A social security number/card is not exclusive to citizens. Green card/permanent residents, for example, usually get them - particularly, if planning to/already working.

Any kind of national/citizen id would need a whole new process and require it be provided to 100% of existing citizens. Time-consuming and certainly a cost associated with the process.

It’s one of those “in theory” easy things, but a lot more difficult in practice, I imagine.

Yes, thanks for clarifying. I typed it out that way because “reserve” was in my head for the remaining sentences. As we both noted, there is a reserve, but it doesn’t back all the minted fiat.

There was a gold standard. Current fiat money in the US is based on an imaginary “base” that the Federal Reserve (itself, an institution notoriously based on an imaginary base). There is a reserve of gold, but it no longer matches the amount of minted coins/printed bills.

Edit: reserve->standard as noted in a reply

I grew up elsewhere but lived in Canberra (the capital in ACT) for about 4 years. I heard about all the scary, deadly things and was a bit worried also. Long-story, short - it’s very unlikely to be an issue unless you live in certain areas.

The big funnel-web spiders are mainly an issue in an area north and a bit south of Sydney and reasonably close to the coast. I never saw one of them while living there (except in photos). My understanding also is that the spiders tend to live outside of the urban areas and more in the suburban/rural areas.

You’re more likely to get into a car accident with a kangaroo than have an issue with those big-ass spiders, from what I was told. They’re somewhat like deer in the US. But less of a joke because they are known to slash people with velociraptor-like foot naila/claws after being hit by cars and assumed to be dead by drivers who get out and check. Death by disoriented/injured kangaroo is scarier than death by spider in Australia for most, and I say this seriously!

The scariest spider stories I had… 1. out of town for several months and my bicycle had a black widow-looking (the redback, I believe) spider under the seat. and 2. one day, there was some sort of spiders born and sailing on the wind event where little spiders where everywhere (but they weren’t the Sydney funnel-web or redback spiders, luckily).