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UPCOMING PRESENTATION ON A NATIONAL RADIO PROGRAM:
I'll be speaking about THE WALL.
I've written about "boundaries" and the idea of a "national immune system" for many years.
What's happened recently is consistent with ideas I developed in relationship to Hitler and Nazism.
I'm going to work out/work through my thinking on this topic through a series of Newsletters. I hope you don't mind.
If you have insight on this topic you'd like to share with me, please write to rakoenigsberg1@gmail.com
Or leave a message at 781-393-1081 and I'll call you back. If you have a good idea, I'll cite/quote you on the show.
Richard Koenigsberg
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Nations are defined by boundaries--separating one geographic territory or space from another geographic space or territory.
A nation is like a human being or self--that prefers not to be "penetrated."
Nations create "walls"--real or imaginary--to separate themselves from other nations.
Sometimes, fear of penetration by another nation generates anxiety, or rage.
In this respect, nations are like human beings possessing an immune system. Alien invaders must be repelled. Not-self entities must not penetrate from the exterior world into the interior of a body politic. Aliens must be rejected or ejected.
Ronnie Lipschutz (1998) observes that the logic of national security is “exclusionist”--keeping out others who identified as not belonging within the boundaries of one's nation. Secure borders means identifying who the others are, and making sure they do not enter or penetrate into one's body (politic).
Statehood and the idea of an enemy are two sides of the same coin. Statehood defines “national security.” The enemy is the alien that cannot be allowed to penetrate the border. A boundary separates badness from goodness--protecting the national self.
Josefina Alvarez (2006) states that borders are the “walls of the edifice of the state, separating inside from outside.” Security discourses “name dangers;” define enemies. "Security" is required to prevent enemies from penetrating the national boundary. The enemy gives rise to national security.
The figure of the enemy, according to Paul Kahn (2013), is constructed based on a perspective on territory: “The enemy penetrates the border.” The transgression of penetrating the border makes someone an enemy even if he does relatively little harm and regardless of whether or not he damages public or private property.
Borders, Kahn says, represent the integrity of the state. The border becomes a geographical representation of national existence. A cross-border threat, regardless of how limited, motivates an extreme response. Since 9/11, Kahn says, the United States has been in a "frenzy of border protection."
The reign of Donald Trump was characterized by a "frenzy of border protection." Trump's fundamental ideology was the idea of "building a wall"--to exclude foreigners in order to make the nation "great" again.
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