Americans change jobs and homes very frequently. When an American moves from one city to another or to another state, or even from the West Coast to the East Coast for work, it seems to them a very simple matter. Moreover, when a U.S. citizen moves to a new city, he or she automatically becomes a resident there and automatically enjoys the local social welfare benefits, without needing to apply, obtain approval, or go through any household registration procedures. What if someone registers or votes repeatedly in different places? Overall, U.S. laws dealing with such duplicate registration and voting are very strict; once discovered, a prison sentence is certain.

　　The United States does not have a Chinese-style "dual household registration" system, nor does it have the problem of transferring in and out between cities. American city administrators obtain citizen information from motor vehicle departments. Under U.S. regulations on driver's licenses, drivers must register with the motor vehicle department within 15 days of arriving in a new place; otherwise, they are considered to be driving without a license. Even without a license, ID cards are used to identify residents. In addition, social security records are used: every legal U.S. resident has a social security card, and whenever a U.S. citizen moves to a new place, he or she must go through address-change procedures at a social security agency. ID cards, driver's licenses, social security cards, and sound laws constitute the entire household registration system of American society.

　　Americans like to move around and try different new jobs and new places to live. This is unimaginable in China, especially in the eyes of people in the 1950s and 1960s, for whom the strict household registration system was an insurmountable gap. In the early days of the founding of the People's Republic, the income gap between urban and rural residents gradually widened. Especially after the 1952 land reform, a large number of surplus rural laborers urgently needed to go out and find a way to make a living. During this period, the urban population grew rapidly. The 1954 Constitution explicitly allowed freedom of migration. However, the influx of large numbers of peasants into cities caused food problems and agricultural production problems, compounded by the three years of natural disasters. Especially between 1956 and 1959, decree after decree from the Ministry of Public Security restricted "blind migration," and from then on welfare, employment, and barriers were formally established.

　　But today's post-80s and post-90s generations are not willing to understand and accept this kind of identity barrier. The hope for a better living environment, better job opportunities, and a more ideal way of life is taken for granted by these people who grew up in the new era. Command-style policies cannot win their understanding and acceptance. In their eyes, the United States, which has no household registration system, has not caused much trouble.

　　In fact, under the seemingly laissez-faire household registration management system in the United States, an "invisible hand" plays a regulating role. It is inevitable that everyone crowds into big cities; housing and prices in big cities will inevitably rise, employment will decrease, and the threshold for entry will become higher and higher. Enterprises will choose to develop in areas with lower costs, which will draw population away from crowded cities to new areas.

　　Freedom in policy is in fact also a very effective regulator, rather like Laozi's principle of governing by non-interference in China. The political "coat" that ensures order often cannot cover the growing "body" of the city. In fact, only three countries in the world have a "dual household registration" system; the vast majority of countries allow free migration, and no chaos has resulted. Rather than formulating more policies to reform the household registration system, it would be better to loosen controls and let the problems solve themselves.