Everybody knows that the illegals are pouring into our country through the Southern border on a daily basis by the millions. And everybody knows that we can stop it by building a big, beautiful wall.
But, the Democrats (and the NeverTrumpers) don’t care about our national security. They don’t care about the drugs flowing in and killing so many Americans. They don’t care about all of the women and children, bound and mouths taped shut, being trafficked. They don’t care about all of the terrorists infiltrating us through the border. They don’t care about all of the rapists and murderers coming in to rape and murder us. They don’t care about the millions coming in for all of the free entitlements. They don’t care about all of the others that come in and take jobs away from our own citizens, mostly African Americans and Hispanics.
Their hatred of Trump is greater than their love of the country.
We’re told that if we don’t agree with Trump and the need for Trump’s big, beautiful wall, then we just don’t care about our country.
I’m here to dispute that.
You see, I contend that Trump’s big, beautiful wall isn’t enough. We can build it on the Southern border, but illegals are still going to find a way in. Not only over, under, around and through the wall itself, but also will come in from airplanes and through the Northern border, and on cruise ships and dinghies from both coasts.
What we need is a big, beautiful impenetrable dome. It is truly the only way we’re going to keep out all of the undesirable elements of the rest of the world. Yes, it will also keep us in, but that’s the price we need to be willing to pay for our security.
“Build that DOME! Build that DOME! Build that DOME!”
And you know what? If you don’t agree with me on building the dome, then you can’t possibly be serious about national security. You must want all of the drugs and terrorists to come flowing in. You must want all of the rapists and murderers raping and murdering your family.
Absurd, you say?
Of course it is. However, it’s the exact argument Trump and all of his supporters are making with his big, beautiful wall.
If you don’t agree with their perceived needed level of security, it obviously means you don’t care at all about security.
It’s a major failing in logic and critical thinking.
Think of our security as a spectrum of possibilities…on the one end of the spectrum is no security at all, completely open borders with no one even paying any attention at all to who comes and goes, either by air, land, or sea. On the other end of the spectrum is my proposal for a dome where nobody at all will get in or out for any reason.
The possibilities of security levels in between those two extremes are nearly infinite.
Therefore, opinions about which level of security we need are also going to be varied a great deal.
Trump and his supporters have drawn an arbitrary line and said, “we need a wall on the Southern border and if you don’t agree, you just don’t care about security”.
That is neither rational nor logical.
What happens when, after we build that wall on the Southern border, those same migrants find a way around it?
Maybe they take ships up to Canada and then come down through the Northern border. Do we then build a wall on the Northern border?
What happens when they stop crossing the border illegally and change tactics to where they all simply seek asylum legally through our ports of entry (like most of the caravans do already)? Do we quit accepting asylum seekers altogether?
What happens when more come through the air on vacation visas and simply stay? Do we stop allowing all visas and visitation to the U.S.?
What happens when they come by boatloads and arrive on our coastlines? Do we place mines in the water?
Where does it end? Where should the line be drawn?
That is the question, not only for this issue, but for ALL issues.
It’s all about economics. But those who have studied even basic economics know that I am not just talking about how much money a thing costs to build. Economics is much more encompassing than that. It is all about deciding how best to to use limited resources. Those resources can be in the from of time, money, labor, energy and more.
In making a sound decision on economics, one of the most fundamentals exercises is to analyze the costs and benefits of the options. Not just the direct, immediate costs and benefits, but also the secondary and tertiary consequences of the decision. In addition, you have to consider the opportunity costs of it…what else could those resources be used for that would be lost if we use it for this?
There are so many variable factors in such decisions that if you have no understanding of economics and how to analyze them, you really have no sound reasoning for your positions. This applies to the debate on the wall, as well as on nearly every other issue we discuss.
Just proclaiming that we need a wall on our Southern border without any specific plans and detailed analysis of the costs and benefits (initial and ongoing), and the wide array of unintended consequences, is simplistic, at best. At worst, it’s derelict and irresponsible.
The Trump Administration and his supporters have not done a sufficient job to convince Congress, or the people, that the wall would be prudent or effective. They have not provided a convincing, sound economic analysis. We are a self-governing Republic, which means when major decisions like this are made there needs to be strong public support for it. That public support is measured by the people’s representatives. When Trump and his supporters claim that the Democrats are not doing their job by refusing to fund Trump’s wall, that is absurdly false. They represent the will of the people and that’s exactly how our system is supposed to work.
While there is such a wide disagreement on how best to handle our borders and our immigration policies, it’s not wise to make such decisions on a unilateral or partisan basis. Conservatives once understood that…remember Obamacare?
Work needs to be done to build consensus on the issue and all Trump has done is build further division. Like on most other issues, he is the absolute wrong person to be trying to deal with these things. He has no convictions, he has no credibility in truth-dealing, he has a long record of not dealing in good faith, and he thrives on simply creating more conflict.
No good can come of that.
If he manages to get his big, beautiful wall under these circumstances, it will be only temporary. Since most of the country is against it, future Democrat opponents will gleefully campaign on tearing down the wall. Mark my words, they will use President Reagan’s “Tear down that wall” clips as a bludgeon against the GOP.
And when they win, they will make a huge celebratory spectacle of tearing it down.
Cut to scene of a future Democrat nominee’s campaign rally:
Crowd chanting: “Tear down that WALL! Tear down that WALL! Tear down that WALL!”
