"Countries" - Why they do not exist, and why they shouldn't.

@Example1013 said:

@Yagami: You are a complete and total idiot.

@jaya6708 said:

This is actually something that I think about often, and your point about visiting Denmark for only thirty days due to where you were born is the point that resonates the most with me.

But the point is that for all the crap that comes along with it, the world needs competing idealologies, cultures, differing political perspectives etc for the same reason governments protect the standard of competition within the business world. Consolidated power is never a good thing, and whether its within a country or between them, there will always be fighting.

while it sucks, this is the way it needs to be. its a shame we cant all get along

Yeah, I totally understand where you're coming from. It truley is a fucking shame that we just can't get along.

*sigh* You're young. I remember when I first started smoking weed too..

How can you possibly try to speculate on how humans should/will behave in the future, when you refuse to look at the fact. Your ideas are not new in any way, and history has proven them to be wrong over and over again.

Look, it is obvious that you are very young. It's ok. Frankly, I had some pretty moronic idealised ideas when I was younger too. I would recommend reading up on some history as well as some economics (and stay the heck away from the Zeitgeist movies!). It would do you good. You seem interested enough, and I think you will find that plenty of people smarter than both you and me have had some interesting ideas on the subject.

I'm glad people have beaten me to the punch by saying how ridiculous this is.

You, most likely in your late teens/early twenties, a man on a message board, alone have discovered the way to solve all of the worlds problems. None of the countless billions of humans over the past 2000 years have ever thought of doing this, because they are all stupid and you alone in all of history have realised how to change the very foundation of our world.

If it worked, people would have done it by now. While it's cool to be misanthropic and all, humans are not stupid.

all you have to do to get rid of your country is submit yourself to my rule.

maybe i'll be better, maybe not.

You can combine the countries all you want, but could you combine the nations? The traditions, worldviews, and thought process of the people are what separates them, not borders.

If Japan "sunk" then surely there would be very few Japanese people left anyway.

If you want to attempt to change the fundamentally held beliefs of billions of people, then yeh, go ahead. 

@Yagami said:

If a fight is needed, use the intellect.

I guess you're pretty much fucked, then.

Countries are organisational units. They exist to cater to the individual needs of their citizens and manage the resources in their local geography. Generally when things get very large they also become difficult to manage. Your argument is a little like saying "why do we have so many schools in each city? Surely if each city just had one massive school everybody would be much better educated!"

@babblinmule said:

@Commisar123 said:

I'm a history major, and that shit is fucked up, and that's all I'm going to say about this I withdraw from this stupid debate

I'm also a history major and yeah.... 'fucked up' is the correct response to this. Don't even know where to begin with it, and I know it'll just make me angry, so I'm backing out too.

Man come on. The people most qualified to offer something interesting or worthwhile to this awful thread just abandon it? Fuck.

@UltorOscariot said:

I think about things for more than 5 minutes, uninhibited by drugs, and that's fucked up. One world government? Really? Because nothing bad ever happens when power and money consolidate...

Yes, please put all the power in one place. That trustwothy, responsible, unselfish person/group........something seems wrong with my thought process, however I can't seem to figure out what.

@babblinmule said:

@Commisar123 said:

I'm a history major, and that shit is fucked up, and that's all I'm going to say about this I withdraw from this stupid debate

I'm also a history major and yeah.... 'fucked up' is the correct response to this. Don't even know where to begin with it, and I know it'll just make me angry, so I'm backing out too.

That makes three of us. Fucked up is the perfect description.

Here's the thing, this is essentially the same debate as communism. You are totally right, and it would be great if things could work that way, and IF humans WERE perfect then we could probably pull that dream world off. Unfortunately, I think you are putting way to much faith in how far human conciseness has come; it just simply would not work right now, we are to corrupt.

