With the recent European migrant crisis came new calls for open borders. The idea of open borders is that people should be allowed to move freely between countries and settle wherever they wish. There are multiple reasons why people support the idea of open borders.

First, humanitarian reasons. Supporters point to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which states that "Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each state". It's argued that the current way we manage our borders is in opposition with this human right.

Second, it would reduce poverty. People in developing countries who are in poverty would move to developed countries and be able to earn higher wages. This lifts them out of 'developing poverty' (the abject poverty we see in developing countries) into 'developed poverty' (poor by Western standards). Migrants often send cash back to their family back home, essentially raising them from poverty as well. This act of sending money back home, the flow of 'remittance' is estimated to be currently 3 times higher than global foreign aid spending.

Third, economic reasons. Economists predict that open borders, allowing people to work wherever they wish, would result in around a doubling of GWP (gross world product). Poor people in developing countries produce less wealth than they would if the were poor people in developed countries.

That's, in a nutshell, the case for open borders (there's other reasons, but I believe those are the main ones). I'll leave it up to you guys to come up with the case against open borders.

The question I want discussed is; do you think changing our world to a world with open borders is a good thing? Why/why not?