Border confusion

One of my earliest memories is of family trips across the border into Canada. The trip was really no big deal. The Peace Bridge was close by. In fact, zip down the road and look out over Lake Erie and I could see the bridge itself.

The trip was remarkable only because we had to stop at the bridge and tell the person in the booth our citizenship. And we weren't to mouth off, that was clear.

On school field trips, the border officer would walk through the bus and point at each of us, asking us where we were born. Again, no smart-aleck remarks. That was tough for me, but I managed.

As I got older and took more trips, the border stop became routine. My only challenge was not to say something I would regret, like, "Yeah, we're going to the strip clubs in Fort Erie. Got any one-dollar bills? The dancers don't like Canadian bills. The ink smears."

Then, in college, the border agent would ask the car to move over to the check point and the agent would ask me to get out of the car. I think with my long hair and scruffy appearance, the agents assumed I was smuggling drugs. At least they were nice enough to put the car back together and not have their drug-sniffing dogs pee on the tires.

Now, I don't even try the border crossings. I take the extra time to drive to New York by going through Ohio. Longer and more boring.

Who needs borders

So, my point here in light of George Bush's babble the other night: I don't get borders.

Going to Canada from Buffalo, or to the Canadian falls, was second nature. The border was an artificial barrier to the natural flow of humanity. This applies, I tend to believe, on the U.S. border with Mexico.

The idea of borders is outdated. The arbitrary lines drawn on a map hundreds of years ago, or forced upon a population through violence and coercion (how do think the U.S. got its Southwestern states?), are as outdated as people who fly the Stars and Bars and scream the South will rise again.

You see, the main thing that runs our world is capital (money, wealth). It knows no borders. Our jobs are linked to "foreign" soil. So, capital flows freely throughout the world, so why shouldn't labor (people)?

The idea of representation through centuries-old lines on a map are outdated. I can't tell the difference between people from Ohio and people from Michgan. And I can't tell the difference between people born in American and people born in Mexico. So why keep people from going where they want to go?

Yes. I'm saying erase national (and state) borders. People who wave the American flag and chant "U.S.A." are as outdated as people who fly the Stars and Bars and scream the South will rise again.

What is to be done

How will we govern ourselves?

Well, back in the Stone Ages of the early 1900s, an immigrant to America named Daniel DeLeon had an idea. What if we were represented in an All-Industrial Congress? We can be represented through our work (which is what we are all about, after all. See what happens to you when you get laid off and what your hometown does for you!) on a global basis. The distribution of money (what we do through taxes and governments now) would be through this body. No countries. No states. No counties. No cities. No townships.

And imagine there would be no wars (just like we have no wars between Michigan and Ohio) and we could go the strip clubs in Canada anytime we wanted without being stopped at a border checkpoint.

Thought: Wasn't this a John Lennon song?