Why does America have borders?

President Trump famously said, “I just feel strongly that you need to have a border and it has to be strong.” He has backed that up by attempting to build an ever-longer, ever-more-impenetrable wall on America’s southern border.

The question is: Why does America need “strong” borders?

America began with colonies, and they had borders, though not what anyone would call “strong.” Today’s America has thousands of formal and informal borders, and only one would be considered “strong”: The exterior border.

And even that is “strong” only at the southern border.

Who Killed The Kazakh Border Guards? — **A Chicago Border?**

In my childhood, I lived in the Palmer Square section of Logan Square in the 32nd ward, of Chicago, Cook County, Illinois. That’s six sets of borders I crossed with impunity.

None is guarded in any way.

Palmer Square is a “neighborhood,” one of about 200 in Chicago. Neighborhoods have unofficial borders, and often are referenced by residents, but have no real functions.

Logan Square is a designated community area, one of 77 in Chicago. It has officially defined borders, though only for planning purposes.

I lived near that “X” on the western border of Ward 32.

My address was in Chicago’s 32nd Ward, which also has borders, but only for political purposes. Each ward is “ruled” for some purposes by an alderman.

Wards’ borders overlap designated community areas, and neighborhoods.

Chicago has a mayor, its own police and fire departments, its own finances, roads, parks, and schools, but no guarded borders.

Cook County has a president, parks, taxes, etc. but no guarded borders.

All wards, neighborhoods, designated community areas, cities, counties, and states in America, along with other areas of other designations, have borders.

They all have different socio-economic differences within and without, and many have governments, yet none of them has guarded borders.

All of these thousands of borders are open. Anyone living within the borders of the United States freely can travel across all of the borders, often without even realizing it.

America is a big nation. It includes a multitude of:

Religions
Languages
Customs
Governments
Histories
Levels of wealth
Weather
Geography
Educational levels and resources
Natural resources
Local and national laws
Local and national taxes
Agriculture products
Manufacturing
National Guard units
Police units

And with all of the above differences, America contains no internal guarded borders.

In America, privately-owned land can have guarded borders, and even some governmentally-owned land can have guarded borders, but only for economic or specialized security purposes, not for political purposes.

Today, citizens and non-citizens of America freely can travel among neighborhoods, designated community areas, wards, counties, cities, and states.

Why then does America need guarded borders on its exterior? What would be the implications of America having no borders?

America has grown to its present size by erasing borders. From December 7, 1787 through August 21, 1959, 50 states “unguarded” their borders to become part of the United States.

And by every measure, America has become stronger from this freeing of borders.

Consider, for instance, that the geographic border between Canada and the U.S. were completely unguarded. What would happen?

More Canadians would come into America and more Americans would come to Canada. No inter-nation taxes would be leveled. Each nation’s taxes still would be paid. Armies would be separate.

All of that is no different from what currently is happening already within America, among the states, counties, cities, wards, neighborhoods, and designated community areas.

The guarding of internal borders would be a non-productive exercise. It would provide nothing of benefit to Americans. So we don’t do it.

Why then, do we guard our external borders, especially when borders are one primary cause of strife?

Tensions high between India and China after deadly clash along contested border
The possibility of a broader armed conflict between India and China is unlikely, analysts said, despite an escalation in recent border clashes high in the Himalayas that led to casualties for the first time in more than four decades. India’s foreign ministry said a “violent face-off” occurred on Monday evening along the border in the Galwan Valley in Ladakh, where soldiers from both sides have been locked in a standoff since last month.

On balance, guarded borders cause much more trouble than they are worth — at least that is what seems to me.

So I ask you to give me your ideas on this question: Given that America does well with thousands of internal, unguarded borders, would America benefit on balance from having unguarded external borders, especially with Canada and Mexico?

Rodger Malcolm Mitchell

Monetary Sovereignty Twitter: @rodgermitchell Search #monetarysovereignty Facebook: Rodger Malcolm Mitchell …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

THE SOLE PURPOSE OF GOVERNMENT IS TO IMPROVE AND PROTECT THE LIVES OF THE PEOPLE.

The most important problems in economics involve:

Monetary Sovereignty describes money creation and destruction.
Gap Psychology describes the common desire to distance oneself from those “below” in any socio-economic ranking, and to come nearer those “above.” The socio-economic distance is referred to as “The Gap.”

