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As a nomad, and someone who's traveled to 40 countries and speaks 3 languages, I'd personally love to live in a world where passports don't exist and people are
by yosito 5y ago
As a nomad, and someone who's traveled to 40 countries and speaks 3 languages, I'd personally love to live in a world where passports don't exist and people are free to travel to any country they want to. I think trying to make all passports equal is the wrong solution. Passports are issued by the authority of a country, and not all countries have equal authority on the world stage. UN issued passports might be a possible solution, but I can't envision global trust in the UN's authority. If the UN started issuing passports for stateless people, I can imagine the passport would immediately be treated as a low-status passport by countries, if they even accepted it at all. I think a better solution is to abolish passports altogether, but I can't envision that either.
The truth is, the world is not an equal place. Never has been, and never will be. In terms of justice, the best we can do is to make sure that those at the bottom have all of their basic needs met, access to opportunities to increase their status, and a continually rising standard of living for everyone via innovation and sustainable development.
As an individual, the best one can do is to work hard to obtain a better passport. That's what I've done, and there are many opportunities to do so.
- hypertele-Xii 5y ago> I'd personally love to live in a world where passports don't exist and people are free to travel to any country they want to. The European Union exists. It's pretty cool. Go anywhere, no password required.
- mcv 5y agoI think you still need to have a passport, it just won't be checked by anyone. Unless you get arrested, probably.
- tjansen 5y agoNo, but you need an identity card (which looks pretty much like a drivers license). Unlike passports, every citizen has one.
- mcv 5y agoThat's simply not true. The only identity card I have is a passport. I actually thought the big advantage of id cards over passports was that they would be much cheaper or free, but I just checked, and in Netherland they're only slightly cheaper. It's effectively just a form of limited passport. And clearly not everybody has an id card. It's just that everybody has to have a form of id, which is either a passport or an id card. People with a passport don't need to also have an id card.
- tjansen 5y agoThanks, wasn't aware that they are optional in some countries: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_identity_cards_in_the_European_Economic_Area https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_identity_cards_in_the... Here in Germany, you'd also be allowed to use a passport instead. In practice, however, your home address is only on identity cards, not on passports. So not everybody will accept a passport for validation, or at least you then need an additional proof of residence.
- hypertele-Xii 5y agoI currently have no valid identification whatsoever (everything's expired). I could walk across Europe and nobody can stop me.
- Majestic121 5y agoIf you're a EU citizen, all you need is a valid ID, which you are required to have on you even in your own country anyway.
- YEwSdObPQT 5y agoThe idea that you would be required to have ID in your own country is horrid. In the UK you are not required to have any identification on you.
- rndgermandude 5y agoWhy is it horrid? I am genuinely asking. As I understand it, you still need to identify yourself in countries without such an id, like the US or UK, for a lot of reasons, like when opening bank accounts, interacting with the state, etc. But without a national id card, this can become complicated, and these countries often use a lot of defacto ids "replacements" like birth certificates, driver's licenses and so on, which increases the bureaucracy for citizens/customers and potential for fraud. So while I see a lot of pros about national ids, what's the "horrid" drawback of ids? (I am from a country with national id, Germany)
- Freak_NL 5y agoIt means legally speaking you can't even go for a run or to a supermarket without one. Of course, it turns out you absolutely can if you're not 'suspicious'. A colleague of mine is short, bald, and wears a keffiyeh. He gets stopped for identity checks from time to time. I am never stopped (obviously, this does give away my skin colour and the fact that I have an unassuming or conformist appearance).
- magicalhippo 5y agoAs a step to combat racial profiling the police here in Oslo, capital of Norway, will likely soon[1] have to give a receipt[2] if they randomly stop you on the streets, documenting who was searched, by whom and the reason for the search. While I can see some of the objections, it seems reasonable that a temporary restriction of freedom like that gets documented. [1]: https://www.nrk.no/norge/har-startet-kartlegging-for-a-vurdere-omstridt-kvitteringsordning-1.15674410 https://www.nrk.no/norge/har-startet-kartlegging-for-a-vurde... [2]: https://www.vl.no/nyheter/2021/12/03/oslo-tester-ny-metode-mot-etnisk-profilering-kvittering-nar-politiet-stopper-deg/ https://www.vl.no/nyheter/2021/12/03/oslo-tester-ny-metode-m...
- jonp888 5y agoNo, you only need an national identity card, which most countries issue to everyone anyway.
- Fnoord 5y agoYes, despite certain efforts like YubiCo's and Microsoft's, passwords are still required. For example, on DigiD (Dutch online authentication service), you need a PIN of 5 numbers plus 2FA/MFA (SMS).
- Freak_NL 5y agoOr if you're not white, Muslim, Gypsy/Traveller, look poor, wear a hoodie with the hood up or a keffiyeh, or fall into any other checkbox no-one is supposed to use. When travelling in Europe I am well aware of my privilege of being white, middle class, looking healthy, dressed neatly casual or in hiking gear and being two metres tall to boot (I stick out, but I'm invisible to border guards, customs officers, and police). In international trains and near borders you can see people being asked to identify all the time if you take the time to notice it.
- mcv 5y agoThis is an incredibly important point that I completely forgot about. That's how privilege works, of course. Thanks for reminding me.
- nikanj 5y agoFor some low values of anywhere, anyway. Being able to travel between the member states of the union is nice, but not very different from what USA citizens enjoy w.r.t free travel between states.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- zeckalpha 5y agoNot completely true. You are thinking of the Schengen Area. Ireland for example requires a passport when arriving from elsewhere in the EU, but is part of the EU.
- loudmax 5y ago> The truth is, the world is not an equal place. Never has been, and never will be. I agree with just about everything you said, and the world will probably never be an "equal" place, whatever that means. But I don't want to concede that the world will never be a fair place. Anyone should be able to travel the planet, regardless of the circumstances of their birth. Obviously this isn't possible today due to existing political infrastructure, but it's something we should strive for. We shouldn't give up on ideals of justice just because they're hard to reach.
- VictorPath 5y ago> The truth is, the world is not an equal place. Never has been, and never will be. From the time of the cave paintings and Venus figurines 50,000 years ago (and before that) until 10,000 years ago, there is no evidence of inequality, class society or surplus production anywhere. Nor today in the few remaining hunter gatherer bands in the world today. 2000 years ago travel 100km north of modern Stockholm and you found a completely egalitarian society. Your history is wrong which does not say much for your prediction.
- yosito 5y agoWould love to see some evidence of your claims.
- FpUser 5y ago>"That's what I've done, and there are many opportunities to do so" Kudos to you and I did the same in the 90s. But for some countries those "opportunities" do not exist in any practical way today. It is a sad world for many. When I think about it I get depressed.
- neximo64 5y agoThere exists a UN issued passport, the Laissez passer, but its not used for the purpose of leisure.