Borders

After watching the documentary The Walls of Shame about the Mexican-American, Palestinian-Israeli borders, and the Berlin Wall it made me think what is the purpose of border walls and why they are made. I was born and grew up in San Diego so the border has been a constant topic of discussion my whole life. I have always heard on the news of people saying that we need to strengthen our border security and that we should close it off to Mexico. On the other hand I have heard the opposite my whole life of people saying that a wall will not solve any of our problems and that we need to find other means of dealing with the influx of illegal immigrants. Ultimately in my opinion I do not believe in strengthening and building a physical wall on the Mexican-American border because instead we should have different ways of dealing with the problem at hand, but after watching the documentary I did gain a sort of understanding why people feel walls are necessary even though they are not right.

            First for people to think that they need to build walls throughout border zones can be traced back to fear. For instance the documentary showed testimonials from California minutemen and the most common topic that kept coming up from them about why they are watching the borders is because of security. What I first did not understand is what they meant about security, because immigrants coming up from the border are generally not dangerous people and usually have no weapons, but then I understood what they meant about security just from my own life exposure to the issue growing up so close to the border. People are not afraid of militant people crossing into America; instead they are afraid of the change that will happen internally in our country. It is amazing to see the differences on both sides of the Mexican-American border due to the pollution and the state of the social economics in both of the countries because it is pretty drastic. Looking at the differences I think most people in the United States are scared of the illegal immigrants because they think that they will change America for the worse. I think this fear is seriously going to hurt our relationships and cause racist thoughts because building and maintaining a wall will just make things worse.

            Instead of building a wall I think that better legislation needs to happen because it is going to be impossible to fully stop people from illegally coming into America. I believe that if someone wants to come here we need to make an easier system of having them come to us so that we can document them instead of people randomly coming into our country without knowing whom they are or where they are going. With this documentation system we can then keep a census on immigrants and they can get jobs and pay taxes. I am not saying to make everyone that comes here a citizen, because I think they should still come through the regular channels to become one, but that we just need to better monitor illegal immigrants and have them pay their taxes and due their part if they choose to stay here in America. We are a country founded on immigration we should not close it off to people that want to be here to gain better life opportunities.

What is happening to Rural America?

I have lived most of my life on the edge of the city of San Diego and have become very familiar with city and suburban life. Even though I have lived in the suburbs I have not been totally isolated from the thought of rural America. I have a horse and have had chickens, goats, and vegetable gardens at my house most of my life, and have always liked the thought of rural lifestyle even though I live around millions of people. My high school even had the largest agricultural program in the county and it kept growing even though many other schools were loosing their programs. Agriculture has always seemed to be to there and has seemed to be a major part of the American lifestyle, because that is what most of the country was founded on, but what I didn’t really realize is that how much it is disappearing and how America may no longer be the premiere farming country it used to be.

            America is loosing its precious farmland everyday to modern development, which can be very bad for not just Americans but also the world. According to American Farmland Trust the United States is loosing an acre of farmland or ranches every minute to urban development, and that in a five year period between 2002-2007 4,080,300 acres of agricultural land were turned into developments which is roughly the size of the state of Massachusetts. In the past twenty-five years the states that have lost the most agricultural land were Texas, Ohio, North Carolina, California, and Georgia with a combined total of 4,244,000 acres. It’s shocking how much rural land has been developed and how much food production was probably lost from it. Urban sprawl is starting to become out of hand in this country and farmers are no longer able to afford their land, which is so precious to developers.  A lot of modern farmers that have had their land for many generations are starting to wonder if they should fight off development and stay on their land or take the money and move to a city where there is “a better lifestyle”.

            Even though what is happening to America’s rural land may seem bleak there has also been people that are there to help protect farmlands. For example California Rangeland Trust is a nonprofit organization founded by ranchers in 1998, to conserve the open space, natural habitat, and stewardship provided by California’s ranches. In their sixteen year history California Rangeland Trust has permanently saved over 275,000 acres of ranch land from being developed. Also schools like University of California Davis have been doing projects to help promote and protect California’s nature preserves. Furthermore smaller groups like Friends of the Fiscalini Ranch Preserve helped to save the Fiscalini Ranch, which is on the coast of Central California, from being turned into a housing complex instead into a open nature preserve owned by the state of California so that future generations can enjoy pristine open coastline. The Williamson Act in California is what helped turn the Fiscalini Ranch into an open-air preserve. The goal of the Williamson Act enables local governments to enter into contracts with private landowners for the purpose of restricting specific parcels of land to agricultural or related open space use. In return, landowners receive property tax assessments that are much lower than normal because they are based upon farming and open space uses as opposed to full market value.

            As America moves into a postindustrial society it is also moving away from its farming heritage. Cities and suburban neighborhoods are growing way past their boundary lines and new types of developments and designs need to be reconsidered before America is no longer able to grow its own crops. One way I propose reconsidering development is to make cities a lot denser. Los Angeles already has enough land within its boundaries instead of sprawling outward the city needs to grown upward, and that goes for every city in America. I really do enjoy city life, but that doesn’t mean that the whole country needs to be turned into a giant metropolis. It is important that America keeps its farmland both environmentally and economically.

What is Real and What is Fake?

What is real and what is fake?

For something to be real does it have to be old?

For it to be real does it have to be made of stone?

For something to be real does it have to be boring?

So does that mean that everything fun is a sham?

Are themed objects considered real?

What if the theme is evokes happiness or fantasy?

Can only physical situations be considered actual?

Real humans make stories though, so why aren't they true?

If a building has a nice facade is it real?

What if the facade doesn't match the surroundings, can it still be so?

For it to be real does it have to be in the east?

Does nothing real exist way out west?

Are only real cities supposed to be dense and not sprawling?

Do I have to walk instead of driving my car?

Should my home be close to where I work?

Or should my home be where my family can be safe?

For a family to be real do they have to live together?

For a family to be real can they not be scattered?

Does a family have to be in the same place for many generations?

Does that mean that a family can never move apart?

What if people in a family live thousand of miles away?

Are they still considered to be a loving family?

What if I don't have any family in my state?

Is that state still considered my home?

Or should I move to the state where my family is?

What if I don't like the state my family lives in?

What if it that state gets too cold or hot for me?

Is it selfish for me to live where I want to live?

Is it selfish for me to do what I want to do?

Is it bad to be who I want to be?

Is it bad to like what I like?

What if people think what I like is cliché?

But what does cliché even mean anyway?

Who comes up with these terms?

Who decides what is bad and what is good?

Who decides what is real and what is fake?

Aren't they all just opinions anyway?

Shouldn't I choose the path of my life?

Shouldn't I decide what is real and what is fake?