Opus 2011-256, On the Street: Toll Roads

I was driving north on a California “freeway.”  The sign announcing the next exit said, “Toll Road.”  That was bad enough.  I already pay a lot in road taxes that the politicians have stolen for their own pet projects.  Why did they want to make me pay again.  I know, silly question. 

I have driven back East so I am used to the concept of toll roads.  Now we have a different issue.  The sign also said, “No cash.”  What?  Did they expect me to use my credit card?  No.  Now they have special passes that you attach to your windshield.  It is read by the computer scanner as you drive by and the amount of the toll is deducted from your account.  Pretty nifty.  Very convenient.  Very Big Brother.

Understand.  In order to deduct from your account, they need to know who you are.  That knowledge will include your name and address.  It will probably have your social security number and phone number.  They might want your e-mail address.  What it will add is a knowledge of your location, direction and time.  Pretty nifty.  By offering a convenience the government gets access to your movements.  They know where you are.

Is this going to change your life?  Not today.  Not tomorrow.  Maybe never.  If you are a boring person who never expresses an opinion or has any strong beliefs then you are probably safe.  You are also probably watching Jerry Springer instead of reading this blog.  Is Jerry Springer still on?  What this does is give some low level government employee a chance to stick his nose into areas that are none of his business.  Someday, when you do express an opinion or start to care about how things are falling apart, it will be too late.  They will already own you.

It doesn’t stop there.  The plans are for every car to have a computer chip that the government can read.  It will allow them to keep track of where you are and what you do.  There are two purposes behind this, both motivated be elites that want to control your life.  They don’t want to control you to benefit the country, they want it to have power for power’s sake.  One group are the environmentalists and their allies.  They want to charge you based on how many miles you drive.  Yes, a new tax.  The idea is to make those who use the road pay for them and make it cost so much it forces independent drivers out of their cars and into public transportation.  It is easier to control people who must wait for the next bus.  The fallacy is that the people are already paying for it in gasoline taxes and commercial licensees.  It is just a gimmick to get more money from people who are already paying.

The second group are the ones who want to see 1984 come eventually.  They want to know where you are and what you do.  Remember the shocking moment in the movie 1984 when the man realizes that the government was listening to a private conversation in which he shared his fear of rats.  Harmless enough except they were now using it to control him.  Suppose the government knows your movements and finds out that your church has a lot of dissident voices in it.  You are marked.  They can learn who goes to a gun show with the punch of a button.  They can find out who goes to a political rally.  They can find out who is eating at restaurants owned by their political opponents. 

Then there are other issues.  We have  tax issues.  How many times am I expected to pay a tax for the same thing?  Next time you fill up with gasoline look at the pump.  In California there is usually a sticker that explains how much of the price of the gas is direct taxes on each gallon you buy.  Under that are the hidden taxes of the licensing fees for the trucks that deliver the gas.  You have the inspection fees that are paid to have a government employee see if the pumps are working correctly.  There is the cost of the special nozzles that are mandated by law.  It is like education.  If you are paying to put your kids in private schools, you have already paid with your taxes.  You are paying twice for one product.

What about class issues?  Who is going to be paying this extra tax?  Will it be the guy who takes a helicopter to work?  Will it be the guy who works from home instead of going to the office?  Will is be the poor shmuck who has to get to work on time?  Doesn’t the extra tax hurt the poor more than the rich?  Will the rich guy be able to deduct the cost from his taxes?  Is this a way of keeping the wealthy from rubbing elbows with us common peasants?

There are people who want to mold this country into a model socialist society.  For the sheep who follow the bell it won’t matter.  Unfortunately, most of us are goats.  We like the freedom to wander.  That is an evil tendency that the elites want to stomp out.  For our own good, of course.

No thank you.

homo unius libri