“We Are Not Defined by Our Borders”: A Historical Perspective

Today a federal judge blocked portions of Arizona’s Illegal Immigration Law that was set to go into effect tomorrow, July 29th. By blocking select portions of the law, U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton has rendered the controversial, yet popular, anti-illegal immigration law toothless. This ruling appears to re-affirm the attitude that the federal government has towards illegal immigration- that “we are not defined by our borders.” This is the slogan that President Obama has been using since May and I am sure that Obama and whoever came up with the slogan are patting themselves on their backs for being so original, so enlightened, so avant garde. It sounds so appropriate for our post-nationalist world. After all, we are all “citizens of the world” now. We are now a multicultural society; no longer tied to such outdated, outmoded ideas such as borders, national identities, and sovereignty. In other words we are defined by…? Well, I do not know what we are defined by but, whatever it is, it must be better since it is considered progress by those know more than we do.


Unfortunately, for President Obama, this is not new, enlightened, nor avant garde. It has been done before. Not only in the world, but also in the United States. Correction: not actually “The United States,” but within the borders of what would become the United States.  What needs to be understood is that the indigenous people along the Atlantic coast unknowingly took the same approach when the Europeans started arriving. I say unknowingly because, unlike the people of today, they did not have the concept of landownership or national sovereignty, thus they had no concept of borders. This is a shame because if they had then maybe they could have avoided four long centuries of suffering. But history is history and cannot be changed.

What history can do, though, is to provide lessons. One of those lessons is that nothing good comes to a country that does not protect its sovereignty. In most cases the results have been catastrophic for the established civilization and society. Along with the indigenous peoples of North America we can add the Meso-Americans of Mexico, the Incas of Peru, the Aborigines of Australia and New Zealand, the Indians of India, the Pampa Indians of Argentina, and the inhabitants of just about all of Africa. In all these cases the multicultural, open-border approach ended with the original inhabitants losing their cultural identities and being forced off their lands, enslaved, or even exterminated. It was not uncommon for many of these cultures to endure all of the above at the hands of the newcomers.

I know, some of you are thinking, “the newcomers where from the great European imperialist powers. The indigenous people were kind and loving people who were one with the earth and everyone in it. There was no way they could have defended themselves from such aggressive and barbaric people like the Europeans. Besides, we are a more advanced and enlightened society. That could never happen today. This is why multiculturalism works now.”

Unfortunately this is completely inaccurate and is dangerous to believe. First of all, the great European countries did not have colonies because they were powerful. They became powerful because of they had colonies. They did not do D-Day style amphibious assaults on the beaches. They arrived in small groups of explorers and colonist.  (In 1620 The Plymouth Rock colony was established by only 120 colonists of whom almost 40% were women and children). Contrarily, the indigenous populations greatly outnumbered the Europeans and were completely capable of eliminating the settlements. Additionally, the cultures of these people were often warrior based and fully capable of defending themselves from the newcomers. In the case of the Aztecs, their civilization rivaled that of Rome and Tenochtitlan, the Aztecs’ principle city, was larger than London was. Technology wise, both were about equal. Although the Europeans did have firearms they were greatly inaccurate, lacked range, and took time to reload. In most cases a soldier would get one shot off before resorting to his sword whereas a skilled warrior could launch multiple arrows within a short amount of time.

What did allow the Europeans to gain a foothold and then control was that they had help from people like Pocahontas and Malinche (a native woman who helped Cortez in his conquest of the Aztecs). These people helped to convince the indigenous leaders and people that the new arrivals were not a threat. That, by bringing new knowledge, the newcomers would add to the existing culture. These Native Multiculturalists were convincing enough that their leaders soon established alliances with the Europeans. Contrary to the PC history we are taught, it was these alliances that allowed the Europeans, whose numbers were still relatively small, to defeat the unfriendly, but maybe wiser, tribes and nations.

As for the last part, that today “we are too enlightened for that to happen”, it is the most dangerous misconception (or dare I say lie) that we tell ourselves. The truth is that colonization and imperialism is going on today, albeit still in its early unorganized stages. Being in its early stages does not make it less of a threat to western civilization. It is wise to remember that the Plymouth Rock colony was started with only 120 colonists. The fact is that today’s colonization is occurring right under our noses in a place we would not even consider possible: Europe. Like last time it is from east to west. Unlike last time it is not Christians from Europe, but Muslims from the Middle East. They may not be arriving on sailing ships and wearing pilgrim clothes but it is colonization nonetheless. As in the previous examples, the multiculturalists (modern day versions of Pocahontas and Malinche) started telling everyone that there was nothing to be afraid of; that the newcomers would bring the richness, diversity, and a cosmopolitan flair that the society lacked. Like the leaders of old, the new leaders saw an opportunity to align themselves with the newcomers and to use them to crush their opposition. So they created plans and programs to reduce the requirements that prevented or limited the influx of their new found friends. They embraced the multicultural gospel that destroyed any chance of their national character and identity to survive. Sadly, like so many self-serving leaders of history, they never realized that they were sowing the seeds of not only their demise, but also that of their country.

Today Western Europe is no longer the bastion of liberal democracy it use to be. 600 years after the renaissance it is now slipping back into a dark age. This time it is driven by uncontrolled immigration and multiculturalism. Now these once great freedom loving nations are turning into pseudo-Islamic states. As Sharia (Islamic Law based on Medieval principles) takes hold well established freedom are being eliminated…societies are being changed and not for the better. Remember, it took until the 1880s (about 250 years) before the Native Americans were completely subdued. Europe has only been experiencing its colonization for about 40 years. It will be interesting to see how well the “Christian” Europeans are faring in 2260.

The question is, are we going to follow their example? Are we going to let the Pocahontases and Malinches of today convince us that there is no real threat to our way of life or are we going to let history be our guide? It may be too late for Europe but it is not too late for America.