Tuesday, February 9, 2010

hide and seek.


Having to deal with immigration issues in the last few days has made me question the nature of our contemporary world and the manner in which countries and nations and land are divided by borders and laws and regulations. This all translates into us as individuals being suffocated, restricted and controlled by the rules of different countries. Surely the world, our earth, and everything on it and in it belongs to all people no matter what passport they hold, colour they are, language they speak? I feel claustrophobic and tied down in a society governed by borders and immigration laws and visas and extended visas and shengen visas and holiday visas. Free travel is a thing of the past. Instead we are required to pay to enter a country that essentially belongs to us all. Who says that just because I am on a South African passport I should be given less time in a country than someone who is lucky enough to be born in the UK or America? These physical borders between nations are creating imaginery borders in the mind. A mind that yearns for travel, experience, culturally rich embraces and new places. All of this is hindered by beauracratic structures of control and power. Whoever said that globalisation has led to a "borderless" society was a liar.

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