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Immigration See other Immigration Articles Title: LWAN: A New Chapter, A New Life Ecuador. My new home. I have no idea when I'll be returning to the states. I will at some point, but it's not on the calendar, and even when the time comes, it'll likely only be to visit. That's what I get for having met my wonderful Ecuadorian fiance, Carolina. A new home in a new country where the Christmas season annually ushers in the most sweltering few months of the year instead of some crisp winter wonderland with hot chocolate, sniffles and high heating bills. LWAN stands for "Life Without A Number". A social security number. I gave it a shot. It supposed to be legal to not have one in the USA, and it is. Even the federal government still says so. But in practice, both the federal and state governments do all they can to compel people to be numbered, indexed and tracked. They all say it's important to fight terrorism or track deadbeat dads or something. Here in Ecuador, there is a national ID with an ID number. I think all Latin countries require them for their citizens. As a permanent resident here, I've got one too. There's no way around it unless I want to be here illegally. Unlike in the states, the law here really does require having a government issue ID, and as with any guest, it's comply with the host rules or leave. Is it hypocritical to accept an ID in Ecuador and reject one in the states? Well... arguably it is. I don't like it, and find myself consciously scrambling the number in my head on those few occasions when I need to present it, hoping to at least avoid having it permanently stuck in my brain. The hazards of ID tracking are evident here too. Signing a formal political petition -- requiring the ID number -- can be unwise and invite dissident retaliation if the effort falls substantially out of favor with the sitting powers. Consequently the right to petition, such as it is here, is subject to repression. But at least there's no hypocrisy in the bureaucracy, saying it's voluntary and yet converting the most basic necessities of life like travel and access to ordinary tools of commerce (checking services and credit & debit cards, for example) into virtual privileges contingent upon submitting to the master's prying oversight. Here, the rules are at least more honest in that regard. As I look back over the years of living without an SSN -- about 10 now -- it's been a unique, idealistic experience. A frustrating one, toward the end. It started with a naive confidence and enthusiasm that since SSN's weren't required by law, that the law would support one who chooses to live a normal life without one. Well, maybe the law does, but those running the government do not. Denied a driver's license by Pennsylvania, I drove for some 5 1/2 years without one. In that time I was involved in 10 accidents, injured 5 people, 2 seriously, and caused about $310,000 in property damage, and that's just what I know of. Just kidding. Actually I was not involved in any accidents at all and I've not been found at fault in one since I was 17. But the government essentially argues that not having a license is a *cause* of accidents, and not having an SSN makes one a bad, bad driver. Oh, the frustrations. All culminating in what seemed a vengeful traffic stop by a huffy deputy for not having headlights on for what couldn't have been 50 yards after starting down a lighted main street. Playing by the book, I volunteered nothing and only complied with his orders, legal and illegal. I was arrested for my efforts, threatened with sexual compromise in thinly veiled words by another upstanding member of county law enforcement, and charged with a total of 5 crimes or offenses, one of which I was told later in court could theoretically net me 20 years in the slammer. I'm *not* kidding there. The judge really told me that. I could have fought it. I could have won, maybe. But I'll never know and that I regret. The judge promised a grant of probation before judgment if I plead guilty to two of the five counts, even after I plead not guilty to all of them. One of the deciding factors that day, that moment, was avoiding a criminal record which would aid me in gaining entry to South America, which PBJ provides. South America was on my mind even then. I took the deal but as it turned out, it made no difference in my gaining access to Ecuador. None whatsoever. My compromise was for naught. In truth, I probably lost that court case some 3 months before the traffic stop itself. That's when I finally grew weary of my idealistic life not going anywhere and relocated in an effort to make more money and treat myself better. Something changed in me then, some small flame went out. Not that it was a full fledged surrender. It's just that it marked a change of priority. Or perhaps more a realization that contrary to Janice Joplin's claim, freedom is NOT just another word for nothing left to lose. It's about more than life and liberty. That bit about "pursuit of happiness" is important too. Perhaps it was the subsequent bitter taste of the arrest nonsense that was what ultimately drove me here. And now here I am, in Ecuador, with a wonderful Ecuadorian fiance and... happier than ever. So maybe I should thank