Also earlier you mentioned "culture" being stupid or something, and the Middle East being a "shit-hole" This is where you make your own argument break down, you aren't even ready to accept other people for being different(and no matter what, people in different areas always will be). How do you think ALL humanity would act if all of a sudden we were under one government, or governed ourselves. It doesn't work, sorry dude. I honestly REALLY wish that it could work, but...get real.

@Vao said:

@Still_I_Cry said:

Sounds like it was concocted by the mind of a teenager :D who hasn't studied much history :(

That wasn't meant as an insult by the way, so please don't take it that way. I just meant that you should consult history. It tells you why your ideas would not, could not and won't ever be implemented.

History is fulled with stories of "great" men trying to unite other "misguided" countries under their beliefs thinking it would be for the greater good. The problem is the "misguided" countries have their own beliefs. Do you think Hitler thought of himself as an evil dictator, or rather from his views he though he was doing his country a favor. sames goes for Stalin, the entire Roman Empire, or any other powers in wars.

Uh, ok. :/

@Yagami said:

I think the way to go is to have a Universal languages like English in order for people to understand eachother no matter where you go.

That's million bucks.

@Gonmog: I wasn't arguing against history O_o

@Yagami said:

@Still_I_Cry said:

@Yagami: If we don't learn from the past we won't have a future.

And yet... the past that we need to think back upon is in the future.

I don't get why it isn't plausible to learn from the past and apply that to the future..

You're view of a world without borders will never. Let me repeat. NEVER exist. Besides man, i love my country.

Haircut

As someone who's majoring in cultural and regional studies, I'll just quote Donald Worster: "In some ultimate sense the earth may be a single living whole, but we humans do not normally see it as such nor agree on a single united response."

The alternatives are a one world government which will surely devolve into a totalitarian nightmare or no governments at all which will devolve into us eating each other. I'll go with the balance of different countries, thanks.

"Variety is the spice of life" so the more countires the better.

You're oversimplifying. It will NEVER be as simple as you describe.

People have different views of what is right and what is wrong. Throw religion, culture and tradition into that mix...

Trying to create a unified world would probably create more wars and conflicts than we already have. Your ideas are noble, but it's an impossible goal.

@Insectecutor: The school thing is what I was thinking. Also, states are protective units. Police push back against the thieves and gangsters that kill, rob, and claim territory even in civilized nations. Armies push back against other nations with expansionist ambitions. Even if you created an "anarchist territory," it would inevitably be annexed into somebody else's state from outside or gang territory from within.

I am?

To say that there should be no borders would be to deny people their cultural rights. Forcing a distinct group of people to comply under a hegemonic set of rules would create more problems than it would solve. Also, by calling humans stupid you are calling yourself stupid and therefore your argument has no more merit than a person arguing for the usage of borders. By your logic, nobody wins because humans are dumb and we cannot think outside of these constraints.

So there you go, Mr. Armchair Philosopher.

Countries aren't stupid, nationalism and patriotism is.

How old are you? You sound incredibly naive. There will always be countries because there will always be different languages. People need countries to protect themselves and their resources from others who would wish to control them. Look at stateless people i.e. the Jews until 1948 and the Roma even today: these people were/are persecuted but give them a country and things get better. (Yes I know there are problems in Israel and that is exactly my point: nations need clearly defined borders or else all hell breaks loose. And the Roma still have no homeland, that's why they are still persecuted.)

Countries are necessary because a nation under the control of another will always suffer and eventually disappear. That's what wars are all about. That's why the Norwegians fought to liberate themselves from Sweden and Finland wants the same thing, control over their own lives without Swedish assholes dominating their country.

A one world state simply means world tyranny. You mention equality. That's the point: when one nation dominates another, there can be no equality. But if nations have their own countries then there can be equality, provided that the military deterrence exists to convince other countries not to attack you.

You mention Japan sinking and the Japanese having no place to go. EXACTLY! They'd have nowhere to go because Japan is their country. If they all became refugees they would still speak their language and practice their culture and they would eventually declare they're Chinatown-like territory as their own country and that would cause a war, like the second season of Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex. Nations have very different cultures. You say everyone should be equal regardless of stuff like gender. There are lot's of extremist Muslims who disagree with you on that one. What if they go live in Sweden and attack Swedish women for being topless on a beach.

