A well-meaning but tragically dumb academic goes on and on about how citizenship evil and should be done with because it degrades human beings and brings nothing but death.
If one were to tell the facile idiot that she is servicing the most pressing needs of liquid capital, she’d just stare at one with her little dumb eyes and not get a clue.
Clarissa's Blog 
My first thought was that she had it all backwards – lack of citizenship means death.
As a Jew in the Middle East, my Israeli citizenship – living in a fortified “villa in the jungle” – is the only thing protecting my life from Palestinians, ISIS, Syrians in general (including those travelling as refugees to Germany), etc.
It applies to non-Jews in my part of the world too. Look what happens to Syrians who de facto lost their citizenship when Syria stopped existing as a functioning state.
In Europe too, migrants without citizenship suffer because of it. However, the academic’s suggestion would simply increase the chances of the entire Western population finding themselves in the similar predicament.
Only the new born-to-rule “Mary Stuarts,” aka Trumps and Putin-likes, won’t be hurt by this.
I also think that this academic doesn’t really want to be hurt as the result of her proposed policies; either she imagines she won’t be hurt or she simply likes to adopt “holier than you” attitude as long as it costs her nothing.
People who talk about academics in ivory towers (not only Trump supporters) point at people like her. I think that just as there are feminists hurting the case of feminism and scaring people away, there are such academics too. “People on the street” (me including) tend to hear about the small (?) but loud group, like Noam Chomsky, Said’s throwing stones at Israeli soldiers or people like this woman talking about opening the borders and doing away with citizenship.
LikeLike
“In Europe too, migrants without citizenship suffer because of it. However, the academic’s suggestion would simply increase the chances of the entire Western population finding themselves in the similar predicament.
Only the new born-to-rule “Mary Stuarts,” aka Trumps and Putin-likes, won’t be hurt by this.
I also think that this academic doesn’t really want to be hurt as the result of her proposed policies; either she imagines she won’t be hurt or she simply likes to adopt “holier than you” attitude as long as it costs her nothing.”
Absolutely. You can find a million and one disadvantages to everything but it helps to look at the alternative. Hillary was bad. But the alternative was Trump. That was supposed to make Hillary a lot more palatable.
LikeLike
Israel is not the entire Middle East. I knew a Jewish guy here in Kurdistan that had only US citizenship and did just fine. In fact there are still a few Jews here that have only Iraqi citizenship and don’t face any physical threats.
LikeLike
\ I knew a Jewish guy here in Kurdistan that had only US citizenship and did just fine.
I am sure he did and will do fine having “only” the most coveted citizenship on the planet.
🙂
\ there are still a few Jews here that have only Iraqi citizenship and don’t face any physical threats.
Not facing physical threats is not enough for a happy life. Most people strive for much more.
Also, even if “a few” people (as you said) are happy without citizenship, it does not disprove the point that citizenship ensures rights and provides protection, making people without it uniquely vulnerable.
If Kurdistan wanted, it could send those Jews “home” to Iraq. Luckily, every Jew is accepted with open arms in Israel, so I don’t worry about them.
LikeLike
Actually they can’t. Officially according to the State of Israel they do not exist. The Israeli government lists exactly zero Jews in Kurdistan. So even if they wished to leave a homeland their ancestors have lived in for many thousands of years to go to Israel they could not.
LikeLike
Or it least it lists none in Sulaimani. I haven’t checked to see about Erbil.
LikeLike
Really?? Why? Why does Israel ignore the existence of Kurdistani Jews?
LikeLike
Because there are very few remaining and they prefer to keep a low profile. Most of the more than 200,000 here in 1948 left for Israel in a large wave in the years immediately after 1948 and a smaller one in the early 1970s. Israeli operations in Kurdistan during the 1960s and 70s and again during the Second Gulf War had negative blowback and the most exposed target of any future blowback would be Jews wishing to remain. A primary reason a number of states give for opposing Kurdish independence is that it would become a second Israel. So the Kurdish authorities, Israelis, and Kurdish Jews all have concluded it is best to say they all already left.
LikeLike
Also, this reminded me of your old post:
\ This book on the Holocaust is in reality a passionate ode to the state. It is common to equate the destruction of the state with freedom, Snyder says. History teaches us, however, that the exact opposite is true. In order to be able to murder 6 million Jews, Hitler had to destroy the nation-states in half of Europe.
LikeLike
Exactly. 🙂 The nation-state is a very flawed state form. But the new one we are moving into is not any better. Actually, it might be much worse.
LikeLike
” it might be much worse”
Academic restraint, i’d say “It’s 99.4 % sure to be far worse for most people”.
Of course most people like to fantasize that they’ll be part of the 0.6 %….
LikeLike
I’ll just throw this in (paraphrasing from my blog)
Open borders is a terrible thing for non-super rich non-English speaking countries. Poland didn’t have any borders for over 100 years and it totally sucked ass. Borders are the best things that ever happened to most countries (that aspire to be countries and not provinces or vassal states of an Empire).
LikeLike