Fantastic post with great historical insight. I look forward to reading more of your blog and learning more about this complicated subject. The "branding" through the issuance and receipt of a SSN/SID card does indeed, as you've said, seem to place you at the whim of the overlords, whether we pretend we vote them in or otherwise. I think sadly, most people who aspire and succeed at higher levels of governance are exactly the type of people who by nature should never be allowed to govern. I fear, however, I don't follow completely your discussion on becoming a civilian. Is this a suggestion to relinquish the number/identity of the government to remove oneself from their control as a pawn of war? If so, how would one go about that? I've heard many stories of people who declare their own sovereignty only to be squashed and assimilated by the government they've scorned. While an excellent mental exercise, once one gives up the relationship, Hague or Geneva conventions are great in principle, but how would one ever access their protection without support of a protective body? These are fantastically interesting ideas, and I look forward to learning more. Thanks for the post.