Content warning: Reference to conversion therapy
As you may have heard, reality show host and aspiring politician Donald J. Trump has committed to building a wall that will separate Mexico from the United States, with the aim of halting illegal immigration. I get it— it makes for a nice campaign slogan. “We’re gonna build a wall, and Mexico is going to pay for it! We’re gonna build a wall and it’s gonna be yuuuuuge!”
Okay, Donald. Let’s put aside for a moment the horrifically racist and xenophobic sentiments on which this project is founded. Let’s ignore for just a second the logistical difficulties of constructing such a wall— like the fact that it would take about 339 million cubic feet of concrete, which equates to about three Hoover Dams. Let’s pretend that things like shovels don’t exist, or ladders. Let’s disregard the hundreds of miles of natural obstacles like rivers and privately owned lands.
Let’s talk instead about money. You’re supposed to be good at that, right Donald? You’re supposed to be a savvy businessman. This, unlike actual politics, is supposed to be your area of expertise.
Let’s talk about the fact that this wall you propose will cost an estimated 25 billion dollars. That’s how much your “beautiful,” “glorious,” 1,000-foot long wall would cost to construct. That doesn’t even include the manpower you would need to guard and maintain such a structure after it’s complete, but let’s stick to one issue at a time for now.
Oh, and just to be clear, Donald has asked Congress to fund this project, which means that this money will be coming out of the pockets of US citizens, either in the form of taxes or tariffs. Donald insists that the Mexican government will be reimbursing these costs, but Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto has made his position abundantly clear: Mexico will be doing no such thing.
Someone once told me that once numbers reach a certain size, our minds can no longer make sense of them. There is a limit to how much we can quantify. A dozen eggs fit in a carton. In first grade, we counted out a hundred Cheerios and put them on a string. 1,000 grains of rice will fit in a big enough bowl. And if you had enough time and dedication, you could probably sit down and count to one million in your head.
But a billion is hard to conceptualize. In fact, if you were to count out loud one number at a time, it would take you about 31 years to get there. So counting to 25 billion? You would be dead before you got anywhere close.
So, in an effort to help you get some sense of how much this wall will really be costing you, I put together this handy list of alternatives that the United States could be spending your money on.
1. Approximately one million Tiny Houses
That’s enough to house literally every homeless person in the United States, including the nearly 50,000 homeless veterans and 380,000 homeless children.
2. A year’s worth of meals for almost 10 million people.
One in seven Americans lives on a salary that puts them at risk for hunger. This would feed about 20% of them. Alternatively, this money could be used to fund programs that could actually help elevate Americans living in poverty in the long term.
2. Nearly nine million individual insurance plans
That’s almost enough to cover the annual premiums of the approximately 15 million people who will be losing their insurance if the repeal of the Affordable Care Act is successful. After all, Congress currently seems really big on the whole “repeal” part of their plan, but not so into the “replace” part.
3. Solar panels for one million homes or businesses
I know that this is the era of alternative facts and we’re skeptical about this whole climate change thing, but since the scientific community has an overwhelming consensus favoring the reality that climate change is real and caused by humans, it might be a good idea to start weaning off the coal.
4. About 42 million season passes to Disneyland
Just thought you should know.
5. Approximately 555 space shuttles
With the direction the earth is taking, we might need them sooner rather than later.
6. College degrees for about 253,000 college students
This is especially important, as 83% of Americans now say they cannot afford the cost of a college education and student loans leave some 44 million crippled by debt. With the proper structural changes, this amount of money could actually fund far more students through part or all of their education.
7. Chemotherapy sessions for almost 170,000 leukemia patients
Non-profit organizations like St. Jude’s Medical Center are always seeking donations to help families circumvent the often insurmountable costs of medical treatment.
8. Adoption fees for around a half a billion homeless cats or dogs
Again, just saying.
9. New pipes in Flint, Michigan... 312 times over
Remember the water crisis in Flint that began more than three years ago? Those people still do not have clean water. But apparently the estimated 80 million dollars that it would cost to replace about 10,000 pipes is too expensive. What can you do?
10. Approximately 12 and a half billion protest signs
Go to a dollar store near you. Purchase a piece of posterboard and a package of markers. Choose what you’re most pissed about.
The fact that reproductive rights are being threatened.
The fact that legal American citizens and green card holders from predominantly Muslim nations are being denied their right to come home.
The fact that oil pipelines are going to be pushed through sacred Native American lands after all.
The fact that our Vice President advocates electrocuting the brains of LGBT+ youth to make them “normal.”
The fact that our government is not only actively denying scientific fact, but also denying scientists the right to say anything contrary to their own erroneous beliefs.
The fact that we are spending billions of dollars on a pointless wall that will serve as little more than tribute to our President’s enormous ego, and the fact that, in spite of this, we apparently can’t find the money to help our fellow citizens live.
There’s plenty to choose from. Make a sign, and use your voice to say “enough is enough.”
