Despite the fact that in my opinion Donald Trump is mostly incompetent to hold high office, there are exceptions. Most notably is his position on a border wall with Mexico.
To be sure, my preferred policy would be one of seeking to unify North America under one government, that of the United States, and eventually unify the Western hemisphere, but until that happens the best course of action to take clearly is to seal off our southern border to end illegal immigration, something that is a threat to us all. Population policy is crucial to the well being of any nation. It is necessary -absolutely necessary- to control demographics if you want to protect your nation from becoming what it is not. This principle is understood by anyone who is a political realist. Not too many years ago there were comments from an Israeli politician about the situation in Lebanon. To be sure, his remarks over-simplified things, but he had the basics right. Forgotten who he was but his point was that Israel has been successful in keeping the country predominantly Jewish -hence cohesive and a functioning democracy. In contrast, Lebanon, which was supposed to be a flourishing Christian country in the Mid East, did not maintain control over its demography and as a result the one time Christian majority became a shrinking Christian minority without cohesion and with periodic civil wars or other fighting. The construction of a border wall by the state of Israel had more than one purpose even if the initial reason was simply to thwart suicide attacks by Muslims which had reached a point where bombings were almost a daily occurrence. The wall had that effect, now there are almost no bombings, As well, there is close to zero illegal immigration. Which is to say that walls work. And not just Israel's wall. See the article about barrier walls below, following the article from the Washington Post. Depending on how you count, there now are about 30 border walls in the world, with more on the way as nations, after seeing the success of the Israeli wall, want barriers of their own, hence barriers between Malaysia and Thailand to protect Buddhists from Muslim fanatics, between India and Bangla Desh with another project under construction between India and Pakistan, between Turkiye and Syria, built by the Turks to curtail massive illegal immigration by Syrians. But there are many more. Walls do work. News flash: The Chinese knew this well over 2000 years ago and built a massive wall that served its purpose admirably until a traitor sold out the state and opened one gate to foreign invaders in the historic past. Also in remote history the Mesopotamians built a much shorter wall of their own and it worked, too, at least until the state collapsed from within and a flood of mostly Semites from the South changed the demographics of the country. The Assyrians, for the benefit of the not-historically-informed, were /are ethnically related to the Hebrews and spoke a language, Aramaic, that is very closely related to Hebrew such that speakers of each language can more-or-less understand each other. But now we have a pope who, like other recent popes, is not well informed and who, in the case of Francis, happens to be a Cultural Marxist sympathizer and who has swallowed the Cultural Marxist line. Walls are evil, he tells us, apparently ignorant of all of the walls now in existence around the world and also ignorant of how well those parts of the US/ Mexico barrier work in places where there is such a barrier. Anyone notice TV footage of the recent caravan when it arrived near San Diego a few weeks ago.? Several hundred would-be illegals rushed the border and were stopped dead in their tracks by the barrier and the border patrol on the scene. Or as a critic of the Democrats said recently: Do Nancy Pelosi and Church Shumer want us to dismantle the several hundred miles of barriers now in place between the US and Mexico? If walls are so meaningless, why not? That is, they know perfectly well that walls work, but they believe that it is in their interests to encourage more Hispanic immigration to swell the ranks of the party in border states to turn them all blue. To repeat, I'd like to see Mexico and Central America become part of the United States, This presumes massive changes in those lands, including a process in which there are territories that function to educate Mexicans etc to the American system and learn our laws and language, and to switch to American culture. But if these countries do not want to do so, then let us build a wall and make it impenetrable. BR ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Pope Francis on Trump’s border wall: ‘Fear that makes us crazy’ By Julie Zauzmer<https://www.washingtonpost.com/people/julie-zauzmer/> January 23, 2019 Washington Post Pope Francis has made no secret in the past of his disdain for President Trump’s immigration policy. Francis speaks frequently of welcoming migrants; he has said he prefers bridges rather than walls. On Wednesday, as the pope flew to Panama for a massive gathering of Catholic youth, a reporter asked Francis about a barrier constructed between the United States and Mexico, near San Diego, according to Reuters. Francis dismissed the barrier as foolish and said it was motivated by some Americans' fear of migrants. “It is the fear that makes us crazy,” he said, according to the Associated Press. He has seen such barriers firsthand. In the months leading up to Trump’s