Borders Question

Should all human beings have the right to travel and seek work wherever they like, irrespective of national borders and sovereignty? For a moment, think of this as a purely ethical question, without regard to practical considerations; ask not if this is possible or practicable, but only if it is right or wrong. Furthermore, this is not to ask if terrorists should be allowed to practice their trade, or criminals be permitted to escape justice, but only if ordinary people should be allowed to seek a better life anywhere on the planet we were all born to. This is a radical idea, with far-reaching economic, environmental, and cultural implications. It speaks to the fundamental relationship between "us" and "them", and challenges the very foundation of international law on Earth. It is terrifying to most citizens of wealthy countries. What kind of a world would allow a child from a remote village in the Congo to attend a public school in Paris, a Guatemalan peasant to wash dishes in Iowa, or a penniless Vietnamese grandmother to receive cancer treatment in Vancouver? A terrible world, many would say; a world where the people of the West no longer have the unquestioned economic supremacy they have enjoyed in recent history. Perhaps it is true that we must take care of our own first. But who exactly is "our own"? Is a Sudanese child any less "my people" than a Canadian auto worker? You will not find the answer here, only more questions. But perhaps you will find the desire to think the unthinkable, speak the unspeakable, and face one of the greatest under-discussed problems of our time with eyes wide open, without fear, and without shame.

May, 2009
Sarah Estacaille, Ivan Gayton

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• immigration
• immigrants
• free migration
• migration
• open borders
• refugees
• human rights
• borders
• sovereignty
• globalization
• poverty
• mobility
• labor mobility

[kulza23]

Freedom of association is a fundamental human right. People should be free to work for willing employers, rent from willing landlords, and trade with willing merchants. Insofar as immigration restrictions prevent people from doing this, they are a crime against humanity.

[coelho009]

This clip offers a very rare glimpse of migrants' opinions of barriers to migration. This is extremely powerful because it forces me to ask if I would feel any differently if I happened to be born where they were born.

[GraffitiHuntress]

The way you juxtapose such intensely differeing views is powerful. A must watch and a must think about for all of us!