It’s only been a week, but Trump has already demonstrated that he’s more about driving people apart than bringing them together – case in point: his Muslim ban. But that’s only the start of it…
It won’t be long now before President Trump puts his shovel where his campaign promise was and begins constructing a Big Beautiful Wall along America’s southern border with Mexico.
According to Trump, this new wall, that’s going to cost the American people literally millions of dollars (so much for the Mexicans paying for it), is necessary to stop “murderers, gang members and rapists” – his words, not mine – from flooding into the United States.
But looking on the bright size (and one needs to look really, really hard to see it), perhaps Trump’s Big Beautiful Wall will be a great thing for tourism.
For example, perhaps it may boost tourist numbers to the USA’s southern frontier towns, and potentially give the planet another world wonder – kind of like the Great Wall over in China?
Let’s examine how Trump’s Big Beautiful Wall – if it even gets built – will compare to other barriers around the world…
Versus the Great Wall
Source: 10mosttoday.com
Like the Great Wall of China, Trump is claiming that his wall will protect the American people from attacks along its southern border. But unlike in the case of the Great Wall, when the attacks came in the form of nomadic tribes intent of wreaking having upon the Chinese Empire, Trump’s wall will protect the USA from a productive labour force that underpins much of the American economy.
Same same but different I guess.
But perhaps most frustrating for Trump is that his wall won’t come anywhere even close to the size of the Great Wall – not by a long shot: 3,200km versus 8,850km. And indeed, coming up on the smaller side seems to be a constant theme in Trump’s life #lookathishands
Versus the West Bank Barrier
Source: reuters.com
Israel’s West Bank Barrier was constructed in 2000 and justified by the Israeli government at the time as a necessary measure against an increased wave of violence coming from the West Bank. Similarly, Trump has argued repeatedly throughout his campaign, and now as President of the United States, that a wall is needed to stop “bad” people from doing “bad” things to Americans.
But just like the wall along the West bank separating the state of Israel from the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Trump’s proposed wall will just add a whole lot of inconvenience and frustration to the daily lives of the people who live on both sides of the wall. The new wall is also likely to pose a major obstacle to constructive co-operation between the two states, effectively making things much worse and souring the relations between the USA and Mexico.
Versus the Berlin Wall
Source: cnn.com
The Berlin Wall was constructed in 1961 during the peak of the Cold War – a time of great social unrest and dissatisfaction, similar in many ways to the current political climate. But a major difference between this wall and Trump’s proposed southern border was that the Berlin Wall was built to stop East Berliners from fleeing over to the west. In Trump’s case, it’s to stop people coming in…
But as with most walls constructed during times of political stress, it eventually came down (in the early 90s), and these days it’s merely a tourist attraction. So yes, perhaps Trump’s southern wall, assuming it ever gets built, may just be a good thing for tourism some years or decades down the line.
But then the question is whether it will be worth the cost in time, money and America’s image overseas?
And to that I think the question is rather obvious: No. Hell no.