election, Francis visited Mexico and stopped at the U.S. border, where he prayed for the people who have died<https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/pope-francis-will-finish-his-mexico-tour-looking-straight-at-the-us-border/2016/02/16/3bff6154-8eb1-4aed-b7f7-49cea05698d0_story.html?utm_term=.8e0738a3c52f> while trying to cross. Francis has criticized Trump many times over the past several years. The pontiff has said the president was “not Christian<https://www.washingtonpost.com/video/world/pope-francis-trump-not-christian-over-immigration/2016/02/18/3f9aa61e-d667-11e5-a65b-587e721fb231_video.html?utm_term=.7f73cc531c2a>” because of his views on immigration and ought to extend protections to undocumented young immigrants if he is actually “pro-life<https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2017/09/11/pope-francis-if-trump-is-pro-life-he-should-extend-daca/?utm_term=.afcb94b0bc52>.” And when Trump visited the Vatican in 2017, Francis gave him as a gift his encyclical on climate change<https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2017/05/24/pope-francis-presents-trump-with-a-politically-loaded-gift-his-encyclical-on-climate-change/?utm_term=.81485a21ff73>, another subject on which they disagree. Early on, Trump fired back, calling Francis’s suggestion that he was un-Christian “disgraceful<https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2016/02/17/vatican-its-not-all-about-you-trump/?utm_term=.0e4a8036e2d8>.” The pair acted as if they had somewhat patched things up when Trump later visited the Holy See. _____________________________________________________________ <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Border_barrier#External_links_and_further_reading> List of current barriers Name Country Built Length (km) Type Belize–Guatemala Belize<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belize> Proposed, agreed N/A Disputed territory and anti-illegal immigration Botswana/Zimbabwe Botswana<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Botswana> and Zimbabwe<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zimbabwe> 2003 500 Anti-illegal immigration Brunei/Limbang Brunei<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brunei> and Limbang<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limbang> 2005 20 Anti-illegal immigration Bulgaria/Turkey Bulgaria<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulgaria> 2014 30 Anti-illegal immigration Ceuta border fence<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ceuta_border_fence> Spain<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spain> 2001 8 Anti-illegal immigration China/Hong Kong Hong Kong<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hong_Kong> 1960s – early 32 Anti-illegal immigration Costa Rica/Nicaragua Costa Rica<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Costa_Rica> Proposed N/A Anti-illegal immigration Chinese–Korean border fence<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese%E2%80%93Korean_border_fence> China<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China> and North Korea<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Korea> Under construction 1,416 Anti-illegal immigration Egypt–Gaza barrier<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egypt%E2%80%93Gaza_barrier> Egypt<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egypt> 1979, subterranean barrier under construction 3.1 Anti-terrorism and anti-illegal immigration Estonia–Russia border fence Estonia<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Estonia> and Russia<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russia> Planned 106–108 Against Russian intrusion, illegal trade and illegal immigration Macedonia–Greece barrier<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macedonian_border_barrier> Macedonia<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_of_Macedonia> 2015 30 Anti-illegal immigration Malaysia–Thailand border<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malaysia%E2%80%93Thailand_border> Thailand<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thailand> and Malaysia<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malaysia> Proposed 650 Anti-terrorism Melilla border fence<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melilla_border_fence> Spain<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spain> 1998 11 Anti-illegal immigration Hungary–Serbia barrier<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hungarian_border_barrier> Hungary<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hungary> 2015 175 Anti-illegal immigration Hungary–Croatia barrier<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hungarian_border_barrier> Hungary<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hungary> 2015 41 Anti-illegal immigration India–Bangladesh barrier<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/India%E2%80%93Bangladesh_barrier> India<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/India> Under construction 3,268 Anti-illegal immigration India–Myanmar barrier<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/India%E2%80%93Myanmar_barrier> India<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/India> Under construction 1,624 Anti-drug smuggling and anti-terrorism Indian Kashmir barrier<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Kashmir_barrier> India<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/India> 