[LMB] Citizenship? - Oaths and Arde

[Howard Brazee]

> On Dec 2, 2021, at 8:46 PM, Gwynne Powell <gwynnepowell at hotmail.com> wrote:
> 
> Gwynne: I'm not a great fan of dual citizenship. You should give your
> loyalty - your legal obligations - to one country. It's fine to have feelings
> for 'the old country' - especially if you have family there. But you belong
> to one country, you have legal (and moral, and ethical) obligations to that
> country. (Also, dual citizenship can often be used for some rather shady
> enterprises, to avoid obligations to one country or the other.)

Lots of people never give their loyalty to their states.   Citizenship goes with birth. 

I swore an oath when I was commissioned, which mattered.   The pledges made as children shouldn’t.    In Barrayar’s case, the oaths are to their lords.   I suspect they are *adult* oaths.

Passport citizenship is dependent upon the land people are born in.   But Barrayar’s loyalty is to the lords.