Wide Gaps negatively affect poverty, health and longevity, education, housing, law and crime, war, leadership, ownership, bigotry, supply and demand, taxation, GDP, international relations, scientific advancement, the environment, human motivation and well-being, and virtually every other issue in economics. Implementation of Monetary Sovereignty and The Ten Steps To Prosperity can grow the economy and narrow the Gaps:

Ten Steps To Prosperity:

1. Eliminate FICA

2. Federally funded Medicare — parts A, B & D, plus long-term care — for everyone

3. Social Security for all or a reverse income tax

4. Free education (including post-grad) for everyone

5. Salary for attending school

6. Eliminate federal taxes on business

7. Increase the standard income tax deduction, annually.

8. Tax the very rich (the “.1%”) more, with higher progressive tax rates on all forms of income.

9. Federal ownership of all banks

10.Increase federal spending on the myriad initiatives that benefit America’s 99.9%

The Ten Steps will grow the economy and narrow the income/wealth/power Gap between the rich and the rest.

MONETARY SOVEREIGNTY

COVID-19: What won’t work and what does.

Have you seen this headline?

Tulsa Officials Plead for Trump to Cancel Rally as Virus Spikes in Oklahoma

President Trump will hold his first campaign rally in months on Saturday in Oklahoma, where infections are rising, and officials there are pleading with him to cancel or hold it outdoors.
By Noah Weiland, Updated June 17, 2020,

WASHINGTON — Officials in Tulsa, Okla., are warning that President Trump’s planned campaign rally on Saturday — his first in over three months — is likely to worsen an already troubling spike in coronavirus infections and could become a disastrous “super spreader.”

They are pleading with the Trump campaign to cancel the event, slated for a 20,000-person indoor arena — or at least move it outdoors.

“It’s the perfect storm of potential over-the-top disease transmission,” said Bruce Dart, the executive director of the Tulsa health department. “It’s a perfect storm that we can’t afford to have.”

Will President Trump listen to these concerns? Perhaps. As of this writing, he has not. There is a way he can have his rally and not kill people.

But first:

This is what will not work:

COVID sign in Tulsa — A sign lists precautions against Covid-19 near Tuba City, Arizona. Arizona is one of several states relaxing restrictions even as cases of the disease rise.
Mark Ralston/AFP via Getty Images

It won’t work because of human psychology and because of the way COVID-19 is spread.

1. Washing hands helps. But the vast majority of COVID-19 cases are not touch-related. COVID-19 is primarily spread via inhaled droplets.

Also, washing hands thoroughly after each potential exposure is quite inconvenient and unrealistic. You go into a public place — say a grocery store — and touch a package.

Will you now wash your hands — where? Then you touch another package and another.

How often each day will you do this as you travel about? Will you remember to clean your car steering wheel, door handles, and seats after each potential exposure? Your house doorknob?

2. Coughing into your elbow helps, but not nearly enough. COVID-19 not only is spread by coughing and sneezing. It is spread by talking, laughing, and just plain breathing.

Will you really walk around with your face buried in your elbow?

3. Not touching your face helps. But researchers have shown that humans are compulsive face touchers. We do it many times a day without even realizing it. Breaking that habit would be harder than quitting smoking.

4. Social distancing helps, though 3-6 feet is far too little (is it 3 feet or is it 6 feet?) but microscopic droplets can travel much farther.

And it simply is not possible to avoid coming close to people who are breathing out these droplets. And if you work in a large elevator-building, you’re doomed. There is no way realistically to social distance.

5. Staying home helps, but over the long haul, it makes people insane. We’ve tried social distancing for only 3 months, and already people are refusing to abide.

Further, businesses cannot survive that way. Social distancing is crashing the economy.

All of the above do help, but not nearly enough.

So what will work?

UNIVERSAL MASKING

Mask sign

When you wear a mask, even a simple cloth mask, your emission of COVID-19 droplets is drastically reduced. You can cough, sneeze, talk, and breathe, and your germs mostly will be caught by your mask.

And if the other person is wearing a mask, whatever droplets evade your mask will be caught by his mask. In short, you both will have double protection from each other.

