On the US Border "Problem" and Shutdown Tactics

01/11/2019

What's really interesting, ironic and infuriating about this shutdown-as-a-negotiating-tactic situation is it weakens much more critical US infrastructure than the Mexican border, like TSA, FBI, Treasury, etc. It also takes money away from middle class government workers. And it blocks VA benefits, a personal frustration for me after my experience with the US military in Kabul.

Those impacts don't seem to be worth the $5.7bn price tag at face value. And also seem tone deaf to folks who can check the "values and experience" box against all three of the above scenarios, which is really weird to be in a voting context.

Further, we seem to have an issue respecting the concept of opportunity cost. We can't do all the things we want to do in our lives, right? We have to prioritize and make tough choices. $5.7bn is a drop in the USG budget bucket, BUT it could be used for:

- rural and impoverished area education - which this country struggles with considerably

- cybersecurity infrastructure - to, ya know, maybe prevent future hacking of our social media platforms (Russia), elections (anyone with money and motive) and technology (China)

Lastly on this point...if this was truly a national emergency...wouldn't it cost more than $5.7bn? That's very roughly / intuitively the median US income equivalent of one trip to the grocery store. A true emergency is "do we bail out banks and insurers" during the 2008 downturn.

Next: the border situation is not a crisis - save the impact to families for those empathetic enough to separate political affiliation from core, human values. Millions of Syrians fleeing a brutal war in their native land is an ACTUAL crisis. Political marketing is today's "wool over the eyes."

The border is just a problem we need to solve, and one that has existed for a long time. Some solutions for the perceived issues along the Texas/Mexico border:

Drugs -> legalize and regulate them. This model has already been proven in Uruguay, Portugal and Canada. When drugs, of any class, are legalized and provided in a regulated, safe environment, illegal drug flow and related crime plummet while tax revenue grows. Doesn't that seem...attractive? Read Chasing the Scream for more detail, phenomenal journalism.

Crime -> this is tricky given the length of border but I see a combination of rigorous physical policing and technology. If smartphone makers can fold a phone, we can do a lot better than a 6000 year old infrastructure concept.

Job Thieving -> get off your phone / social media, your couch, the booze, and your foolish pride, and do whatever it takes to advantage yourself and your kids. We do not all have the same opportunities, and I was lucky enough to be born to a father and mother who strived to give us advantages...but they came from a civil war, emigrated here and worked really hard to raise us right in a country that didn't understand, and therefore feared, Arabs.

Finally, I would philosophically take a poor, desperate, humble immigrant and the associated life trauma / work ethic / values over an entitled, melodramatic, unmotivated citizen every single time. But we should lend a hand equally to all types of disadvantaged circumstance, because ultimately, compassion should drive us all.