Is it really possible to travel to every country in the world, have a blog and not talk one word about security searches, visa troubles and the unfairness of it? Almost all of them do. I said “almost all” because, even though not bloggers, I've found the odd traveller who understands and sees the discrimination of visas and nationhood. In a 3000+ crowd of people going to every country I've found only one. There is again only one person apart from me in all of Ric's 70 podcasts until now, who mentioned “when open borders will be possible.” No wonder those two do not hold the prestigious passports that majority of the rest holds. What's worse is people are so indoctrinated that they do not see it even when they are the ones being discriminated against. The podcast with Thai Pongtharin Tantyhasindhu is a perfect testimony to this: “It is what it is and there's nothing I can do.” Pongtharin doesn't feel any frustration or any moral outrage that he cannot go to places without getting a visa just because he was born somewhere but others can because they were born otherwhere, a prestigious-where. But I do in his place! As Mario Savio, the American student activist of the 1960s said: There is a time when the operation of the machine becomes so odious, makes you so sick at heart, that you can't take part... and you've got to put your body upon the gears... and you've got to make it stop.” I cannot make it stop by myself even if I put my body upon the gears. I need more people ready to put their body on the gears. Yet, I'm not even asking people to do that. I'm not asking anybody to burn their real passports, I understand the consequences, the implications. But at least say you are ready to burn a mock passport when I'm burning my real one. If you do not feel any frustration or outrage, nothing will change. As social reformer, abolitionist Frederick Douglas said: Change must be a struggle. Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will.” It is so true. And the people of power are taking advantage of that. They are also benefiting from the difficulty of breaking inertia.
I feel the really discriminated ones, the marginalized, the deported etc. might be taking my side, yet, I am scared of inciting that group. I don't want things to get out of hand; and I know it easily can while trying to get together people to protest. Or while trying to change things before its time. World history is full of people with good intentions doing so much bad. Sometimes even the ideology behind their actions is well-meaning and well-founded, then it ends up crooked. Not much you can do about it I suppose. You let your idea out, it doesn't belong to you anymore. Still... That's exactly why I need the ones who are so comfortably settled in their own lives, those who have things to lose, not the ones who don't. I need people who believe people should be treated equally, independent of the place they are born, the citizenship they hold. I need people who believe in this not just by words, but with actions as well. So I really need my tribe. There are many people who say they believe in the things I believe, they say “Yes, it is wrong to categorize people according to their birthplace and discriminate.” But it's not enough. I need people who are ready to put their hands under the rock. Or just put the hand in their pockets, put the fingers on their keyboards to forward and share the ideas. I need people to support me, both financially and morally. I need a media group to support me in my endeavor and spread the idea seeds.
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