With all the political hype about the “Wall,” most have forgotten their history. They continue to be on one side or the other of this issue, a planned and structured political game to be sure, but ignore the obvious danger of this thinking.
Might I mention some stark examples? The Great Wall of China, The Berlin Wall, the wall between North and South Korea, the wall between Israel and the West Bank, just to name a few. Did these walls cause peace and harmony, and solve all the problems of immigration for these countries, or did chaos, conflict, and tortured relationships rein? The latter is most always the case.
What the general population fails to understand is a very basic truth about walling in a country. That is that any wall meant to keep people out also accomplishes the exact opposite by trapping people inside. All border walls have two sides that accomplish the same goal. That goal is to control the movement of both sides. While this may not be touted by the advocates of such a venture, it is nonetheless the result evident at completion.
My position is simply that walls cause dissension, aggression, distrust, and conflict. This is not the way to solve a border problem but can only serve to make things worse. In many cases, this is purposely designed by the aggressor nation in order to address another agenda.
While this is an extremely complicated problem, it is best solved by firm and well founded diplomacy, not prison walls. This seems indisputable to me, as nations who get along and trade together do not build walls or war against each other. On the other hand, most all countries that have walled their borders have continuous fighting and even hatred is common.
This is almost always political in nature, and the real underlying reasons for the strife are hidden from view by the very entities causing the problem. Those entities are normally powerful controlling interests, and the political class that bows to those interests. Given the makeup of the treacherous nature of divisive politics, it is an easy task for the powerful to stir up the proletariat into a frenzied mob fighting amongst themselves over a manufactured dilemma like immigration.
So what has happened to cause such an uproar due to immigration, and how has this matter been escalated and complicated by those in power? In the single case of the U.S. and Mexico, the problem has escalated dramatically in very recent times. Obviously, there has been a checkered history between the two countries, mostly due to U.S. aggression and expansion, taking from Mexico in the past most all of what is now called the West and Southwest portion of the United States. But since the late 1800s, relations with Mexico have been mostly diplomatic and economically beneficial to both. It seems the recent troubles have surfaced and come to a boiling point since Trump took office, but this is in no way just a problem caused by Trump.
However, threatening to build an almost 2000 mile wall between the countries, threatening to force Mexico to pay for that wall, and implementing protectionist trade restrictions that could certainly harm Mexico, and of course the consumers in America, is not a recipe for beneficial trade, prosperity, peace and harmony, or good relations at any level. As an aside, many if not most of those coming into the U.S. in recent years through Mexico have been coming from Central America, not Mexico. This is a multi-level problem, and one that needs a more diplomatic and strategic solution, not just threatening rhetoric and ego driven political posturing.
It may be useful to know that there were according to the Migration Policy Institute, about 11.2 million Mexican immigrants in the U.S. in 2016. But the U.S. State Department claims that over 9 million Americans are living in other countries and in addition, many more are leaving this country every year. Also, Americans are renouncing their U.S. citizenship at a record pace.
This is only a very brief discussion of a very complex issue, and this phenomenon is not one-sided. It is best to analyze with an open mind, and to look at every aspect of the problem, not just concentrate on what is fed to you by those in positions of power with a self-motivated agenda. Nefarious schemes hide individual nefarious intent, but everything happens for a reason, and rarely is that reason exposed. Beware of fearmongers preying on the emotions of the collective public, as group fear is a most useful tool of tyrants.
In this country, at least the general rule, is that Republicans want a 2000 mile wall and Democrats want no wall but they want a continued aggressive police state at the borders. Both are completely wrong, and both scenarios would cause havoc and harm to all of us. It is best to always avoid the political trap, and use your own mind to think clearly.
Open borders with a removal of all government interference would be the better way.
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