the contrarian - WALLS

If “the wheel” is considered the number one invention that we inherited from the earth’s primitive years, then perhaps, “the wall” should be number two.

In nine tenth’s of a second, for example, Google will give you one hundred and eight million references to the word “wall.”

As a child, I used to like walls. I remember building them out of snow in the winter and stones and such in the summer. They made for great forts.

“The wall” is one of those important parts of our lives that we generally take for granted. It give us comfort, protection and privacy in our homes. It support the structures where we work. It protects us from landslides, floods and dangerous prisoners.

It sometimes delineates the boundaries of our properties and, very often, we build an imaginary wall to protect certain parts of our psyche.

The Berlin Wall, which was 96 miles long and existed for 28 years, was the preeminent symbol of the Cold War. As walls go, however, it was an exception to the usual “wall rule.” In a reversal of the normal motive for a wall, this one was erected by the economically depressed East German government to prevent its own citizens from escaping into a better environment.

In medieval times, walls were a huge part of the public domain, protecting the inhabitants of castles, towns and even, in the case of ancient China, a country. In England, the Romans built what became known as Hadrian’s wall to protect them from the unconquerable, “savage” Scots to the north.

Of course, one of the reasons for all those medieval walls was the great disparity that existed between the few “haves” and the many “have-nots.” As that disparity began to lessen, however, the importance and prevalence of walls seemed to diminish as well.

But then, here we are, centuries later, seeing a reversal of both trends. Is it a coincidence?... Maybe not.

According to the Worldwide Institute, the United States has the most unequal distribution of income of all the high income nations and, as this trend has increased over recent years, so has the trend towards walled-in, gated subdivisions.

The fact is, though, the U.S. still does qualify as a high income nation.  Immediately to the south, however, lies Mexico, with quite a different story.

A report issued by Mexico Child Link indicates that 40% of the population there lives below the Mexican poverty line. The minimum wage equates to $4 U.S. per day and there is little or no welfare. There are no unemployment benefits for the 40% who are also estimated to be unemployed or underemployed, and, as a result, many children are forced to work on the streets to supplement the family income.

This situation should have, long ago, been of vital concern to the United States government. If you had a next door neighbor who lived in abject poverty, you’d want to do something about it, even if only for selfish reasons, right?

You might, for example, help him to get a job, or direct him to where he might find relief, or any needed healthcare. You might even help him clean up his yard.

Or.....you might just build a wall.

In the case of the United States, after years of offering assistance of little or no consequence, this country has obviously opted for “the wall” as protection from our have-not neighbors to the south.

Eventually, it will undoubtedly stretch the entire 1,951 miles of our common border, and then Mexico’s problems will be out of sight and out of mind.....or will they?

Another extreme example of income imbalance exists in the Middle East, between the close neighbors Israel and the land occupied by the Palestinians.

Israel, according to the online encyclopedia, Wikipedia, is the most industrially and economically developed country in the Middle East.

On the other hand, the neighboring land occupied by the Palestinians suffers under what may be close to the worst economic conditions on earth.  According to the World bank, the income level of the Palestinians has declined by one third over the past four years, and 25% of the workforce is unemployed.

Furthermore, nearly one half of all Palestinians live below the poverty line and more than 600,000 cannot afford even the basic necessities for subsistence.

The Israeli solution to the threat of having such a poverty stricken neighbor, a threat which encompassed a military aspect, by the way, was to enforce a multi-faceted program of “closure” on the Palestinians.

This program has, unfortunately, considerably worsened the problem, causing the World Bank to conclude as follows: “Without major changes in the closure regime and significant progress in the Palestinian reform program to improve the climate for private investors, there is no prospect of a sustained recovery of the Palestinian economy.”

The principle element of Israel’s closure program is “the wall.”

The first wall, enclosing the Gaza Strip, was built in 1994. The second wall, started in 2002, is projected to be 436 miles long, and snakes its way around and through the West Bank. It is currently nearly 60% completed.

The barrier consists of a series of 25 foot high concrete walls, complete with trenches, barbed wire, electrified fencing, watch towers, electronic sensors, thermal imaging, video cameras, unmanned aerial vehicles, sniper towers and roads for patrol vehicles.

Proponents of the wall claim its purpose is to prevent terrorists from entering Israeli cities, and there is evidence to back this up. However, there is also reason to believe that another purpose is the economic subjugation of the Palestinians, and this, too, is clearly being accomplished.

Because of the configuration of the wall, as it winds through the West Bank in particular, many Palestinians are cut off from their farmlands, from their relatives and from their jobs.

The Health Development Information and Policy Institute, reported that, when the wall is completed, “nearly half the population of the West Bank will be affected through loss of land, imprisonment into ghettos, or isolation into Israeli de facto annexed areas.”

The International Court of Justice has ruled Israel's "Separation Wall" illegal and has called on Israel to dismantle it.

Even President Bush, back on July 25, 2003, said he thought it was a problem.  However, since that time, he has evidently become sufficiently impressed with Israel’s results to start his own wall building program in Baghdad, a move that has been met with universal resistance among the Iraqis.

I used to like walls, but I don’t think I like them so much anymore.

Dave McGill, News Correspondent……………….

Dave’s column, “The Contrarian,” published every Wednesday to Gather Essentials: News will occasionally present a contrary view to various aspects of the news, or an alternate take on the conventional wisdom of the day………….

Dave has been a senior officer of a large eastern insurance company, involved in economic projections and investment strategy, president of a Midwestern mortgage banking company, and a financial consultant in Southern California, serving clients in the field of commercial real estate development…………….

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