I still call Australia home

Many years ago there was a QANTAS advertising campaign in which a bunch of kids were filmed singing praises to Australia in different locations around the world.  The gist of it was "no matter how far I roam, I still call Australia home."  When my plane touched down recently in Sydney I have to say that I felt like standing up and singing the song.  It was probably just as well that I can't remember the words otherwise I might have.  I teared up while walking through the immigration portal  when the little screen that bid me enter my country said, "Welcome to Australia."  I wasn't even on a QANTAS flight.  

My entry to Australia was a much more pleasant experience than returning to where I actually live. When I travel to my country of residence I am scrutinized, interviewed, fingerprinted and photographed and deemed a legal non-immigrant alien.  It is hard to envision Hawaii as home because on so many levels I am viewed as "other".    I find  myself, more often than not, fantasizing about where I might move to next.  But, my future location isn't really what this blog is about.

I've been contemplating what this word alien means and what life on earth might look like if we set the parameters of what is alien a little differently.  The US government has its definition of alien, as does probably every other government:  is someone who does not have the rights of a natural born or naturalized citizen of the particular nation.  In some countries of the world those rights might not be as desirable as others.  In the US, the rights of citizenship include a vast number of freedoms, opportunities, and really nice places to live and visit.  An alien has limited access to any of these.

So, why do we identify ourselves so fiercely with our nationality and make sure everyone else does too?  Does it hearken back to our early cultural evolution and tribal, nomadic history?  Is it adaptive in some way to protect access to resources for only a few who are granted the right?  I expect that the answer to both questions is, "Yes."

Any person who has looked at human geopolitical boundaries over time will easily recognize how arbitrary these are.  They change as a consequence of wars, financial deals, land sales, invasions, international treaties.  While I don't imagine that Australia is going to become subsumed into some other national boundary any time soon, to say that I am Australian is only currently meaningful.  Four hundred years ago, that identity wouldn't have existed.   In other words, who is granted access to resources in a particular location can change.

So, what if we think about these boundaries and who is classified as an alien a little differently.  Is it possible that we can evaluate alien along different parameters such as species boundaries.  I try to imagine a system of human governance where we are all considered citizens and afforded the same rights, privileges and responsibilities regardless of what patch of dirt our mother squeezed us out on.  But, that's not a new idea.

Is it possible then too that we may eventually view all of earths inhabitants, all species, as native affording them the same citizenship rights that we have, life, liberty and pursuit of happiness?  Is it possible that a system of earth governance might evolve where each species is granted the right to exist and continue.  Could we perhaps put something like this in place before so much of the wonderful diversity on this planet no longer exists?  Can we move beyond our tribal nature in enough time?

Ahh, but my Utopian fantasies get away from me.