Mr Obama: Tear down that wall! (Open the borders and share the chaos)

The European Union nations have shared open borders for about 20 years – that's 26 countries and 500 million people representing about 25% of global GDP. More recently, the Union of South American Nations representing 12 South American countries, have opened their borders to free movement of citizens of their member states. The United Kingdom and Ireland have allowed their citizens unrestricted movement between their countries for a long time, as do India and Nepal.

In 1973, Australia opened its border for the first time since federation in an agreement with New Zealand, the Trans-Tasman Arrangement.

The free movement of people becomes an issue as countries integrate their economies regionally and globally. 'Free trade' agreements could – and should – but don't – provide a framework for the gradual development of open borders and the rights of workers to move as freely as capital, goods and services. The North American Free Trade Agreement between Canada, USA and Mexico imposes restrictions on the right of workers to move freely between the member states. You'd think the trade unions would be protesting about this but they tend to be led by people who do not believe in Marx's great slogan 'The workers have no country' and who instead actually believe there is such a thing as a 'foreign worker'.

Marx nailed the way things were developing in The Communist Manifesto, in 1848:

"The need of a constantly expanding market for its products chases the bourgeoisie over the entire surface of the globe. It must nestle everywhere, settle everywhere, establish connexions everywhere. The bourgeoisie has through its exploitation of the world market given a cosmopolitan character to production and consumption in every country. To the great chagrin of Reactionists, it has drawn from under the feet of industry the national ground on which it stood… In place of the old local and national seclusion and self-sufficiency, we have intercourse in every direction, universal inter-dependence of nations. And as in material, so also in intellectual production… National one-sidedness and narrow-mindedness become more and more impossible… The bourgeoisie, by the rapid improvement of all instruments of production, by the immensely facilitated means of communication, draws all, even the most barbarian, nations into civilisation. The cheap prices of commodities are the heavy artillery with which it batters down all Chinese walls, with which it forces the barbarians' intensely obstinate hatred of foreigners to capitulate".

Nationalism and xenophobia are the main factors working against proper consideration of 'open borders' and recognition and acceptance of us all as having once been 'strangers'. The countervailing forces include classical liberals, such as those at the excellent Open Borders: The Case site, and internationalist leftists (of the kind who prefer 'red' to 'green' and are welcome at my blog, C21st Left).

Obama made the point in his speech that "mass deportations" are not "realistic" (or desirable). The reality is that immigration restriction itself is no longer realistic and becomes less realistic the more what's left of the world's national economies integrate into a global economy with advanced means of communications and travel.

Mr Obama: Bring down that wall!