A MODEST PROPOSAL REGARDING A NATIONAL I.D. SYSTEM

On my driver's license, there is a red heart in the upper right corner. It means I am an organ donor--one of a number of "labels" I carry with me.

I am also a liberal democrat. Pro-choice. A supporter of equal rights and civil rights--for everyone, including homosexuals. I am an environmentalist. An animal lover. A feminist. I am spiritual, not religious. Open-minded, not radical.

It used to be that we didn't discuss these things. Polite conversation dictated the exclusion of religion, politics and sex. But today? Today, we proclaim our sides loudly and passionately. We talk about ourselves belonging to specific "clubs" of belief, with the just-as-loud implication that WE are RIGHT and THEY are WRONG.

Sometimes, though, it's hard to tell who you're talking to and exactly what side they are on. That's important, after all, what side they are on. God (or goddess) forbid you should be in collusion with THEM! Obviously, we need a way of clearly identifying ourselves and our sides--and bumper stickers just aren't cutting it.

With talk of a national identification system, I have a proposal. Like the red heart on my driver's license, perhaps we consider the addition of other symbols to specify exactly what kind of person we are.

For example, a red U.S. map would denote a staunch Republican. Blue would indicate card-carrying membership as a Democrat. Green would be for all those other folks who throw away their votes each year.

Then again, there are so many "clubs"--pro-war or unpatriotic, capital punishment or prison, euthanasia or life by machine, Red Sox or Yankees--that little card could get awfully crowded pretty quickly.

Perhaps we consider badges, like the Girl Scouts. Little emblems of belief sewn on our jackets so all can see--it worked in Nazi Germany, why not here?

I am, bottom line, an American. Part of WE, the people. I am for truth and integrity. Fairness and good treatment of everyone. Tolerance and understanding. Compassion. Freedom. I believe that taking sides is for sports fans. That healthy debate is about understanding and compromise, not winning.

BACK / NEXT