It's not so much a matter of what the wall will do as much as it is the question what we will do with the wall to make it of more benefit to all of us.
--Arlee Bird
In my previous post I discussed my vision of how the border wall as described by Donald Trump including it being paid for by Mexico might actually be a practical and a very good idea. My thinking on this suggests that a beautifully built and highly technological wall would provide economic stimulus and regional development to communities on both sides of the border. To read more I recommend referring to Can Trump's Border Wall Work? before reading today's post.
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| Sleeping Beauty Castle at Disneyland Resort, Anaheim CA (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
“All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them.”
Walt Disney
A Symbol of Two Nations
There is one more aspect of the "beautiful border wall" that I think is a very positive thing. It sounds idealistic perhaps, but it makes sense from a certain standpoint of marketing. What is this idealistic aspect? I suggest the border wall as a symbol of two nations.
The traditional symbol for immigrants coming to the United States has been the Statue of Liberty. This monument was what the new arrivals to be processed through the Ellis Island immigration center would see. The "Proud Lady of the Harbor" represented life, liberty, and the pursuit of dreams. An awesome border wall build with aesthetic appeal could likewise become a symbol.A wall would initially seem like an unpleasant reminder of exclusion and hardship, but with smooth processing through modern efficient receiving centers located at the welcoming border gateways and vibrant development in the areas along the border wall, the border would become something to which hopeful immigrants would look forward. This border wall would become famous and become a destination for travelers to just see and marvel. The wall could become a destination for tourists as well as the crossing point between two great nations.
Just as the Lady Liberty holds a torch in one hand and a book of law in the other, the wall's official logo might be a similar book of law. At points along the length of the wall could be beacons or bright displays of light symbolizing illumination of the path as well as the minds of the people. The development of this great wall perhaps could become like a sort of Disneyland of economic development where cultures would be shared through eating establishments, museums, shopping districts and so on.
Many when faced with the concept of a border wall are immediately turned off. They will argue about the expense, the impracticality, the divisiveness, or they might just say it can't be done. What I've described in my previous post is practical and possible even though at first look it might seem fantasy. What I've described in the above paragraphs will even be rejected outright as outlandish. Right now the idea is a fantasy in my mind. I'm not saying that this is what Donald Trump or anyone else has in mind, but I do believe it is something to consider. What it all comes down to is primarily marketing the idea, creating workable plans, implementing those plans, and then continuing to market the project until it has been widely accepted by most.
There will always be those who are against any kind of progress, but if we'd listened to the naysayers of the past we'd still be in horse and buggies and there would be no such thing as flying in planes. The greatest of ideas are almost always rejected as being a bit loony. I've presented a vision now its up to you the reader to decide if you think it is worth discussing.
The problems of the world cannot be solved by skeptics or cynics whose horizons are limited by the obvious realities. We need men who can dream of things that never were.
(1917 - 1963)
The wall proposed by Trump is a giant stupid idea proposed by a gigantic moron, a tremendous waste of natural resources, human labor and impractical. The Chinese built walls thousands of years ago to control enemies on foot and horses. I am sure Mexicans can figure out fairly easily how to bypass any wall. The whole Trump bid for the presidency is a bizarre act of a madman.
ReplyDeleteESBB, The Chinese Wall is a huge tourist draw now. I doubt any of them back then had the vision to imagine that would happen.
DeleteLee
According to stats, in the last fifteen years there are more Asians coming into the U.S. illegally. http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2015/05/01/china-passes-mexico-as-the-top-source-of-new-u-s-immigrants/ and http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/08/asians-now-outpace-mexicans-in-terms-of-undocumented-growth/432603/
ReplyDeleteSo why the whole nation including Trump has their panties in a wad over Mexicans, there are actually other cultures coming over illegally in droves. The discussion will go on though because Mexicans are an easy target. The truth about Mexico is that their economy is booming. The aeronautic (20 in Guanajuato), and auto industries are booming. Mexico has the most free-trade agreements in the world. http://www.mexicorepresentation.com/?cat=26
Sorry to go on and on, but if you only get your impression of Mexico via U.S. News, you're not getting an accurate or fair picture.
