The wall’s power comes out of its metaphorical affirmation of dark negative emotions rather than from any feasible utility in building it.
The wall’s power is that it is the only thing ever proposed to help fix the bloody problem. And border security has only been ‘promised’ since Reagan.
If Professor Whyte wants to know why ‘mass politics’ are appealing at this time it’s because politics has been ignoring the mass for too long. Nothing happens in a vacuum.
Saudi Arabia has a border fence.
So does:
Belize-Guatemala
Botswana/Zimbabwe
Brunei/Limbang
Bulgaria/Turkey
Ceuta border fence
China/Hong Kong
Costa Rica/Nicaragua
Chinese-Korean border fence
Egypt-Gaza barrier
Estonia-Russia border fence
Macedonian border barrier
Malaysia-Thailand border
Melilla border fence
Hungary–Serbia barrier
Hungary–Croatia barrier
Indo-Bangladeshi barrier
Indo-Burma barrier
Indian Kashmir barrier
Iran-Pakistan barrier
Kazakh-Uzbekistan barrier
Korean Demilitarized Zone
Kruger National Park
South Africa/Zimbabwe Border
Kuwait-Iraq barrier
Pakistan-Afghanistan barrier
Saudi-Yemen barrier
Saudi-Iraq barrier
Slovenia-Croatia barrier
Turkmen-Uzbekistan barrier
Ukraine-Russia barrier
United Arab Emirates-Oman barrier
Uzbek-Afghanistan barrier
Uzbek-Kyrgyzstan barrier
So what’s the issue?
In regards to walls, a good observation to make is which way the guns face.
East Germany had a wall, but it was to keep people in.
Derek >
The Liberal left has never had a problem with Walls to keep people in, their violent opposition is about Walls that protect, step in step with opposition to firearms, Constitutional Rights, and laws that protect citizens as well!
There’s a pattern here.
Knight 99
Exactly. Now, while the Brexit vote gives one hope that sanity may be restored, more often than not I conclude that the scale may well have tipped and I should get on with taking Cappy’s advice to just enjoy the decline.
I used to be an active shortwave listener. Many years ago, I sent a reception report to Radio Berlin International, which was the SW outlet of the GDR. (The “Democratic” in its name was a joke, of course.)
Among the material I received in its reply was a lot of propaganda, which didn’t surprise me. It was complete rubbish, of course, and among its nose-stretchers was the statement that “die Maur” was an anti-fascist barrier. No explanation was given as to why so many counter-revolutionaries wanted out of “free” Berlin.
A wall is a good idea, but with a caveat; without a significant armed presence along the border, and the money and political will to police it, the wall is useless. I mean, they *already* dig tunnels into the U.S. – and it’s not terribly difficult to bring or build a ladder.
East Berlin had a wall to keep people in, yes – but for it to be effective required armed patrols, canine units, landmines, etc. And people *still* got out.
Alyric >
“….without a significant armed presence along the border, and the money and political will to police it, the wall is useless”.
The US simply needs to shift their existing forces and armaments from the North/ South Korean border and it won’t cost a dime extra.
In fact they would save a tremendous amount of redeployment and overseas costs.
Otherwise a few landmines, drones, tunnelling detection along with the deputizing of a few thousand Militia/ Minutemen would work as well.
As a barrier to ideas, “die Maur” was quite useless. Residents could easily receive radio and TV signals from the other side, though I’m sure there were severe penalties for doing so if caught by the Stasi.
As well, when JFK made his speech in the city a few weeks before he was killed, the story is told that people on the other side were able to hear it because of the loudspeakers that were used.
In addition, it divided families and, after a few years, authorities allowed people to enter that sector of the city and visit with relatives for an hour or so. I recall that it was allowed only on Sundays and done every few weeks or months. It’s rather hard to shut out forbidden ideas when that happens.
The issue he sees is that the involvement of the masses in democracy requires talking to the people at a level where they are willing to spend time listening.
We have dumbed-down our schools. The movement from newspapers to TV to the internet has shortened people’s attention span, so having a detailed discussion is challenged. It used to be that politic arguments were made with lengthy columns in newspapers and magazines, with responses from the other side. Then it moved to TV and the height of this was newsmagazine shows like 60 Minutes. Nowadays people won’t sit through an hour of TV on political issues unless it lines up with their own views. People like Twitter.
I also find it funny when pundits complain about the right using fear and emotion to sway the electorate, when that is EXACTLY what Obama did in 2008.
He isn’t wrong, however. The fact it is EASIER to sway the electorate through emotion instead of reason is the fundamental challenge of successful democracy. This has been known since the time of Cicero. The right and the left are engaged in a race to the bottom for the sake of winning power, rather than explaining to the populace in a rational way whey their policy prescriptions are correct.
