Do good fences make good neighbors? A history of border walls.

[Agschmid]

[center][/center]

Hungarian officials say the country is overwhelmed by thousands of migrants hoping to enter Hungary — the gateway to the European Union. In response, they're building a 108-mile border fence designed to keep them out, and they’re racing to finish the project by the end of the month.

The European narrative is familiar to Americans watching the 2016 presidential race unfold. As candidate Donald Trump recently told CNN, "To have a country, you have to have a strong border; you have to have a really strong border. I will build a wall and Mexico is going to pay for it — and they'll be happy to pay for it."

But Élisabeth Vallet, author of "Borders, Fences and Walls State of Insecurity?" and professor at University of Quebec at Montreal, says that border walls don’t work.

“They do not prevent people from coming in,” she says. “If you consider border walls or fences as a public relations operation led by a government which is trying to show his population that he’s trying to do something, then they do work. They work as a symbol of a political goal, which is to show that you are secure within your territory.”

Vallet says it typically costs anywhere between $1 million and $10 million per half mile to construct border walls.

“It’s a very high cost just for the construction,” she says. “And then if we think about the maintenance of the wall, the border offices in the US have stated that it could be billions of dollars in the coming years. It is very expensive and won’t prevent anyone from coming in.”

Read more, or listen to the interview on PRI.

[sarisataka]

1. Walls haven't been very useful

Couldn't keep invaders out

Couldn't keep people in

Was less effective than a speed bump

[Mendocino]

2. How did that Berlin

one work out? Oh yea, even Ronnie "Raygun" denounced it.

But both my siblings live behind one.

[yuiyoshida]

3. Trump's dream.

[LWolf]

4. Yes and no.

As a private citizen, I like fences.

Fences mean my dog, when she was living, could go in and out the doggy door whenever she needed to and have the freedom of her outdoors without trespassing on the neighbors.

Fences mean that people who were not invited, or did not call ahead, stop at the gate, and my privacy is maintained. If I want to wander through the house naked, I don't have to worry about people knocking on doors and looking through windows.

Fences mean that my privacy is protected. I can go outside, like I did this morning, in my ratty old sleep shirt to do barn chores, and then shower and dress.

Fences preserve my personal space.

As a nation? No. Public space is just that, and should be open to all.

And...I'll open even my private, personal space to those in need when indicated.