Things I never paid attention to with the California DMV car registration renewal form

It doesn't make sense that California has a registration fee, which is the form, and the reason they send it, and what you expect to pay to keep your car registered... though why cars must be registered is absurd to me. What, does the government need to know that you have a car? Do they need to know what cars, how many, how old, and the serial number of them? No idea what that information can do for the public good.

So anyway, what is the different license fee? Are we being charged to display that license? Why aren't we being paid to advertise the state we live in on a envelope sized aluminum tag on the back of our car?