Comments on: The Alien Hordes

By: butuki

butuki — Fri, 09 Jun 2006 06:53:48 +0000

Veronica, yes I agree with you about the fanicful nature of my post. If I were truly honest about the way things were in the past and are even now I would have to admit that even geese are territorial and often squabble among themselves. And perhaps it is simply human nature to be territorial like any other animal; after all, as I have written in the past, I have always believed that humans are simply animals, behaving and thinking just like any other animal. We like to think of ourselves as being fundamentally different, but there is very little to show that we can do anything but act like animals.

Seen in this way there probably is no hope for us to climb out of arena of our natures. I don’t necessarily see this as a cynical view of our society, but perhaps more of a natural one that will probably eventually cause our demise. (from a non-hierarchical view of evolution, quite an inevitable role we play) If there might be any earthshaking development in the human timeline it would most likely be a maturing of our ability to be altruistic. Without it we don’t stand a chance against entropy.

By: veronica

veronica — Thu, 08 Jun 2006 23:21:02 +0000

A thought-provoking post. The byzantine complexity of American immigration law may be efficient only at hiding its own injustices.

You are certainly correct about the short history of the passport, but I think you are flawed in your conclusion that before passports “People wandered across the face of this world like migrating geese, borderless and, in the true sense of the word, free. ” That is an idyllic picture of history, not an accurate one. The migrations of peoples before the birth of the nation-states (and their passports) was frequently – perhaps even always – accompanied by violence and disruption.

This was the reason many of the earliest human cities were built inside walls. And emigrating to a new walled city was also not necessarily easy. A city could shut out unwanted visitors, exile citizens, and accuse visitors of espionage. Even the notion of citizenship originated as a class privilege, not a universal for all native residents.

The ideal of complete freedom of movement between countries and regions – or perhaps instead of “freedom” it would be better to say the ideal of perfect hospitality to newcomers – is a beautiful one, and I hope someday it comes about. But humans have never mastered it yet, and our hope for it in the future should not color it into a mythical past.

By: dale

dale — Wed, 17 May 2006 23:19:08 +0000

Wonderful post.

I’m told that certified citizenship and passports came into existence in Europe during the Napoleonic wars. It’s treated like an immutable law of nature, now, but it hasn’t even been in existence all that long. You’re right, it’s a bizarre thing, one the many absurdities we’ve become so accustomed to that we don’t usually even see them as absurd. Until someone comes along with eyes to see.

By: andru

andru — Fri, 07 Apr 2006 20:40:39 +0000

Indeed it would be wonderful if we didn’t have to carry papers everywhere, if bureaucracy didn’t made us non-existent without a stamp of approval. I wonder if this immigration movement, due to the huge number of Latino voters, might serve to break the stranglehold of the powers of that be in this country. There hasn’t been an effective populist movement in the U.S. in decades. It won’t end the need for passports and official stamps, but it might open the possibility of actually discussing opening things rather than closing them.