Making Security Useful.

Getting a nation hooked on security mania gives a government two advantages:

1) It assists in the application of power by using fear to control the minds of the populace. That’s an old trick dating back to at least the Roman Republic.

2) It vindicates the practice of charging people for doing as they’re ordered.

The latter is what’s concerning me at the moment. I’ve just received my driving licence renewal form which informs me that it is obligatory to update my photograph every ten years. (Driving licences didn’t used to have photographs in Britain; a signature was considered sufficient, as it still is with banks and other institutions.) The alternative is to lose my licence. There is a charge of £20 for processing the change of photograph, which I have to pay if I want to continue driving. They say my new photo card ‘will contain all the new security features.’

So the government tells me I have to do something, and they also tell me I have to pay for it, and it’s all in the name of security. They’re even careful not to tell me that my current licence doesn’t expire for another seven weeks yet. No doubt they think I’ll panic and rush off a cheque by return of post. I think I’ll keep my money for a little while longer.