that huffy deputy for arresting me. Such is life, sometimes, with the choices and even minuscule mistakes, like not turning on the headlights. My finaces still aren't great from not having an SSN. Carolina grilled me on that point at first, naturally wanting a secure future, until I reminded her that if I had stayed in the system and kept the SSN that I'd never have come to Ecuador and met her. It is a new life here, and a new chapter. Or maybe a whole new book. In Ecuador, there's not much to write about not having an SSN. Instead, there's a whole new life to write about, a new world, really. A new people and new cultures in a new land. Who in the USA knows anything about what's going on in South America? Except, of course, for when Venezuela's Hugo Chavez says George Bush is the devil, and Ecuador's Correa counter that Hugo's claim in an insult to the devil himself? I will still be writing, but the LWAN mailings will likely fade away and become something of the past. To those that continue to fight the beast in all it's forms: driver licenses, SSNs, improper taxation, I humbly wish you the best in carrying on, and I do so with regret that I did not do better with some of the opportunities I had, opportunities for which some of you would have fought harder and better. I will continue at distance to support the excellent efforts in restoring liberty in the USA, not the least of which is to urge everyone to learn about and vote for Ron Paul, a modern day founding father and a refreshing oasis of sanity where other candidates see some moral value in waging needless wars. But it's doubtful I will ever be on the front lines again, at least in the states. Rather than LWAN, I'm starting a new mailing list about life in Ecuador. It's for stories, commentaries and even overland adventures here. As with the LWAN's, I want them to be candid. I want to show the good as well as the bad, the rich and the poor, the beautiful and the ugly. Latin American politics won't be spared. Want to see what happens when a libertarian is planted in a place where the pro-communist warrior "Che" Guevara is commonly idolized? Is there something misunderstood in the contest between capitalism and socialism? Does forcing a president from office really send the country in a crisis stampede back to the dark ages? It didn't in Ecuador, even given 3 recent opportunities. I want to write about things that us gringos find unusual, whatever that may be. I'll introduce you, again, to my good friend Stan Grist, a treasure hunter living here in Ecuador and among the most positive minded and fascinating gentlemen I've ever met. My new writings on Ecuador will be posted on my new website called http://EcuadorTreasures.ec which also features many fine products which are made here in Ecuador. (I think this is, shamelessly, LWAN's first ever commercial plug). There is much available on the site with much more to come. Subscriptions to the mailing list can be made there (specifically http://EcuadorTreasures.ec/cgi/maillist.cgi). Unlike the postings on my LWAN site, the articles will appear on the site in a discussion forum format (as of this writing not yet online) in which registered readers may publicly comment. The entire site with shopping cart and forum is my own work, incidentally. So I invite you to come along. I will *not* be transferring the existing LWAN subscriptions to the Ecuador mailing list since it's such a different focus, so if you want to be receive the mailings, you must visit the EcuadorTreasures.ec site and subscribe. Otherwise, thank you for being an LWAN subscriber, and I wish you the best.
Poster Comment: Somehow, the category "Immigration" seems amusingly appropriate.
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#6. To: Pinguinite (#0)
Perhaps it was the subsequent bitter taste of the arrest nonsense that was what ultimately drove me here. And now here I am, in Ecuador, with a wonderful Ecuadorian fiance and... happier than ever. Congratulations on your life, and the happiness you have found!!! Pursuit of happiness IS vital. But happiness is measured in different ways by different people. For me, happiness is extremely simple. Watching my goats climb and play, or one of the cows nurturing her new calf, or 2 newborn foals learning how to "get their legs under them" and discovering that they can run and buck, or a beautiful sunrise or sunset that no one BUT the Creator could possibly paint - these are things that make me happy. Things that a SSN, driver's license, or any of the other (un)mandatory crap can offer (like no hassles from the cops or the ability to work for General Motors) do NOT make one iota of difference to me in so far as happiness. In fact, if anything I'm happier KNOWING I'm not contributing to their BS. I like the feeling of not being in their "realm", but instead in my own realm with only me, the ones I choose to allow in, and the Creator being there... Living in a county of 1500 sq miles, and with a population of approximately 1500 is still as crowded as I care for it to be, and I don't even live in any of the 3 towns located in the county... LWAN to me means I'm a human being, not some "chattel" to be kept track of by some system. And THAT makes me happy.
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