I know, I know. You’re a chest-beating, flag-waving, love it or leave it American. Your country ain’t the greatest, but it don’t suck.
Uh, allow me to disagree.
That wall, that border security fence, lining the latitudinal marker for miles in separation of Northern Mexico and the Southwestern United States, is a disgrace.
Look, fuck-o, YOU and your kind have NO RIGHT to stop someone from trying to make a better life. Yeah, NO RIGHT. How can you call this a free country when a hideous wall blocks some of the poorest people in the western hemisphere from crossing? How is that wall philosophically different from the one erected by the post-World War II East Germans? How is it any less disturbing to someone concerned with human freedom?
The typical answer is one corrupted by arguments from security in the aftermath of 9/11, and it also involves concerns about the overwhelming growth of the welfare state (yes, far from being a stereotype, immigrants press hard on generous social services, from education to medical care).
The security argument is WAY overblown, in my opinion. The police industry is filled with boner-induced knuckleheads looking to square off at the drop of a hat, and they protect NO ONE. Zero. They’re uniformed garbagemen – they prevent no crime, showing up AFTER a crime has been committed to collect whatever trash remains. The United States militaries are fucking losers by nearly any measure: they couldn’t even defeat desert maniacs who live in caves (say what you want, but the United States has LOST every conflict since World War II, and even then the Soviets did the majority of the fighting and dying during WWII, so the glorious “greatest generation” I’ll give only a push – from Vietnam, Korea to Iraq and Afghanistan, the United States military gets its ASS KICKED everywhere it goes)! It took them TEN YEARS to find one dude who was hiding in plain sight! Save that shit. Please.
The strongest objection is the welfare outlays, no doubt. Yes, immigrants are a serious drain … at least at first glance. And when I hear Americans gripe and moan about immigrant-related grabs of public monies I have to laugh. I honestly can think of no group of people who suck more government tit than Americans. They don’t acknowledge this fact, of course. They always point to others. Now, to be clear, I don’t think there should be government boobies to suckle in the first place. Redistribution of income and property is a real travesty. It’s gross, awful, and is a violation of everything I hold dear. But put the problem in perspective: the welfare argument is a tangent, not a real answer to why that border wall exists. Yes, let us toss out welfare programs for EVERYONE, including your fat ass grandma who is taking up space and swallowing my tax dollars by the bus load. But don’t use that lame argument to prevent people from the most basic right, the right of self-determination.
Cop talk by Americans has become the norm. The average American feels it is his duty to police everyone, here and abroad. It’s a fascinating turn of events, and you have to sensitize yourself to the issue in order to really hear what’s being said. Everyone is busy ratting out everyone, watching for texting hooligans on the road, tax cheats, and nearly every action anyone does. They’re so fucking paranoid, and it extends to even basic decency like the freedom to contract and associate. They’d make a great cop, the pigs.
The poor, a famous economist you’ve never heard of once remarked, have the world’s capital. They have it by sheer numbers. It is within them as a basic human right: the freedom to sell their labor. These aren’t rights granted by documents or bureaus, but by the fundamental right of being human. We act. We must act to feed and clothe ourselves. This action requires us to peacefully interact with others, to associate. Get it?
A border wall is antithetical to fundamental human action.
And anyone who swaggers around the United States joking about border jumpers and the like would IMMEDIATELY reverse the joke if THEY were on the other side – that goofy American smile wiped from their face.
Tear down that wall!
And I mean it.
*
Craig Edward Kelso is the author of Anarcho-Capitalism (2014),
a primer on the philosophy of peaceful, stateless cooperation. His
curriculum vitae include a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from
San Diego State University, and a Post-Baccalaureate secondary education
credential in both Social Science and English Language Arts. Kelso
taught for nearly a decade in the American public school system, and was
voted by colleagues Teacher of the Year, twice in his short tenure,
earning numerous accolades from chambers of commerce, mayors, state
assembly persons, governors, congresspersons, senators, and even
Wal-Mart. Currently he struggles to earn an opportunity to be employed,
working as a laborer, dishwasher. He is deliriously happily married to
Myra Kelso, living in Southern California with their adorable children.
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