Social Commentary | Beyond My CV

Freedom: the condition or right of being able or allowed to do, say, think, etc. whatever you want to, without being controlled or limited.

Freedom for basic rights

“Freeedoooom,” screams William Wallace at the end of the movie Braveheart, while English executioners tear his body apart during a prolonged torture before finally chopping off his head.
In the movie, based on a real story, Wallace fought to avenge the murder of his bride and for the freedom of Scotland.

In other parts of the world, right now, people are also fighting for freedom. Afghan women—who, up until the late 70s, had experienced steady progress in their rights, just like in many other parts of the world—saw decades of progress undone: first with the Soviet withdrawal, then with the international troop withdrawal led by the US. In both cases, a vacuum was left behind, filled by Taliban extremism, leading to violent repression of women’s rights.

The LGBTQ+ community is seeing their basic rights being repressed in Hungary (most recently a ban on the Pride parade under the guise of child protection—while neo-Nazi demonstrations are permitted—doesn’t bode well for this year’s Pride in June. Expect headlines about a harsh crackdown by the Hungarian government). This follows the Russian-style “putinization” supposedly aiming to restore or protect what some define as “conservative values.”

Ukrainians first fought to defend themselves from an invader, then were deluded by Western puppet masters into pursuing a war to defeat Russia. Now, they are being manipulated again—this time by what appears to be a Trump-Putin quasi-alliance, excluding Ukrainians from any real negotiations. Meanwhile, tens of thousands of men and women have lost—and continue to lose—their lives on the battlefields.

Investigations by international NGOs such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have concluded that Israel is committing acts that amount to genocide against Palestinians. The word genocide is one that makes one flinch—especially when viewed through the painful paradox of Jewish history just 80 years ago. Meanwhile, Palestinians have been systematically denied a voice in much of the Western media, where coverage often remains apathetic, reduced to daily death tolls that now consist almost entirely of civilians.

But what we’re really witnessing is a clash of ideologies and propaganda that we’re all severely subjected to, often forced to take a side in every situation, whether we want to or not. We are like cows, completely submitted to the will of governments, corporations, organizations—masters who have full control over our lives as a collective. In fact, I would go as far as to say that we do not exist collectively outside the context of these institutions. Is it bad? Is it good? No idea. Maybe it’s brought more good than harm—after all, organizing eight billion humans any other way might be impossible.

An age of confusion

From one perspective, the restriction of freedom arises from fear. Fear leads to a utopian attempt at control. And control eventually backfires, giving rise to reactionary forces and movements that can themselves become radicalized. The clearest historical example: fascism and Nazism rising in the 1920s in reaction to communism and the form it had taken at the time.

When ideology proliferates and takes over rationality and critical thinking, the soil becomes fertile for dictatorial practices. Take Western moral hypocrisy—we’ve been brainwashed for years into believing that Western governments are ethically driven, morally superior, and paradoxically “blessed” with the lessons learned from past horrors: colonialism, the Inquisition, concentration camps, gulags, and more. We’ve been convinced of this narrative so thoroughly that we can no longer distinguish good from evil in a world where everyone believes they are on the “right” side.

Need for freedom

So, if collective freedom depends so much on rules, ideologies, and cultural practices—are we at least freer on an individual level?

I would argue we are not. The main reason: our actions have consequences. No matter the society, the community, the family, or the relationship—we live by a set of rules that limit our individual actions. To be truly free, one must be willing to accept the consequences of their actions. That’s where ethics, values, and education come into play. To what extent we’ve been taught to respect (or disregard) rules and others makes a huge difference in our lives.

Expectations through changes

And that’s where expectations come in—when we enter a relationship, start a new job, or move to a new city or country—and reality smacks us in the face. A process begins: we polish our behavior and adapt our values to fit the new environment. In doing so, we also discover which values we’re unwilling to compromise.

