Historically, walls that were built to separate between countries haven’t worked. Take, for example, The Great Wall of China, The Berlin Wall and The Walls of Constantinople. So why is it that President Trump believes that constructing a wall between The United States and Mexico is such a tremendous idea? Does he not understand that history only repeats itself?

As of Jan. 8, President Trump’s approval rating sunk to 42 percent, and CNN speculates that it has a direct correlation to the government shutdown currently taking place over funding for the wall.  

It’s the first time that Congress has changed power in the middle of a shutdown, and it is now the longest shutdown in United States history.

This shutdown is already affecting the lives of 800,000 federal employees who are living without a paycheck. Currently, National Park employees, Secret Service agents, and the IRS and TSA employees are all working without pay.

But President Trump said without the wall on the Mexican border, the government will remain closed until further notice. President Trump said it would look “foolish” to back down on his demand now.

So where could the billions of dollars that President Trump is asking Congress for his wall be better utilized?

The government could, for example, fund the Environment Protection Agency, National Endowment for the Arts, Medicaid for six million people, double federal aid to public schools, give more contributions to the United Nations, and resettle more refugees, as well as provide housing for homeless Veterans.

President Trump’s need for a wall is childish. His behavior towards people who disagree with him is immature, and in order to run a country effectively, he needs to learn how to compromise, instead of pouting and putting other people’s livelihoods at stake.