SERIOUSLY, WHAT WOULD YOU DO?

The one-world-state where everyone can go everywhere sorta already exists in the West. It's called Multiculturalism and it doesn't work; it just causes more bullshit that will lead to war because nations are supposed to have their own country.

Also. To get rid of countries would mean getting rid of Donkey Kong Country and I can't let that happen.

"Borders are, the gallows

Of our collective national egos

Subjective, lines in sand

In the water separating everything"

What is your alternative to countries? A set of first grade rules that governs the entire Earth? Who is going to enforce these rules? Or do you expect every race, every religion, every person to get along? How about we all sit around a giant campfire fueled by weapons we no longer need/want and sing Kumbaya?

If we did not have countries, how do you suppose we would live the lifestyle we live right now? We would have nobody to lead us. Nobody to enforce rules. A lack of government would eventually result in chaos. And if we had a single government governing the entire planet, what would prevent corruption?

I'd say that borders are not as "insane" as you think they are.

The thing is, you can't just remove borders and expect shit to fall in place. We are not built for that. What you're talking about is the result, not the cause, of a beautiful ideal, namely that we scould all learn to live peacefully together and respect eachother. First we would have to learn those things, somehow, evolve as a species, so that we could begin a shift towards a more unified existence.

I think you are seriously misguided and incorrect. I suggest taking some religion or world culture courses so you can understand how different our world cultures really are and how valuable each and every one of them is. I mean, alcohol is the blood of Christ in Christianity and completely illegal in Islam. Interpolating certain cultural beliefs will lead to the complete destruction of some cultures.

Also, I think you will like Confucianism, so you should pick up a copy of The Analects. Also, Confucius argues that the harmonious society you want has come and gone, both in the Shang and Western Zhou Dynasties. And it still only functions within one nation.

Militaires Sans Frontieres

Lay off the weed kid..... Remember when a grown ass man calling himself Sexual Bubblegum says Lay off the weed it's probably a good idea, cause that mother fucker has smoked a shit ton himself.

@Yagami:

Checked your profile and, yep, you're apparently 17. This sounds like the philosophy of a 17 year old. Well, I'll keep my sarcasm to myself until you get a little older.

"Imagine there's no countries. It isn't hard to do. Nothing to kill or die for, and no religion too. Imagine all the people living life in peace. You.. you may say I'm a dreamer. But I'm not the only one. I hope someday you'll join us, and the world will be as one."

"War why does it exist? Can't we just stop waging wars? and why does famine exist? Can't we just give everyone enough food?"

I wish OP would wake up and join us in the real world some day, he reminds me of a miss universe contestant.

@Xeiphyer said:

You can't get rid of the rules and let everyone figure it out on their own, because I will come to your house and cut your head off if there's no rules, so clearly that isn't an option.

Well, it's good to know the current regime is keeping you from decapitating people arbitrarily.

Incidentally, I also live in Calgary, and I really don't want to be eviscerated.

I always had the feeling the world would be growing together and eventually would abolish nationalism.

@Xeiphyer said:

You can't get rid of the rules and let everyone figure it out on their own, because I will come to your house and cut your head off if there's no rules, so clearly that isn't an option.

Well, it's good to know the current regime is keeping you from decapitating people arbitrarily.

Incidentally, I also live in Calgary, and I really don't want to be eviscerated.

@JasonR86: In Sweden there are people as old as fifty (based on my own experiences) that believe this shit. Socialist weirdos.

@Yagami: You should consider reading Brave New World (by Huxley) or Fahrenheit 451 (by Bradbury).

@Yagami said:

If I could decide, the entire world would be under one set of rules, that rule would be to respect each and everyone equally and to let all people have equal rights to everything, no matter what belief or sexuality or gender.

Good luck with that.