If I wish to go live on a mountain somewhere and not have a job, the government will not have any involvement with me or my life.
Not true. If you are living on private property you would have to pay property taxes. If you are living on public property, ie National Forest or BLM you are squatting. If you are living off game taken out of season, you are poaching - thereby breaking the law. Your doing so invites government involvement in your idyllic backwoods life.
Requiring everyone to have a national ID simply for living in the US takes away my ability to choose to not have the government involved with my life.
Not true. By "simply living in the USA" you are entitled to live under the mantle of essential government services, ie national defense, infrastructure, schools, civil rights, etc. - rights, services, and programs afforded to all citizens, of every color and stripe. As a citizen, you don't get to opt out of the programs you don't like and enjoy the ones you do. Doesn't work that way.
As a law enforcement officer, I understand how simple everything becomes if everyone must have an ID, but I can not and will not support mandating everyone have a national ID.
Wow
Q: As an officer of the law, what is the first thing you ask for of someone whom you suspect of breaking a law?
A: ID
What would you do if you contacted me for suspicion of committing a criime, i.e. squatting on National Forest property
and I refused to provide you with acceptable ID? I suppose that you would just let me go, because you support the notion that I should not be required to produce ID to allow you to ascertain that I should be treated as a fellow citiizen? Under your logic you should just leave me alone, since I opted out of society by living in the backwoods, thereby giving me the right to ignore you and not respect your laws. Identifying yourself as a law enforcement officer (Flash that badge and ID...
) means nothing to me; since I, too have embraced your personal "No-ID" concept. And, good luck cashing your civil service paycheck (financed by your fellow citizens who did provide ID and SSN to get a job, pay taxes, etc.) without proper ID. How did you get the job in the first place, I bet you told them in the interview that you didn't believe in showing or carrying ID; they said "cool, you're hired!"
And, now for for the $64,000 Question-as a law enforcement officer, if a national ID is implemented, will you enforce the law? Or selectively choose the laws you aree with?