Let’s get this out of the best way: Borders are BS.
They’re imaginary traces drawn via lifeless males in wigs and stored alive via other people in worry. They exist on maps however now not within the hearts of the developed.
And but, we worship them like holy commandments. We allow them to outline who will get get admission to to protection, love, wealth, healthcare, and freedom.
Let’s destroy the spell.
A without borders international isn’t only a utopian preferrred whispered via John Lennon and the Federation in Celebrity Trek—it’s a data-backed, spiritually aligned, economically sensible course for humanity.
And sure… It’s the other of what Trump is making an attempt to do to the arena.
I began reflecting in this publish as of late whilst at Singularity College in Silicon Valley, attending a dinner with fellow professionals and tackling an overly distinctive dinner desk dialog.
On our desk was once a dialog starter card that made the nerd in me remove darkness from:
What can industry leaders be informed from the unique Celebrity Trek collection?
My reaction to the query?
Let’s slowly dismantle borders. Little by little.
Let me provide an explanation for.
Why can we consider in borders?
Able for an entertaining journey on why we would possibly need to rethink how we tie our identities (and our psychological fashions of ways we perceive others) to those imaginary traces? Buckle up.
In my e book The Code of the Bizarre Thoughts, I take advantage of a time period known as brules (quick for bullsh*t laws) to explain pointless regulations and laws we people nonetheless grasp to in simplistic makes an attempt to make sense of a fancy international. The speculation of borders is among the largest brules in the market.
We concern about immigrants flooding into our civilized international locations and elevating crime charges.
We worry that refugees will leech off public finances and make allowance their unique however alien cultures to taint our pristine way of living.
We concern that our tactics will probably be changed via other people with a distinct pores and skin colour or who worship God in line with a distinct historic textual content.
In brief: we worry.
However is that this worry irrational?
Seems, in a find out about of ways a lot we actually perceive the arena—performed via Swedish social scientist Hans Rosling—we’re mainly clueless.
We now have what’s known as a unfavorable bias towards the arena. And those 3 details display simply how extensive the distance is between fact and belief.
So I would like you to do that quiz with me. Actual fast. Resolution those 3 questions:
- What share of the arena lives in poverty as of late?
- What share of the arena inhabitants now lives in a rustic rather then their nation of delivery?
- What’s the delivery price in line with girl out of doors the Western international?
Were given your solutions down? K, now let’s take a look at your rating.
3 ideals that gas the concern of “a without borders international”
1. The parable of worldwide poverty
In a 2018 find out about asking 32,000 other people from 26 international locations whether or not international poverty had larger or diminished over the prior twenty years, handiest 2% were given it appropriate.
The reality? World poverty dropped from 40% in 1980 to underneath 9% as of late.
We’re residing in the course of the biggest poverty relief in human historical past—and rarely somebody is aware of.
I used to be sitting in an Uber in Tallinn only some months in the past when the driving force requested, “You’re of Indian starting place, right kind?”
I mentioned, “Sure.”
He then proceeded to mention, “Indian. Such pleasant other people. Pity your nation is so deficient. Folks endure such a lot. Ah, the poverty. Very dangerous. Very dangerous.”
What my Ecu Uber driving force failed to grasp was once this:
Poverty charges in India have fallen so sharply that as of late, handiest 2% of Indian families live to tell the tale underneath $2/day—the worldwide measure for excessive poverty.
Poverty is falling globally. But when Westerners assume the arena is swarming with ravenous, deficient, decrepit souls in the hunt for higher probabilities… you’re going to close your borders tight.
2. The parable of migration
In line with Rosling’s records in Factfulness, handiest 3.4% of the worldwide inhabitants lives out of doors the rustic they have been born in.
That implies 96.6% of humanity remains put. The general public need to keep house—they only need the chance to thrive whilst doing so.
Opposite to fashionable trust, thousands and thousands of other people aren’t looking to sneak into your wealthy nation. They’re busy making lifestyles higher and higher in their very own.
India, China, the Heart East —all are experiencing super bursts in high quality of lifestyles and GDP. And less and less of them care in regards to the “American Dream”.
3. The parable of “child machines”
It’s commonplace within the West to suppose that individuals in India and the Muslim international have truckloads of youngsters. And for those who let “the ones other people” into your nation—oh no! Get ready to be changed.
Seems that is a long way from true.
These days, the worldwide moderate fertility price is two.1—precisely at substitute degree.
And shockingly, this comprises international locations like Pakistan, Nigeria, and Bangladesh.
Let me repeat that: Westerners and non-Westerners are each slightly having youngsters… at substitute degree.
The exception? 9% nonetheless residing in excessive poverty. When your kid has a top probability of demise earlier than age 5, you procreate extra.
