Straw Men
The convenience of borders is incredible to me. No, not in real life. Immigration is a nightmare almost universally (yes, Europe, I know this is all very funny).
I meant rhetorically, borders provide an extremely useful tool to nationalists. Almost nothing in our current world is independent. Definitely nothing big or important. Borders are for many intents and purposes entirely meaningless and just lines written on paper.
The internet means that I can communicate this thought to you regardless of where we literally sit. The global supply chain means that we are not independent from other countries. It's a little difficult to act like you're completely separate when the rice, fruit, vegetables, fish or beef sitting on your table comes from elsewhere. So borders are whatever.
But a border does let you say, see we over here are the good guys, and everyone outside this little line here, well, they're the baddies. It's interesting how little you need to say to prove that after pointing this line out. I mean obviously we over here are good, that's why the line was drawn. Plus they speak a language I don't understand over there (I can hear you giggling, Europe, leave me alone please).
I don't think people would respond the same way if someone said "I am the greatest person on Earth and have the greatest ideas" as they do when someone says "This is the greatest country on Earth with the greatest principles".
And yet really, aren't these people just saying the same thing?
When we see corruption on the other side of a border, we can easily say see how uncivilized they are. They still have corruption, they're so dirty. We conveniently ignore that the company we bought our dinner from is the one paying them.
They still don't have worker protection laws. But we complain if the price of our goods goes up.
They're cutting down their forests or burning them. Ignoring that they're planting the soy we eat or the oil palm for our shampoo and perfume or grass to feed our beef.
It's so convenient how they can say,
"Look at these people, they have no relation to us."
"They're coming to take advantage."
"Coming to wipe us out."
Pointing at scarecrows standing in a field...
A field of people, struggling and exploited, trying to leave places with polluted groundwater and hazy air, The destroyed environment and illness-ridden wastelands that their homes have become.