Real ID, the Patriot Act, and the Funeral of Your Privacy

Oh, don’t act surprised. We were warned—loudly, clearly, and repeatedly. Orwell handed us the script back in 1949 with 1984, a chilling tale about a dystopian future ruled by tyrants armed with technology. The only thing he got wrong? The date. He was off by a few decades. Welcome to the show.

Then came Ted Kaczynski—yes, the Unabomber—whose 1995 manifesto Industrial Society and Its Future actually predicted with disturbing precision where this tech-obsessed world was headed. Sure, he mailed bombs (horrific, wrong, and indefensible), but buried in that 35,000-word screed were truths that our Silicon Valley overlords would prefer you ignore.

Fast forward to 2013. Edward Snowden peeled back the curtain and confirmed what Orwell and Kaczynski both hinted at: the government is watching you. All of you. All the time. The NSA was hoarding your phone records, digging through your emails, cozying up with big tech under the warm blanket of “national security.” The public screamed, Congress clutched its pearls, and then—poof—nothing changed. The programs didn’t end. They evolved, quietly, like a virus with a better PR team.

Enter Real ID—because apparently, the government didn’t know enough about you already. Now, if you want to fly or walk into a federal building, you’ll need your government-approved tracking badge with a shiny star. Why? Because the state needs your “valid” home address. They don’t want to just know who you are—they want to know exactly where you sleep at night.

Remember when driver’s licenses had no photos? When Social Security cards said “Not to be used for identification”? Those were quaint little relics of freedom—back when Americans were citizens, not livestock with barcodes.

And don’t get cute with burner phones. The feds can trace those right back to the 7-Eleven where you bought them. They’ll pull security footage, tag your face, grab your license plate, and follow you home like it’s a hobby.

This isn’t about safety. It’s about control. And guess what? It’s only getting worse. Technology isn’t liberating us—it’s forging our chains. And Americans? Oh, they’re too busy scrolling and swiping to notice the prison being built around them—one app, one camera, one “convenience” at a time.

As for me? Keep your Real ID. I already have a passport, and that’s all the ID I’ll ever need. I won’t pay for my own surveillance.

Let the sheep line up. I’m walking the other way.