So why are Westerners so improper?
Easy: right-wing politics in the United States and Europe thrive on worry.
Essentially the most helpful worry? The concern of the different.
Western media is designed to make its electorate anxious, insular, and… let’s be fair—proudly ignorant.
Let’s rewind…
The American border disaster was once manufactured
Pay attention me out for a second…
The U.S.-Mexico border is among the maximum emotionally charged political problems in The united states as of late. However what if the “disaster” dominating headlines was once, in truth, an issue created via the very individuals who declare to be fixing it?
Again within the Nineteen Eighties, The united states didn’t have a border wall—and didn’t want one.
Mexicans would move over, paintings as day laborers, after which go back house.
There was once even a time period for it: rotating door migration.
All the way through the 1980 Republican presidential number one debate in Houston, Texas, on April 23, 1980, applicants Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush engaged in an incredibly humane alternate about immigration—specifically relating to undocumented immigrants. Each emphasised compassion and practicality.
George H.W. Bush mentioned:
“Those are just right other people, robust other people. A part of my circle of relatives is Mexican.”
Ronald Reagan added:
“Moderately than speaking about striking up a fence, why don’t we determine some popularity of our mutual issues, make it imaginable for them to come back right here legally with a piece allow?”
Consider that. Reagan, patron saint of recent conservatism, advocated for migrant employees—now not demonizing them.
He didn’t see immigrants as threats. He noticed them as neighbors.
He believed in round migration—that employees may come to the U.S. briefly, give a contribution, and go back house with out being criminalized. No partitions. No mass deportations. Simply criminal, respectful cooperation.
However one thing modified.
What modified? The politics of “keep watch over”
Via the mid-Nineteen Eighties, immigration had transform a political lightning rod. The economic system was once underneath pressure. Unemployment was once up. And the media narrative began transferring from “hardworking migrants” to “unlawful invaders.”
Even supposing Reagan held private compassion, he confronted rising power from inside of his personal birthday party to “repair keep watch over.”
So in 1986, Reagan signed the Immigration Reform and Keep an eye on Act (IRCA)—a sweeping regulation that did two issues:
- Legalized about 3 million undocumented immigrants already within the U.S.
- Criminalized hiring undocumented employees and larger border enforcement.
Reagan known as it a “humanitarian” measure. And in some ways, it was once.
However it got here with a value.
The unintentional result: From round to everlasting migration
Prior to IRCA, Mexican employees would come seasonally—they’d paintings for months, then go back to Mexico. It was once a rotating door.
However after IRCA’s enforcement kicked in—particularly employer sanctions and larger militarization of the border—crossing turned into riskier, more expensive, and way more bad.
So what came about?
Migrants stopped going again. They introduced their households and settled completely.
The very enforcement supposed to “keep watch over” immigration in fact cemented it.
Sociologist Douglas Massey put it perfect:
“We reworked a round waft of male employees right into a settled inhabitants of households.”
So Reagan’s legacy is sophisticated.
He sought after openness and dignity. However in looking to appease each side, he set in movement the very disaster the precise wing would later weaponize.
Speedy ahead 30 years.
The GOP has long gone from Reagan’s “Let’s paintings at the side of our neighbors” to Trump’s “Construct the wall.”
From compassion… to cruelty.
From coverage… to panic.
From paintings allows… to cages.
Reagan wasn’t easiest. However he by no means sought after a wall. He didn’t dream of bans and raids. He believed immigrants made The united states more potent.
What modified?
Concern gained.
Speedy ahead to as of late:
Proper-wing politicians have mastered this fear-based playbook.
Input Trump. Input JD Vance. Input price lists, bans, partitions, and panic.
All constructed on helpful myths.
The true stats: Unlawful immigrants aren’t the issue
Opposite to marketing campaign soundbites:
- Unlawful immigrants don’t dedicate extra crime.
- They’re now not inflicting rape waves.
- And maximum of the ones horror tales? Fabricated. Recycled political fiction.
Now, right here’s a dose of fact:
Each and every 12 months, undocumented immigrants within the U.S. give a contribution over $10,000 in taxes in line with family, in line with the Institute on Taxation and Financial Coverage. That’s greater than some electorate pay—they usually do it whilst being ineligible for many public advantages.
They pay source of revenue taxes, belongings taxes (via hire), gross sales taxes, and Social Safety—even if they’ll most likely by no means see a dime of it in go back.
So once more—who’s truly freeloading?
American citizens are just right, type other people. They get this. Even many that voted for Trump—when offered with the realities undocumented households face—reply with empathy. In reality, when requested about what will have to occur to undocumented immigrants already within the U.S., 70% of American citizens mentioned they most popular a pathway to citizenship over deportation. However at political motion rallies? We see the darkish facet. (Some politicians deliver out the worst in us.)
