99% Invisible Citizen of the World
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Apr 28, 2026 
Gary Davis, a WWII veteran turned activist, and Scott Gurian, a journalist and producer, trace Davis’s astonishing break with national citizenship. They follow his passport protest in Paris, his camp at the UN, and his push for world government. The story also explores world passports, border standoffs, legal gray zones, and why refugees and exiles still seek these documents today.
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Passports Make Birthplace Feel Like Destiny
- Roman Mars frames passports as design objects that sort human worth by birthplace rather than personhood.
- He contrasts his own travel anxiety with weak passports and 850 million people lacking documents proving nationality or legal existence.
War Pushed Gary Davis To Reject National Loyalty
- World War II turned Gary Davis from privileged Broadway hopeful into a critic of national loyalty and war.
- Flying B-17 raids over Brandenburg and losing his brother Bud convinced him he would not "play this game anymore."
Renouncing Citizenship Became Gary's Global Statement
- After renouncing U.S. citizenship in Paris, Gary Davis triggered international headlines by making himself deliberately stateless.
- He used the press moment to argue that sovereign nation-states create planetary anarchy and inevitable future war.