I mailed my passport application off today and I considered, not for the first time, what is the meaning of belonging to a particular country or region, and how is that defined in a time of constant movement.
We are still encumbered with ideas that race is tied to a particular place, but this is deceptive. In the same way perhaps that we may assume a certain religious conviction to be associated with a place. These concepts maybe ingrained, but I find that they are no longer valid, (if they ever were).
Without my passport perhaps I feel a little stateless. Yet is it just an engraved document that defines our loyalties? Isn't there something more that claims us? What claims can nations make upon our citizenship? Should we forced to choose one nation over another? How about one region within a country? Of course, a person may also have a close bond to one place via birth, another via marriage and another by preference, all at different times of life.
With people meeting and traveling and living across boundaries, what does it mean to be from " x-land" or "y- stan."
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