> You can use whatever credential society is willing to trust. Practically that’s a state-issued ID.

Nearly every institution trusts the credentials that it issues. Your employer trusts your ID badge that they issued. Your bank trusts your bank card that they issued. Why does anything else even need to exist?

> All I’m arguing is that we should extend the concept of your state ID cryptographically into cyberspace.

And then it will be designed poorly but everything will start requiring it because the poor design will allow it to be used as a tracking ID (even if it was claimed not to, because malicious corporations are clever), but once everything is using it the poor design will be difficult to change. See social security numbers (which never should have been public).

> A liquor store isn’t going to simply “ask the user” whether they’re of age.

A liquor store doesn't need to verify identity over the internet because you're standing in the liquor store. Unless it's an internet liquor store in which case they already have your identity because you've provided them with payment info and a shipping address, and checking ID at the point of sale is useless when it's the point of delivery you care about, i.e. you need the delivery driver to check it. Otherwise minors can just buy alcohol with an adult's ID unbeknownst to both the seller and the adult, and have it delivered to themselves where nobody checks who receives the package.

You can't verify age over the internet because you have no way to know if the credentials being used are those of the user or someone else. In person you compare the picture on the ID to their face, or can notice if they're clearly a child.

> Users don’t rent safe deposit boxes at banks, and even if they did that would be chained back to your physical ID anyway so your apparent solution isn't a real solution.

The bank doesn't even know what's in the box, and you're not required to use a bank if you don't want to. You can use any safe place you'll still be able to access even if your house burns down etc. A safety deposit box is an example of such a place which is relatively inexpensive. Many people do in fact use them to store important documents -- that's one of the main things they're for.

> The dystopian worries are hyperbolic and mostly FUD. If a service needs your info and you need the service, you’ll give it to them.

If you make it easy to demand then services that don't need the info will demand it, and then you'll give it to them because you need the service. Which is the evil to be prevented, by making it hard to demand, so only services that actually need it will demand it.

> Anyway mobile DL is already happening.

That which is made can be unmade. Easier if done sooner.

> I’d rather a state that I have at least a modicum of control over be the root of my digital identity than some corporate run email system than can evict me without cause.

So buy a domain name for $15/year to use for your email, which you can point to any third party email service if you don't want to host it yourself, and you can point somewhere else if they disappear or become adversarial. Or make it easier for the average person to do this (though it's really not that hard).