This question popped into my head while reading my New Yorker over my most excellent diner breakfast this morning. The more I try to figure it out, the more it smells like a G.Q. This is just a postulation, I don’t really want to do this, but…
Let’s say I simply wanted to disappear. I’m self-employed and so have no boss to answer to. I’m married with two kids. I want to be GONE.
How could I do it without breaking any laws? Could I? I watched the busboy clearing tables ( something I did in my salad days ), and thought… what if I simply fled to Ibblefutz, USA? Could I live without being caught? Without being found? How illegal would I have to get?
I figure I couldn’t even wash dishes without a SS #, and that would make me easy to trace down. So… how do I disappear?
>>Note to Mods: I really am looking for some thoughtful ideas here, and so posted this here. If it feels like it needs to travel elsewhere, go for it. <<
The short answer is: No, you couldn’t do it without breaking any laws. IANAL and IANAAuditor, but I do know enough about tax laws to know that even if you are self-employed, you have to pay income taxes AND self-employement tax, which is your full share of Social Security (employer share plus employee share).
Sorry to put the damper on the fantasy, but the simple fact of the matter is, if you’re planning to have any income at all, you’re going to be illegal.
Some while ago I watched with some worry a documentary in the UK which - in essence - said that within X years (5 < X < 10) the CCTV camera network within UK cities, together with ever-advancing facial recognition systems, would render it almost impossible for you to disappear (unless you were going to live on a island or other remote area).
The upside of course is that it’s going to be harder to be a criminal-at-large, but the potential downside is, to me at least, a bit alarming.
Didn’t mean to hijack, Cartooniverse, but wanted to add a bit about what the practicalities could be. I agree with KneadToKnow though; if you’re earning, you’ll be illegal.
No, don’t apologize please- you raise a great question. One that should have been a part of my O.P. So, add this to the mix, ok?
How far will I get living on cash alone? That way, SS# and taxes and such aren’t an issue. ( This is, I HASTEN TO ADD, A PURELY THEORETICAL query, I am not in any way advocating breaking any laws in real life, tax code or otherwise, ok? ).
I’d have to guess that you would have to make some serious concessions to be able to get by on cash alone. You can’t do much travelling with just cash, unless you own your own vehicle. You can’t own your own vehicle without leaving footprints. So, you’d probably be limited to train and bus transportation under assumed names. Even then, I can’t swear that you won’t have to ID yourself.
Food, clothing, your basic necessities along those lines probably wouldn’t be a big problem. Legitimage shelter might be tough to come by with no ID, no credit cards. On the other hand, if you’re willing to hang out wherever comes along, you can probably do just fine.
My guess is, you’d need to have a lot more money than you could comfortably carry around with you.
IIRC, the oddball book company Loompanics has a book on how to disappear. You might check their website. As has been pointed out, you have to do something illegal to do this, but, heck, damned near EVERY book Loompanics sells tells you how to do something illegal.
On the other hand, if you want to disappear by becoming invisible, check out the thread on Wet T-Shirts. I know you have, Cartooniverse, since you posted to it. Thanks, it’s good to know my twisted mind is not alone.
I think that if you’re independently wealthy, and are happy carrying round suitcases full of cash (no access to ATMs) then with the caveat that you don’t fall foul of my 1984 Big Brother CCTV scenario, you’ll probably get away with it, at least for a while.
Over here, if you walked out on a marriage you’d have to make some financial provision for the kids (until 18, I think), but there’d be ways of doing that without being present - blind trusts etc.
See, you’ve already given the game away. First thing’s gonna happen is the Feds descend on Ibblefutz, USA. You’re going to have invent a fake place while you’re musing about your plans…
Oh, and to add to my CCTV nightmare scenario, it doesn’t matter if you’re wearing dark glasses, a hat and a beard the size of Manhattan. This stuff’s not fooled.
If you want to have no trace of your whereabouts, youd have to leave no paper trail (SS#, CC#, etc). All income must be cash, under the table.
I suppose this life would be a little too austere.
So you need to manufacture a new identity.
When you reach your destination, go to the County Records and find the Birth and Death Cirtificates of an individual who died in infancy, and assume that identity.
You’ll need to make a Drivers Licence and Passport and Social Security card, but that’s going to be hard to convince the authorities that you never had’em before.
You’ll probably have to go to the guys who create such manufactured identities (Complete with pre-established identity numbers, credit and tax history, the works).
Be aware…these guys work for the mob and/or drug dealers
and will charge you a good $50 grand or more
No sweat. I must say, however, that if I attempted to use a wet t-shirt over THIS corpus to disappear, not only would t-shirts be quickly outlawed, but water might be banned anywhere that families congretated * he says as he ruefully rubs his Buddah-like belly*.
I say you and I find a nice evil wet-parka contest and see who wins >burp<
As for the other posts, you’re right Xerxes, walking out and disappearing on one’s kids is an abhorrence. Thank you for NOT preaching that, you just addressed the CONCEPT. I appreciate it. ( Seriously ). This thread was really about disappearing in today’s world.
Handy, it may be true that nobody would check my SS# if I was applying for a job that didn’t involve any kind of background check. ( Tee hee, The World’s Stupidest Fugitive moves 2,300 miles and gets a hair cut and then applies to a child day care center for a job… ). However, as a busboy I get my paycheck after a miserable week of work and go to cash it at Pyotrovitch’s Check Casheteria, and am…asked for…a driver’s license. Ta dah. There goes that idea. Nah, this would have to be cash cash cash. In the legal world, I’d be possibly a migrant worker, or day laborer forever. Otherwise, I seem to be S.O.L.
I guess it’s not so easy. Thank god I adore the kids and wouldn’t poof on 'em. ( The less said about the Wifestrosity, the better )
>burp<