NO BORDERS, NO NATIONS: WE BELONG TO PLANET EARTH RATHER THAN A COUNTRY

Centuries ago, migration was a natural course of life. People moved from one place to another, driven by natural calamities, local violence, community upheavals, or simply the pursuit of better pastures. But there were no borders to cross—only the freedom of unrestricted movement.

Today, the reasons for migration are the same: political upheaval, crime, violence based on cultural or religious ethnicity, conflicts, and persecution. But in our modern world, there are borders, and they have become an elaborate and costly operation. Razor-sharp electric fences, towering walls, ‘smart’ walls equipped with cameras, drones, sensors, radars, and 24/7 armed personnel are deployed to secure entry and exit points.

The global border security industry is now worth an estimated $65 billion and growing. The U.S. alone leads the pack in border-related spending, pouring billions into its southern boundary—not to fend off military invaders but desperate, unarmed migrants seeking refuge from violence and poverty. Since 2003, the U.S. government has spent over $333 billion on border and immigration enforcement. As of 2023, the Department of Homeland Security employs more than 60,000 personnel for border security and immigration enforcement.

Most of the world’s borders, especially those in South Asia, the Middle East, and the Americas, were drawn through war or colonial ambition. For instance, the United States and Mexico were once part of the same landmass, free of fences and checkpoints.

In earlier times, migration was less of a bureaucratic nightmare, even when national borders existed in vague forms. Those seeking refuge or new opportunities faced fewer barriers, in contrast to the harsh policies and inhuman treatment migrants often endure today. These rigid structures—legal and physical—dehumanize people trying to escape violence or seek a better life.

The scale of human migration today is staggering. According to the UN Refugee Agency, by the end of 2022, 108.4 million people had been forcibly displaced worldwide due to conflicts, violence, persecution, or human rights abuses. This includes refugees, asylum seekers, and internally displaced persons. And with climate change worsening natural disasters and resource scarcities, these numbers will likely grow.

“No one leaves home unless home is the mouth of a shark,” writes poet Warsan Shire. Borders are prisons, and many risk their lives to cross them, trudging through snowstorms or sailing dangerous seas in search of safety. But instead of embracing these people, many nations enforce rigid borders that trap them in camps, poverty, and conflict.

Beyond refugees, millions of others want to move for better economic opportunities, family reunification, or a fresh start. In an interconnected world, where people are brought closer through technology and travel, the question arises: Do we still need rigid borders and nation-states? While preserving culture and tradition, these structures have also divided us as one human race for centuries.

Can we imagine a future without borders, where people move freely across the planet without passports or visas? A world where they don’t have to risk their lives scaling walls or digging tunnels in pursuit of sanctuary?

With 7.97 billion people inhabiting the Earth as of 2022 and the number ever-growing, our planetary citizenship becomes more apparent when viewed from space, as astronaut Rusty Schweickart noted in 1969. “We are part of everyone and everything,” he said. We belong to the Earth, not just the arbitrary lines drawn across it.

While borders have historically preserved culture and fostered multicultural societies, they’ve erased many cultural identities and created conflicts. The push for a borderless world is gaining momentum in today’s digital age. Visionaries like Balaji Srinivasan, former CTO of Coinbase, advocate for creating new nations that transcend traditional concepts of citizenship. In his book How to Start a New Country, Srinivasan outlines how blockchain and the internet could help birth digital nations that redefine governance and belonging.

“It’s the latest in a flurry of utopian visions,” writes The Conversation, where digital nomads and crypto believers argue that nation-states are obsolete relics of 19th-century thinking. Some even compare national citizenship to a ‘subscription’ that is nearly impossible to cancel.

From digital nations to physical ones, the concept of borders could rapidly fade as technology redefines how we live. Though a world without countries may seem chaotic or utopian, it could lead to a war-free, unified global village where refugees and migrants find welcome, not walls.

No borders, no nations. One human race under one flag from Earth to the moon and beyond.

— By Promod Puri