One of the illusions with living in this modern world, is just assuming that the way things are currently, must be how things were in the past, or if not an exact match, somewhat close to it. Yet, formal addresses with street numbers and street names did not exist at the inception of the United States. Back in those days, people readily found other people, because first off, they mainly congregated close to their homes or businesses as well as social places, and further they knew where they lived by the specific hills, trees, streams, ravines and other artifacts that were part and parcel of their community; which they knew intimately, akin to the back of their respective hands. To a very large extent, this worked out quite well in communities for the people that lived there, because they knew everyone that needed to be known as well as how to get around; which thereby meant that any strangers or visitors into that neighborhood were pretty much obligated to have to ask for directions in order to find a particular person, or to conduct business, which made for a safer but also a more closed community.
The thing about governments, is that they have a real interest in knowing their subjects, which of course can be beneficial, but it also can be harmful and even dangerous. For instance, when a government knows who you and your family are, by virtue of a census, informal or not, and then connects that with a known address, an identity card, and things of that ilk, this allows that government to readily ascertain whether there are members of that family so eligible to be drafted for military service or other civil duties, a place and a person to tax, along with an address to send officers of the law to, if so needed. On the other hand, when a government knows where their citizens are located, they can more easily provide beneficial services, such as food, water, work, healthcare, money, and shelter, but to a very large extent when those services are primarily provided by the government as compared to It being provided by the members of that specific community as the main source, then the government has become more powerful at the expense of that community, through the very use of that communities’ money extracted through the various forms of taxation.
So then, while today’s society typical doesn’t think for a second, that there is any downside to having an address, there actually can definitely be some. Further to the point, those that are so impoverished or are in some sort of desperate flux that they don’t even have a formal address, are stuck in a construct in which the services that they may well need, aren’t readily available without some sort of address being provided to those governmental organizations.
Modern societies have formal addresses, of which most people don’t think twice about why an address even exists, and for the most part they appreciate the sensibility and convenience that addresses that are well structured, so represent. Still, it’s important to recognize that information is a definite form of knowledge along with its corresponding power so often obtained, and those that have that information, should be held accountable for how it is so utilized.