💭 Friday discussion: The future of citizenship

Hi everyone,

I am sorry this mail has gone out late. I had a crazy morning and forgot to hit send.

I read today that the city of Helsinki was offering a 90-day trial of life in the capital of Finland. “Are you a 90-day Finn?”, it asks.

It made me think again about the question of mobility and citizenship.

A number of countries allow you to buy citizenship. It’s a handy tool for oligarchs and cryptocurrency moguls to get more meaningful passports. (Vanuatu, anyone?) The more polished term is “investment migration” or “citizenship by immigration”.

Residence by investment is expensive, but getting cheaper, and growing.

On the one hand, a world where countries (or cities) compete for people breaks the monopoly hold states have on their citizens. It might force states to compete with their offerings.

On the other, very few people may find themselves capable of taking advantage of such schemes. And citizenship, to the extent it includes a sense of belonging to a place, may be more than a market…