a surreal moment it was as if an unseen handshake passed between you that had a grip of American steel.“
Ross, that sentence right there is the most beautiful thing I have read in a long time. I had the exact same feeling about it, but I could not express it the way you just did. That made me feel so damned proud to live in a good country like ours, to know that the Spirit of ‘76 is very much alive and kickin’, I would drop everything and fight alongside you anywhere, anytime. God bless you, Sir.
When I was in college, I worked at a restaurant that served alcohol. To do this, you had to get a retail-servers license, which required a quick training course. Most of it was not much different than what we learned in health class: one beer=one shot=a glass of wine, recognize signs of intoxication, etc. But they also addressed carding and age and the rule was if they look young (their definition was “under 25”) card them. This was in the early 90s.
But as government evolves to more overbearing, nanny-like and mistrustful of the common man, the procedure is to longer trust the judgement of the person they just trained to “use your judgement.” Now, it’s card everyone.
And like others on here, I will show my ID when asked (not without a bit of a grumble; I’m 57 years old for god’s sake) but I draw the line at them scanning it into some sort of machine. You can look at it, see the birthdate begins with “19” and that I look like the photo, and that is sufficient to CYA.
A retail-servers license? I didn’t know there was such a thing. That’s right up there with a license to braid hair.
And yeah, things sure did move quick from, “their definition was “under 25”) card them” on to, “If you look under 40, we ID”, and now, “We card everyone”.
A far cry from when my 18yr. old friends could easily legally buy beer & go into bars, while I could not “legally” ’cause I was only 17.
Then, the bastards upped it to 21 right before I turned 18. …Like they were stalking us, or something?