(written September 17, 2017)

A few brief thoughts on why being a know-nothing matters.

Let’s take the Great Wall of China, for example. Yes, its a big wall. Why was it built, and what was its purpose? A know-nothing might suppose it was built to keep someone (Mongols?) out. Walls keep things out, right?

So…Trump gets the note from his advisers during the campaign that border security is a hot-button issue. Trump makes up in the middle of a speech (nicely called “improvising,” but in this case more accurately called “bullshitting”) that we will build a “great wall” on our boarder with Mexico, then responding to the cheers, notes that said wall will be paid for by the Mexicans.

But…The Great Wall did not hold anyone out. Lightly garrisoned at best, it was easily overwhelmed by small cavalry forces. HOWEVER…if you and your horse were burdened with sacks of plunder, it was much harder (if not impossible) to escape. So the Great Wall of China was basically a huge “roach motel” – plunderers get in, but they don’t get out. And, no where in history is it recorded that the Chinese somehow got the Mongols to pay for the Great Wall?

Which brings us back to Trump’s “great, great wall.” It seems counterproductive to his message to keep “illegals” in – and the analogy breaks down because undocumented immigrants aren’t plundering anything – they are earning a paycheck. And they don’t have to carry it home – that’s what the mail and banks are for.

I’m still unsure how Mexico pays for it – the tariff idea shows he doesn’t know how tariffs work. I’m shocked he didn’t suggest making it a toll (one way, of course).