Perspectives: Building a wall won’t fix what ails us

January 13, 2019 Utah Channel 3

OPINION — I’ll just come right out and say it. A wall isn’t going to fix what ails us.

For all the time and energy being exerted either in favor of or against walling off our southern border, too few people are capable of seeing beyond their partisan blinders. Both sides view the battle over Trump’s promised border wall as a physical representation of their own ideological infallibilty.

Some conservatives claim the wall is a necessary barrier to protect the sovereign integrity of our republic. Meanwhile, their progressive counterparts see it as concrete – or steel – proof that Trump’s most fervent supporters are xenophobic haters at heart.

Migrants heading to America from points south of the border are portrayed as either terrorists, smugglers and future fraudulent voters or they are shown as starry-eyed dreamers in search of a better life.

Both viewpoints may contain certain elements of truth but are hardly representative of the more complex realities surrounding immigration. Both inspire intense emotion yet fail to provide essential context of the bigger picture.

Few people on either side recognize that they are becoming completely fixated on one facet of a much larger problem. Add in a healthy dose of pride-bordering-on-hubris to the mix and they’ll simply continue to shout bumper-sticker slogans at one another until they’re blue in the face.

Those who are placing their faith in the construction of an impenetrable border wall are seeking after a sort of false idol that promises to allay their fears of “invasion” by benefit-seeking foreigners. It’s a form of political snake oil that plays to the emotions of various constituencies while keeping their attention focused on symptoms rather than causes.

Henry David Thoreau is famous for stating, “There are a thousand hacking at the branches of evil to one who is striking at the root. …”

In this case, the root of what’s ailing America goes far beyond those who are coming here without jumping through the myriad hoops required to obtain official permission.

To illustrate why this is so, let’s consider for a moment that the wall is built and immigration across our southern border is effectively reduced to whatever central planners in Washington, D.C., are willing to allow.

Will the construction of the wall return our bloated national government to its proper limited form?

Will there still be tens of millions of true blue Americans on our welfare rolls? Will our government continue to plunder productive Americans through excessive taxation in order to redistribute their earnings in the form of political favors?

Will our leaders continue to borrow money they don’t have in order to keep spending at the levels to which they’ve become accustomed? Will they continue to saddle future generations with responsibility for an astronomical debt over which they’ve had no say?

Will this president, and those who will follow him in office, begin to abide by the limitations of his delegated powers or will we see continued imperial behavior – as we have with nearly every president in the past 100 years?

Will the surveillance state continue to build its massive databases of information on each of us without so much as a warrant, probable cause or due process? Will our national security apparatus continue to claim authority to detain suspects indefinitely, to torture them and to kill American citizens without due process as part of a nebulous war on terror?

Will our national policy makers keep entangling our nation in the internal affairs of others nations against their will? Will our drone strikes, covert military operations and interference in the politics of other nations continue unabated?

Will this genuinely make us safer or freer in any way whatsoever?

Will our those who supposedly represent us in D.C. become more accountable or more responsive to the people who elected them? Or will they continue to rule in favor their own interests and those of the moneyed interests who help keep them in power?

Will the building of the wall empower the American people to reclaim their rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness? Or will we still be expected to show gratitude to politicians who eagerly insinuate themselves into even the most private aspects of our personal lives?

If none of these things, all of which are actively destroying the sovereign integrity of this nation, will change, then how can we claim that this proposed wall is more than a distraction?

As John W. Whitehead of the Rutherford Institute warns:

Anytime you have an entire nation so mesmerized by the antics of the political ruling class that they are oblivious to all else, you’d better beware.

Yes, there are real and sometimes serious problems associated with illegal immigration.

But let’s not pretend that walling ourselves in is the primary solution for what ails us.

Our nation is being scuttled by a political class that is capitalizing on our ignorance. Fixing that disconnect would be a wiser start.

Bryan Hyde is an opinion columnist specializing in current events and liberty viewed through what he calls the lens of common sense. The opinions stated in this article are his own and may not be representative of St. George News.

Email: bryanh@stgnews.com

Twitter: @youcancallmebry