On the Border

Tennessee and Georgia are in a tizzy over 51 miles of land. Actually, Georgia wants it and Tennessee won't budge. There is a line stretching from east to west that, originally, was to define the border: the 35th Parallel. But, human error resulted in inaccuracies, and the measurements made by early surveyors proved incorrect--at least to the folks in Georgia. You see, the tizzy involves water. The 35th parallel cuts through a southern dip of the Tennessee River near Nickajack Dam, north of the current state line. If it wasn't for the valued water, I am sure that Georgia wouldn't be perusing the issue with such passion.

When lines were drawn in the U.S. defining the individual states, there was an interesting progression. Starting in the east, where the country's population began, state borders were greatly influenced by the connection to water and land masses such as mountain ranges. When you see the states in the east, you'll notice their shapes seem hapless and irregular. When the Louisiana purchase was made from France in 1803--828800 square miles west of the Mississippi--the states resultant from the deal have more "boxy" shapes. When no one is around to dispute the laying of a boundary, it is a less complicated issue. When people move in, borders matter and the issue gets a bit more complex, to say the least.

Some people like to peer into the backyards of their neighbor (don't you?). Take political borders within a state--or even a region, for instance, when a valuable commodity exists just on the other side of an invisible line--politicians have been known to "adjust" the lines for their own political benefit. Take the term, Gerrymandering. In 1812, Governor Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts signed a bill that enabled the redrawing of Massachusetts state senate election districts to benefit his political party. When mapped, one of the contorted districts in the Boston area was said to resemble the shape of a salamander. The Boston Gazette came up with the term, gerrymander, and it still reminds us today of the ridiculous measures a human will take to steal someone else's stuff.

As with state and national borders, it is also important to set personal boundaries in our lives. According to author Robert Burney, from book Codependence: The Dance of Wounded Souls, "the purpose of having boundaries is to protect and take care of ourselves. We need to be able to tell other people when they are acting in ways that are not acceptable to us. A first step is starting to know that we have a right to protect and defend ourselves. That we have not only the right, but the duty to take responsibility for how we allow others to treat us." Sometimes when people encroach upon our personal borders it is proper to ask the question of the trespasser, "What part of "NO" don't you understand?!"