2004 550 Anti-terrorism (disputed territory) Iran–Pakistan barrier<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran%E2%80%93Pakistan_barrier> Iran<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran> and Pakistan<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pakistan> Under construction 700 Anti-drug smuggling Kazakhstan–Uzbekistan barrier<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kazakhstan%E2%80%93Uzbekistan_relations#Kazakhstan–Uzbekistan_barrier> Kazakhstan<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kazakhstan> and Uzbekistan<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uzbekistan> 2006 45 Anti-drug smuggling Korean Demilitarized Zone<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korean_Demilitarized_Zone> North Korea<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Korea> and South Korea<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Korea> 1953 248 Conflict zone Kruger National Park<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kruger_National_Park> South Africa<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Africa> and Mozambique<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mozambique> 1975 120 Anti-illegal immigration South Africa/Zimbabwe Border<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Africa%E2%80%93Zimbabwe_border> South Africa<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Africa> 2000s 225 Anti-illegal immigration, anti-drug smuggling, anti-weapon smuggling Kuwait–Iraq barrier<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuwait%E2%80%93Iraq_barrier> Kuwait<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuwait> and Iraq<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraq> 1991 193 Conflict zone Pakistan–Afghanistan barrier<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pakistan%E2%80%93Afghanistan_barrier> Pakistan<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pakistan> Under construction 2,400 Anti-terrorism, anti-illegal immigration, anti drug smuggling Saudi–Yemen barrier<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saudi%E2%80%93Yemen_barrier> Saudi Arabia<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saudi_Arabia> and Yemen<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yemen> 2004 75 Anti-illegal immigration Saudi–Iraq barrier<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saudi%E2%80%93Iraq_barrier> Saudi Arabia<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saudi_Arabia> and Iraq<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraq> 2014 900 Anti-illegal immigration and conflict zone Slovenia–Croatia barrier<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slovenian_border_barrier> Slovenia<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slovenia> under construction N/A Anti-illegal immigration Turkey–Syria border barrier<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkey%E2%80%93Syria_border_barrier> Turkey<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkey> Under construction 828 Anti-terrorism, anti-illegal immigration and smuggling Turkey–Iran border barrier<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkey%E2%80%93Iran_border_barrier> Turkey<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkey> Under construction 144 Anti-terrorism, anti-illegal immigration and smuggling Turkmen–Uzbekistan barrier<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkmen%E2%80%93Uzbekistan_barrier> Turkmenistan<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkmenistan> and Uzbekistan<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uzbekistan> 2001 1,700 Anti-illegal immigration Ukraine–Russia barrier<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ukraine%E2%80%93Russia_barrier> Ukraine<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ukraine> and Russia<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russia> Under construction 2,000 Anti Weapon Smuggling and Conflict zone United Arab Emirates–Oman barrier<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Arab_Emirates%E2%80%93Oman_barrier> United Arab Emirates<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Arab_Emirates> and Oman<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oman> Under construction 410 Anti-illegal immigration Mexico–United States barrier<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexico%E2%80%93United_States_barrier> United States<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States> Proposed; Partially Constructed 930 Anti-illegal immigration and smuggling Uzbek–Afghanistan barrier<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uzbek%E2%80%93Afghanistan_barrier> Uzbekistan<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uzbekistan> and Afghanistan<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afghanistan> 2001 209 Anti-illegal immigration Uzbek–Kyrgyzstan barrier<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uzbek%E2%80%93Kyrgyzstan_barrier> Uzbekistan<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uzbekistan> and Kyrgyzstan<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyrgyzstan> 1999 870 Conflict zone -- -- Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community <[email protected]> Google Group: http://groups.google.com/group/RadicalCentrism Radical Centrism website and blog: http://RadicalCentrism.org --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist 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