I’ve lived abroad since, and have had several occasions to replace damaged/lost/stolen passports. While there are hassles involved, they mostly involved having to get local police reports, not obstacles or difficulties with whatever embassy or consulate I have dealt with.

In fact, with one exception, every single employee of the State Department with whom I’ve dealt abroad during my years in Asia (Beijing, Hong Kong, Tokyo, and Bangkok) has been very, very cooperative and helpful, even when some of the fault for my needing their services rested with me. Those folks get a bad rap.

It’s true that we don’t need to leave even the Lower 48 to see a great many climates, topographies, cultures, etc.; places such as Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico, to name but three, are icing on the cake. On the other hand, it is true that we Americans tend to be quite insular and uninformed about the world beyond the national shores, which is a shame. On my infrequent return visits to America, I’m always bemused by those who insist they’re well familiar with Thailand, since they took a holiday to Taipei once upon a time! ;-)

Point 2:
I think you’re confusing the hassle and expense of having kids with the relatively simple process required to secure a Passports.

I’ve renewed my passport, I’ve even requested replacement passports (twice, one lost, one stolen). Other than a few anxious moments when I wondered if they would give a two time loser a passport the process was pretty straight forward. Take a photo, fill out paperwork provided documents requested.

Why are making this more difficult than it is.

I do not see how the RFID chip will speed up any official purposes (like passing through Immigration) as opposed to running the bar code through a scanner (maybe on a packed A380 flight, you might save 10 minutes).

As for the ID page: on our new passports, it is no longer the inside of the front cover but is its own page (page 3 I believe). This makes the page more fragile and I am afraid that the page will wear out (by being passed through the readers at immigration) before the passport expires.

What a farce of a system. Of course hassle the folks doing it legally and protect those great government jobs, salaries and pensions!

And for someone in the travel business not to be on top of this issue a year ahead of passport expiration simply amazes me.
Sorry, no sympathy from this grandmother of 12 mostly well-mannered kids who has never had a passport renewal problem in 50 years of overseas travel.

Paying $100 for a ticket to the world seems like a bargain to me. I’m sure everyone has dropped $100 on a slick new cell phone or shoes that will not last nearly as long as the 10-year passport. Years from now I will still have memories and be enriched by the places my passport let me experience, meanwhile the phone and shoes will be long-forgotten!

People put up with this in order to drive their car. But people have to drive to get to work, to the store, and basically live (unless you’re in one of a few big U.S. cities). I think the lack of passports boils down to a lack of need or a lack of motivation to travel, not the difficulty of procuring a passport. And if you’re lucky enough to live in a state with enhanced driver’s licenses and can afford the gas, then most of the continent is at your disposal.