The other day I read a story on the BBC web site about a student in Texas who has refused to carry a radio tag that tracked her movements.  The details are here:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-20461752

The student asserted that the requirement to be radio tagged violated her religious beliefs as implied in Revelations 13, which refers to the “mark of the beast.”

There was an interesting quote from the president of the Rutherford Institute:

‘”The court’s willingness to grant a temporary restraining order is a good first step, but there is still a long way to go – not just in this case, but dealing with the mindset, in general, that everyone needs to be monitored and controlled,” said John Whitehead, president of The Rutherford Institute in a statement.

‘Mr. Whitehead said student tagging and locating projects were the first step in producing a “compliant citizenry”.’

I think the concern here may go beyond the possible creation of a “compliant citizenry.”

It extends to the question of how we define citizenship, and what may lie beyond that social category in the future.

The proposed radio tags are also used to track inventory. This prompts a meditation:

 

INVENTORY

 

Once we were citizens

Then subjects

Then inventory

 

We will be bought and offered –

The stock may not remove itself

From the stockroom

 

Not now, and only children

But logic makes good models

For the forward-minded

 

No loyalty required

Of the inventory

Only usefulness and long shelf life

 

A use-by date

And a certificate

From the ministry of light industry

 

And as the young stock is disposed of

So will the old who are not sold

Be seconded, unused by love

 

Antiquated being is the scheme

Until a precious few are left

To show in a museum