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A comment on Most Europeans believe their countries are more polarised than 10 years ago. Parent comment

Re:Most Europeans believe their countries are more polarised... by maxerickson on Monday April 23, 2018 @11:24AM (#16904205)
Well, national borders are an entirely human construct, so there's an argument to be made that freedom of movement should be the default and those who want to restrict it should have to justify themselves.

(I do get that there are justifications given that framing...)

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Re:Most Europeans believe their countries are more polarised... by toasterlovin on Monday April 23, 2018 @12:06PM (#16904640)
As a human, I am fine with being governed by human constructs like private property, the rule of law, nation states, etc.
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Re:Most Europeans believe their countries are more polarised... by maxerickson on Monday April 23, 2018 @12:12PM (#16904713)
I've made a lot of progress though, you've shifted from arguing that it is the default position to arguing that you like the status quo.
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Re:Most Europeans believe their countries are more polarised... by toasterlovin on Monday April 23, 2018 @01:06PM (#16905283)
Actually, I was ridiculing your stance that something being a human construct is somehow an argument against it.

Here's a more forthright approach: The problem with your argument is that it goes about half a level deep and doesn't hold up to even the most elementary criticism. Specifically, I was pointing out that human constructs are a fundamental element of human existence; they are how we negotiate existing alongside one another. So, trying to argue against something solely because it is a human construct makes about as much sense as arguing that somebody is evil because they were born in February.

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Re:Most Europeans believe their countries are more polarised... by maxerickson on Monday April 23, 2018 @01:21PM (#16905435)
My argument was against it being an obvious default.

The notion of real border control is barely 100 years old.

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Re:Most Europeans believe their countries are more polarised... by toasterlovin on Monday April 23, 2018 @01:42PM (#16905631)
On the contrary, human groups have defended their territorial boundaries against other human groups since the beginning of our species. Even chimps do it.
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