The Borders Are Moving Again

One of things that amuses me when border policies get "debated" in the United States is the rock-hard belief among Americans™ that the borders of their country are set in stone. They forget the history - the wars, the influence of money, the betrayals, etc - that have carved the "sea to shining sea" myth.

Borders are fluid, just as cultures and traditions are fluid, and separation is never permanent because we are constantly in a state of flux and migration as a species. Every time warped human nature has tried to deny that reality, the long thread of our nature mocks the attempts of those who choose to bottle in humanity.

The flip side of this is, of course, that conquistadors will sometimes get a dose of their own medicine. Nezua fills us in on a huge development today:

The Lakota Indians, who gave the world legendary warriors Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse, have withdrawn from treaties with the United States, leaders said Wednesday.

"We are no longer citizens of the United States of America and all those who live in the five-state area that encompasses our country are free to join us," long-time Indian rights activist Russell Means told a handful of reporters and a delegation from the Bolivian embassy, gathered in a church in a run-down neighborhood of Washington for a news conference.

A delegation of Lakota leaders delivered a message to the State Department on Monday, announcing they were unilaterally withdrawing from treaties they signed with the federal government of the United States, some of them more than 150 years old.

linkage

Looks like karma and Manifest Destiny are going to get a chance to duel.