TOW #5 - The Case for Getting Rid of Borders—Completely

The Case of Getting Rid of Borders-- Completely contains the radical idea that nations should do just that. It is a piece that leaves the reader almost speechless in both confusion in wonder, it is clear that Alex Tabarrok did his job. He is an economics professor at George Mason University, so the piece focused mainly on the economic implications of this issue. He argues that people do not have mobility, and thus they cannot easily move to a place where their lives would be better or they would be paid more. He says that "Immigration is the greatest anti-poverty program ever devised" (para 5), an interesting idea that shows creates a new perspective on the issue of poverty. Before that if the developed world added one percent immigrant to its population, they would have raised more money than all foreign aid programs combined. This usage of statistics completely proves his point that the mobility to move to better places would help solve the issue of poverty. He also looks at the idea from the perspective of the privileged and still found positives. They would have access to a cheap work force, and would be able to focus on their work more. "The immigrant who mows the lawn of the nuclear physicist indirectly helps to unlock the secrets of the universe" (para 6) gives an illustration of this idea, and again proves his point. In the end of the essay, he blames the whole idea of physical borders on nationalism, which makes logical sense. He says that nationalism views immigrants as "others" (para 7), and thus undeserving to enter the nation. It is intriguing that he defines nationalism this way, as he is thus blaming it for much of the worlds economic troubles. Though this essay baffled readers with a new perspective and proved his point economically, there are many things unaccounted for in this study, such as ethnic, political, linguistic, and social disagreement. Perhaps this essay could be the groundwork for other analyses to be written on, and the world could be changed forever.