undefined | Better HN

0 pointstifik2y ago0 comments

Depends on how you define 'technology'. When the government needs you to fill out a form, you can go to their office and they provide the printed form and a pen. Paper and printing are human inventions, therefor I would consider them 'technology' for purposes of this debate.

That said, I know it's a bit of a leap from paper to internet access. In my country at least, I can say confidently that there is a law mandating free access to government services. At least such services that you are required by law to interact with.

0 comments

JumpCrisscross2y ago

> you can go to their office and they provide the printed form and a pen

Getting to a government office was historically a barrier. It still is in much of the world.

> there is a law mandating free access to government services

To be clear, I think this is a good thing. I just don't think it's reasonable to assume it to be true.

tifikOP2y ago

> Getting to a government office was historically a barrier.

That is a very good point, and something I did not include in my logic. Thanks for pointing that out.

JumpCrisscross2y ago

It's actually wild to see, across history, how cost of travel was used as a gating mechanism. The example that comes to mind is the Roman Tribal Assembly [1]. While on paper it was egalitarian, in practice only the elites could afford to keep criss-crossing Italy to elect low-ranking Senators.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tribal_assembly

pbhjpbhj2y ago

Are things like marriage licenses, driving licenses, registering land ownership, passports all free-gratis to acquire then? Which country?

You can't in general attend government offices in the UK. You can't rock up with your tax return, or apply for a passport, say. You can get paper forms from the Post Office, or sent out from the gov service itself (sometimes, some are digital only) and most libraries (and some other community centres) offer help to access online services.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse

0 comments

JumpCrisscross2y ago

> you can go to their office and they provide the printed form and a pen

Getting to a government office was historically a barrier. It still is in much of the world.

> there is a law mandating free access to government services

To be clear, I think this is a good thing. I just don't think it's reasonable to assume it to be true.

tifikOP2y ago

> Getting to a government office was historically a barrier.

That is a very good point, and something I did not include in my logic. Thanks for pointing that out.

JumpCrisscross2y ago

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tribal_assembly

pbhjpbhj2y ago

Are things like marriage licenses, driving licenses, registering land ownership, passports all free-gratis to acquire then? Which country?

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse