25A010 Borders by Jim Davies, 3/11/2025

They are a great nuisance, and mark the limits agreed between governments of adjacent territories or "tax farms." To cross one, it's necessary either to slip past the armed guards or to submit papers to them that prove one has their employer's permit. The latter is safer, but sacrifices privacy and sometimes money.

They are also useless. If this was not so, excuses would have long ago been "discovered" to erect checkpoint borders between New Hampshire, Maine and Masssachussets, as well as between New Hampshire and Québec; and after the evaporation of governments, none will exist. Everyone will be free to travel and offer his goods or money or labor in any society.

There will be an intermediate period, during which one society has thrown off the shackles of being ruled, but not others. Suppose that pioneer is America; probably to be known thenceforth as the Former USA. Then, Canadians, Mexicans and anyone else will be able to enter the FUSA freely, but those crossing the other way will hear that ever-ominous "Your papers, please!"

Let's consider the former first. They will probably know already, but in case not will be reminded that in FUSA all property is privately owned and so they should not trespass but go only where invited. There will be plenty of welcome signs, for example by hotel and road owners, car renters and bus operators. As tourists they will enjoy the scenery, as business people they will ply their trade, or as job seekers they will look for Help Wanted ads and apply by naming the skills (including that of fluency in English) they wish to sell.

Since there will no longer be any minimum wage or work regulations, and for sure no unemployment or other welfare, they will receive only what those skills are worth on the labor market. If it's too little for them, they'll go back home - or not come in the first place.

Thus, the alleged "immigration crisis" will vanish. If there is a demand for help foreigners may come in response, but if not (meaning that any offered pay is too low) they won't.

This is close to what prevailed at the ports of America before about 1900. There were great waves of immigration, but no newcomer expected anything more than an opportunity to make his fortune. The result was the wealthiest society humans have ever known.

Now take the latter case: FUSA residents wishing to travel abroad, and needing passports and visas. Will we go? Who will issue a passport?

Obviously, if the destination government demands passports and the US one has expired, it's a no-go. The foreign country that would have benefited from our visit will have to manage without. Such visits would almost never be to live in one permanently (who ever would want to submit to a government, after having tasted freedom?) so they would be for tourism or business. Since both of those bring money (the real stuff; gold, not paper) prohibitions on FUSA visitors are very unlikely to last long.

In addition, the government of the country visited will be in a flat panic about how to hang on to power, when its own residents - the sole producers in its tax farm - have seen the vast increase in FUSA living standards and are actively getting rid of their own rulers. So I think that rather swiftly, visitors without a passport will be asked to show only a copy of their flight ticket from FUSA.

After this intermediate period while foreign governments are busy collapsing, travel across former borders will be as simple as moving from North to South Dakota. And since borders aren't needed among US States, or between England and Wales or Scotland, why would they be needed among former states of the world?

People who run businesses well are being forced to run businesses poorly by people who can't run businesses at all.

- Michael Malice during this interview.