Trump wants a wall. Oooops! I didn't propose it. Just mentioned the solution the former (Socialist) Soviet Union and the former (Socialist) East European satellite countries employed. All the land borders of these counties were mined! So, all of you find this perfect, commonly accepted Socialist solution barbaric? It is OK to do this if comrades do it, but not if Trump just builds a simple wall? What a bad joke!
Slightly upside-down logic there I would say. The comunist walls were built, complete with machine gun posts and minefields, to keep citizens in, not to keep immigrants out.
Israel has built a wall to keep people who used to live in Israel confined to a sort of large prison on its border. What is your take on this one?
Which one is worse?
@zesty Your answer reminds me of the man who, when asked "Why do you Jews always answer a question with another question?" Replied, "My friend, what makes you say that?"
(I asked for your take on the the 3 walls.)
I personally feel that a nation is entitled to police its borders, but is also morally bound to show a degree of compassion.
Currently, the European Union has an immigrant crisis, and that very argument of control versus compassion is raging, with the Mediterranean sea and barbed wire taking the place of walls.
I'm not seeking "an argument", I am seeking "balanced arguments" on the whole tricky subject - something that has happened throughout history.
@zesty Seriously, what is your view on border walls and asylum seekers, versus "lifestyle" immigrants.
(Note! Not to be confused with boudoir walls and thrill seekers!)
I love intercourse, whether it be intellectual, humorous or sexual. Although at my ugly age the latter is, unfortunately, infrequent!
@Petter Seriously? Properly guarded walls work. In my opinion any country has the right to police it's borders and accept immigrants by their own national set of criterions. I think that to properly answer your question one should be brutally honest.
In my view an advanced, developed country must to make sure that the quality and number of immigrants won't change the face, mentality and lifestyle of the society. Each year I spend a month or two in Europe, so I do have a basic idea about the Muslim crisis.
According to the statement of the German minister of labor, 97% of the Muslim immigrants are never will be employable. My German friends keep predicting a worst outcome. Hmmmm
Asylum seekers, vs lifetime immigrants? I would rather call, with very few exceptions, welfare seekers. Fits better. Not a very PC statement, but true.
@zesty Thank you. I have never bothered with being politically correct, as far as I am concerned PC simply means a personal computer, a term that existed long before IBM hi-jacked it to mean "their" machines. I used the term "lifestyle" immigrants (note, not "lifetime" ) because not all are scroungers. I am a lifestyle immigrant. Having left Kenya in 1987 I came to Spain seeking a new lifestyle. I never scrounged on the state, (quite the opposite, I purchased a house and established a business which in turn employed local people). The Asians who were forced out of East Africa worked hard and within 5 years featured 200 of them amongst the richest 1,000 people in the UK.
Against this, one needs to balance the influx of scroungers, with no intention of establishing a self-supporting career but surprisingly, they do not constitute a majority.
However, mass influx does indisputably alter society. Many fail to make any effort to integrate, not even learning more than a basic smattering of the local language (I'm reminded of the many British living here on the Spanish costas, some retired, but many working "under the radar", who stick to their own kind and make no effort to learn Spanish)
A good example of how societies can be changed, but not destroyed, is the city of Coventry in England. Coventry had been in decline for decades, until the East African Asians went there. (They were skilled, and many had previously owned businesses, but.had been made destitute and forced to leave with nothing, by Idi Amin.) They stayed closely knit for a while, as they worked and pooled their savings to buy small businesses and gradually build themselves up again. Coventry soon became a thriving, affluent city once more. There are nowadays areas of Coventry reminiscent of an Indian market, but around half of the children of the immigrants have integrated so deeply into the surrounding society that they are unremarkable.
Angela Merkel had a dilemma, which she thought she had neatly solved only to discover it didn't work.
The dilemma was that Southern Europe was being flooded by immigrants. Those from Syria and Iraq were in the main genuine refugees, fleeing for their lives. (However, many were from as far afield as Afghanistan, and seeking a better life away from despotic regimes and hardship. Added to this were those from Africa, many lured to Europe by tales of relatives who had gone before and were now sending money back to their families in West Africa.)
The Southern European countries wanted Northern Europe to share the burden, but the North put up barbed wire fences and refused to allow them in, despite being in the Schengen free movement zone. The unity of the EU was therefore threatened, with many of the already disenchanted Southern nations becoming even more inclined to rebel. THIS WAS NOT GOOD FOR GERMAN TRADE.
Germany itself had a demographic problem, in that its population was ageing, creating a shortage of earners to support pensioners. In fact, Germany already had a massive percentage of Turkish immigrant labour.
"Aha!" Thought Mrs M. "We can take in loads of refugees, who will expand our workforce and so guarantee income for our pensioners. We will also establish ourselves as setting a good moral example for other states to follow, and we will weaken the anti-EU rebels"
Poor, deluded lass...... It was a great theory, but .....
It will be interesting to see how her party fare in the European elections coming up in only ten days time.
For myself, I don't know for what to vote. None of the five main Spanish parties have much appeal. Vox is so far to the right that it is anti-women's rights, the conservative PP is weak and riddled with corruption, Cuidadanos is wishy-washy, the socialists maybe, but I'm not enamoured of excessive socialism, Podemos is to the left of the socialists and a no-no.
My guess is the mine fields in those countries were to keep their citizens in.
We don’t need mine fields or additional walls here.
Better foreign policy, prosecution of illegal employers and increased man power/electronic surveillance on the border can solve the problem you be happy to kill more people over.
Looks like the US is not such a bad place if we don't need walls to keep citizens in. As oppose to Socialist countries, where the leaders needed the walls and MINEFIELDS!
This wall fiasco is mostly due to Trump's total lack of leadership. I've talked with a lot of folks a lot of them very liberal and I have yet to encounter a soul that is not for a secure border. The problem is the way he's selling it, people are just turned off by and have no interest in listening to a load of fucking bullshit. Until this country rids itself of this cheesy used car salesman for a president, it's just going to be more of the same shit.......
Do not compare us with those thugs, civilized people DO NOT USE LAND MINES, Trump is an asshole who wants to be like Putin but is bound by our laws, the bad joke is on you.
Of course! Socialist mass murderers -- minefields are OK. Trump -- not even a simple wall. Great logic! Congrats. BTW, I compare you with whatever (sic) I want. Don't teach me, you are not qualified.
@Mofo1953 Look, I didn't compare you to anything. You designated yourself a socialist. So, take the blame for being one! If I was to call myself a fascist and a nazi (and I don't do that), I could expect the criticism towards the nazis. Hystori shows that socialism leads to mass murder and disaster. Not a good idea!
@zesty i have never used labels, so you are lying right there. I am definitely not a right wing crazy person nor am I a rabid antisocial or even less an unethical and immoral bastard. I do defend some socialist ideas because in America we have them too, the VA act, Social Security and disability, Medicare and Medicaid, and so forth and so on, so don't you dare label me when I don't RAISA.
Dont give him any ideas. Countries around the world still suffer from old mine fields. Go to Northern Thailand to cross over and visit Cambodia be sure to stay on the paths and obey the mine field signs. I would not be surprised to read about mines still in Eastern Europe that were missed.
Hopefully a former communist party leader triggers them! What a beautiful idea!