Part of this idea was inspired by Robert A. Heinlein and his book “Starship Troopers.” In this book (and subsequent movie), Mr. Heinlein describes a world where citizenship is earned through serving in the military. This is the basis for this post. Great book, and I think Paul Verhoeven did a great job with the movie.
My idea for modifying our current model for citizenship is to create three classes of citizenship--Visitors, Residents, and Citizens—which are bestowed and maintained following certain rules and criteria:
Visitors—this includes seasonal workers, students, business people, and vacationers. Visitors are just that, people who are visiting the country and are not planning on staying permanently. They have access to basic, short-term healthcare and are not allowed to own property. They must check-in on a regular basis and cannot vote.
Residents-people who live here permanently. This includes people who are born here of parents who themselves are residents. Children of Visitors remain Visitors. Residents have better health care and can own homes and do not have to check-in. They cannot vote, though, in national elections, only locals. nor can they hold National offices. They can start businesses, but not run them for long periods of time or own them.
Citizens-The top-of-the-line, Crème-dela-Crème of the population of the US. These are the people who through hard work and service have earned the title of Citizen of the United States. They have highest quality health care. They can hold any office, vote in any elections, own any business. They are the personification of the American Dream. In fact, they are required to keep abreast of the issues and vote in all elections.
Yes, this is the creation of a class-based society—three to be exact—but this is what we need if we want to fix the problems that we are having with illegal immigration. It isn’t easy, in fact what I propose is damn hard, but if done right it will allow people from other countries to come here, work, play, and maybe become citizens.
First, this scheme allows for the tracking of non-citizens via identity cards that are issued to a visitor on their first visit. There are a number of technologies that will allow this. This scheme also allows non-residents to visit here, work here, and be taxed here. There will also be paths upward so that visitors can become residents, then citizens. No more birthrights. No more people coming here and getting lost in the crowd and staying long after their visa expires.
We need to do something. We need our smart people to think outside of the box and worry about more then who is going to vote for them in the next election. We need a solution and we need it now. This post is a challenge. Read it, come up with something better, then write your representative and let them know what you think.
I have had to turn off the comments for this postdue to a persistent spammer who is trying to wear me down. It is unfortunate that he/she is seemingly incapable of posting a meaningful comment that is void of any links to malware/spam sites. Oh well....
del.icio.us tags: government, class, society, citizenship, immigration, illegal immigration, resident, visitor