The issue he sees is that the involvement of the masses in democracy requires talking to the people at a level where they are willing to spend time listening.
We have dumbed-down our schools. The movement from newspapers to TV to the internet has shortened people’s attention span, so having a detailed discussion is challenged. It used to be that politic arguments were made with lengthy columns in newspapers and magazines, with responses from the other side. Then it moved to TV and the height of this was newsmagazine shows like 60 Minutes. Nowadays people won’t sit through an hour of TV on political issues unless it lines up with their own views. People like Twitter.
I also find it funny when pundits complain about the right using fear and emotion to sway the electorate, when that is EXACTLY what Obama did in 2008.
He isn’t wrong, however. The fact it is EASIER to sway the electorate through emotion instead of reason is the fundamental challenge of successful democracy. This has been known since the time of Cicero. The right and the left are engaged in a race to the bottom for the sake of winning power, rather than explaining to the populace in a rational way whey their policy prescriptions are correct.
Walls closer to home.
Secret Service Plans to Raise White House Fence by 5 Feet
That oughta stop them.
That piece came from the paranoid mind of a silly leftist wog with no true understanding of human nature. The elites whom the writer would have holding all political control would decend into the world of dictators like Hugo Chavez and his successor senior Maduro. It is what unchecked power ALWAYS DOES. Then there is Fidel and company.
What he is mourning is the end of the mass media and the education department’s control of the voters minds.
The uniformity of thought they tried to implement is slipping away.
Opinions that are, (gasp!) different or diverse from their own are getting out there in the public square!
He isn’t afraid of mass populism, he’s afraid of mass populism that isn’t controlled by him and his comrades in arms.
One could argue that his version of mass populism is a far bigger threat than anything Trump or Brexit leaders present.
Professor Whyte must not have a Door on his house, shares his wife with all comers, his children are not protected from ALL forms of predators…He is either a moron, or he has nothing he values…
Yes! the wall is both a physical & mental representation of the RULE of LAW…. The Constitutional Rights of all Americans…..Enforcing the laws of immigration is not MOB rule…We have enough of our own American criminals..Thank you
Whyte is a slobbering fool…Open Borders @ any cost
Several years ago I crossed over into Mexico from San Diego to Tijuana. One hell of a wall there I can assure everyone.
Exactly! The good leftist professor does not in the least understand why there is so much support for a man like Trump and probably nor for why there is so much support for Brexit. People are becoming sick of the elite telling us what to think and what is good for us and all the while piking our pockets for their benefits.
Wall at the White House to increase from 6′ to 11′ high.
http://www.nbcwashington.com/investigations/Secret-Service-Plans-to-Raise-White-House-Fence-by-5-Feet-377329721.html
Professor Whyte, was employed in the Gov’t of Sask while it was ruled (my term) by the NDP, it seems he wasn’t expert enough to work for any other governments there.
Here is what he had to say at York University while receiving their honorary degree:
http://yfile.news.yorku.ca/2013/10/23/john-d-whyte-urges-grads-to-understand-humanitys-vulnerability-as-a-tenant-of-the-earth/
“Law scholar urges grads to understand that we are tenants on Earth”
… don’t read too much of that.
Rubbish like that is one reason I don’t remember most of the speakers at the convocations I attended to receive my degrees, let alone what they actually talked about.
Seems to me the University of Regina needs some Whyte Out.
A wall for me but not for thee:
http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2016/06/anti-trumper-zuckerberg-buys-hawaii-property-puts-wall/
Once again, we see how the elitists think themselves above the rest of the rabble.
So I guess the good professor believes that Cuba is FREE … because the Castros never built a “wall”. Never mind the moat.
I remember when Radio Havana opened its shortwave broadcasts with the claim that its signals came out of “Cuba, free territory of America”.
*
why have a wall at all? mexico is, theoretically, marching in socio-cultural
lockstep with us…
“Mexico will announce that 50 per cent of their electricity will come from
clean power sources by 2025 at the Three Amigos summit in Ottawa this week.”
they’re just like us, right? well except that the actual rulers are the drug cartels…
“Of course, the sad truth is, lawless, anarchic Mexico can’t predict what
will be happening 9 minutes from now… never mind 9 years.”
but just watch justin’s media lapdogs lick up the 3 amigos vomit.
*
yes, and the RC church took up the mantel with “hell fire and brimstone”,
the more things change, the more they stay the same:-)))
Let’s ask that authority on walls, Faron Young:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMSWAUAKJn0