Tonight is the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Berlin Wall coming down. In Germany, it's a big party-like atmosphere for a number of folks. For other folks, nothing.
The news people will admit that there's a percentage of people in Germany who'd prefer the wall to go back up....one in six is the usual number given.
Generally, from an American prospective....I'd say if you live in Berlin...no matter what your age is.....it's a big deal and worth the celebration.
If you grew up in one of the bigger DDR towns....no matter what age you are.....it might be worth some celebration.
If you had family living across the border through the twenty-eight year period.....it might be worth celebrating.
Kids who were born in the mid-eighties? I doubt if any of them really care, and don't see the big deal.
West Germans? They typically get aggravated to some degree because solidarity taxes were put into effect, and they paid tens of billions to upgrade the DDR state and it's sixteen million people.
German historians dust off the binders and talk of the glorious changes that came.
German construction companies get weepy-eyed over the change.....knowing they made billions off the infrastructure built over the years.
People living in the eastern sectors of Germany today? They mostly talk over high unemployment rates and limited opportunities. Maybe it's a wonderful new land today, with the local grocery featuring twenty different types of decaf coffee. But then you start to look for a decent job, with respectful pay.....and it's just not there.
So, when you look across the landscape, part of the nation is celebrating, and part are quietly sitting there with no hyped-up feelings. And one group is thinking a wall ought to go back up.
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