Should Libernesia issue official IDs and/or Passports?

BogdanIonescu

I've been thinking that, as a citizen of Libernesia, it would be nice to have some kind of digital ID or passport. I could imagine myself proudly showing off my Libernesian passport if I had one.

But then I immediately started worrying about the nature of an "official" ID and whether or not it would be in line with our libertarian ideals.

Do you believe this could create a bad precedent for our libertarian nation where the "government" starts doing things it shouldn't be doing? Is an ID more likely to be used as an excuse to restrict our people's rights? Or maybe having the option to get a Libernesian passport is an absolute necessity when dealing with the outside world of other nation-states and it's just part of Libernesia's diplomatic mission?

Let me know your thoughts.

DH-AireyannaYG

Indeed, if we want to show our citizenship, our Libernesia account is the best proof, and if that's not enough, we can design a certificate to welcome and show that the person is a member of our country, as well as let the receiver be proud of it.

However, the nature of the ID card is different: a bunch of personal data plus an identification number implies that only specific people can belong to the country, and it's like a shapeless fence that creates barriers (protectionism). Also, providing further information is personal freedom, and to have someone manage the people through this information, e.g., to give some people some permission to do something or enjoy welfare or to keep track of their actions in society. Perhaps we can analogize this situation to a sheepfold or even a shepherd, which is not in line with the purpose of our free country. Our free country is currently open to welcoming new people to join freely as members; why can we give the power to some people to issue ID cards for others? To be recognized by them? So the aforementioned "certificate" and the "ID card" differ in nature and purpose.

As for diplomacy, if people need us to prove our identity, I think getting a document to represent us and our country is necessary. The purpose of this document is to say to others that we are from this country, just like a business card. Have you ever seen others or handed out your business card to someone or hung it in front of your body to say you are a member/participant? We can use something like this as a document for diplomatic purposes. We are not affiliated with the government or National Socialism but can represent our country.

A common belonging to this community and the freedom to participate versus the governance and governed relationship: It is wonderful to figure out the difference between them. Thus, Libernesian citizenship is not the exclusive preserve of the governors but an act of community participation. We received this certificate for being community members, not for government recognition. We are a free country with a different and pioneering role than the existing ones, so there is a need to think out of the box, to be a little creative/improvemental, and certainly to change the traditional things/framework and their definition and nature to adapt to the mission of our country.

I have tried my best to explain some of my ideas and thoughts, but they may not be perfect, so I hope you can understand what I mean. Some of the more important points I want to emphasize are in bold. If you have any questions or ideas, please feel free to ask and discuss them.

BogdanIonescu

I think you hit the nail on the head with your answer.

DH-AireyannaYG why can we give the power to some people to issue ID cards for others?

This is a very good point and we have to first make sure no person or institution alone can restrict the rights of our people (at least internally) by denying them access to some kind of document. If a private institution wants to issue some kind of membership card, in the same way a gym gives its members a card that contains limited information for their system to function, that's ok, but these cards will not have much power outside of that private affair, in the same way your gym card doesn't take you very far once outside the gym.

A passport, as opposed to an ID, is intended to open the same doors to the outside world that the issuing institution has arranged for and is not traditionally used for internal affairs, as it's optional in nature. Seems closer in function to the gym card, since it only serves the diplomatic purpose the "country" is intended to serve. As long as we don't restrict our citizens their access to other passports, like some countries still do, it should give them more freedom, not less, as any diplomatic relation we manage to obtain will come as an addition to their existing nationality benefits and they are free to use any passport best serves their interest at any given time.

DH-AireyannaYG Thank you for the thoughtful answer. Your insight helped me better shape the mission of Libernesia, and I truly appreciate it! You seem to be very knowledgeable on the topic. Wanna recommend some resources to us? Or even start an informal, liberty-oriented book club here on the forum 🙂

This is still an open discussion. Please feel free to contribute if you think we've missed anything.

redjacoby

Having some offical ID is a great way to show that we are sincere and serious to be part of this country 🙂

I will very much willing to support this!

BogdanIonescu

I've been thinking about this topic for quite some time now (as you can probably tell, just by looking at the time passed between my last post on this topic and now), I believe I finally have a coherent vision for this concept and wanted to share it with you:

I believe our best way forward is for Libernesia to become an alternate identity provider. If you're using your Android or iOS phone, you've, most likely, already used an identity provider, when you've selected to "Sign in with your Google\Apple account" on a third-party website.

The technological standard for this already exists, it's called OpenID.

Using this technology, our citizens will be able to VOLUNTARILY generate an ID and selectively share information validated by Libernesia with 3rd parties.

The keyword here is "VOLUNTARY". We'll encourage our partner nations to become part of this already existing network and we'll be able to provide validation for all IDs/passports we issue. If any of our citizens prefer not to share any data with us, they still have their option to use other means of authentication, like Google, Apple or their regular macronational ID, so Libernesia will be just another actor on the identity provider market.

Our goal is just to push forward this technology and provide a working example for the rest of the world, implement transparent and clear privacy standards and encourage others to do the same, by directly competing with existing providers. If another company, micronation or even traditional macronation beats us to it, by providing better international recognition and freedom of movement for their IDs, our goal is still achieved, since our greatest goal is to increase freedom for people.

Identity and the need to prove it is, unfortunately, not going anywhere anytime soon, so I believe this to be a worthy mission to embark on. I would like Libernesia to be at the heart of this development, advance it diplomatically and embed a freedom-first vision into the future of this technology.

More on this topic soon. Until then, let me know your thoughts.