The current president and his budget are all about walls instead of bridges, both literally and figuratively. Plans are proceeding for the grossly ill-conceived "border wall" with Mexico even as crucial infrastructure like bridges continue to crumble from decades of neglect.
Build bridges, not walls.
Meanwhile, 45 wants to increase funding for the military - an armed human "wall" to protect us from supposed dangers "out there." Meanwhile, 1) home-grown xenophobic militants who greatly need monitoring and re-education apparently are invisible to 45 and 2) targetted groups do not pose the threat 45 thinks they do. He seems to have built a wall for himself impermeable to logic, facts, and intelligence reports. Sad. America already vastly outspends other nations on the military.
Build bridges, not walls.
Trump's budget decimates cultural and scientific programs that enrich our nation's community life far beyond the meager amounts they cost. Programs like the National Endowment for the Arts and National Endowment for the Humanities artfully construct bridges between cultures. Other federal programs make science understandable and useful in our daily lives, such as breathing (EPA) and weather reports (NOAA/National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration). Parks and forestry services help preserve and protect our nation's natural heritage and resources. Also under the budget ax are programs which benefit specific at-risk groups like the rural poor, the elderly, and racial minorities. All these minute expenditures must be protected as they offer a bridge, albeit a shaky one, to a decent life for these vulnerable populations.
Foreign policy under the trump administration seems to focus not just on building new walls instead of bridges but in burning bridges which already exist. Foreign aid funding would be slashed under this budget. Meanwhile the State Department's general budget also faces heavy cuts when its work is more important than ever.
Build bridges, not walls.
Yes, this president seems hell-bent on constructing walls even though the clear road forward would be to build and strengthen bridges. We the people need to speak out and resist. Trump's walls should be met with sledgehammers and artful graffiti. We the people likely will have to build some bridges on our own between ourselves and those under threat of hunger, poverty, isolation. Early America's barn-raising tradition, in which neighbors joined together to help one another may be a useful model for this.
Build bridges, not walls.
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