Any Dual Citizens Here?

[mikethompson]

wolflarsen you have a PM

 

[olkofri]

I suppose that if you don't hold any allegiance to your native country, then having dual citizenship wouldn't present any conflicts.

It actually does. And this irredentist attitude makes life very difficult for those who leave a place and move to another out of conviction, and not because they want the handouts; all the more when such attitude is adopted by governments.
I happen to have dual citizenship. Allow me to rephrase that in a way that is more consistent with the truth: I have dual citizenship, which I DON'T want, being FORCED ON me. I want to be nothing but Canadian, but the other POS country's laws don't allow their former citizens to give up citizenship. Worse, if you were born there and want to visit, you must enter their country as a citizen of it; if you try to enter with a Canadian passport they will fine you heavily. Thing is, Canada's law states that if you enter another country as a non-Canadian, you relinquish any help the Canadian consulate might give you if something happens. So, even if one cares nothing about honour and loyalty, even for pragmatic reasons dual-citizenship can backfire in some instances.

 

[lazar]

For those of you talking about allegiance and loyalty, I'm curious - what situation do you envision that would force you to choose between one or the other? Many people have dual citizenship between mutually friendly Western democracies. I don't really envision a war between the US and the UK, Canada, the EU, etc any time soon.

 

[warren]

Friendly countries do not always stay friendly. Then there are economic (trade wars, balance of payments, etc.) considerations with regard to loyalty, also politics (Germany making nice with Russia while NATO still considers Russia a logical foe) are a consideration. Then there is spy v. spy. Are you pulling for US spies, GB spies, French spies? Divided loyalties are a serious problem for many with dual citizenships.
Then there is the big consideration, who to root for when one of your countries is playing soccer against the other? Or, the Olympic games? Who to pull for? Serious question.

 

[aldecaker]

Lazar, it's hard to explain. Just something that on a visceral level, either you're okay with the notion of, or you're not. I don't consider myself some sort of "world citizen", so to me, the "random circumstance" of where I was born is very important.

 

[brian64]

Being subjected to one national government is punishment enough for one lifetime.

 

[lazar]

That's true about friendly countries @warren. Right now we're seeing shifting alliances and baiting between the US and ostensibly "friendly" countries, and cozying up to "unfriendly" ones. But I don't make my judgements based on which country I was born in - I make them based on the circumstances and my ethical considerations of the issues. "My" country isn't always right just because I happened to be born in it. If the US were to attack the UK unprovoked, I would be on the side of the UK, and vice versa. As far as economics, trade wars, sports, spies etc., I don't see why it matters who I root for. Unless I were a spy, a policy maker, a global capitalist, or a sports star, it's not going to make any difference to anybody.
I think you're right, @aldecaker - it's just one of those things that resonates on a deep emotional level for some people, while others just don't get it.

 

[sparroa]

If I was rich enough, I'd pay to purchase Portuguese and Maltese and Cypriot citizenship just to have a few more passports in my rotation!