Em, I'm aware of reports of the increase of Asian illegals as well as a decrease in Mexican immigration, but still there is a problem that needs to be addressed and much of this relates to the respect of U.S. laws. As my post relates I'm suggesting that the wall could be a symbol of unity and respect for law. We can't build a wall that will stop Asian illegal incursion so different measures have to be taken concerning that. Trump hits China plenty so that aspect is not being neglected. To most Americans the illegal immigration problem is more apparent coming from the Southern border. It's good that the Mexican economy is improving--as it should--but still we have the problem of narcotraficantes and the non-Mexicans such as dubious Middle Easterners coming through the Southern border. Also we have the human trafficking problems. Much is improving, but still many problem exist for the U.S. and Mexico. A cooperative effort could do wonders.
DeleteLee
The wall might have worked if it was built 40years ago but it'll never work now.
ReplyDeleteJoJo, we have so much far more effective technology now that not only could we build a wall that would work very well, but we could like create an invisible wall with technological surveillance and manpower on the ground. The physical wall I'm suggesting is more of a tangible symbol to stimulate development.
DeleteLee
I see your point, but I still believe in building bridges (go ahead, call me a dreamer), not walls, and Trump isn't building any bridges with his talk.
ReplyDeleteMsHatch, there are many bridges crossing the border now and where the bridges aren't necessary there are checkpoints. If you are suggesting metaphorical ideological bridges then that's what I'm proposing with the wall. Somehow people hear "walls" and immediately think negatively. Personally I'd rather live in a house enclosed by walls than surrounded by bridges.
DeleteLee
There you go - turn it into a theme park! Everyone will want to ride the green card ride.
ReplyDeleteAlex, exactly! Let's turn positives into negatives. Let's take yesterday's leftover frijoles and make a fancy bean dip and have a big party.
DeleteLee
There is a man in Warner Robins who has wanted Donald Trump for President long before anyone thought someone like him would actually get as far as he has. I wish politicians weren't as polarizing as they are today.
ReplyDeleteAnn, politicians have always been polarizing. Polarization is at the root of politics. If there were no division we wouldn't have politics. I've long wanted to see a business person run our country instead of political ideologues who don't get things done or don't do them right. I was somewhat encouraged when Ross Perot ran for office, but the guy was so lackluster and uninspiring that I couldn't support him. That was one of the years when I voted Libertarian.
DeleteLee
Love Alex's comment. Turning the wall into a symbol of hope is a great idea Arlee. Plus it would definitely help bring down the drug and illegal trafficking from that region. Not that I'm suggesting other areas don't have this issue as well. For me the wall with help with a security issue as well as economical ones. You are indeed a dreamer Arlee but I also love how you try to make your ideas practical in the real world as well.
ReplyDeleteSheena-kay, if we can take the negatives and turn them into positives then we might have a better world. We have a lot of negative thinking in the United States these days. We're more focused on what can't be done or what we have to give up than what we can accomplish and how we can come out ahead in the end.
DeleteLee
As we learned last night on the debate, you can make it as fancy and valuable as you want, and Mexicans will still resent it.
ReplyDeleteCW, they say now they will resent it, but when they start thinking deeply and rationally about it they will embrace the wall and pay even more to make it greater than ever imagined.
DeleteBesides whatever Vicente Fox is saying now is his way of helping Donald Trump. I think Fox likely greatly admires Trump since they are both cut from similar cloth.
Lee
I've really enjoyed how much thought you've put into this. Whenever I heard people talking about it, it was to instantly dismiss it as Trump being racist. They didn't want the conversation and shut it down. I still doubt the wall will happen (even if Trump does get elected) but I like reading your viewpoint and the fact you are fleshing it out.
ReplyDeletePatricia, I don't understand why people don't like to talk about visionary speculation especially in the way I've framed it. It's kind of sad that people will quickly shut down a discussion by playing the race card and hurling accusations of prejudice. No wonder so little gets done in our country and when it does the process takes a long time.
DeleteLee
Lee, your eloquence is impressive but. If you had been working for a Soviet agency in 1960, you could not have done a better job glorifying the Berlin Wall. Walls are walls - words cannot change their purpose. The Great Wall of China is a curiosity for tourists to ponder, like the pyramids. They only have value coming from an ancient past. Hoover Dam, viewed from the new bridge, is much more impressive than either. I have a few points to make, then I'm bowing out of this fantasy.
ReplyDelete1- I apologize for my facetious proposal of concrete piles, accepted by you as a contribution from me. I forgot that you didn't have my background in construction. 8 million of them would cost more than the wall. Trump, as a developer, would know that. He would also know that the wall, itself, is economically unfeasible. That's why he wants Mexico to build it. That's politically unfeasible, something he apparently doesn't understand.
