A border is a form of social negotiation- like who gets gets the last piece of pizza when everyone has had the same number.
How that is decided can vary by group but ultimately everyone either agrees to abide a convention or the person most able and willing takes it because they can.
Think of it like your “personal space.” Different people or societies have their own concepts of what personal space is, but in most societies people abide the convention. You could project a circle around your feet to display your personal space- but that circle is meaningless in itself- your ability to keep people out or enforce your will within the circle hinges on your ability to get others to respect it or force them to respect it. The latter relies on being able to pose a threat or exercise overwhelming force. Usually a border exists where the territory claimed by two groups meets and some form of consent through diplomacy or force have created borders.
In other words, the “law” of one governing body doesn’t magically come into effect when you cross a border- that border was created to give you an indication the area where a certain authority is in effect. The world is full of disputed borders where some parties recognize a claim and others don’t. It isn’t “the border” that would stop an authority from pursuing you beyond that point if they wanted you, it is the threat represented by the claimant to the territory in question which compels them to stop.
So the lines themselves are arbitrary to represent a concept of authority or force, but where a person or persons have no fear or respect for the authority claiming that territory, a border is meaningless.
*gets put in gulag for being a Uighur muslim*
Yeah, I guess borders are just arbitrary lines on a map
- the above
How that is decided can vary by group but ultimately everyone either agrees to abide a convention or the person most able and willing takes it because they can.
Think of it like your “personal space.” Different people or societies have their own concepts of what personal space is, but in most societies people abide the convention. You could project a circle around your feet to display your personal space- but that circle is meaningless in itself- your ability to keep people out or enforce your will within the circle hinges on your ability to get others to respect it or force them to respect it. The latter relies on being able to pose a threat or exercise overwhelming force. Usually a border exists where the territory claimed by two groups meets and some form of consent through diplomacy or force have created borders.
So the lines themselves are arbitrary to represent a concept of authority or force, but where a person or persons have no fear or respect for the authority claiming that territory, a border is meaningless.