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Marriage & Citizenship
No no, I'm not going to talk about how you may get citizenship by getting married. Rather, I'll be making an analogy between them.: To let you see how awful citizenship is.
I was thinking about the Russian-Italian girl who had to choose between one or the other when she came of age. It's like the Russian government saying "I would have accepted you taking a second wife, but I won't accept to be the second wife myself. I have to be your first wife. Since you married someone else first, you have to get divorced if you want to marry me!" I had made a similar analogy to marriage when I was looking into how to renounce citizenship. Turkey doesn't allow you to renounce your citizenship. Not until you get another citizenship! So it's like saying “You cannot divorce me until you get married to someone else.” This is, of course, made under the pretense that they do not wish to make you stateless. Which, in fact, is not a desirable thing. You almost have no rights when you are stateless. Your life turns into a nightmare when you are stateless. Or it can turn into fun if you want to live it like Garry Davis. Still... You cannot really travel, and unless you were an American citizen in the first place, you probably won't be allowed to stay in your own country. And most probably will not allow you to leave your citizenship in the first place, just like Turkey. (Check it out and drop me a line if you are from another country. I'd really like to know. It would be nice to know how things run in other “countries” of the world.) But don't they allow you to leave your citizenship because they're thinking of you, -oh they are the ones who know better than you even the things that are only your concern!- or is it because they're thinking of themselves? After all, what would they do if everybody renounced their citizenships? They'd be left without citizens! How can they, the governments that is, live without ruling over anybody? How can there be “countries” without citizens? Citizenship is like being born into marriage. And it's a binding marriage, mind you. You cannot simply walk out of it. Thinking about it, it's so very unfair and unacceptable. I am “allowed” (link to “yes, you are allowed) to divorce even the man I choose! The man I chose myself when I was an adult. But when it comes to citizenship... I didn't choose it, I didn't have any say in it, it was bestowed (!) upon me at birth by some people in power. The imaginary lines drawn by some other people in power determined who I was to be betrothed to. I will betroth thee unto me for ever.. Sorry, no need for bethrothal even, I am married at birth. I am born married! Then... I cannot even get out of that marriage. Is there such despotism! Okay, let's say citizenship is like being born into a family rather than a marriage. Your blood ties can never be renounced people say. So what? You may leave your family. At least when you are old enough to walk out and/or look after yourself. Citizenship... is almost always for life. It's prison for life. What's more, when you cut your ties with your family, you are not stripped of your humanity. Whereas without citizenship, you are nobody. May heavens help you! Solution: Turn it the other way around. |