2- You refer to efforts we have made in the past to help Mexico that have not worked out. I know of none that were not primarily designed for our benefit. Our national corporations and our government setup the maquiladora plants, supposedly to benefit Mexico, but they evolved into sweat shops to manufacture our products there and escape unions and working conditions, as well as import taxes. Now, that they've discovered China and Southeast Asia, those areas are replacing them. Look up maqiladoras on the Internet to get a better idea of our "help" to Mexico. Or read how we work with Mexico to control the narcotics trade - for whose benefit?
3- Would you prefer having Muslims from Syria supplying us farm workers, gardeners, and other work our people don't wont to do? We should be able to find a better way to use our illegal immigrants but, at least, they're not bringing a fifth column of ISIS terrorists.
4 - I realize that you support Trump, and that he makes sense to you. However, would you be this avid about the border wall had he not proposed it? Are you prepared for more rear-guard actions to protect him as he continues his parade, waving his arms, proclaiming more simplistic solutions, and denouncing any who dare to insult "the Donald?"
Jack Eiden
Jack, I appreciate your thought out response, but as I have been continually saying, what I'm saying is my fantasy and speculation looking at possibilities and dreams of what could be. I included some quotes to infer some parallels to past dreamers and visionaries who helped to inspire in order to make the seemingly impossible to some a reality.
DeleteI've compiled some hastily thought out ideas that I truly believe could work if approached correctly. My intentions here are not to sell anybody on Donald Trump, but to think imaginatively about my ideas. Some like you have while others seem to mostly dismiss them or continue to link them directly to Trump the man. I don't care who would come up with the wall idea--indeed Trump wasn't the first to do so--but I'm just using my imagination to create a scenario that might make a border wall a more appealing idea to readers.
Thank you for playing along with my fantasy and contributing your views to the discussion.
Lee
I don't know about the feasibility of a wall. I think your ideas are interesting. Are they possible? I have no idea.
ReplyDeleteYou addressed in your previous post the notion that we'd have to get the drug trade under control first (I think). Do you watch the TV show Scorpion? If not, there was an episode last week (season 2, ep 17) in which the team was tasked to stop drugs coming over from Mexico via drone. I think this goes to show that for every tech advance, there is a criminal looking to exploit it for gain. When you factor drones carrying bricks of drugs (flying under the radar), it makes the idea of a wall to curb the drug trade completely impractical.
Trump has created conversation about the immigration problem... no doubt. I'm not convinced that he has practical solutions. Worse yet, I'm not sure there are any at this point. We've let this problem get totally out of hand. The dam broke a long time ago (the water is coming through fast and furious) and we're still talking about how to plug it. Frankly, I don't expect this problem to be solved no matter who is elected.
That said, talking about ideas is always interesting.
Robin, I am believer that just about anything dreamed within reason can come to fruition. I haven't presented any even near impossible--difficult to actually achieve perhaps, but not impossible.
DeleteA highly technological wall would accommodate such things as drones or any aerial incursion. I'm sure this technology is already used to some extent. Whatever the guys on the wrong side of the law come up with we have to stay caught up with and there will always be something new.
I'm not sure the problem will be solved due to the economics of illegal immigration and the willingness of so many Americans to accept the disregard for our immigration laws.
We don't solve any problem until we name it, clearly identify everything concerned with it, and then enforce the laws that are in place. Inaction brings about now practical change in any legal sense.
Lee
I think you would have loved to sit with Karl Marx. He had a great notion and believed I all its possibilities but he did not count on one going...human fallacy. From music to film, art, you name it, walls usually mean something to keep people out or in. the Berlin Wall had tourists looking at it, artists used it to showcase their artistic views but, in the end, it was a wall built to keep people in. the Great Wall if China is now a huge tourist destination but, when it was built, it was not meant for that. it would be nice to think that a wall could be something made for good but a wall, by definition, does not help the world but inhibits it. Once the wall is built, the job is done and people are laid off. the one side may have boutiques, art displays etc... But the other side has people longing to tear it down. it's a nice way to think but it is not realistic.
ReplyDeleteBirgit, in one sense you've apparently missed the point I was trying to make in my post, while on the other hand you've began building a viable world that could be used in a story about such a wall locale. Many fine Berlin Wall stories have been written or filmed.
DeleteNow, can you think of other alternative wall worlds both good and bad or even just neutral?
Lee