"Gee, that's a great wall"

So it seems the Great Wall of China won the most votes in the contest for the new manmade wonders of the world.  Not surprising given the vast number of and the vehement nationalism of the Chinese internet populace.  Don't get me wrong, I have been to the Wall on several occasions and never fail to be impressed.  The scale of the thing is just phenomenal especially considering the height of the mountains it traverses.   At the same time, the Chinese attitude towards the Wall, one of immense pride, has always seemed strange to me.

At the end of the day, the Wall is in essence a symbol of failure.  It symbolizes weakness and fear, not strength.   The strong, in pre-industrial times, would take offensive not defensive (to such a ludicrous degree) action. It also was ineffective.  The "barbarians" either went around (Mongols) or were let through (Manchus).

The Maginot Line was also an absolute engineering marvel of its time (and even today probably), but you don't see the French celebrating it much though it had about the same fate (the Germans went around it).

The title is supposedly a quote from Nixon by the way.  Always thought it was funny and appropriate.