The idea of a perfect world is beautiful. I can just imagine it easily. A world without borders where people will be free to move about as they want. We won’t need things like passports and visas to travel or relocate. The way one person can wake up and decide to go to Abuja from Lagos without any hassle, that’s just how it would be.
This will also be helpful when we consider the fact that it’ll foster unity more easily. If people can cross borders easily, cultures will be able to blend just as easily and we’d be able to learn more about others all the more. Also, without borders, the cost of issues like imports and exports will not be so high because they’ll just be ferried across country lines at no cost at all.
But then, no matter how hard I’ve thought about this, all I can see is that the disadvantages of such a world would most likely be more than the advantages. Humans are territorial by nature, we always love to cut out our corners and make it known that outside elements are not welcome. That’s why since time immemorial kingdoms and empires built walls because it was one surefire way of keeping unwanted elements from getting in.
And to date, we still exhibit such behaviors. We fence our houses and are skeptical about who we allow in. Not just anyone at all can enter our homes, and if someone did enter without your permission, you’re even permitted by law to do what you can to protect your home. That’s to show you just how seriously humans take borders.
And now, on a national scale, it’s no different. If everyone could go wherever they want with ease, then some countries will be completely empty while others will be oversaturated with people. I know for a fact that if not for issues like visas, passports, and the high cost of travel and relocation, only the politicians and government officials would be in Nigeria presently. This is because everyone wants to run!
And even besides all that, we still have to look into criminal elements as well. People can leave their country to commit crimes in other countries, then they run back to hide in their own country. In this case, the governments of the world would have a hard time taking care of their people because they’d never know how many people are in the country for sure and how many are just passing through.
Borders weren’t created strictly for security, it’s an added advantage, but it also helps to keep things in check. Even if somehow, security were to be eradicated totally from existence, borders would still exist because humans will always be humans. They’ll find themselves trying to have the best of all worlds at the detriment of others.
I know how beautiful a world without borders sounds, but I’m pretty sure that in the long run, we might end up doing more harm than good. Peace and unity among all countries and races of the world, none of all that has anything to do with our borders. If we want to be good people to our fellow humans, we can easily do that. Opening borders will just facilitate easier traveling, but if we’re still of the mentality that some people or regions are more or less superior to others, then nothing has changed because the borders that really need to be gotten rid of are the ones in our minds.
We can do better, and I urge us to do so. Let’s focus instead on what we can do as individuals to make the world a better place. It doesn’t have to be extreme, just do your own little part. If we all pool our resources like this, in the end, it won’t matter if the world still has borders or not. We’ll be one regardless.
