As yet another unfortunate mass murder has occurred, the media couldn’t resist but automatically portray the shooter, Omar Mateen, as a “US citizen of Afghan descent” with “ties to radical Islam.”
Premature labelling obviously leads to horrendous consequences, but allow me to pose a thought experiment for you doubters and Radical Islam afficianados: if the shooter was white/black/Asian…or even had a funky Norwegian name, would the majority of the media call to question his background and ancestry?
Let’s imagine for a second that come summer, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are the lead candidates for their respective parties; what could possible go wrong, since Hillary is viewed in a more “favorable” light compared to the Donald?
Well, remember that tricky little email scandal that our favorite lady had to combat earlier? If she gets even a whiff of an indictment from the FBI (whose recently appointed director is, surprise surprise, a partisan Republican), let the floodgates of Trump brownshirts open up and hellooooo 1984!
*Note: Fox News suck, but remember the case that people are TLDRs, so they watch mass media and go OMG SHE’S INDICTED, WE NEED TRUMP.
Apparently, Donald Trump has proposed to extend the wall 10 feet higher this time. Add to that a recent study by a Stony Brook professor that determined his presidential victory by 97% certainty should he receive the Republican nomination.
How much will that actually add cost-wise? Ballpark figure: Probably more than the conservative figure of $6.4 billion that was already estimated – JUST FOR THE WALL, not including security costs, maintenance costs, or deportation costs.
Alright, fine. Want the actual number? About $338.5 BILLION MORE.
Methodology: Howmuch.net gave me an estimate of $63 per sq. ft. of a block of concrete wall. Multiply that by the 3,145 km. U.S.-Mexican border (convert sq. km. to sq. ft. you mathematical geniuses) and then multiply that figure by the 10 ft. the Donald proposed.
And you bet it probably will cost way more than my estimate, considering that Trump wants the wall to have those many golden doors and be clean from pigeon crap.
Do you folks know what that picture is of? That is one of the hundreds of large, grand doors that open into the Grand Mosque, Al-Masjid Al-Nabawi, in Madinah, Saudi Arabia – one of the two holiest mosques in Islam. What a beautifully ordained piece of architecture. Doors like this one are literally glittering in gold and covered in beautiful calligraphy espousing the names of the prophet and God, and, your personal favorite, quotes of Allahu Akbar.
And that is exactly what I imagined the grand doors would be in Donald Trump’s fantasy wall.
So, why have I picked this magnificent architectural feat to represent Trump’s colossal vision? Let’s just take a step back and think about where the wall is being built: in the heartland of all conservatives – New Mexico, Arizona, and Texas. And within those domains, there inhabit the most conservative, radical Christians of all Christians. Then, picture a big golden canvas of a door strapped near a deeply religious community with a plethora of wall-space to adorn the Word of God. You wouldn’t think that those golden doors would be filled with Christian Allahu Akbars all over the entrances? Even a little bit of Neo-Nazi driven bigoted speech towards the incoming Latinoamericanos? And maybe a tad of First-Amendment protected flags of the old, heroic Confederacy? Heck, if there was a golden door being built next to me, I would propose to sculpt my biased ideals onto the doors as well!
Well that’s my two cents for the day, but here’s the critical part about the wall that we are all curious about. Cost.
What exactly will this massive behemoth cost average U.S. taxpayers? According to research data from the National Journal, Business Insider states that the wall would cost a whopping $6.4 billion to construct. But don’t worry! Because optimistically speaking, Mexico would foot the bill.
But if you think about it, this maneuver might actually be cost-saving in the long run. Current costs of border security are estimated at $18 billion in one year (for context, a large share of the costs is spent on trade inspections). Consider this: the current reports of how the border fence keep out immigrants are not promising. There are stories of folks crossing the Rio Grande or digging underground tunnels to come to the US, even shady stories of Border Patrol guards being paid to look the other way (low salary ranges for these guys are sometimes $49,000, so yeah. I can stomach the bribery). Human rights tragedies along the border are very commonplace stories. So would a theoretical wall be able to keep out immigrants as promised? Possibly, if it can be built in a long, Great-Wall-of-China-like trail that has no weak spots, requires low maintenance, and can be stable under severe weather conditions.
Pic Source: Pacific Rim. Look how well the wall worked out for folks keeping out “illegal aliens”
Assuming that the wall is durable enough, it would be possible to cut spending on ICE and Border Patrol guards if the wall supposedly is so super-massive that it doesn’t need as much patrolling as you would think. The security guards can be concentrated on the Rio Grande to focus on migrants trying to boat or swim ashore. I’m not a scientist, and I couldn’t find much research on this point, but I would think that the ground would be substantially harder to dig tunnels through and possibly create more dangerous cave-in conditions for migrants. This is all me trying to be optimistic about the wall, but in reality, life creates a lot of challenges and costs that are worth taking into account.
Perhaps the smart way to alleviate the migrant diaspora is to tackle their issues to the core. Why is it that they decide to forgo everything they love – home, family, friends, patriotic love – to undertake a well-known dangerous endeavor to the USofA? It can’t be simply dumbed down to push-and-pull economics of international demand and supply. Recall that the largest number of migrants come from conflict-driven zones like Mexico’s Chiapas state (overwhelmed by gang and government violence) and Guatemala. I think it is fairly obvious what the American government can do to relieve the terrible ordeals facing migrants.
Personally? I don’t really believe that Trump is in it for the immigrants. If you are a super-rich guy with a big ego, what do you do? You can’t sculpt a statue of yourself, because that’s too Hitler-y and pretentious. But can you rally xenophobic hatred and get away with building a legacy (yes you bet it will be called the Trump Wall) that will last for a millennium? Absolutely.
And that’s just the wall. Add to that estimates of deportation costs at $200 billion from Center for American Progress, or the right-leaning American Action Forum’s $400-600 billion. If Trump does indeed becomes president and immigration was first on his agenda, be prepared for a very expensive first date. And I don’t think the sex afterwards will be very pleasant.
Business Insider’s Trump cost estimates: http://www.businessinsider.com/how-much-does-donald-trumps-immigration-plan-cost-2015-8
Newsmax’s cost to build a wall: http://www.newsmax.com/FastFeatures/illegal-immigration-wall-U-SMexico-border-cost/2015/09/01/id/673114/
ProPublica.org’s current BP estimates: http://www.propublica.org/article/billions-proposed-for-new-border-security.-where-would-the-money-go
Firstly, let’s all dispense with the usual pleasantries of “Oh, IQ is a social construct of human intelligence that proves nothing and was created to stabilize the already existing hierarchy of autocratic meritocracy.” Let us explore something even dirtier and more interesting.
We shouldn’t be surprised at all that recent studies have pointed to the fallacy of the decline of children’s general aptitude due to cannabis use. So why is it that these children tend to be on the “lower end” of the social spectrum? Well, it probably is safe to conclude that other major extraneous factors are the initial causes; things like horrible parental neglect, poor nutrition (yes socioeconomic imbalance, so suck on it manic individualists), and even the malicious community-member attacks on said marijuana enthusiasts – i.e. racist treatment of minorities and the like.
Why can’t we be more civilized and rather than spread hate on each other, smoke weed together? Yes, I am going that route. The article aptly inferred that society should view children marijuana using as a “cry for help.” And, rightly so. We wouldn’t indulge on something that’s generally bad for health, like drinking alcohol, if it wasn’t for something shitty that’s occurring in our daily lives, like a bad work week, no?
Here’s a great f*cking P.S. for you: Marijuana = 0 kills. Alcohol = countless.
To quote the big guy…”OF COURRRSSEEE!!!!!!”
That Political Site 