Miscellany: U.S. Passports, past and present

I received my new passport in the mail yesterday. Well, to be precise, I had to go to the post office to pick it up. I had opted for the expedited option, which cost quite a chunk of extra dough, but I got my passport in a month instead of several months (there's a backlog in processing because of new rules regarding travel). I had to go to the post office because I needed to sign for the package.

These newfangled passports are interesting. Besides a pretty swanky design and lots of quotable quotes from the Declaration, the Constitution, and some of the big historical figures, there's a little chip woven inside the cover that I presume works in a manner similar to RFID chips. This new electronic system stores your personal information and can be scanned by passing the passport over a plate, making it easier and faster to zip through customs.

I suppose it's the prerogative of a people to be able to keep travellers out, but it does still smack of an outdated system of feudal regulations. It's not like passports have always been around - prior to WWI Europe had all but done away with passports, and free movement between the countries made for easy tourism and commerce. I may be wrong on this, but the saying "When people can't cross borders, armies will" seems to have proven itself to be true many times in history.