bel, though we live in different countries, I agree entirely with you. I can't believe that anyone in the government is there purely for personal gain. Though national politicians seem to put a lot of spin on what they say, they all see public office as an opportunity to change some aspect of society for the better, whatever their intended method for doing that is. Plus, needing a majority vote to be elected, there are much easier ways to achieve personal gain.
And about national ID cards, I've often thought that some type of general, customizable card that could function as drivers license, SS card, debit card, library card or whatever would be very convenient. Surely it could be made so that certain companies' computers could only access specific info on the card, thus allowing for multiple functions. And maybe you could put some optional info on it if you think it would be convenient. Obviously, there could be problems with this, but I don't see it as altogether evil, and I'm certainly not an authoritarian.
