GuitarGeorge
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Aug 9, 2026 4:14 PM
GuitarGeorge
1464
54
14
SquirrelWithATophat
As others have pointed out, the IDs needed to get a job aren't that hard to get. But generally speaking, the ruling elite in the US do everything they can to make existing as difficult as possible in the US without making it so difficult that everyone gets fed up and pulls a French Revolution against them. If the average person is too busy struggling to keep their head above water, then they're too busy to challenge the status quo in any meaningful way. In short: the US is a dystopian hellscape.
colderfish
I didn't have an ID for a decade. While in college I lost my wallet. It didn't really matter, because I Worked off the books, paid for everything in cash. After years I finally had to travel and it took ages to get an acceptable ID.
Awmph
go ask Grok
GuitarGeorge
Grok bad! lol.
JustDumbCommentsAndCorrections
It is not difficult per se to get an ID. But it does take time and money. And it continues to take time and money, as they expire every few years and you have to pay to renew (sometimes you can renew by mail, other times you have to show up in person). And in particular, if you live in a disfavored area, there are fewer places you can go with less staff and shorter hours. As in it might be a half hour drive, then a couple hours wait. And if you forgot a document, come back another day.
oldguyexlurker
Honestly it's relatively rare that a person cannot get an ID. Usually the elderly in circumstances where they never recevied a birth certificate or it was lost or not recorded for some reason. What the current administration is doing, however, is making the ID requirements more stringent to the point where it threatens to disenfranchise larger segments of the population. Married women and trans people specifically. My mom is 85 and we are getting her a passport. Not to travel, to vote. 1/
oldguyexlurker
Otherwise she may have to take her birth certificate and a marriage certificate AND her state ID in order to register. Because the name on her state ID does not match her birth name. My wife and DIL are subject tot he same shit. There is specific intent to disenfranchise women voters by scum like Miller, Vought, Johnson, etc. They have actually SAID the 19th amendment was a mistake.
richardstinks
Not everyone has a job. That's the simple answer.
Shoutrr
while in europe getting an Id is easy, secure and free, it's not the case in the US, by design.
WellThatsOriginal
You need an ID for everything in the USA. Including to vote. It has always been this way.
theyallwenttoMexico
psstuphere
How do they get a gun to shoot children with?
MustyTrd
You have to pay for the id and it's around $40 the last time I did it and it took 3 hours. That's hard to do for many people that are forced to be at work during business hours which many DMV locations are only open during. Republicans also defund the DMV so that some are only open for a few hours one day a week or maybe only a few times a month. Bank accounts cost money to keep unless you have several thousand in the account and do so much money in transactions a month also.
TheFuckfaceWhisperer
The other part of this to note is that it is illegal to charge money to someone to vote, so requiring an ID that is not free, is an effective poll tax.
LittleChickadee
Jobs require 2 types of id (there's a big list of what can be uaed), or 1 which encompasses both categories. Passport for example satisfies both categories at once, but they're expensive & few Americans have one. Birth certificate & driver's license, or a Social security card, commonly also work to get s job, but again not everyone has a DL or non-driving government issued ID. And that's assuming your job isn't cash/under the table
TiroDvD
Cities have several programs to give you free services such as food stamps, cell phone, public housing, and work. Often you after given these litearlly and in pamphlets on the moment of entry.
urusername2
Good question!
YouAlreadyMutedMe
It's the soft racism of certain political idiots that keep saying black people are too stupid or poor to get an ID to be able to vote so we can't have voter ID mandated like even many third world countries managed to implement.
fenrir4life
We have several kinds of ID. A driver's license is one of the more common ones, but there's been a push to stop counting it in favor of a passport or birth certificate... despite one or the other of those being necessary to get a driver's license in the first place.
In most real-life situations, a driver's license and (for citizens) knowledge of your social security number are plenty... but even those aren't effortless to get. Our MVA/DMV infrastructure pioneered the short-staffing method.
lifeisadadjoke
So do we...DLs, health cards (in some provinces, more secure than passports), passports, etc. Some have addresses and others don't.
pm1001
In many states you can get a non driving drivers license
MothMonsterMan
Usually just called an ID card.
pm1001
But issued by the dmv
METROlD
You cant get a job without an ID. Pretty much any job will photograph your drivers license or passport on your first day for tax reasons. To get an ID you need either a passport, military ID, an expired ID, green card or visa. Or a combination of documents like social security card, birth certificate and utility bills with your name on them. Its a pain in the ass if you have absolutely nothing and need to start from scratch but most people have some old form of expired ID to start with.
