Attribute to L. Neil Smith’s The Libertarian Enterprise

We’ve all heard bits and pieces of the tumultuous debate over the Great Wall of Trump, to be built between the United States of America and Mexico. In general, liberals and other mortal enemies of American culture whine and whimper that such a Wall would be a nasty, unfriendly thing, cutting us “mere Americans” off from our noble brothers and sisters to the south—where the first Marxist revolution just happened to break out in 1910, explaining that country’s longstanding and persistent poverty.

Trump partisans, on the other hand, believe that a Wall is necessary to slow and reduce the number of illegal immigrants coming into our country from Mexico and elsewhere, bringing illegal drugs with them, violent terrorism, and diseases European-descended Americans haven’t died of for a thousand years.

On the third hand (I can do that—I’m a science fiction writer), some libertarians and conservatives understandably don’t want to pay for the Wall and don’t believe the President’s promise that it will eventually be Mexico who pays for it.

(Incidentally, ask any cop: the highest-quality locks and other barriers can’t stop a determined burglar, they can only slow him down and make him work harder until the homeowner or shopkeeper or the police arrive to interrupt his criminal career.)

This libertarian reasons that, over the next couple or three centuries, in a cold, hard world where actions speak louder than words and one block of concrete is worth a dozen reams of legal paper, a proper Wall (not some skinny, anemic little fence) could become an unmistakable monument to this nation’s historical intention to remain sovereign, uniquely free, and exceptional. Looked at this way, it would be unimaginably cheap at almost any price (does anybody ever ask what the Pyramids cost?), and there is indeed a way (or two) to make Mexico pay for it. It’s only right: already the increased security at our border is slowing crossings at Mexico’s border with Guatemala, as South and Central Americans see their chances of getting into the U.S. dashed. What would a Wall do to improve that, and how much does Mexico already owe us for it?

If it were up to me, the proposed Mexican border Wall would be a straightforward replica of the Great Wall of China, at least thirty feet high, with crenelated “rails” or battlements, and wide enough that a pair of chariots (or tanks) could pass each other along the top. It would be a lot cheaper to cast in place out of reinforced concrete than it was for the ancient Chinese, building one brick at a time. I would let the “beautiful giant doors” Trump wants to set in the Wall become the seeds of new Southwestern communities, new cities on both sides of the border, with shops and restaurants and museums and other features that will help both countries pay for the attraction. Plans I’ve seen and approve of include two sets of high-speed monorail tracks along the top of the Wall, for vehicles going both ways. Initially, they will be for construction and maintenance. Eventually, the planners want excursion and sight-seeing trains—with bullet-proof glass—for tourists taking the 2700-mile trip from Southern California to Southern Texas. I’m ready to go, right now.

Anything less than a real Wall speaks dismally of a lack of cultural resolve. It also doesn’t do the Donald any good at the polls. Loose talk that there will be gaps where mountains and rivers will help form a “natural barrier” is half-hearted crap. Mountains and rivers won’t impede the hardy, intrepid people tradition calls “wetbacks”. Either America has got its skyscraper-building, dam-building, bridge-building, highway-building, space-station-building, Lunar colony-building cojones back or it has not. Mountains and rivers never stopped the ancient Chinese wall-builders, and the border monorail needs to be continuous to attract the dollars and pesos and pounds and euros and rubles and yen and yuan, etc. A really great Wall could bring people together.

How to pay for it initially? Two words: Wall Bonds. A tax on money being sent south by immigrants, illegal and otherwise, could begin paying them off. Millions of tourists from all over the world eager to enjoy one aspect or another of the Wall (including one hell of a train ride) will keep the money flowing. I don’t know about you, but I’d invest.

Last year, my friends, “they” told us that we couldn’t elect Donald Trump. Now we can’t let “them” tone the man down. Our Wall must be built. And it must be a real Wall. It is our launch pad to the future.