Borders? Borders? We Don't Need No Steenking Borders!

For a long time, I've wondered at the concept of national borders. Why do we need to keep people on one side of an invisible, imaginary line. When I was a small scout, not yet even having achieved the rank of private, I saw the dash lines on the globe and was taught that they represented the borders of countries. For a while, I imagined that there was a big dash line demarking the border between North Dakota and Canada. 'Twas when I realized that the dash line between North Dakota and Minnesota was in the middle of the Red River, my world began to change in mysterious ways. I started asking questions that my teachers couldn't answer. Perhaps they thought they were stupid questions.

Did the border between North Dakota and Minnesota wash away? If I accidentally stepped over a border I couldn't see, would something bad happen?If I fell into the river and drowned, would they be able to tell if I died in North Dakota or Minnesota?

For years afterward, borders didn't mean much to me. I crossed the most international borders while I was in the Navy. Being in the Navy, and having the ID, seemed to cover me as far as the government foolishness was concened--though, as I was informed afterward, I crossed a couple of lines that could've gotten me into trouble.

Conservatives say: many of our problem are caused by our open borders. Anyone can walk into the US at will. Ok, that's true. We have long borders. Even if the Administration wanted to close the borders to illegal entry (it doesn't) I don't think it could.

The best solution, though it won't be tried, would be to charge the border property owners to see to the policing of their property for trespassers. They'd have to allow arrest powers to the property owners and they'd have to require federal and local officials who oversee publicly owned border lands to police them for trespassers--and hold them accountable should they fail. All responsible Americans should be cleared to carry personal weapons and should be allowed citizen's arrest powers. (actually, Americans have these rights already, if government didn't abuse its power by means of gun laws, etc.

Government should do away with welfare for the able-bodied. One of the reasons people enter the US illegally is that it's easy to get work and/or free government services. It's easy for Americans to get welfare--that is, extended unemployment payments, aid for dependent children, etc, which makes it easy not to work for long periods of time. Thus, many Americans can refuse low-paying jobs without any downside. Those jobs are often filled by illegal aliens.

If Americans had hunger pressure to require them to take these jobs, not so many would be available to illegals.

Now, I have no problem with Hispanics, Canadians or others who want to come here to work, make careers and become Americans themselves. I just don't want to be forced to support them. Equally, I don't want to be forced to support lazy Americans. Most aliens won't come here if there aren't jobs.

Americans will pick lettuce or shovel wet concrete if it's that or go hungry--the way it was throughout America until the corrupt Lyndon Johnson made all that tedious work stuff unnecessary, dude.

They've killed Freedom! Those bastards!

Col. Hogan
Stalag California