In this day and age we are taught about freedoms left and right. We're no longer a colonial society who believe that the world is one big scary place where no one can be trusted (although that exactly what some people do still believe). In a world where the price of travel is lower than the price to have the right to travel, something is wrong.
I've created a white house petition to lower the price of U.S. passports to that of a driver's license.
http://wh.gov/Kmw
https://wwws.whitehouse.gov/petitions/fb/petition/petition/lower-price-us-passports/5x6x3gw8
The reasons passports should be cheaper are innumerable. My main points and arguments though are what I'm about to tell you.
In America (and most of the civelized world) people are garunteed inalienable rights. That means we can't be seperated from them. I think another of these rights is the right to educate yourself about the world you live in and to be able to do it first hand. One should not have to pay for the right to leave his or her country and see the world for themselves. One DOES NOT directly pay for this right. Instead, one pays for diplomatic vouching. One's home country uses the diplomatic strings it has with another country and vouches that you would be a good citizen to enter into that country. This vouching is pricey and indirectly stiples many who wish to explore the world and educate themselves in other cultures.
This vouching impedes on the freedoms and rights of it's citizens. As mentioned earlier, it restricts freedom to educate one's self. It also restricts one's ability to diplomatically represent their home country. Making it only possible for those who can afford to travel gives only a percentage of the country the right to do so.
Next, the price of passports, this is one of my favorite arguable technicalities. The price of a U.S. passport is so, b/c of the expenses of the security features of the document. In recent years I would have accepted this as fact and forgotten about it. However, new technologies have allowed for virtually unforgable identification techniques which cost pennies on the dollar. We have biometric id cards now which are used to prevent cheating on college entry exams. They're supposed to be virtually unforgable. We've learned that RFID has vulnerabilities and can't be trusted.
We know all this information, yet we still haven't put together a travel document which allows a person to step out of one country and into another without requiring them to pay an arm and a leg for the entailed securities.
I can get on a cargo ship for about half the price of a passport (cheaper if I'm willing to work) and sail to almost any place in the world I want to go.
Last argument, in multiple membered families (say 5 people). The price of a passport would drastically cut into their transportation budget. $130 X 5 = $650. That's an extra $650 added onto the maybe $250 price of a cargo ship ride to the country of choice.
When the price to travel is lower than the right to travel, something is WRONG.
In closing, I know this post looks like crap LOL but I would like you to sign it anyways. Share it with your friends and family on Facebook and Twitter and let's get 25,000 signatures for the white house. Everyone should have the right to travel.
I've created a white house petition to lower the price of U.S. passports to that of a driver's license.
http://wh.gov/Kmw
https://wwws.whitehouse.gov/petitions/fb/petition/petition/lower-price-us-passports/5x6x3gw8
The reasons passports should be cheaper are innumerable. My main points and arguments though are what I'm about to tell you.
In America (and most of the civelized world) people are garunteed inalienable rights. That means we can't be seperated from them. I think another of these rights is the right to educate yourself about the world you live in and to be able to do it first hand. One should not have to pay for the right to leave his or her country and see the world for themselves. One DOES NOT directly pay for this right. Instead, one pays for diplomatic vouching. One's home country uses the diplomatic strings it has with another country and vouches that you would be a good citizen to enter into that country. This vouching is pricey and indirectly stiples many who wish to explore the world and educate themselves in other cultures.
This vouching impedes on the freedoms and rights of it's citizens. As mentioned earlier, it restricts freedom to educate one's self. It also restricts one's ability to diplomatically represent their home country. Making it only possible for those who can afford to travel gives only a percentage of the country the right to do so.
Next, the price of passports, this is one of my favorite arguable technicalities. The price of a U.S. passport is so, b/c of the expenses of the security features of the document. In recent years I would have accepted this as fact and forgotten about it. However, new technologies have allowed for virtually unforgable identification techniques which cost pennies on the dollar. We have biometric id cards now which are used to prevent cheating on college entry exams. They're supposed to be virtually unforgable. We've learned that RFID has vulnerabilities and can't be trusted.
We know all this information, yet we still haven't put together a travel document which allows a person to step out of one country and into another without requiring them to pay an arm and a leg for the entailed securities.
I can get on a cargo ship for about half the price of a passport (cheaper if I'm willing to work) and sail to almost any place in the world I want to go.
Last argument, in multiple membered families (say 5 people). The price of a passport would drastically cut into their transportation budget. $130 X 5 = $650. That's an extra $650 added onto the maybe $250 price of a cargo ship ride to the country of choice.
When the price to travel is lower than the right to travel, something is WRONG.
In closing, I know this post looks like crap LOL but I would like you to sign it anyways. Share it with your friends and family on Facebook and Twitter and let's get 25,000 signatures for the white house. Everyone should have the right to travel.
