Open Borders: Re-Imagining Global Politics Beyond Country Limits - Essay Sample

Introduction

The society has always questioned the issue of borders and classification of people based on their country of origin as it is the essential element used in ethnic, cultural, and racial difference. The arguments on borders and importance in the society are derived from the concept explained by Parag Khanna on TED Talk on issues related to having open borders. The aspect of limits was used in dividing people in terms of regional control through political differences and may not be relevant in the modern era. Technological advancements and infrastructural development across the globe have rendered the world a small village where business, communication, travels are conducted efficiently. Political ideologies can be established with people from different parts of the world. The borders might be necessary to dictate an individual's nationality, but should not be applied in denying individuals the opportunities required to work, study, and conduct business transactions.

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The argument on having open borders establishes that it should not interfere with the connectivity. Nonetheless, it should be described through sovereignty. The borders are used to establish the organizing principles of the human species. According to Khanna, the world is becoming more urbanized and organized, which would make it impossible to plan and control the future (56). It is unnecessary to have borders based on growth and development. For instance, the cities are set based on the opportunities and the technological advancement that they have. The individuals in the developed regions would have the means to adapt to the infrastructural changes in any part of the world (Basedow 82). An example would be a region such as China, which has megacities that have a population of 10 million people, and gives each one of them opportunities. However, there are small cities across the region that would offer individuals the same opportunities and affect their function in society in the same manner.

Having open borders, and creating opportunities for people from all over the globe makes it possible for better interaction and development of individuals and the region at large. The closed borders make the world to have global apartheid, whereby the wealthy would have privileges at the expense of the impoverished community. The poorest people would lack the opportunities to travel across the globe as the resources and opportunities would be restricted, and the wealthy would be the ones to access them (Khanna 60). The immigration rules that have been set in modern society have been set to make the individuals in power to restrain the people they deem unwanted. For instance, the setting of the Alien Act in Britain, which was established in 1905, was to prevent undesirable immigrants from accessing the area.

The setting of the borders has increased the number of violent cases amongst the immigrants, while the migration continues. For instance, as people try to find their way into another country, many do not make it and die on the road. Some even lose contact wit their family members during their quest to gain entry to the country. Many cases have been reported in the Mediterranean where immigrants have been killed trying to find their way into Europe(Basedow80). The border security across Europe has been intensified instead of having ways that can enable safe passage for the immigrants. The security ensures that only the legal persons are allowed to use the border freely.

The blame on immigrants causing low wages has led to racial division and hatred towards the immigrant workers. The team has also been made not to contribute to society as they are not given essential services compared to the nationals(Khanna62). The closing of the borders has made the immigrants work in the shadow economy whereby they would end up working for wages that are below the required rates. The labor standards have also been lowered as the skilled workers are locked out of the country.

On the contrary, the use of borders is an indication of governance within a region. The usefulness of closed borders is based on setting rules and determining the regulations that would govern a particular area. The government would use its borders to propagate its policies whereby they would acknowledge what is necessary for their people and the issues they deem not worthy in society (Basedow 20). At the same time, closing the borders makes the government feel responsible for the people within its region as they can offer assistance whenever there is need. The government would have all the powers and privileges to exercise its powers in terms of protection and regulation as they are within its reach. Open borders make it impossible to govern and establish assistance as the people would be rendered not to be part of any government or state.

Conclusion

Overall, the setting of borders divides humanity rather than uniting them. Borders make one realize that the person from the other region is different. Further, society has been made to believe that the people from a separate area would have privileges of getting better opportunities compared to the nationals. Therefore, it is to have closed borders across different regions as they cause more harm than good to the community.

Works Cited

Basedow, Jurgen. The Law of Open Societies: Private Ordering and Public Regulation in the Conflict of Laws. Leiden, Netherlands: Brill Nijhoff, 2015.

Films for the Humanities & Sciences (Firm), and Films Media Group. TEDTalks: Parag Khanna - Mapping the Future of Countries. 2009.

Khanna, Parag. Connectography: Mapping the Global Network Revolution. 2017.