Private Matters

Recently there has been a lot of talk about the government invading our privacy.  Who is really concerned about that? 

Is it someone who calls his accountant for advice on how to defraud the government on his income tax?  Or a cheating husband who calls his paramour to arrange a meeting and does not want his wife to know?  Or someone who calls a drug dealer to set a time and place to purchase cocaine? Or is it people who post outrageous things about themselves on Facebook? 

Those who talk the loudest about wanting to protect their privacy are people who have something they want to hide.

When most of us lived in small towns, it was difficult to keep secrets.  Neighbors kept watch on everything that was going on.  Where everyone knew everyone else, everyone knew everyone else’s business.   

Today most of us live in cities.  You do not know what is going on in the next block.  But with modern electronics someone knows all about you.  Your credit card company knows everything you purchased and how much debt you owe  Your grocery store knows whether you buy steak or hamburger and how many rolls of toilet paper you bought last year and what brand. 

If you watch “48 hours” you saw criminals captured through tracking telephone calls.  Alibis vanish when police prove a man was not where he said he was.  Would you prevent the local police from using this valuable “invasion of privacy”?

With all this in mind, what do you care if the government listens to your telephone calls?  Who cares about your harmless chatter?  What criminal activity are you trying to hide?

If I ruled the World, everything would be a matter of public record.  Everyone would know what everyone else’s income was and how much tax each paid.   According to  circumstances a person would be proud or ashamed.  Wouldn’t you like to know exactly how much money your Congressman reported and where it came from?  

For several years I have been urging President Obama and Nancy Pelosi to draw up a simplified tax code.  I suggested, among other things, that everyone should be required to file a return, even if they owed no taxes.  But that would be the subject for another blog.