Fair enough. To be specific, as opposed to immediately before passports were invented I imagine it was similar to what it was like: 1. Before police patrolled

Fair enough. To be specific, as opposed to immediately before passports were invented I imagine it was similar to what it was like: 1. Before police patrolled in America 2. Before driver's licenses (you can still experience this in Cambodia, low CC scooters don't require a license) 3. Before tattoo artists needed a medical license in Japan and Korea Ya know, liberty and basic rights that have now been abrogated to such a degree that the herd not only doesn't remember what they were like, but actually questions the validity of even being that "free". (Populations like China tend to think a central authority not controlling speech is absurd too.)