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andrewduckerI see we're back at the "Labour attempt to introduce a mandatory ID card" stage of history*.
My feeling last time, was that the main problem that they always have is that they *start* with the cards being mandatory.
If you start with "Here is a thing that makes your life much easier, that you can carry about if you like." then that will get you 85% of the way there. And then, once you have a voluntary ID card that's not causing any problems for anyone, and that 85% of the population is using to make their life easier, *then* you move in and say "The only people who don't carry an ID card are weirdos and troublemakers, and they're causing friction in the system, we could make it all run more smoothly if only they *had* to carry one."
But no, they always try to go instantly from "Nobody has an ID card." to "Everyone must carry one at all times." - which forms a coalition of all sorts of people from across the political spectrum, and ends up being far more politically costly to them than if they'd just boiled their frog slowly.
(None of which should be taken as me taking a position on ID cards. I'm just constantly bemused by their inability to get things done by trying to rush them through in the most authoritarian manner possible.)
*Younger readers may not remember the fuss in 2006 (repealed in 2011)
My feeling last time, was that the main problem that they always have is that they *start* with the cards being mandatory.
If you start with "Here is a thing that makes your life much easier, that you can carry about if you like." then that will get you 85% of the way there. And then, once you have a voluntary ID card that's not causing any problems for anyone, and that 85% of the population is using to make their life easier, *then* you move in and say "The only people who don't carry an ID card are weirdos and troublemakers, and they're causing friction in the system, we could make it all run more smoothly if only they *had* to carry one."
But no, they always try to go instantly from "Nobody has an ID card." to "Everyone must carry one at all times." - which forms a coalition of all sorts of people from across the political spectrum, and ends up being far more politically costly to them than if they'd just boiled their frog slowly.
(None of which should be taken as me taking a position on ID cards. I'm just constantly bemused by their inability to get things done by trying to rush them through in the most authoritarian manner possible.)
*Younger readers may not remember the fuss in 2006 (repealed in 2011)
no subject
Date: 2025-06-06 05:32 pm (UTC)I'm not sure when they started asking for ID at doctor's offices, and I think that's driven by the weird way healthcare is paid for here: if some random person sees a doctor claiming to be me, the insurance company won't pay for that.
I've been in the habit of carrying my state ID card for years, because it's easier than remembering to grab it in contexts where I expect to need it. I started carrying my passport card after Trump was inaugurated.
Also, since this is the United States, it isn't one policy, it's 50-odd. ID for flying is federal, but I think it's the state of Massachusetts that decided I have to show ID to pick up my gabapentin.