It has been claimed that the Great Wall of China can be seen by the naked eye from the moon.

That claim was made by an Englishman in 1754. It has remained urban legend even up to today when the 12 people who have actually been to the moon have confirmed that it is not visible from there.

Legends persist. So do myths and other ideas thought to be axiomatic. One that seems to be a continuing saga is the one that building a wall works.

Let’s look at a few. The Great Wall was intended to stop those pesky Mongolians and other vagrants of the steppe from pillaging China. So how well did that work?

Hadrian’s Wall was supposed to stop the Picts from raiding Roman controlled Britain. Today it is a tourist attraction with motorways crossing it going to and from Scotland and England.

The Berlin Wall more recently proved ineffective in changing policy, the minds of people or preventing them from seeking freedom.

So how is building a wall between the United States and Mexico going to stem the tide of immigrants? In places where a wall already exists between the two countries, tunnels have been dug under them.

Is this wall intended to be effective or just a monument to stupidity?

First off, Mr. Trump is not going to get the Mexicans to pay for it. So will U.S. taxpayers have to foot the bill? If so, then I have a problem with providing jobs to a bunch of masons to erect something that is going to be a symbolic notion to end illegal immigration.

It won’t work. Yes, some of those walls in history temporarily did what they were supposed to. The operative word is temporary.

Secondly, the root problems of illegal immigration have long been ignored in policy and misunderstood by the public. The problems are manifold yet there are those that seem to think building a wall will solve them all. It didn’t work for the Chinese; it didn’t work for the Romans; it didn’t work for the Communists.

What makes this current government think a wall between the U.S. and Mexico will? I’d ask Israel how they are doing with their walls and how effective they have been before we spend 1 cent on construction of ours.

There are several versions of the rhyme and just as many theories of its origins but I am reminded of the one I learned as a child:

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall, Humpty Dumpty had a great fall, All the Kings horses and all the Kings men, Couldn’t put Humpty together again.

The President might want to consider once more the intended and unintended consequences of his actions. This could put his effectiveness as a leader in further jeopardy. The idea already makes America look foolish.