Why Are There Borders?
I don’t ask this as a discussion of the issues with the Immigration policies of the country. No, it more of a global question. Borders are set up by a collection of people who want to control how life is lived within that area. Historically, that collection of people was homogenous, their tribe. As society developed, people moved, and “different” tribes formed. However, each group still maintained defined areas of land as their own. But why do they get to claim it? For the most part it was due to many generations of the same tribe living in the same place. The overwhelming majority of people stayed in the place they grew up. That is true today for vast numbers of people and for the majority depending how far you define their distance traveled and if it is within current defined borders.
No one gets to define where they are born and raised. However, should that define where they have to live without permission from some other tribe? That is, once you are an adult should you be able to go where you want without any borders? If you live some place that someone else wants to, but the only reason you get to live there is because you were born there does it give you any more right? That is the challenge.
The idea of a borderless world is many decades in the future if obtainable at all. People have been tribal for millennium. Until a majority of people in the world do not define themselves tribally, we will continue to have borders and continue to have wars over them and laws defining who can come in and stay and who can’t.
No comments:
Post a Comment