The arbitrariness of boundaries

I flew to Nashville today and was assigned a window seat. I prefer aisle seats, but windows are better than middles.

Looking out the window over some smallish southwestern city, I was struck by a thought that had occurred to me a couple of years ago, when I was also by a window seat. We had just taken off from San Diego, and I was looking down at the U.S./Mexico border. There was no natural geographical divide. There was just a fence between two countries in the middle of a field. Why there? Why not further North, or further South? Why was there a fence there at all?

Many boundaries are arbitrary. Someone, somewhere made a decision that a boundary needs to be put into place, and that place should be here. Sometimes the boundaries are between countries. Sometimes between states. Sometimes the boundaries are more mental than physical. I believe this, you believe that. I'm right, so you must be wrong.

Sometimes the boundaries are between people of the same race and same religion, but they exist due to differing opinions and positions. Again, I'm right, so you must be wrong.

Most every war ever fought was fought over boundaries. Sometimes physical. Sometimes mental. By mental, I mean all aspects: religious, political, idealogical. Some wars are fought not between countries, but between family and among friends.

Personally, I think that anything anyone can do to eliminate boundaries is a good thing. When I went to Dubai last year (two years ago now?), guess what, they're people too. The less time that we spend trying to defend our rightness, the more time that we have available to eliminate boundaries.

On an individual, personal, visceral level - what can you do to eliminate boundaries?