The only realistic method for stopping the virus, until (if ever) a cure or a vaccine is developed, is universal masking.

See: The surprisingly simple way to open America in 14 days and avoid a depression.

The states are anxious to “open up,” and Trump is an is anxious to have his rallies, both of which could be done if universal mask usage is mandated.

Universal masking is like herd immunity in that prevents so many people from transmitting the virus that the virus is stopped in its tracks.

Finally, I’ll leave you with this:

Hundreds of doctors call for statewide mask requirement in Arizona
Max Gorden

“I know some people view this as an issue of personal freedom, or political freedom. It shouldn’t be viewed in that regard,” said Arizona Rep. Greg Stanton.

“We are fighting the worst pandemic in over 100 years, and wearing of the mask, the mandating of the mask, is a common sense thing to do to fight this terrible virus.”

Contact your mayor, your governor, and your Congressperson. Demand that universal masking be mandated.

Save your life. Save my life. Save the economy. Save America.

Rodger Malcolm Mitchell

THE SOLE PURPOSE OF GOVERNMENT IS TO IMPROVE AND PROTECT THE LIVES OF THE PEOPLE.

The most important problems in economics involve:

Monetary Sovereignty describes money creation and destruction.
Gap Psychology describes the common desire to distance oneself from those “below” in any socio-economic ranking, and to come nearer those “above.” The socio-economic distance is referred to as “The Gap.”

Ten Steps To Prosperity:

1. Eliminate FICA

2. Federally funded Medicare — parts A, B & D, plus long-term care — for everyone

3. Social Security for all or a reverse income tax

4. Free education (including post-grad) for everyone

5. Salary for attending school

6. Eliminate federal taxes on business

7. Increase the standard income tax deduction, annually.

8. Tax the very rich (the “.1%”) more, with higher progressive tax rates on all forms of income.

9. Federal ownership of all banks

10.Increase federal spending on the myriad initiatives that benefit America’s 99.9%

The Ten Steps will grow the economy and narrow the income/wealth/power Gap between the rich and the rest.

MONETARY SOVEREIGNTY

A book you should read

This is a book you should read.

Stephanie Kelton explains economics from the standpoint of Modern Monetary Theory and her own inside experiences with U.S. Senators.

She provides you with some her own take about why Congress refuses to acknowledge its unlimited ability to create dollars, and pay for benefits.

The Deficit Myth: Modern Monetary Theory and the Birth of the People's Economy

While “the DEFICIT MYTH” is not exactly on point with Monetary Sovereignty, the fundamentals are the same (the federal government’s infinite ability to pay for things and the need for federal “debt”). The book is an easy, enjoyable read.

No economics gobbledygook.

You’ll be able to see how her explanations for the causes of inflation and the need for federal taxes differ from those of Monetary Sovereignty. Read her book, and then we can discuss it from the standpoints of the differences and the similarities.

I recommend it to you. I also recommend it especially to your Congressional representatives, who would do well to learn the facts. After you read it, make a difference in the world by sending a copy to your most intelligent Congressperson.

It’s available on Amazon. Enjoy.

Rodger Malcolm Mitchell

THE SOLE PURPOSE OF GOVERNMENT IS TO IMPROVE AND PROTECT THE LIVES OF THE PEOPLE.

The most important problems in economics involve:

Monetary Sovereignty describes money creation and destruction.
Gap Psychology describes the common desire to distance oneself from those “below” in any socio-economic ranking, and to come nearer those “above.” The socio-economic distance is referred to as “The Gap.”

Ten Steps To Prosperity:

1. Eliminate FICA

2. Federally funded Medicare — parts A, B & D, plus long-term care — for everyone

3. Social Security for all or a reverse income tax

4. Free education (including post-grad) for everyone

5. Salary for attending school

6. Eliminate federal taxes on business

7. Increase the standard income tax deduction, annually.

8. Tax the very rich (the “.1%”) more, with higher progressive tax rates on all forms of income.

9. Federal ownership of all banks

10.Increase federal spending on the myriad initiatives that benefit America’s 99.9%

The Ten Steps will grow the economy and narrow the income/wealth/power Gap between the rich and the rest.

MONETARY SOVEREIGNTY

The left’s suicidal insistence on political purity

The needs of the right are simple.

