Tea at Trianon: Why People Hate Walls

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Wednesday, February 6, 2019

Why People Hate Walls

From Return to Order:

Many believe that the wall is a physical symbol of the rule of law. The wall is meant to ensure those who enter America do so safely and legally according to the laws of the country. It prevents others from abusing the law by insisting that they be treated the same as those who make the immense effort to follow the law. The wall stands as a symbolic dividing line between legality and illegality. It would declare that it is not fair to treat those who mock the law like those who respect it. This is a reasonable assumption that appeals to the American sense of fairness. However, there are also those whose sentimental notions of law might lead them to take the erroneous position of ignoring the law. They believe that any suffering trumps the law. However, even these enemies of the wall alone are not enough to explain the shutdown.

Others see the wall as a manifestation of national sovereignty. It is a physical consequence of the right of nations to determine the manner by which immigrants might enter the country. Throughout American history, there have always been immigrants who desire to enter the country, enrich the culture and contribute to its prosperity. The debate has never been about forbidding immigration. It is about determining the reasonable conditions that keep immigration safe, ample and ordered for the immigrant. At the same time, the intake of immigrants must not overwhelm the resources and culture of the local population.

However, there are those who have problems with national sovereignty. They believe there should be open borders so that anyone can find a home in America regardless of the person’s circumstances or the ability of the country to absorb them. They dream of a globalized world without borders that absorbs and dissolves the defining characteristics of nations. (Read more.)