21 sats \ 29 replies \ @megaptera 15 Feb \ on: Travelling and enjoying life - KYC free privacy
Flying is a privacy hell
It's the crossing through borders that really irks me (especially airports). I feel so exposed and vulnerable. It's almost like there are no laws to protect you, like some sort of lawless, twilight zone where they can do whatever they want to you a you can't disagree or fight back. I always breathe a sigh of relief when I get through with no hassle, which happens most of the time but I fear that won't last much longer (too many things I don't want to comply with). I love travelling but it's been spoilt.
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Answer yourself some important questions that NOBODY seems to care...
What is a "border"?
What is a pass-port?
When "pass-ports" where invented?
What is a country?
What is a citizen?
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Nations have always had borders (even if somewhat fuzzy) and 'border control'.
A passport is a modern version of that but the idea of controlling entry into a piece of land that the inhabitants thought of as theirs, or at least that they were the stewards of, has always been there. And if you slipped in somehow, you'd still stand out as soon as you showed your face and be rapidly identified as an 'outsider' simply because of the way you looked, spoke, the fact that nobody knew you, etc. Nations used to be much more homogeneous, a 'border defence' in itself.
A good example of successful border control was the Sakoku period in Japan, where the country's borders were shut down almost completely for over 250 years, while still allowing some very controlled contact with the outside world at a couple of trading ports. This allowed Japan to learn about the outside modern world in a controlled manner (books, especially about western science and technology were still allowed in through the ports), and, I would argue, protected Japan from colonisation, foreign conquest and cultural loss (as happened to the nation directly south of them, The Philippines, and many other Asian nations too).
This is not to necessarily defend the excessive level of policing of borders that some countries now enforce, but the idea of a world with 'open borders' or no borders, as you seem to be suggesting, is an unrealistic one, not just politically but also in the animal and biological realms (e.g. all of the healthy functionings of an organism depend heavily on borders, such as the cell wall, the blood-brain barrier, the skin, etc etc).
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True is that it is hard to find the balance between learning from the differences and preserving our culture and don't be disrupted. We are control-maniacs... Most of these behaviors are probably just a consequence of fears and the fact we believe land belongs to us. It's probably the inverse, and that's why for me, all this fictional border is just a joke. Anyhow, thanks for sharing your thoughts. Did not know about the restrictiveness of Sakoku period, learned something new today :)
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Where you position yourself in this map?
It's all about how you position yourself and know WHO you are...
If you put yourself inside the "state cage", then you are bond to respect the rules imposed by that CORPORATION. States are corporations.
Out entire system is based on people's belief... belief in authority, belief in borders, belief in states etc... We are the slaves of our own belief.
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Mate, that chart wasn't drawn so ppl could 'position' themselves on it.
Plus, you failed to notice that I didn't once talk about states, I talked about nations, which are quite a different concept (so much so that only recently has the idea of the 'nation-state' been propagated).
Finally, you have also failed to engage with the main point that I made - that borders have always existed in the human realm and are a universal phenomenon in other realms too. Borders aren't a question of 'belief'; humans make borders because they observe them everywhere in the physical and biological worlds and understand that they have utility (even existential utility) in human society too. And by existential in the preceding sentence, I mean that sometimes they mean the very assurance of a nation's (not state's) continued survival.
People can go off and build a hermit's hut (or a rather squalid looking hole in the ground), that's fine, there's a long (and sometime noble) tradition of that. But if such ppl think that they can then tell the rest of society that they need to 'follow my higher truth' and abandon all normal functioning of society then they are kidding themselves and in danger of falling into delusion.
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nice to meet you agent Smith...
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Your puerile slur sadly mirrors the intellectual level of your "I am the enlightened one" philosophising. (Which you've just demonstrated you can't even defend properly when challenged on any point.)
However, we both appear to love bitcoin and loathe shitcoiners, so hey, we still have some fellow feeling & shared values there at least.
Indeed! Passports are a very new thing. You are going into deep (for some) territory there because we are born into a system of control that most people never question. I say if you have a passport you are essentially owned by that state. They can call you up to sacrifice your life and force you by threat of violence to do all sorts. It's something I want to do more research on to get more insight.
I had a conversation with a teacher the other day and it brought it home to me (once again!) that people think the state owns your children (and it continues from there into adulthood). My kids did not go to school and I have encountered so much attitude. It's been a huge eye-opener to dissect all the many many comments and conversations I've had over the years. They just cannot get their heads around the concept of freedom. I will sit and write about it all properly someday.
Flying with an airline is a contract. You must respect the contract because are their rules. Nobody is forcing you to fly. Just walk.
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Did you ever saw any politicians using their passports or crazy rules when they fly?
NONE.
Why people do not ask these reasonable questions?
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Private jet charter companies have nothing to do with border control. The passengers will have them checked but not lined up in a queue with other peasants.
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Good point!
Indeed are some private jets that do not ask questions...
It's all about a contract and that contract rules and agreement.
Check this out https://www.tapjets.com/
you know perfectly well that it's not the airline that makes these rules. These are legal impositions.
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you are getting closer to the truth... :)
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You still have to land at a port of entry and clear customs