We swing like a pendulum between extremes: sometimes excited by change, sometimes completely frustrated or suffocated by it. That’s when tolerance, experience, and empathy become essential. The ability to accommodate each other’s differences while preserving respect for our own backgrounds and values is a difficult job—but not impossible.

Everything changes in this process, leading us down new and unknown paths, which naturally freaks us out. Then we swing back to the other extreme, trying to control things to reestablish balance, calm, and order—before opening ourselves to the next wave of novelty.

If we pay attention, we’ll see this pattern not only at the individual level but also collectively. The real danger is when we freak out too much—and lose our minds.

In the last few decades, thanks especially to the internet and a more globalized world, a segment of Earth’s citizens has progressively benefited from a borderless reality, allowing them to move and establish themselves almost anywhere they desire — a trend exacerbated following the COVID pandemic.

The reasons for such a choice are many, depending on the profession one exercises, a search for better living conditions, a drive to live differently according to rules and cultural norms that better resonate with them, and so forth. This practice has given rise to enticing titles that the privileged among us proudly embrace: globe trotters, digital nomads, expats, remote workers.

In many cases, though, this decision to move somewhere else has been driven by a simple impulse to explore a different corner of the world for a short period of time, only to then move on to another, making this some sort of appealing practice. There are many documentaries available online of influencers, for example, going somewhere like India only to criticize the way other cultures live and leave with a pros and cons list to share with their audience, disregarding the long-term consequences of their actions.

Lately, I have been reflecting on whether this last category of professionals who wander around the globe deserves a more specific title with a connotation that fits this type of mindset.

Today, we are more aware that the privilege of some comes at the expense of others, often decreasing the quality of life for local communities. Perhaps we’ve always known this, but we are now more mature and collectively prepared to take responsibility for our actions. Despite this, no term has been coined to properly define this category of nomads. This has led me to question whether a more nuanced vocabulary might better highlight the less glamorous consequences of some people who take advantage of global professional mobility. One term I’ve been pondering is globalist jackals.

The existing terms are usually associated with the appealing aspects of global mobility: cultural depth fostered by living in different parts of the world; the boost to economies through spending power and new businesses in areas with lower living costs; the flexibility of work environments; and inclusivity. These and many other aspects have served as catalysts for global change and innovation.

Unfortunately, there is another side to the coin.

What I would call globalist jackals, in particular, drive up living costs in the areas where they relocate. Their demand for short-term rentals reduces housing availability for residents. They displace communities, contributing to over-tourism, disrupting local cultures, and eroding traditional ways of life, leaving some communities feeling exploited or undervalued.

Moreover, individuals benefiting from global mobility who genuinely wish to integrate and adapt to local customs may face misjudgment or unjust accusations, being lumped together with those who move on to their next destination without meaningful interaction or pondering their choices with reasons beyond the drive to “discover the world.”

Legal gray areas are created and exploited by individuals with selfish intentions, with little to no regard for local community needs. For example, it’s known that governments struggle to tax digital nomads who earn abroad while utilizing local resources, even though this varies greatly by country and specific tax treaties.

It has also been reported that what I would define as globalist jackals exacerbate inequalities, widening the gap between those with access to technology, education, and global mobility versus those without.

While there are many other factors that could justify coining the term globalist jackals, it’s crucial to recognize the dangers of using such pejorative terms indiscriminately. Doing so risks fueling discriminatory and even racist narratives.

The debate around the terminology we use to describe global professionals underscores the need for accountability and awareness in a world where profiting from mobility by choice, and not by survival-oriented need or duty, is both a privilege and a responsibility. As global citizens, we must understand what impact our ambitions have on others, acknowledging that consequences may take time to arise and often unfold in unpredictable ways.

This is a speculative and reductive take on a much broader and more complex topic, one that has been researched and discussed in much greater depth. So, please take my perspective with a grain of salt. I am curious to hear your thoughts. Have you previously reflected on this topic, specifically the glamorous terminology used to define this trend? Does the term globalist jackal make sense? What other terms would you suggest for discussing this phenomenon?