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Passport Index 2016

passportindex.org

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Re: Passport Index 2016

#91

Post by abrowne »

tenpies wrote: post #48

What is it with South American countries not being able to lay out things properly? Peru looks like someone forgot centre everything and by the time they noticed they had already printed hundreds of thousands of passport covers so they just went with it.

Whereas Peru's is one my favorites largely because it's one of the relative few that's not all centered. (I also noticed Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Luxembourg, New Zealand, Portugal, Sweden and Switzerland. Iran and Maldives are centered, but off-center.)

Re: Passport Index 2016

#92

Post by cloudjacker »

jsmthrowaway wrote: post #67
cloudjacker wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

home equity line of credit the primary distinction I was hoping to make was that you didn't need to be an international spy or an oil baron to achieve the levels of wealth necessary to get these things.

Er, you should revisit what having that much spending power, even via a HELOC, would place one in terms of percentile. Your oil baron suddenly isn't far off since that graph is somewhat exponential. Most area homeowners I know are driving Civics or Jettas and worrying about property tax assessments, so. The comment was just silly in terms of perspective and was silly to come across in a thread that already discussed…

Ok. The bay area comment wasn't the only inflammatory hyberbole I wrote so I will gladly concede that I wrote something incongruent with all perspectives.

Alright?

Re: Passport Index 2016

#93

Post by cloudjacker »

justinlardinois wrote: post #88
jsmthrowaway wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> it isn't that expensive though. ~500,000 euros. Any homeowner in the bay area could do it. I'm not sure whether to roll my eyes at over half a million dollars being "not that expensive" or the assertion that any Bay Area homeowner has that much liquidity to just toss at a Maltese passport. Unless you're suggesting selling the house to do it.

Even then, you have to contend with American taxes and USD-to-Euro conversion fees. The idea that 500,000 Euros is inexpensive for anyone who's less than a multimillionaire is ridiculous.

There aren't many fees for a usd to euro conversions at those amounts. One wire transfer for $50 and a point zero of a percent spread if that.

Re: Passport Index 2016

#94

Post by charlesism »

67726e wrote: post #86
superuser2 wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Economies are not zero-sum. The flow of capital and education to poor countries would increase their productivity (and thus wages and standard of living) while the increased supply of labor decreases prices in rich countries, and the new equilibrium would be strictly better for both sides. Find a good economics textbook. (This is an issue where economists are in almost universal agreement, and almost universally oppo…

I'm sorry but that's transparently bullshit, an example of good on paper but bad I reality. It does very little but line the pockets of a select few in the rich nations. There is no reason for me to give a shit about someone in Africa if it means my own family, my own people struggle.

And if you married an African, should you be allowed to live together in the same country? Her parents? Grand-parents?

Re: Passport Index 2016

#95

Post by pg_is_a_butt »

ZoF wrote: post #79
tuna-piano wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just 90 miles from Key West, Florida there is a country which required strict exit visas until just 3 years ago. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jan/15/cuba-relaxes-t...

"Just 90 miles from Key West there is a country" - Why not just explicitly state the country....? We know it's Cuba and these restrictions existed for obvious reasons.

what obvious reasons? big cigar was keeping them in their place?

Re: Passport Index 2016

#96

Post by noobermin »

wildmusings wrote: post #78
tuna-piano wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not so sure it's illogical. It's tough to kick people out of a country that they were born in. While a 3 time armed robber born in the US and released from prison will be back on the streets of the US - ideally he / she would be sent somewhere else. Immigration is a rare time when a country can choose what people to allow in or not. I would think that a country should be more concerned about its own residents tha…

I'd expand that to cultural preservation in general. The French like being French and living in a French country, with all that entails concerning values, music, food, and way of life. The Japanese like being Japanese and living in a Japanese country. Mass migration can change the character of a country. It's totally logical to want to preserve your culture and way of life. If 100 million people from the Middle East…

This clearly doesn't apply the United States then, who's culture is swallowing up immigrants and adding their influences to our melting pot.

Re: Passport Index 2016

#97

Post by schlowmo »

danra wrote: post #4

Anyone else reminded of Passport Please? Imagine having to recognize a fake passport by a slight difference in symbol/text format :)

When I first heard of Passport Please I was reminded of "Neal Stephenson - Error": the story contains a MMORPG which is used to "automate" stupid security tasks like screening people at an airport by "mapping" them to the MMORPG world were players are awarded when they detect a security threat. I hope this never becomes real.

Re: Passport Index 2016

#98

Post by cloudjacker »

colinbartlett wrote: post #68
cloudjacker wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

yeah, they are called 'second passport' guides. assuming marriage is unfavorable and you don't want to pretend to be jewish, there are a couple of treaties you can take advantage of, typically old imperialist countries have guilt trips with their former south american or african colonies and have an easy citizenship path for citizens in those former colonies. But then those former colonies have really malleable gover…

It's worth noting that this Passport Index is maintained by Arton Capital which is in the business of facilitating these citizenship purchase arrangements and has a whole guide about it comparing all the countries that allow it: http://www.artoncapital.com/

Awesome, thanks!

Re: Passport Index 2016

#99

Post by noobermin »

andyidsinga wrote: post #26
tuna-piano wrote: post #17

In relation to passport power - I find Trump's proposed ban on Muslims pretty interesting to think about. Although widely criticized, it seems to me more ethically wrong to base entry decisions on country of origin (not a choice) than of religion (a choice). Obviously there are many issues with the practicality, unintended consequences, and the blanket nature of a ban on muslims. That said, I'm not sure I see an ethi…

I'm not sure religion is so much of a choice. I grew up in a household of a particular religion that my parents imposed and even though I don't really identify what that religion anymore it was a very strong influence on me until my mid-20s. Even when I didn't identify with it internally, I still said i was a ______. IMO, It's extremely hard to find an alternative and maybe even harder for one to say they're agnostic…

And the fact that you were able to separate from said religion is probably made easier by the society you live in. In some cultures, the religion is synonymous with cultural identity, if not at least a central part of it.
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