Thursday 13 January 2011

The Hole in My Wall

There's something incredibly powerful being so close to history in Berlin, walking along the remains of the fallen rubble that divided a city, a nation for 20 years. Reading into the history of it, it's amazing to discover the attitudes of people and how they dealt with the iron curtain.

At the moment I am so emotionally wired that I don't even quite know how to write this blog. There's so much going through my mind, trying to understand what it must have been like for some people to wake up one morning and find the beginnings of the physical separation between East and West. What started as barbed wired fence, soon increased into brick walls and guards with guns patrolling it. And for those part of the intelligent group in East Germany to suddenly be forced to subdue their thoughts and to live repressed, must have created so much frustration.

What I also found astounding is how Allied countries at first helped West Germany with the infamous 'airlift' in order to entice the East Germans to cross borders in order to weaken the Soviet interest within Germany, but then leave the country stranded once the wall was put up. The U.S. Government called the wall "a fact of international life" and left it at that. When the wall was taken down, Margret Thatcher begged the Soviets to try and do whatever they could to keep the wall from falling. The wall represented two principles; it wasn't only to prevent East Germans escaping into the West, it was also a comfort blanket for the Allies because it meant the Soviets would probably cease interest in spreading their Soviet ideologies across Germany. So really the wall was a win win for the Soviets and the Allies, but for the people of Germany?

Despite the 20 year repression amongst the East Germans, when Günter Schabowski announced that the gates shall be opened for the East to cross over to the West on 9 November 1989, there was no hesitation, people collected themselves at the edge of the wall and united they crossed over into the arms of the West. That for me is the true spirit. That for me is man-kind no longer letting themselves be bullied. That for me is purity with soul and heart and love. To do whatever it takes.

I guess you can say, that although we have governmental structures to keep people under some kind of  illusive control, we really are the leaders assisting the politicians and not the other way around. At least that's my ideology. However naive that may be. And I understand, to know true freedom you have to grow up with it. I also understand that there are belief systems in countries where freedom is a paradise that one works towards instead of attaining it daily.

We are the nation, we are the country, we make the money, we create the life and the happiness. It's ok to be led, but leaders should still know that without their people, they cease to be leaders. And maybe sometimes we have to remind them of that.

I wish for everyone to feel their true human spirit everyday, that the real leader and the real power comes from within.

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