Citizenship - outdated concept?

[BushOut06]

It seems like this argument keeps popping up, especially amongst the far-right. "Illegal" immigrants aren't citizens of the US, therefore they shouldn't have access to our schools, health care, social services, etc. You can't legally get a job in this country (and therefore feed your kids) if you aren't a US citizen, or at least have permission to do so. Captured Afghan fighers don't get the same legal treatment that US "citizens" get. It goes on and on.

But think about it. Why should I be afforded special rights and priviledges simply because of where I was born? I didn't do a damned thing to earn my status, whereas many "illegal" immigrants have busted their asses off to come to this country. Yet because they weren't born here, they are treated as inferior, and are not given the same rights I have. I could commit the most heinous crimes, and I would have more legal rights than an "illegal" immigrant who is arrested for shoplifting.

It seems to me, in this day and age, in our new global economy especially, that citizenship is quickly becoming an outdated concept. We're all human beings, we should all have the same rights regardless of where our parents were raised. Now I fully realize that not every country in the world is going to suddenly open up and grant full rights to everyone, regardless of where they are from. In fact, many countries have quite strict laws about immigration etc. But this is the United States, and we're supposed to be an example for the rest of the world to follow! Why don't we become the open and free society that we claim that we are?

[whistle]

1. The new Neoconservative term is chattel-ship...

...individuals as the personal property of the state

[Union Thug]

2. I have a slightly different take...

Growing up in a blue-collar family, where we had to fight for every little thing we had, I never felt as though we 'belonged' to anything bigger than 'kith and kin'. The 'country' - that is, those in power and who maintain the system certainly didn't give a shit whether we lived or died. I learned early that the cops were not looking out for our interests, the economy certainly was not. Only those within my dad's network of labor radicals helped us out. At 42 years old, nothing has changed for me. My connection is with those who share my struggles and values. I vote Democratic for pragmatic reasons, not because I feel any connection with the rich representatives that dominate the party.

So the concept of citizenship according to boundaries set by war and destruction means nothing to me outside the purely practical - ie. my ability to get a job, etc. I'm a US citizen because that's what I have been assigned and that's how I've grown up. But I don't use that a line of demarcation between myself and others. The only thing we are truly citizens of is the world.