Language In The North American Union Of Soviet Socialist Republics

These new cards are nothing like the names would suggest. They are filled with every conceivable piece of information about you that you could imagine. Your fingerprints, retinal scans, DNA, health records, driving history, a picture of your house, internet habits, etc. All the new cards, regardless of their name, contain an RFID tracking chip and are connected to a centralized database for good measure. They are meant to track, trace and catalogue everything you do from birth to death.

Should we keep calling these cards by their government issued names? Or should we call them what they are? At least call them a “National ID Card” or “North American Union ID Card”. Or maybe something more descriptive like the “Track and Trace Card” or “Human Resource Card" or “Human Cattle Card” or something with some historical flair like “Your Papers Please Card”. Would it have made any difference if the Soviets had said “Your Smart Papers Please”? Maybe something more forward thinking like “Rations Card” or “Do You Qualify For a Job Card” or “Have You Paid Your Taxes Card”.

Of course, language is used to deceive and misrepresent in many other areas as well. “Peace Keeping” is one of my favourite ways of saying war and occupation. If you don’t believe “Peace Keeping” means war, here is a nice article by the Canadian Press doing a really bad job of telling you differently. They even have “War Games,” I mean “Peace Keeping Games” or “Role-Playing Exercises”. But doesn’t “Peace Keeping” sound much nicer then “Occupation” or “Invasion” or “Regime Change”?

Read the full article here.

Note: Knowledge Driven Revolu... Database Data Old Idea; New Sales Pitch Computerized Smart Cards Passport Lite High-Tech Driver’s Lice... "Laser Visas" every conceivable piece... centralized database Human Cattle Card a nice article by the C... Role-Playing Exercises here