Free Movement Across Borders

There is no way I can do this justice right. So I'm admitting my failure in advance.

Today I went from New York slash New Jersey to California. And in many respects, culture being only one of the them, it was like moving from one country to the next. Given the size of the US and what not it is pretty amazing that you can just jet around from place to place with little or no limitations (tho air travel's tight control and requirement of your proving your identity is sort of like a back door into getting that knowledge which incidentally is one of the many reasons why capitalism is more "productive" than national force).

The point is that the model the US was actually really amazing, both because it allowed this very different places to easily share a potentially mobile populace and perhaps more importantly allowing them to retain their differences as well. While I'll certainly be the one arguing that these differences have been squashed under a series of movement probably starting with standarized currency and rail lines and in the 20th c. really completed with the highway system (not to mention mass media). But there are still differences and at least we get the boon of the free travel.

So what I would like to see:

Increasing inclusion of countries into this open system of movement. Reality says that were this ever to happen it would be with western Europe first (or Canada) and then on from there. But I really would like to see boundaries become all the more invisible along a model that allows them to maintain their differences. I'm well aware that taking this apple almost necessarily means taking the poison with it. But one might also argue that the poison is everywhere, in the air, and we might as well see the benefits before there isn't anything like difference left.