The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks (Books 2018, 17) devilgate.org
the idea that you could have a child and not register them
Happens all the time, lad, particularly in small minority communities. Hasidim, for instance, or Irish Travellers - just to take two examples from my own experience - there are others.
@dgold Interesting. I bow to your superior knowledge. It must mean that people in those communities have no interaction with doctors, hospitals, schools... to say nothing of jobs, bank accounts, voting… All the accoutrements of modern society must be closed to them.
@devilgate but a lot of these isolated communities don’t want interaction with modern society - just think of the amish. Not interacting is part of the deal. Others, like the Irish travelers, do interact to some extent, but are hugely disadvantaged when they do, teaching them to not do so in future.