I Am A Patriot

Alternate title being, why I actually never particularly wanted a British passport.

Well, first things first- this will not be an issue I have to deal with until September. I have just heard back from UK immigration who have informed me that the first visa I had here doesn't count towards my five year window. So there is really quite a bit of time between then and now, and many things could happen. So I'll return to this subject in the future most likely, but here are some thoughts for now.

I never really cared much about my citizenship or my country in particular until I moved out of it and lived somewhere else. I swear that the fastest way to make a patriot is to send them out into the rest of the world who ignorantly and enthusiastically feels free to criticize something they tend to actually know very little about.

And don't even get me started on how it's so fashionable to criticize us, but somehow everyone always wants to go there. They want to vacation there, they wish they could move there. There is a definite love hate relationship that the world has with us, as much as they are not inclined to admit it. And really, it's just unattractive.

So I moved here and I found myself in the position of somewhat frequently having to defend my country. And in doing so, I really had to think about it and arrived at the conclusion that I am actually proud to be an American as tacky as that sounds. And I support the freedoms and ethos of my nation and have come to understand that it defines me in many ways. I don't have to love my government or my foreign policy but I love my country for all of the many good things it has. And I have yet to see another country who is doing things any better. So I will continue to stand up for it against false accusation and uninformed criticism for as long as I live outside of it.

So the reality is, that while I would like the flexibility of living in this country without being tied to my job, and without worrying that if anything happened I might actually be deported, I really have no interest in becoming a citizen. Now, at first, that may seem unfair. Here I am earning money and taking a job, why shouldn't I have the responsibilities of a citizen?

Well, lets look at that. Citizenship would mean my obligation to the country would suddenly include being able to serve on jury duty, and being able to vote. But do you really want me to vote? And I already pay taxes. But as a citizen I would be eligible for the dole or other benefits. Do you want me to have those rights as well? And while I need to make an effort to stay on any other visa and work, as soon as I have citizenship, I can come and go as I please, work at whatever I like or not. In fact, I could leave, go back home, raise a family and come back here in twenty years and it would be fine. Now honestly- who gets the better deal in all of this?

Oh yeah, and I can freely move through and live and work in the EU as well.

And I didn't want any of that. Really I didn't. I just wanted to be able to stay here, pay my taxes, and get on with things. Expatriated. But they UK government doesn't appear to want me to do that. Because it's harder to do that then it is to simply become a citizen. And it's not that I'll be a bad citizen, not at all. But it's going to come down to a simple matter of convenience. But it's nothing I ever particularly wanted. I guess it's kind of cool in a way. And the benefits are pretty good. Still, when it comes to my future two passports, in my heart, one will always be first.