KingHippie
You dont need ID to get hired in Canada. You need an address, SIN, contact info, bank info for deposit so you can get paid. If the SIN is invalid or doesnt check with the name you cant be hired legally. Source - me. I hired about ten people last pay cycle. If someone needs to drive a company vehicle, then I need their drivers license number and abstract.
GorgoZilla
I didn't know canada discriminated against the homeless and the bankless.
KingHippie
Trolling troll trolls? In the case that you are actially sincere; I am not Canada; I run a business in Canada. We have a big and growing problem with homelessness here too. I believe more and more people are marginalized and living one paycheque away from homelessness. The Alberta goverment is MAGA wannabees and hate the poor and disadvantaged. A lot of Albertans are concerned though and we believe the homeless need to be looked after. USA is still a much shittier country
ElbowDeepInAHorse
Getting hired requires you to fill out an I-9 and W4 form for tax purposes, which is where the ID comes into play. There are several options for this. A driver's license and social security card is the most common combination, but you can also provide a standard government ID, birth certificate, military ID, passport, et cetera.
HeroofTimeampersandSpace
Fun factiod: the last 3 jobs I took didn't know how to accept my passport as my only required I-9 (List A) form of ID. So even having the right document directly from the federal government wasn't enough valid ID. They literally didn't know how to do their jobs without me providing the documents (List B + C) they expected.
jnmjnmjnm
People don’t read.
ElbowDeepInAHorse
For context, this is the form a new hire sees: https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/forms/i-9.pdf
GuitarGeorge
So in order to get a job, you’d require the ID that would be necessary to vote in areas where voter ID is required?
MeowWoof
And where in the Constitution or the law does it say that only people with jobs can vote? There exist these people called "housewives"...
HeroofTimeampersandSpace
... who couldn't vote until 1929. The Voting Rights Act wasn't passed until 1965. And some states today won't let you vote at all if the gender on your valid, legal state ID doesn't match your birth gender. The law favors hetero cis white men by default, who face less discrimination in the workforce. "People with ID and a job" is just the latest version of voter suppression.
Jefftheonewiththenuke
So when I vote by mail in ballot do I mail my ID and they just mail it back to me?
sitenickname
With Trump's new save act a driver's licence or other state-issued ID would not be sufficient and I've read neither would the very expensive (as much as a passport) "Real ID" isn't either. Even birth certificates cost money. Further, anyone whose birth name doesn't match their current name (even if legal) would not be able to vote (this would exclude married and trans people but others too):
/a/nVLpqUX
GuitarGeorge
What forms of ID would be valid?
TheNoirAntagonist
Additionally the "save" act would also require additional documentation for anyone with a name not matching their birth certificate, which requires any formal name change requirements ie placing your change of name in a paper in the state and region you were born in if you are not changing it through marriage and through the marriage certificate where the name is formalized if through marriage. However some of those documents are held by local clerks in states you don't live in and are hard to1/
TheNoirAntagonist
Are hard to Acquire through an appeal process to get these records if you are local to where they were filed and almost impossible to get if you live in a different state. Additionally if you lost a copy of any of your documentation required to get any of these forms of identity (i.e. your socsec card, your passport, or your birth certificate) via fire, theft or other it's very difficult to prove you are who you are to get them back. 2/2
sitenickname
A passport is the main one which requires $165 plus the birth certificate (cost varies by state and is more difficult to get when you are no longer in the same state as you were born) and specific photos, and postage and... a photo ID:
https://factually.co/fact-checks/law/forms-of-id-that-satisfy-save-act-a89ab7
RUFingKiddingMe
99% of Americans have an ID and with an ID anyone can open a bank account.
theyallwenttoMexico
RUFingKiddingMe
Wrong addresses and expired IDs are the responsibility of the card holder. These are easy fixes and usually under $20. This really isn't a barrier for almost anyone and most of it can be handled online.
GuitarGeorge
Ok so if 99% of Americans have id then how is requiring id racist?
RUFingKiddingMe
In absolutely no way do I believe that it is. As a matter of fact I detest that argument.
RUFingKiddingMe
How did you come to that conclusion from what I said?
GuitarGeorge
Same. Thanks. Last I looked 65% of minorities in America support voter ID.
RUFingKiddingMe
You cannot guarantee a legitimate election without requiring a person to prove who they are and that they can legally cast a vote.
GuitarGeorge
Makes sense. And the downvotes never explain their argument as usual