WALLEYED

A student once said to his professor, “I have some new and good ideas.” After listening to him, the professor said, “Your new ideas aren’t good, and your good ideas aren’t new.”

So, let’s consider walls.

If you are looking for a really exciting vacation, go to Berlin. November 9, 2019 marks the 30th anniversary of the toppling of the Berlin Wall. Traces of the Wall still remain, and tourists from all over the world can buy tickets for, “The Berlin Wall Tour.”  There is also a “Cycle Route Tour”, and an “Art Tour,” where you can see remnants of the East Side Gallery of 100 artistic works. The most famous is, “The Fraternal Kiss,” depicting a kiss between the Russian leader, Leonid Brezhnev and the East German leader, Erich Honecker. This joyous celebration of the Wall does not include armed guards with shoot-to kill orders, so no tourist has to make a run for it.

Another major walled attraction is Hadrian’s Wall, (Vallum Hadriani in Latin). Regarded as a British cultural icon—before they put heads on spikes at the Tower of London— Hadrian’s Wall is one of Britain’s major tourist attractions, and was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1987. The largest Roman artifact anywhere, it runs 73 miles in Northern England, and was built to “separate the Romans from the barbarians (who are now Brits). Hadrian’s Wall was partly constructed to reflect the power of Rome as a political point by Hadrian. Hadrian and his Wall had to contend with guerrilla tribes from all over Europe and resistance from Scotland. Finally the Wall was defeated by dismal weather, rugged terrain and savage resistance, and Hadrian died of a heart attack.

If wall tours appeal to you, you can book, “The Great Wall of China (2019) Top Tours and Activities,” “Great Wall Luxury Tours”, or “The Great Wall of China Walk.” It’s quite a long walk, but I guess it does not include the whole 3,100 miles. So far, it is the World’s longest wall.
Badaling is the most visited section of the Wall (63,000,000 visitors in 2001) and in May and October visitor flow can be up to 70,000 per day.

This Great Wall was built as a defense, but unfortunately couldn’t stop the vast Mongol Empire that invaded and consumed China, and later the Manchu forces that also breached the (by now, not so great) Wall.

So with all of this wall history, what could President Trump do to persuade Congress to finance his wall?  The answer is so simple—-IT’S GOOD FOR TOURISM! If built, people from all over the world would come to the U.S. just to see the Trump Wall.  They could stay at the Border Trump Hotels and buy tickets for Trump tours.

Also, I would recommend to the President that he quit saying that “Mexico will pay for the Wall.” Instead, he should say, “We will pay Mexicans to build that Wall.” It would be good for the economy of both countries. And, it is a fact that Mexicans know how to build, know how to dig and are very good with ladders.

However, for some reason, only known to President Trump, he wants to encourage migrants from Norway to come to the U.S. However, if they would start coming in lots of boats, with their sardines and herring, I guess the President would need another six-billion-dollars for a floating Mar Wall—a very long floating Mar Wall. That idea should  buoy him up.

Esther Blumenfeld