What is a Passport?
The new Norwegian passport design is beautiful but let’s put aesthetics aside for a moment and think…
What is a Passport?
/ˈpɑːspɔːt/
NOUN
1 An official document issued by a government, certifying the holder’s identity and citizenship and entitling them to travel under its protection to and from foreign countries:“a British citizen with a valid passport does not need a visa to visit the US”
Origin
late 15th century (denoting authorization to depart from a port): from French passeport, from passer ‘to pass’ + port ‘seaport’.
The concept of being under one ruler’s protection, while in the lands of another, has probably existed since rulers and lands were first invented, but the earliest mention of an object we might recognise as a passport appears in the Bible, in the often overlooked book of Nehemiah. In the month of Nisan in the 20th year of the ancient Persian king Artaxerxes, the prophet, who was working as a royal cup-bearer, is granted letters from the king requesting the governors of the lands beyond the Euphrates to grant him safe passage to Judah. (Source: The Guardian)
Since 1949, the Chinese Communist Party has ruled the fourth largest and the most populated country in the world, tolerating no opposition and often dealing brutally with dissent. (Source: BBC News) In 2011, Chinese artist Ai Weiwei was arrested and imprisoned for 81 days under questionable charges which are widely perceived as political retaliation for Ai’s outspoken criticism of the Chinese government. His passport was confiscated by Chinese authorities and until today, he still has not gotten it back. Without his passport, Ai is unable to visit the cities outside of China where he has his works exhibited. More pertinently however, is the fact that Ai cannot be with his son who is currently living abroad.
What about Visas?
During the recent Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit , President Obama visited Beijing and delivered a speech:
OBAMA
I am very pleased to announce that during my visit, the United States and China have agreed to implement a new arrangement for visas that will benefit everyone from students to tourists, to businesses large and small.
Under the current arrangements the visas between our two countries last for only one year. Under the new arrangement, student and exchange visas will be extended to five years, business and tourist visas will be extended to 10 years.
Cheers and applause from the audience.
This is not a debate on the right of visa-free travel but an observation of how the purpose of a passport has transformed from being regulatory and security to economics.
The Pursuit of Economic Growth
In 2009, the economics commissioner for the UK government’s Sustainable Development Commission wrote that the pursuit of economic growth is a failure.
For the past five decades, the pursuit of economic growth has been the single most important policy goal across the world. Questioning that goal — particularly in this time of global financial crisis — is deemed to be the act of lunatics, idealists and revolutionaries.
But in fact the pursuit of economic growth has failed. It has failed on its own terms, it has failed to deliver a good life for all, and it’s now in the process of destroying the planet. […]
Consuming less may be the single biggest thing you can do to save carbon emissions. And yet no one dares to mention it. Because if we did, it would threaten economic growth, the very thing that caused the problem in the first place.
- Professor Tim Jackson
To borrow John Lennon’s words — you may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one.
