What would happen if the whole world proclaimed "no borders" tomorrow?

Question

Give me your scenario - it can be one day, one year or decades time-frame. You can look at it from the US, Guam, the whole world or any other perspective.

Don't assume that all the institutions will disappear overnight - all that is disappearing is the limitation on human migration/travel. To some of you this might cause a collapse of some institutions, but that depends on your scenario...anyway, I am looking forward to people's comments.

Ok, good, more replies in first hour than I expected - however, I have one demand to make - please give some logical explanation for whatever scenario you chose.

Her is a summary of what people suggested so far:

CONS
- chaos / anarchy
- need for ammo
- unemployment
- border patrol out of jobs
- failure of education / health system
- no upward mobility
- no middle class (only very rich & poor)
- increase in tax spending (in US?)
- some countries will be deserted
- no (police?) protection of individuals
- poverty

PROS
- tax savings
- no homeless
- one world government
- better usage of world's resources
- no fight for land

NEUTRAL or UNDEFINED
- nothing will happen
- increase in drinking
- increase in amount of sex
- no state borders / still nation borders

Answer 1

watch out--you need to read this

Answer 2

This is very good material for a science fiction novel.

All I'll say now, is just look at a city like Chicago. Some of us don't feel safe crossing other neighbourhoods.

Do you think "borders" will ever really disappear? Even the walls around Gaza and the West Bank don't keep all Palestinians from going to work or waging war.

Answer 3

The plausibility of that scenero is next to nil even decades from now..especially with terrorism, drug traffic, different government alignments etc.


Perhaps a milenia from now or some global catasprophy that wiped out the population to say 1% that would render the borders mute. If that occured then I think people would just be concearned with basic survival and rebuilding not traveling across borders.

Answer 4

our education and health services would be overrun by neighbors to the south where poor are given no subsidized education or health care, and the services would fail. That would destroy upward mobility for our own children and the middle class would become poor due to the drain on the tax base by the massively increased poor underclass.

We would then be a thin rich upper class and a huge mass of uneducated people, much like our neighbors to the south are, currently.

Answer 5

Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace...
-John Lennon

If there were no borders there would be no need to guard them and no need for the military in any form other than basic policing.

The billions of tax dollars per year that would normally be spent on the military could be used to ensure that each and every person has basic quality of life, with food, shelter and education. No one would ever need to starve to death or be homeless again. And it could happen without the raising of income taxes one iota.

A one world government -- a wonderful concept.

Answer 6

Every Criminal we have and the new added will take advantage and so many innocence from both side will be killed or attack in some way--protection will be gone. People will go backward to self protection. Lawlessness will be a big issue with many.
Since the beginning of time this has happened. Why would this be different?

Answer 7

i think people would be able to spread out more and make better use of the world's resources. the usa might get more crowded for a time but as econmic conditions people would migrate to better climates and job opportunities in other places i think it might stop war as if no boundaries or borders not a need to fight for land and if people did not like the local gov they would be able to leave

Answer 8

Would be fine by me. I have plenty of ammo and everyone in my family can shoot really well.

What your aiming at is a really nice utopian type of Star Trek thought. But you may not be quite aware of how good YOU have it while many in other countries have it VERY BADLY, and would just love to take what you have. And I mean TAKE IT from you. Whether you survive the experience or not matters not to them.

Answer 9

First, there would be chaos, but eventually, most people would end up the same. The controllers would control, the rest of us would be controlled. Like when you dump all the beehives, the drones work, and the queens rule, it just becomes another beehive.

Answer 10

Unemployment would rise. Too many people, not enough jobs. People working the borders would be out of jobs, border partol would be gone, no one would be needed to check passports.

Answer 11

Try leaving the door to your home open, same thing would happen, just in a bigger scale.

I think a few countries would become deserted.