Harper: One to Watch in 2009

by Jim Harper on February 5, 2009 · Comments

I’m pleased and humbled to have been named one of the Ars Technica/Tech Policy Central “People to Watch” in 2009. Along with my opposition to the REAL ID national identification scheme, they cite my work opposing the E-Verify national worker background check system (which would ultimately require a national ID).

Considering how the economic stimulus bill may be a vehicle for mandating broader use of E-Verify, the first thing you might see from watching me in 2009 might be an angry and disappointed advocate for liberty.

Tagged as: Ars Technica, E-Verify, REAL ID, Tech Policy Central

Comments Posted in: Privacy, Security & Government Surveillance, What We're Reading

  • Jim Harper
    Thanks, MikeRT and Shelly.

    And congratulations to you, MikeRT, for packing a few short paragraphs with so many false premises, invalid assumptions, and errors!
  • CONGRATS! I adore TechLiberation, and am quite excited to see you getting much-deserved exposure :)

    I twitter and breakthematrix your articles frequently - keep up the outstanding work, and thanks for doing what you're doing.

    -Shelly Roche (i'm CTO for breakthematrix.com - liberty-oriented media site)
  • MikeRT
    Congratulations!

    So, how do you think citizenship and immigration status should be verified?

    The standard libertarian open-borders "let anyone hire anyone they want" is unviable, unless you seriously believe (in defiance of history) that allowing a massive wave of foreigners to come live here is ultimately good for the culture and political system. This libertarian position is being proved increasingly unviable as a long-term strategy for protecting individual liberty as shown by incidents like this one.

    As Milton Friedman observed (far more correctly than most libertarians), if you haven't gotten rid of the welfare state, open immigration is guaranteed to be a long-term economic disaster for a country struggling to throw off socialist policies.
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