YEARNING TO BREATHE FREE
"Hello, my name is Barry. Yes. I have been suffering from racial segregation. Yes. I have been discriminated because of my color, my religion and my beliefs for centuries but now I am in the main stream of American life. And of course other immigrants have been facing the same problems." This is what an average member of any ethnic minority group in any country would tell to you and I don't think we can oppose him much, can we? Now let us look at how the world reacted to migrants in the previous times and what the reasons to migrate were and if our world is real so borderless as we imagine.
The most sophisticated civilizations arose from heavy human traffic and only in the third century AD Roman Empire imposed large-scale restrictions to people willing to flee. By mediaeval times a large part of human population was treated like chattels.
Portrait of John Locke, by Sir Godfrey Kneller. Oi...
Law was an ardent disciple of John Locke.
Abduction of EuropeOnly during the early Renaissance people were encouraged to immigrate to various countries by the hope to get citizenship, tax incentives, free land for farming and other benefits. By the end of the seventeenth century liberal thinkers such as John Locke were questioning a ruler's right to restrict the movement of the individual. During the twentieth century mass migrations on an unprecedented scale started because of poverty, persecution of ethnic minorities and wars. All the countries started to tighten their border controls and the once free world became a Fortress, didn't it? "But it is not so bad, is it? ". Well Barry lets see.
Countries which belong to one of the many levels of this fortress, and as we all well know Lithuania is going to join the European Union - the highest of the levels, are doomed to have lots of benefits.