Walls have a nasty way of changing the whole tone of a society.
Tear Down the Wall.
“Walls keep people out but they also keep people shut in and isolated and afraid. Maybe we should spend more time figuring out ways to build bridges instead of building more walls.”
I was in Munich in 1989 when the Berlin Wall was torn down, sitting in a youth hostel with two very disheveled Eastern Germans who had never been outside of the wall. I was told the wall had come down and I thought they were referring to the hostel building and I exclaimed, "Well, they bloody well better fix it or I'm moving out!"
Followed by an awkward silence as someone patiently explained the situation lol. The Eastern Germans made fun of my bad German pronunciation: "Louvenbrau!" they scolded, accenting the "v"...I thought it was pronounced "Lowenbrow." Never really liked German beer anyway...
Meanwhile back in the good ol' USA, the daily border wall debate rages on. Like almost all US debates, there are only two sides and never the twain shall meet. Bullying tactics and escalating threats are the current administration style - it's probable he will get his way and his wall.
I spent a lot of time when I was in Las Vegas over at Sunset Park. The small bird sanctuary island in the pond is crowded with birds we never see in Canada. Or hear...they made the most unusual and musical bird songs; really fascinating to my Canadian ears.
There are always families over at the park, picnicking and having bbq's, playing frisbee and hanging out with each other. The majority of the families were Mexicans. Maybe the white folks are too busy working or gambling at the casinos for time with the family, I don't really know.
But I do know that America and Canada were populated by immigrants. The Dutch Separatists who landed in what became known as New Amsterdam were tired of persecution from the European elitist church. They wanted a fresh start, a new chance to be free of ecclesiastical rule. They wanted freedom to raise their families and live their lives in a manner of their own choosing.
Just like the immigrants who are flooding into the USA now in search of a better life. Should they enter the country in a legal manner? Yes they should. The laws are the laws and they should be obeyed by everyone.
Walls have a nasty way of changing the whole tone of a society though. Just ask the Palestinians in the West Bank how they feel about the 30-foot concrete "security fence." Or ask the Dalai Lama how he feels about the political wall that has kept him out of his own country for decades. Or ask the 2 million Americans currently incarcerated behind prison walls if they feel their rights and freedoms are being honored and protected.
Walls keep people out but they also keep people shut in and isolated and afraid. Maybe we should spend more time figuring out ways to build bridges instead of building more walls...just a thought.
"All these walls that keep us from loving each other as one family or one race - racism, religion, where we grew up, whatever, class, socioeconomic - what makes us be so selfish and prideful, what keeps us from wanting to help the next man, what makes us be so focused on a personal legacy as opposed to the entire legacy of a race."
- Kanye West
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