border lines

I am slowly working my way through The End of History and the Last Man, an interesting, but not too compelling argument that liberal democracy is 'the end of history,' the ultimate in terms of rights and freedom. There's not a next step in the fuedalism-monarchism-dictatorship-democracy progression.

I don't buy it. There has to be a better system than this. . .

I've never been a fan of borders, but I've been especially frustrated with citizenship and borders and all they entail recently. In my circle here, the number of transnational couples is greater than the number of couples that share the same citizenship. I was out with a few of them last night & they started complaining about the complications that citizenship adds to their relationships.

I know a number of couples who are getting married when they otherwise wouldn't so the partner from Eastern Europe can come to stay with the Western European/Canadian/American one and they can let the relationship play itself out. It's not greencard fraud, as they are in love, but they wouldn't be getting married [yet] if it weren't for the immigration concerns.

I have a Serbian friend who was lucky enough to recieve a multiple entry tourist visa that she can use to visit her Dutch boyfriend, but the visa states that she is not allowed to get married in an EU country. Why can the EU dictate where someone marries?

Even more complicated are the situations of lesbian friends who are waiting for the American, Serbian, or Kosov@ (if it ever gets its own) government to recognize their relationships as valid so they don't have to keep visiting each other as tourists, so they can strategically marry like heterosexuals.

I am out of residency status in the middle of next week, so I am going to see a friend in Bosnia later today. It seems so arbitrary to make foreigners leave the country every few months. It doesn't seem to serve any purpose except making one's passport look more impressive with all those entry and exit stamps . . . Maybe the transportation industry is behind it.

I recognize it's ridiculous for an American- a holder of a passport that means I never have to stand in line for hours outside an embassy and that will get me across nearly any border hassle-free even when I look my sketchiest - to be complaining about citizenship and residency. I just disagree with Fukuyama. This cannot be the best system possible.