Infrathin
The borders became indefensible once we realized how thin they were. No one remembers who started simply to stand at the line, rather than requesting entry. But soon there were many. And it was impossible to say, the guards quickly learned, which side of the line those standing were truly on; the border proved to be so thin it could be crossed by osmosis. Now we know there are no lines on the earth, at least none we can perceive with our limited locational abilities.
All That Is Solid Melts Into Air
The first virtual government provoked a virtual civil war, as predicted by many; what no one foresaw was that its successful opposition came not from those committed to remaining in real space and time, but from those craving an individual virtuality. This virtual underground – refusing control of their imagined world – was both impossible to organize and, for the same reason, impossible to defeat. Indeed, they were victorious instantaneously for those who joined. The virtual government, stymied in its effort to convince the underground that it had been defeated, grew ever more real with its frustrations, resorting at last to the ancient physical tool of violence. At which point, it too dissolved.