We’ve constructed a mythos across the “drain at the device” when, in truth, they’re serving to stay the device afloat—from farming to meals provider, from childcare to development.
And let’s be fair: for those who reside within the U.S. and experience inexpensive strawberries in iciness, a blank lodge room, or a well-maintained lawn, you’re already profiting from undocumented exertions.
The concern gadget reloaded: Trump’s price lists and international poverty
And now, worry takes any other shape: financial struggle dressed up as patriotism.
Trump’s price lists weren’t a technique. They have been a tantrum—one who tanked the inventory marketplace, raised client costs, disrupted international provide chains, and risked plunging the arena into disconnection and poverty.
Why?
As a result of American citizens fell for it. (Once more. Sigh.)
Those weren’t sensible, tactical strikes to offer protection to American jobs. They have been emotionally charged, fear-fueled maneuvers designed to punish an imaginary enemy known as “everybody else.”
The outcome? Price lists that value the common U.S. family $400–$500 a 12 months in added bills. Billions in misplaced industry. And a breakdown in consider with international buying and selling companions.
Borders—which have been being gently dissolved via international industry and virtual collaboration—are rearing their unpleasant heads once more.
And it’s hurting everybody.
Which brings us to the trillion-dollar query—the one who may redefine the way forward for our species if we’re courageous sufficient to respond to it truthfully…
What occurs if we erase borders?
In line with economist Michael Clemens, international GDP may double.
That’s now not a typo. Double.
As a result of when individuals are unfastened to transport to the place their skills are maximum wanted, productiveness soars. Innovation spreads. Alternative multiplies.
And a few economists take it even additional: some fashions estimate international GDP may develop via as much as 147% if we opened borders international.
That’s now not only a larger pie. That’s an entire new international bakery franchise.
Borders entice doable.
They lock good minds and powerful arms in environments the place their contributions are stunted.
But if we free up that motion—
We don’t simply assist migrants. We elevate everybody.
It’s the nearest factor humanity has to a cheat code for prosperity.
So, what’s preventing us?
Concern. Once more. However we’ve already noticed what worry prices.
Now consider what braveness may acquire.
Celebrity Trek: The federation folks
In Celebrity Trek canon, Earth unifies within the 12 months 2150—simply 125 years from now. And shortly after, it joins the United Federation of Planets.
Not more international locations. Not more borders. Only one species, one project: to boldly pass the place nobody has long gone earlier than.
The Federation isn’t simply science fiction.
It’s a map. A metaphor. A style.
On the middle of this galactic alliance lies a Vulcan philosophy: IDIC—Countless Range in Countless Combos.
The speculation? That each tradition, each viewpoint, and each being—regardless of how odd or other—provides richness to the entire.
That variety isn’t one thing to tolerate. It’s one thing to rejoice.
That’s now not simply myth—it’s the long run we’re able to growing.
In some way, the Starship Undertaking wasn’t only a send. It was once Earth, developed. A planetary team navigating the galaxy with knowledge, inclusion, and interest as their compass.
And possibly—simply possibly—it’s a glimpse of who we’re supposed to transform.
No longer sooner or later. However quickly.
For the reason that Federation already exists in items: in our shared values, our intercontinental friendships, and the billions folks who already see ourselves now not simply as electorate of countries however as people of Earth.
And it’s already beginning to occur.
Schengen: The true-world federation
Need evidence that without borders residing isn’t simply sci-fi? Take a look at the Schengen Zone in Europe.
Each and every unmarried day, 3.5 million other people move inner EU borders with out appearing a passport. No barbed twine. No interrogations. No identification theater.
I as soon as road-tripped with my youngsters from Belgium to the Netherlands to Luxembourg to Germany to France—all within the span of 8 days via automotive. No longer a unmarried checkpoint. No longer a unmarried customs agent. Even my Ecu SIM card labored seamlessly throughout international locations. No longer even a roaming rate to bother me.
That is what occurs when international locations collaborate as an alternative of compete.
Now distinction that with post-Brexit Britain:
- British households now face lengthy traces at EU airports.
- They want visas to paintings in a foreign country.
- Their economic system? Shrinking.
UK families are actually shedding £1,300 a 12 months in source of revenue because of lowered industry and funding.
If the common Brit who voted for Brexit had identified their vacation in Spain would include longer queues and a lighter pockets, would they have got nonetheless voted for it?
Most likely now not.
All of the factor was once constructed on a lie.
A lie stoked via—sure, once more—right-wing politicians who used the concern of “others” to reap votes.
