I grew up in that tradition, so I can shed some light: The fear of a national ID isn’t just about tracking and privacy, but that an individual cannot participate in society or survive if the government decides to revoke the id.

Meaning, I can’t buy food; rent or buy a home; or hold any sort of job and earn and save.

What we have today isn’t better, but until recently I was hard pressed to see how such fears were even warranted.