Not all of Europe has national ID. Here in the UK there's no such thing and no general requirement that you be able to identify yourself (though most banks would require photo ID like a passport or driving license or both before they let you open an account) - on the continent I have to remember to always carry my passport with me, which feels weird and oppressive.
At least as a citizen in Germany, you're not required to carry ID. You are required to own some ID (ID card or passport), and you're required to register the place you live in with the authorities. Not sure what the rules for non-citizens are.
In any case, most people I know always carry their ID card with them in their wallet. You don't need it all that often, but you might as well carry it around, and having government issued proof of your identity is actually quite handy in many situations (situations that are handled with SSID and/or credit card in the US).
> You are required to own some ID (ID card or passport), and you're required to register the place you live in with the authorities.
Fair enough, but still, that's not a requirement here, and seems weird and oppressive (indeed my memory is that being required to register where you lived was a classic example of the non-free-ness of the Soviet Union).
> In any case, most people I know always carry their ID card with them in their wallet. You don't need it all that often, but you might as well carry it around, and having government issued proof of your identity is actually quite handy in many situations (situations that are handled with SSID and/or credit card in the US).
Sure, in practice I carry my driving license around most of the time in the UK. But the fact that I don't have to feels important.
Declaring a single legal domicile is a great way to prevent problems with location-based voting and taxation.
Hypothetically, if you owned two houses, and spent exactly 182.5 days per year in each, an outside observer would not be able to tell which one you considered to be your true home. So that observer might presume it is not your home, and prevent you from voting there, or presume that it is, and levy location-based taxes as though it were your full-time residence. Worse, different observers could make those determinations separately, and you might end up paying double taxes while being denied the ability to vote in either place.
There are also concerns about the correct address the government should use to send its official communications to you. It isn't always about knowing exactly where to send the cops in ninja gear to rouse you out of bed at 2 AM.
> which I must be able to show to certain agencies at any time.
Which agencies and for what reason? There is no general obligation of US citizens to carry identification or even to provide your name to authorities unless you are reasonably suspected of a crime.
I was pulled over once for doing a U-turn on a street (There was no No U-Turn sign) to pick up a friend from work whom I saw was walking. It was a very cold night and he had on only a T-Shirt. I didn't have my wallet on me, but knew exactly where it was at home.
I sat in the back of a police car for a hour while they researched everything about me.
Again, there was no No U-Turn sign. I was simply suspected of something, of which the police never informed me of.
That was the day I learned I always needed my license, for apparently any reason, in the US. Even if you're white.
The always carrying something to identify myself is weird. In practice I usually carry my driving license around, but I'd expect to be able to go out without it (and do so occasionally if I'm in an outfit without much pocket space).
