Walls are structures that enclose or divide. Like everything else in this world, walls
have their advantages and disadvantages.
Walls provide privacy, like bedroom walls; thank God for doors though,
if you know what I mean. We can hide
behind walls. Then there’s the kind of
wall we build around our hearts; a wall of protection so to speak. We withdraw to keep from feeling the hurt
that often accompanies the relationships we encounter throughout our
lifetimes. Like when your dog or cat
passes away and you find yourself saying, “Never again.”
Walls work like prisons. They can keep information and people from getting
in or from getting out; this includes the sensitive heart. If you build a wall around your heart, you’ve
closed yourself off from love. You hide behind
your wall and others can no longer see your love-light shine. Its fear based and there is nothing romantic or
courageous about it.
Take for instance, when I was eleven
years old, my parents divorced, and my siblings and I went from Catholic
Schools to City Schools, and my life changed drastically. The difference between the two schools was
that one school pushed its students academically, and there were no enemies to
be found among classmates, except for maybe the school principle, Sister Mary
Carol. The good thing about the city
school was that I was at least a grade ahead of my classmates, but on the
downside, these kids always wanted to fight.
God forbid if you had a disagreement with any of them, the rest of the kids
would instigate the fight and before you knew it, you were toe to toe with your
adversary.
So I began smoking cigarettes and
learned how to talk and walk like a bad ass.
And by the time high school rolled around, all I had to do was shoot a
look, puff my chest and roar and that was the end of any thoughts of entanglement
by the opposition.
We do what we have to do to survive,
but does that make it right? My little
wall of protection didn’t only keep others from wanting to challenge me; it also
kept others from loving me or even wanting to get close to me. With a cold heart comes lost
opportunities.
Now take this scenario and apply it
to the United States as if we were one individual. Not only will a wall along the Southern
border provide a false sense of protection, but it imprisons our hearts and
minds from the very freedom we base our identity on. They don’t call England that land of the
free, or Ireland, or Italy or any other nation I know of. That designation has always been reserved for
the United States of America.
Our very existence is being
challenged, and I most certainly understand the opposition to an open border,
but there are other options available.
Like did you know that since
marijuana has become (in some way, shape or form) legal and easily available in
most states now that there has been a major decrease to the amount of marijuana
coming into the country from Mexico? They
can’t compete with the weed we’re growing here.
And guess what? Heroin wouldn’t be problem either, if it wasn’t
for the pharmaceutical industry here in good ‘ole
America. It was the pharmaceutical
companies that created a need for heroin in the first place, via the opioid
epidemic. Live Science reported that “nearly
80% of people who became addicted to heroin had used prescription pills first.”[1]
So our anger as a nation should not be directed
toward Mexico and South America, but toward the corporate overlords, like the pharmaceutical
companies, and yes, Donald Trump.
Trump symbolizes the corporate world; he’s all
about the money; Mr. Business himself. Trump’s
wall is nothing more than a fear factor to keep his self in business as
President. Ask this question, if Trump
is so worried about terrorist entering the country, then why aren’t we
discussing a wall along the Northern border as well?
Common sense alone dictates that nothing is going to stop people who
have it in their hearts and minds to achieve safety or a better life from
attempting to enter the United States. These
people put their lives on the line crossing a merciless desert just to get
here. Not to mention there have been
some pretty sophisticated tunnels discovered that seem to work just fine as
well.
Instead of spending money on a wall,
let’s apply that money toward education, or maybe we can help those refugees before
they even reach our borders. I know
there are other options; life has taught me
as much.
[1] Live Science, by Stephanie Pappas, June 12, 2017, “Massive Poppy
Bust: Why Home-Grown Opium Is
Rare.” Retrieved March 13, 2018. www.livescience.com/59452-why-opium-is-grown-outside-us.html
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