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Comment by jiggawatts

8 hours ago

"Papers, please." comes to the US of A.

You have to show ID to pick up a prescription or open a bank account. You have to show ID for routine traffic stops. This is such a juvenile, tired argument.

  • You absolutely do not have to show ID to pick up every prescription; just some, which is also dependent on state law, federal law, and pharmacy.

    But also, I don't care if it's a tired argument--this isn't about how things are, it's about how we want them to be. I don't want to live in a state action-coerced society.

  • “You show ID at the bank” is a classic, juvenile and tired argument because it swaps in a voluntary transaction for state coercion.

    The concern isn’t IDs exist—it’s who’s demanding them, in what context, and what happens if you can’t comply on the spot.

    • Not to mention that the USA has a long history of looking down their nose at the USSR for doing exactly what the USA is doing now.

      I forgot that HN is mostly filled with a younger generation that might not get the reference.

      The "Papers, please." quote is a common trope in spy movies, books, etc... about the former Soviet Union.