And now, it’s the on a regular basis other people paying the fee.
Dubai: A case for openness
If there’s a real-world prototype of Celebrity Trek’s United Federation of Planets, it’s Dubai.
The Emiratis make up handiest about 8% of the inhabitants. The remaining? A swirling dance of people from each continent—running, co-creating, and construction a long term in combination.
Crime? Not up to maximum primary Western towns.
Cultural erosion? Nope. Emirati identification isn’t simply intact—it’s celebrated, revered, and globally influential.
Economic system? Completely booming.
Dubai persistently ranks a few of the best 10 most secure towns on the planet, beating out towns like London, Paris, and New York. Such a lot for “variety brings threat.”
Whilst a lot of Europe is ageing, shrinking, and clenching its borders like a scared fist, the UAE opened its doorways—and opened its long term.
This isn’t an anomaly. It’s a blueprint.
I’ve made Dubai my house, and an increasing number of of my pals, co-workers, and lots of Mindvalley authors are actually shifting there. Openness merely works!
Darwin was once appropriate: Evolve or die
In 1872, Charles Darwin wrote one of the vital prescient paragraphs I’ve ever learn in any e book. In The Descent of Guy, he wrote:
“As guy advances in civilisation, and small tribes are united into higher communities, the most straightforward explanation why would inform every person who he ought to increase his social instincts and sympathies to all of the individuals of the similar country… As soon as this level is reached, there may be handiest a synthetic barrier to stop his sympathies extending to the boys of all international locations and races.”
Darwin didn’t simply expect evolution.
He predicted the Ecu Union.
He didn’t simply see the place we got here from.
He noticed our long term.
He noticed that empathy expands with civilization.
That synthetic boundaries—like borders—block our maximum developed intuition: sympathy.
And what did the British other people do with that legacy?
They voted for Brexit.
Sure, Charles Darwin—voted one of the most biggest Britons of all time—was once spiritually slapped within the face via a country that allow worry rewrite its long term.
As Professor Scott Galloway put it:
“Brexit is the best act of nationwide self-sabotage since The united states invaded Iraq.”
Facet notice: Trump’s price lists would possibly turn out to be an excellent larger—and dumber—act of self-sabotage.
Why I wrote this (and why I elevate 5 residencies)
As an entrepreneur who’s created jobs throughout 4 continents, let me provide you with a real-world instance of ways fear-driven forms performs out:
- It took me two days to get residency within the UAE.
- It took me 419 pages of documentation and months to get the similar in the US.
- It’s taken me just about a 12 months (and counting) to safe residency in London, in order that I will be able to be provide for my daughter, who’s enrolling in class there.
This isn’t in regards to the immigration “procedure.” That is about paranoia disguised as coverage.
Those out of date techniques have been designed for a global that not exists—a global run on worry, now not details.
I’ve lived on a couple of continents. I’ve created jobs in international locations that gained’t give me citizenship. I’ve contributed thousands and thousands to economies the place I nonetheless get handled like an interloper.
And I do know I’m now not on my own. That is the day-to-day fact for thousands and thousands of other people like me: international electorate trapped via Twentieth-century forms.
This isn’t about procedure—it’s about paranoia.
Those bureaucracies are relics of a global run via worry, now not details.
The Earth flag I fly
That’s why the one flag I’ll ever actually fly is the Earth Flag.
Designed via Swedish artist Oskar Pernefeldt, it options seven interlocking white rings on a deep blue background—symbolizing the team spirit of continents and all lifestyles on Earth.
It’s a fantastic thought price following. I merely don’t consider within the thought of nations anymore. I really like america, Estonia, Malaysia, the UAE – all of the international locations that I’ve known as house. However I make a choice to look myself as a citizen of Earth first.
And if this concept resonates, observe the Earth Flag on Instagram right here: www.instagram.com/flagofplanetearth
So… What now?
Let’s recap:
- Borders are fiction.
- Concern is the writer.
- And the long run belongs to those that can consider past the traces.
It’s time to:
- Forestall letting worry make a choice your leaders.
- Call for insurance policies rooted in details, now not fiction.
- Forestall balloting for somebody who says ‘price lists,’ ‘border wall,’ or ‘migrant invasion.’ They don’t have a imaginative and prescient. They have got a advertising plan.
- Make a selection Earth. Make a selection openness. Make a selection evolution.
For the reason that biggest wall we wish to tear down… is the only in our minds.
And at the different facet?
The following model of humanity.
One international. One other people. No borders.
Simplest horizons.
If you happen to consider in a long term without boundaries, talk up. Percentage this with your pals.
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Apply the Earth Flag. Go away a Remark. And assist construct the arena our kids should inherit.
