Good Fences Make Good Neighbors

These are words from “Mending Wall,” a poem written in 1914 by the American pastoral poet Robert Frost. The consideration of repairing a fence so that the livestock one raises do not cross over and damage a neighboring farm fosters harmony with one’s neighbors. A “good neighbor” is someone who respects another’s property. In this way, properly setting and managing boundaries helps maintain good relationships. It is wisdom that applies to family and friends, companies, and nations alike.

No one wants their body or property to be violated. That is why people draw boundaries and build fences. The reason fences are needed is precisely to protect individual freedom and property rights. This is the positive side of fences.

Then does that mean the sturdier the fence, the better? Of course not. A fence can also be used to suppress one’s own freedom or that of others. A fence that blocks free activity, imposes control, and seeks to confine people is clearly negative. Such fences should be easy to tear down.

People usually use the word “wall” in a negative sense. The word conveys the idea of being blocked and stifled, as in expressions like “I hit a wall” or “It felt like I was talking to a wall.” That is why people sometimes say we should tear down walls, share together, and live together.

But what would happen if we only tore down walls without considering their positive side? Would we really become more harmonious and preserve peace? We would not. Binding people together in a community means protecting individual freedom and rights while expanding their scope. It does not mean sharing everything unconditionally.

Even within a family, people create separate rooms with walls. Through those spaces, they protect privacy and gain peace. Individuals enjoy freedom within the personal space that walls provide. And through that, they can protect what is theirs. When entering someone else’s space, one cannot simply walk in. One must knock and receive permission first. This is a basic courtesy that applies even among family members.

Kahlil Gibran expressed this idea of “keeping an appropriate distance” well in his poem titled “Let there be spaces in your togetherness.” People need places to meet when communication is called for. Families gather in the living room to talk, and neighbors may visit one another’s homes. Of course, visiting another person’s home should require a careful process and consent. People sometimes share their living rooms with guests, but they also sometimes keep a separate reception room for conversations with visitors.

Organizations and nations as well maintain mutual respect and peace by establishing boundaries and keeping an appropriate distance. The American statesman and writer Benjamin Franklin said, “Love your neighbor; yet don’t pull down your hedge.” In other words, balanced relationships are possible only when healthy boundaries are maintained. Just as peace can be preserved with a hostile state like North Korea only by keeping distance through the armistice line.

A good fence is not one that imprisons and oppresses people. A good fence is one that protects people’s freedom and property rights.

Sung-no Choi

President, Center for Free Enterprise (CFE)

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Original title: 좋은 울타리는 선한 이웃을 만든다

Author: Sung-no Choi

Date: 2018-07-04

Source: https://www.cfe.org/bbs/bbsDetail.php?cid=press&pn=26&idx=11057