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© VALERIO VINCENZO
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I am American and I have never seen photos like this. I had no idea there are borders like this. Even though I LOVE the idea of open borders, I am staring at these pictures like “wait…people can just…walk across some stones or grass and BE IN ANOTHER COUNTRY??? and nobody stops them?? how does that WORK?!” So you can tell that my country’s propaganda has gotten to me by convincing me that this CAN’T work even though…it…obviously can.

These pics just seem unreal to me. I’ve been taught my whole life that this can’t exist. In 27 years no one has ever sat me down and gone, look, here’s how it is elsewhere. It isn’t impossible at all.

^ 

The EU is one of the best things ever to happen to Humanity. Dozens of tribes that had been at war for literally centuries finally came together to create a peaceful and integrated country.

Which is what this photo series is missing: those are borders within the EU*. Borders within the EU are as open as the borders within the US or Canada or Mexico.

80 years ago those borders were as militarized as any on Earth. Today all those nations are one nation sharing one passport and one parliament.

That’s a huge achievement and should be celebrated as such. We should not take it for granted or pretend it “just happened” on its own. It was a lot of difficult work and very controversial. But ultimately it’s lead to the longest sustained peace in European history.

Anyway. Fuck Brexit and all the “eurosceptics” who want to turn the EU into squabbling tribes.

*with one exception: Lithuania is not an EU member state. But it’s trying hard to become one.