I appreciate your candor.
And yes, I agree. On multiple occasions in my adult life, I've "proved" my citizenship under threat of perjury, but that is only to say: I've made a statement on a form with my signature on it. My word alone was ~enough.
But to get a Real ID, my word alone isn't adequate: I have to prove my citizenship by presenting documentation.
In my home state of Ohio, that proof requires me to show up at the BMV and provide documentation[1] showing five different elements:
1 - Full Legal Name
2 - Date of Birth
3 - Legal Presence in US
4 - Social Security Number;
5 - Ohio Street Address
...and most of this is easy-enough.
But element 3, legal presence, is a bit tougher. There's a number of documents that are accepted, but only one of them is applicable to a plain-Jane native-born-Ohioan who does not have a passport.
That document is an original birth certificate, or a certified copy of one.
I don't have that. I have a copy, but it's just a copy. It is a copy that was made by the city's Health Department and it is on the fancy green cardstock they use, but it's still just a copy and this just-a-copy is not a certified copy. (I know this, because when I got that copy decades ago to join the military, they asked if I wanted a certified copy at extra expense and I said "No." This not-certified copy that I have was plenty good-enough to enlist, serve, and get paid in the US Armed Forces -- but it's not good enough for a Real ID. My original DD214 is also not good enough.)
Accordingly, I'll have to make a trip to my hometown and again pay them some money for a copy, with some extra money on top for whatever it is that it means for that copy to be "certified."
And then, I'll be able to go to the BMV and pay them more money too, and get a new ID mailed to me eventually that will re-enable me to fly on domestic commercial flights without fuckery.
(It's all rather amazing to me.)
[1]: https://dam.assets.ohio.gov/image/upload/publicsafety.ohio.g...