Reflections 25th September

On my Mind

Boundaries

The boundaries we set determine our horizons and how we see the world. Inside the boundary is "us" and outside it "them". It used to be a physical thing, but that has changed as digital communication has become so embedded as to be invisible and a fact of life, like gravity.

Physical boundaries made life relatively simple - we had family, then village, town, county and country. We could organise our laws, politics, society and business accordingly. We were largely able to determine the permeability of our boundaries, and from that derived a sense of national identity. It gave rise to institutions from Banks to Airlines and on a darker basis a national ego that made it seem a good idea to build an empire.

Technology has dissolved those boundaries. We can live in one place, work in another, and pay tax somewhere else. Our national institutions have been privatised and sold to the highest bidder, our physical boundaries are highly permeable, and our business infrastruct…