Dual Nationality
Sep 19th 2010, 7:39 pm
#16
Account Closed
Joined: Aug 2002
Location: Kentucky
Posts: 38,865
Re: Dual Nationality
And now you know one more... me! I hold US, UK, and Canadian citizenships.
Are UK and US the two best? Enquiring minds would like to know! That said, with very little effort and expense, I can live/work just about anywhere on two continents! That's certainly a positive, IMHO.
Ian
So, that raises a question: if British and American are the two best to have, what would be the third?
Ian
Sep 19th 2010, 8:17 pm
#18
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Joined: Jun 2008
Location: San Francisco Bay Area
Posts: 10,678
Re: Dual Nationality
I have UK and US citizenship,but I'm increasingly unsatisfied with any nationality.
I see nation states as a very 19th Century construction and define myself locally rather than globally. If I could get by without a passport I would! If I had to describe myself it now it would be as as a Bostonian or as a socialist libertarian Yorkshireman. Cleaving to any particular nation gives me the willies.
I see nation states as a very 19th Century construction and define myself locally rather than globally. If I could get by without a passport I would! If I had to describe myself it now it would be as as a Bostonian or as a socialist libertarian Yorkshireman. Cleaving to any particular nation gives me the willies.
Currently with the globalization of the worlds economies, that has already put the middle class in danger as companies manufacturer in less expensive countries, out source jobs, and import cheap labor (legally and illegally) to replace the more expensive labor in their markets.
Eventually with unlimited ability to work in any country in the world, the vast majority of the construction, farm, retail, service and hospitality industry, gardening, and manufacturing jobs will be held by people from third world countries and a large portion of the population in developed countries will be in poverty and on welfare with reduced payments since no one will have a high enough income to pay the taxes.
Last edited by Michael; Sep 19th 2010 at 8:36 pm.
Sep 19th 2010, 9:21 pm
#19
He/him
Joined: Dec 2006
Location: WA
Posts: 18,839
Re: Dual Nationality
In theory that may be fine for the highly educated but I suspect that would turn most developed countries in the 10% haves and the 90% have nots just like most of the undeveloped countries in the world.
Currently with the globalization of the worlds economies, that has already put the middle class in danger as companies manufacturer in less expensive countries, out source jobs, and import cheap labor (legally and illegally) to replace the more expensive labor in their markets.
Eventually with unlimited ability to work in any country in the world, the vast majority of the construction, farm, retail, service and hospitality industry, gardening, and manufacturing jobs will be held by people from third world countries and a large portion of the population in developed countries will be in poverty and on welfare with reduced payments since no one will have a high enough income to pay the taxes.
Currently with the globalization of the worlds economies, that has already put the middle class in danger as companies manufacturer in less expensive countries, out source jobs, and import cheap labor (legally and illegally) to replace the more expensive labor in their markets.
Eventually with unlimited ability to work in any country in the world, the vast majority of the construction, farm, retail, service and hospitality industry, gardening, and manufacturing jobs will be held by people from third world countries and a large portion of the population in developed countries will be in poverty and on welfare with reduced payments since no one will have a high enough income to pay the taxes.
Sep 19th 2010, 10:10 pm
#20
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Joined: Jun 2008
Location: San Francisco Bay Area
Posts: 10,678
Re: Dual Nationality
Unless the wealthiest will share in their good fortune (which they have not shown any willingness in the past), open markets will only enrich the rich and drive the middle class into poverty.
The current maximum 7% import duty will not pay for the welfare of the people displaced by foreign manufacturing jobs and the 0% currently collected by the government for out sourced call centers doesn't help at all. Both of those may keep the costs down and corporate profits high but they cause a lot of social damage in the developed countries.
Sep 20th 2010, 7:45 pm
#21
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Thread Starter
Joined: Jul 2010
Location: Hartford, CT, USA
Posts: 225
Re: Dual Nationality
If you define yourself locally, you don't need a passport. I haven't had a passport for over a decade and have no plans to obtain one.
Sep 20th 2010, 7:59 pm
#22
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Joined: Sep 2006
Location: Andover, MA
Posts: 1,703
Re: Dual Nationality
I too consider it a great privilege, though 50% of it was hard earned.
There is also the other side of me that sees it as my dirty little secret, as it is often met by some quite surprising remarks by others if (on the rare occasion these days) I mention it in public. You know, the usual "you should pick on or the other", "you should have been made to give back your UK passport when you left the UK", or the worst, and probably the most common "well, I don't think that is right!"
The concept of dual nationality baffles a lot of people, but apparently pisses off a lot more.
There is also the other side of me that sees it as my dirty little secret, as it is often met by some quite surprising remarks by others if (on the rare occasion these days) I mention it in public. You know, the usual "you should pick on or the other", "you should have been made to give back your UK passport when you left the UK", or the worst, and probably the most common "well, I don't think that is right!"
The concept of dual nationality baffles a lot of people, but apparently pisses off a lot more.
Oddly, when I say my daughter is also dual but was born in the US, no one can get their head around that one. No matter how many times I explain the concept of descent, doesn't seem to get through.
It's usually followed up with "well, how did she get it then?". I explain I filled out a few forms and popped some paperwork in an envelope, and this is greeted with even more astonishment
Sep 21st 2010, 1:35 am
#23
Retired
Joined: Apr 2004
Posts: 34,649
Re: Dual Nationality
Pretty much any developed nation (except those which absolutely prohibit dual citizenship) ... Australian, New Zealand, Canadian, Finnish, Swiss, etc. Or somewhere a little more exotic like Costa Rica, Uruguay or Brazil.
Sep 21st 2010, 4:23 am
#24
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Re: Dual Nationality
Sep 22nd 2010, 8:58 pm
#25
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Location: Hartford, CT, USA
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Sep 22nd 2010, 10:01 pm
#26
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Joined: May 2010
Location: Northern California
Posts: 96
Re: Dual Nationality
I have USA, UK & Australian citizenship. Do I win? 
Sep 22nd 2010, 10:05 pm
#27
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Joined: Mar 2010
Location: Phoenix, AZ
Posts: 8,106
Re: Dual Nationality
To get all hypothetical free movement of energy would make more sense. Then I wouldn't have to work so hard to pay the electricity bill or the gas needed to drive the tractor that ploughs the fields. I dream of a Star Trek like utopia where some high tech limitless energy supply unhooks us from our bondage.
Sep 23rd 2010, 2:05 am
#29
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Re: Dual Nationality
I think Shorrock's baby daughter must win so far - she has 4 citizenships.
Sep 24th 2010, 12:46 am
#30
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Location: Herts to CA for nearly 10 years and now MD
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Re: Dual Nationality
Here is a photo of my dual national daughter a couple of years ago at the airport with her very own passport at 10 days old. The photo inside it gets lots of strange looks from immigration officials since she was one week old when it was taken. Now she is 3 and looks just like a little person; it must be impossible for them to recognise her from the photo.