"Good fences make good neighbors", or so the saying goes. Some would have all fences and boundaries removed, now, in the interests of friendship and "sharing". These may be the same people who occasioned the building of the fences to begin with. People may have erected "fences" to remind the thoughtless of limits they failed to recognize.
Popular wisdom now has it that fences cause conflicts--instead of conflicts causing fences. Remember the story of the first murder among humankind, from the Book of Genesis? Cain slew his brother Abel because Abel's cattle had been eating his grain. This started a conflict that ended in murder. A fence would have been a better solution.
Showing posts with label borders. Show all posts
Showing posts with label borders. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Friday, November 11, 2011
millenial ideas
One of the millenial ideas popular now is that the world would be a better place without borders. These poor lines on the map are now blamed for starting wars, oppressing people, and worse. According to the new groovy, without borders we will all live in peace and brotherhood, with free cat food. This is very naive, and on more than one level. Borders are constructs in human minds, They don't "do" anything--as history, psychology, and economics don't "do" anything. Blaming them for human problems is silly.
If we erased all the borders on the Earth, within a matter of days the people on one side of a river would want to talk to the people on the other side of the river about water usage, or something. Each would find a representative to talk to the people on the other side. And it would look very much as before--a "government", or something like it, formed because people found it useful and necessary.
Making governments is a natural function of humankind. It's one of the ways we try to get along with one another. Two people may make a deal--three or more form a government. The solution to corruption in government is not abolishing governments, but making better governments.
The solution to arguing over borders is not abolishing borders, it is offering solutions to the problems that caused the argument--the problems that will not magically disappear if we erase the lines on a map.
If we erased all the borders on the Earth, within a matter of days the people on one side of a river would want to talk to the people on the other side of the river about water usage, or something. Each would find a representative to talk to the people on the other side. And it would look very much as before--a "government", or something like it, formed because people found it useful and necessary.
Making governments is a natural function of humankind. It's one of the ways we try to get along with one another. Two people may make a deal--three or more form a government. The solution to corruption in government is not abolishing governments, but making better governments.
The solution to arguing over borders is not abolishing borders, it is offering solutions to the problems that caused the argument--the problems that will not magically disappear if we erase the lines on a map.
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