All this is to say that a document issued based on the arbitrary geography or ancestry of a human being’s birth still determines some of the most decisive aspects of their quality of life and the opportunities available to them. While this has always been true to some extent, the current moment is one when such a status quo is increasingly seen as unjust and yet also blatantly promoted by those who believe borders are not to be violated. Passports became common for residency and travel in the years after World War I. After World War II’s atrocities, a set of liberal precepts were accepted by most Western countries, and new protections for human dignity, like the ability to claim asylum based on the fear of persecution, were put in place.
Now in 2023 the commitment to those liberal principles of equality and human dignity are weaker than they were when they were instituted.
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