The identity of the baby is so the government can give benefits. No identity, no benefits. The kid would die in a day or two without some form of identity. The larger numeric one from the government is for government benefits instead of interpersonal benefits.Any newborns--extremely gifted newborns with the ability to read--reading this? What the authorities are saying is that you, simply by being born, are a threat to other people's safety, a threat to the stability of the state, and a threat to those who are in power. How's that for the dignity that you supposedly have by being born human? — WISDOMfromPO-MO
Why isn't it immoral for parents to impose identity on their children then?... — Nils Loc
They're just another form of coercion... — Nils Loc
It seems this is far more crucial to the future ability to consent to contracts than a birth certificate and a social security number. — Nils Loc
Well, at a minimum, a newborn would require an identification number, tied to a date of birth and linking it to its parents. Pretty neutral impact - just ensures that the people who brought you into the world take responsibility for you, and that you are able to participate in certain things by a certain age, as agreed upon as appropriate by the majority. And why not give it a name? I'd rather be called Kevin than #658478632.
And how else would you track everything that relates to you? "Here's my $1,000, Mr. Banker. I hope you remember my face when I come to get my money next year."
Like Nils Loc said, the values of the parents and society are the potentially damaging aspects of identity, not the black and white pieces of identification that allow us to fairly participate in society. — CasKev
Interesting angle. I've been thinking about identity lately because I have the sneaking suspicion it's a source of much confusion and conflict. It's generally taken for granted, so I wonder what alternative identity paradigms might look like... — Roke
I think the ethical challenge is a bit of a softball though. Utilitarian ethics, for example, have no problem with this. The reality is that there is widespread coercion in social life - that's a big part of what society is. — Roke
That kind of anonymity has mostly disappeared. Presumably it lives on in the underground and illegal economies, and can reappear sporadically in carnival circumstances, but not for us normies. — Srap Tasmaner
Parents simply say, "We will call you..."
They do not say, "You will be identified as..." — WISDOMfromPO-MO
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