Aren't borders just ridiculous. On the ground they are invisible lines that establish whether you are legal or illegal, a citizen or a tourist, a worker or an immigrant. Stand either side of a border and you are likely to feel very little difference. Yet the people speak differently, drive on the wrong side of the road and probably live an hour ahead. Borders are political conceptions that have started wars and witnessed ethnic cleansing. They decide whether your farm is subsidised to the back teeth or a peasant way of life.

At the end of the day, they make us feel protected from whatever or whoever lives nextdoor. Yet there is normally very little reason why we should respect them. What if across the border the bread is cheaper, people are richer and there are jobs?

Where walls have been built, people just climb over, knock through or crawl under them. And they're often shot for doing it. Where there is water, people pay for a seat in a boat, get a rubber dinghie or swim. And they often die for trying.

If the planet got up one morning and just ignored the borders, the politicians would go nuts. The borders secure their place in power. But there's nothing they could do about it. Fences or walls or guards or dogs do not stop people moving across borders. Nor do they stop cows.

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