So long as you are pro-rich, anti-poor, hate those who are not white or not Christian, love guns, and hate abortions for poor women (rich women always can get abortions), you will get the vote of the right-wing.

You can be a lying, crooked, con artist, a draft-dodging, irreligious hypocrite. You can “shoot someone on 5th Ave.” You can be a psychopath or have every bad characteristic known to humanity.

It won’t matter to the religious right. You will get their vote, and not just their vote, but their passionate, unrelenting, angry support.

Yes, the needs of the right are simple.

Into a bizarre future: why the liberal promise of true liberty is ... — **What the left wants**

No so, the left.

The left is far more complex, so complex, in fact, that is is impossible for one human to meet all their criteria.

You could be pro-poor, anti-rich, pro-black, pro-brown, pro-gay, pro-trans, pro-Jew, pro-Muslim, pro- or anti-abortion, pro-Christian, pro-atheism, pro-women, pro-government, pre-reusable energy, pro- or anti mixed marriage, anti-government, pro- or anti-socialist, pro-immigration, anti-nazi, pro- or anti-guns, pro-or anti-death penalty, pro-or anti-deficit spending, pro-equality, pro-or anti-states’ rights, pro-or anti-democracy, pro- or anti incarceration, pro- or anti-union, a social liberal, a progressive, pro- or anti-military, pro-or anti-police, or any combination of the preceding.

You could be a Keynesian, a communist, pro-or anti-globalist, a Marxist, or a revolutionist, tough on crime or easy on crime.

No matter which of the above you favor, you would find yourself opposed by the majority of the left.

You would not be considered “pure” enough or “too extreme.”

And that is why an incompetent, unintelligent, immoral, swindler like Donald Trump, who clearly hates the duties of the President, but loves the power — that is why he polls well above what one might expect, no matter what he does or fails to do.

If a left-leaning politician is discovered cheating on his wife, he is done or at least, impeached. When Trump cheats on three wives — and brags about it — that is a feature, not a bug.

If any family member of a left-leaning politician takes money for doing nothing, that is a scandal. For Trump, nepotism is a way of life.

When Obama wrongly promised, “You will be able to keep your current health care plans and doctors,” it became an endless, political scandal, on both the left and the right. When Trump wrongly promised, “Mexico will pay for the wall,” the right-wing shrugged.

Consider a left-leaning politician caught cheating on his taxes. Compare that with Trump Foundation.

Trump has hired, then fired, more administration people than any President in history, demonstrating an astounding level of executive incompetence. Who cares? The right-wing worships him. For the left, it would be a terrible black mark.

All of the above is why Joe Biden will have November competition from the left. I don’t know who they will be, but whoever he/she or they are, they will take votes from Biden and in so doing, help Trump stay in office.

No one can be “pure enough” without being “too extreme” to satisfy enough of the left.

As the campaigning goes into the final months and weeks, almost as much criticism of Biden will come from the left as from the right, while very little criticism of Trump will come from the right.

Watch for it.

Rodger Malcolm Mitchell

THE SOLE PURPOSE OF GOVERNMENT IS TO IMPROVE AND PROTECT THE LIVES OF THE PEOPLE.

The most important problems in economics involve:

Monetary Sovereignty describes money creation and destruction.
Gap Psychology describes the common desire to distance oneself from those “below” in any socio-economic ranking, and to come nearer those “above.” The socio-economic distance is referred to as “The Gap.”

Ten Steps To Prosperity:

1. Eliminate FICA

2. Federally funded Medicare — parts A, B & D, plus long-term care — for everyone

3. Social Security for all or a reverse income tax

4. Free education (including post-grad) for everyone

5. Salary for attending school

6. Eliminate federal taxes on business

7. Increase the standard income tax deduction, annually.

8. Tax the very rich (the “.1%”) more, with higher progressive tax rates on all forms of income.

9. Federal ownership of all banks

10.Increase federal spending on the myriad initiatives that benefit America’s 99.9%

The Ten Steps will grow the economy and narrow the income/wealth/power Gap between the rich and the rest.

MONETARY SOVEREIGNTY

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Tulsa Officials Plead for Trump to Cancel Rally as Virus Spikes in Oklahoma

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