Live data from Hacker News

Svalbard is as close as you can get to a place with open borders

thenation.com

41–50 of 270 posts

Re: Svalbard is as close as you can get to a place with open borders

#41
post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a dream. There is something about our luck of being born in a good and wealthy place; then close it off, hence punishing people because they happen to be born in shitty place.

The fact that our countries are good and wealthy is not a matter of luck though.

I believe your parent is referring to the place where you’re born being a matter of luck: no decision or choice on one’s own part determines where one’s born.

Re: Svalbard is as close as you can get to a place with open borders

#42

I think the degree to which open borders are a reality within the U.S. is under-appreciated. As a reminder, U.S. states are sovereign entities with their own criminal laws, tax regimes, educational systems, property and contract rights, civil rights, economic growth, industries, natural resources, etc. In some cases their laws are pre-empted by U.S. federal law, but there remains quite a bit of diversity. Despite thi…

Same with EU, people seems to take it for granted but every time I think about it I find it amazing that it works as well as it does and how good it is.

Re: Svalbard is as close as you can get to a place with open borders

#43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>the places with the strictest border controls are often those that are quite desirable cheeky counterexample: North Korea

North Korean border control is there to stop people from leaving, not entering.

I presume it's also to keep out subversive foreign agents. And reporters. And people whose mere presence is suggestive of Western capitalism and therefore subversive. Something like that.

Re: Svalbard is as close as you can get to a place with open borders

#44

I think the degree to which open borders are a reality within the U.S. is under-appreciated. As a reminder, U.S. states are sovereign entities with their own criminal laws, tax regimes, educational systems, property and contract rights, civil rights, economic growth, industries, natural resources, etc. In some cases their laws are pre-empted by U.S. federal law, but there remains quite a bit of diversity. Despite thi…

You dramatically overestimate how much of an economic difference there is between MD and WV: https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vwpy8_glsgc/Vi5llZ9ZILI/AAAAAAAAI.... Adjusting for purchasing power, the difference in median income is just 10%. It’s like the difference between Belgium and Australia.

On the flip side, there is actually quite a difference between states like New York (second poorest in the US) and Virginia. And there is a very large internal migration from states like New York to states like virginia.

Re: Svalbard is as close as you can get to a place with open borders

#45

I think the degree to which open borders are a reality within the U.S. is under-appreciated. As a reminder, U.S. states are sovereign entities with their own criminal laws, tax regimes, educational systems, property and contract rights, civil rights, economic growth, industries, natural resources, etc. In some cases their laws are pre-empted by U.S. federal law, but there remains quite a bit of diversity. Despite thi…

West Virginia is being emptied, however, with a net loss of population over time. People do leave bad economic areas for good ones over time.

People don’t move to Washington from Oregon because their jobs are in Oregon and they would be subject to income taxes anyways. Really not smart if you work in Vancouver WA to live in Portland, however (income taxes are an or proposition).

However, I totally agree. Contrast this to China’s hukou system, where you can be a foreigner in your own country because you live in a city without hukou, even if you were born there.

Re: Svalbard is as close as you can get to a place with open borders

#46
post #4

>The Dream of Open Borders Is Real—in the High Arctic For whom is open borders a dream?

> For whom is open borders a dream?

For people who see closed borders and border "crises" as largely manufactured political and tribalistic/cultural barriers.

Re: Svalbard is as close as you can get to a place with open borders

#47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>the places with the strictest border controls are often those that are quite desirable cheeky counterexample: North Korea

North Korean border control is there to stop people from leaving, not entering.

Uhm, no: if you try to cross the border in they will shoot you just the same.

Re: Svalbard is as close as you can get to a place with open borders

#48

I think the degree to which open borders are a reality within the U.S. is under-appreciated. As a reminder, U.S. states are sovereign entities with their own criminal laws, tax regimes, educational systems, property and contract rights, civil rights, economic growth, industries, natural resources, etc. In some cases their laws are pre-empted by U.S. federal law, but there remains quite a bit of diversity. Despite thi…

[deleted]

Re: Svalbard is as close as you can get to a place with open borders

#49
post #4

>The Dream of Open Borders Is Real—in the High Arctic For whom is open borders a dream?

For me: I grew up in Europe in times where the wall came down in Germany, a shared currency was established (Euro) and all European borders within Europe where suddenly passable without passport, visa checks, money exchange, someone judging you, etc.. Of course this caused other problems to solve, but the general feeling of freedom and being able to go some other country and even being able to live and work there was…

I think you're mixing up travel without a hassle which everybody likes to exist, with open borders which is a way more complex idea. EU is not an open-border place, I, for example, has to obtain visa to enter it.

Re: Svalbard is as close as you can get to a place with open borders

#50
post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a dream. There is something about our luck of being born in a good and wealthy place; then close it off, hence punishing people because they happen to be born in shitty place.

The fact that our countries are good and wealthy is not a matter of luck though.

The dominance of eurasian societies is very likely an accident of geography more than anything else.

You would probably find Guns, Germs, and Steel [1] quite illuminating.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guns,_Germs,_and_Steel

Post reply on HN