The Cleverness Of Evil

After recently speaking with Uncle Bubba about free speech, a meme was sighted online--the exact quotation of which I cannot rightly recall--but it essentially said that the Left doesn't want a wall because it doesn't work: they don't want it because it does. Well, that kinda got me thinkin'. I decided to pay another visit to my uncle and share this idea with him. I drove over the two-lane county roads under a clear blue winter's sky to Uncle Bubba and Sweet Pea's home. I thought about the beauty of our country, of nature, of the world. After arriving at Uncle Bubba's, I knocked on their door and was greeted with warm smiles as they invited me in. After some catching up and small talk, I eventually brought up the topic. He had one word to say about it, "Clever." I nodded in agreement but wondered what he thought was clever, the idea behind the meme or that the left might actually be using reverse psychology? Uncle Bubba must have noticed an inquisitiveness in my expression because he offered up an expository.

"I reckon that there are some shallow mouth breathers that actually think that a wall doesn't divide one piece of real estate from another," Uncle Bubba paused, "though I don't know how. So, yessir, deep in the heart of those opposed to a wall, any wall, anywhere are so because they work."

Yeah, I thought, it's common sense. There's an old saying, a proverb that exists in many cultures that good fences make good neighbors. In American culture, its common usage may have sprung from Robert Frost's use of the phrase in his poem, "Mending Wall," published in 1914. Two neighbor's meet at their property line to mend a stone wall, in agreement, in like-minded cooperation. They would not do it if it didn't serve a purpose. It could be a metaphor for the human need for boundaries. When boundaries are clear, relationships can better prosper. If you know where you stand, where your property begins and ends, and are free to do on your side as your neighbor is on his or hers, it makes for better relationships between people. Nothing can be more contentious between neighbors than a property boundary dispute, good or strong fences remove the possibility of that contention.

But benevolence aside, a wall is a form of a tool. Uncle Bubba agreed, "No wall is impenetrable. People will eventually dig under it or cut through it or go over it, but it gives you enough time to respond and apprehend them. Really? Ya think? Isn't that what our border agents would want to assist them in the performance of their duties?"

"Hey... doesn't this cleverness make us think about our previous visit and some of our ideas about free speech?" a wide-eyed Bubbie asked. Something just struck him. "What do you reckon, are these opponents of free speech clever or shallow? In my view, they could be trying to limit free speech, not so much to stop their shady perception of hate speech but because they're trying to limit scuttlebutt about their ignorance, lies, corruption, and dishonesty. Clever."