Keep in mind that "rights" are a political concept, not a metaphysical one. A person slipping and falling off a cliff has no "right" to life bestowed upon him by either God or the universe.

"Rights" are about how human beings deal with each other. The rights described basically in the Declaration of Independence, and in more details in the Constitution, are about other humans not being able to deprive you of your life, liberty (and yes, property) without a due process prescribed by objective law, not the whims of leaders.

I agree that in the vast majority of societies in history, some people have always been "more equal" than others. The Greek foundations of democracy were built on slaves. Equal treatment under the law in the U.S. for everyone became largely finalized only within my own lifetime, which shows how young this concept actually is.

I have no problem with the theoretical idea of having a proof of citizenship card of some kind, if that were ALL it did, and again, it was voluntary. I should have the choice of "living off the record" if I want to. It may be a royal pain in the ass to have to pay cash for gasoline, among many, many other inconviences, but it should never be illegal.

In the cold light of reality, any universal ID card would probably start to "creep" towards the "license to live" zone. The temptation would be too great to put a lot more mandatory information on the card other than what is needed to simply confirm that it isn't a fake and it belongs to you.

Look at the "creep" in Social Security number usage, which has become the closest thing to the mythical "Number of the Beast" so far. It's hard to think of any kind of major transaction where you don't have to cough up your number.

I got my SS number when I got my first job. I had to issue one to my children when they were born, or forfeit declaring them as dependents.