by Monique Kuschel

Created on: March 13, 2008

It took decades to tear down the Berlin Wall, an aberration in European history.

We,the greatest democracy on the planet, the driving force behind the World Trade Organization, is contemplating erecting the great wall of America!

The mere sound of these words, The Great Wall of America, makes me shiver clear through my bones!

Barricading ourselves behind walls, in underground bunkers or behind fences are ancient methods of protecting ourselves from invasions, political differences, religious animosity, separating the good from the bad, according to our unique, selfish and fearful view of the humans on the other side of the wall.

The democracy in the US is unique in the sense that it was created by immigrants from all over the world. Have we become a private club, whose members have decided they could no longer afford additional members? Have we become so blase that we have forgotten our origins, or too scared to allow the rest of the world to participate in a true democracy?

The mere thought of a Wall separating the US from Mexico is the proof that our revered and publicized democracy is in great danger. Isolationism is a recurring trend in all countries, sooner or later, once the populace, driven by regressionist politicians, are fed daily doses of doomsday threatening their livelihoods and their peace, from illegal immigrants to terrorists, communists, socialists.

A country needs to make a choice, a choice according to its origins, its beliefs and its form of political ideology. A capitalistic democracy cannot build a wall, it is a contradiction to its modus operandi. A wall erected on any of the US borders will send a signal to the world that the dreams of our forefathers and the pillars of the United States of America have just been a dream, no longer a reality.

It will jeopardize our credibility as a member of the WTO, it will jeopardize our aim to influence the rest of the world in adopting democracy as a form of government, negating decades of wars, political turmoil and all diplomatic efforts to bring the democratic ideology to the rest of the world.

Ronald Reagan is remembered for his famous words, "Tear Down The Wall".

Our history of bringing democracy and peace to other countries, the price paid by millions of lost American lives in the name of an ideology we hold so dear, would have all be in vain.

We can not and we will not build a wall around the United States of America, just because our politicians and government are betraying the spirit of the Land of the Free and the Land of the Brave.

The world needs to tear down all its walls, all its borders, we are dependent on each other for economical reasons alone, also we need to work together to save our planet for ecological reasons and our mere survival, a wall is never going to solve our problems in the long run, it is just a political joke to appease the fears of the people and gain some much needed votes for the politicians feeding on our ignorance of the state of world today.

As a citizen of the greatest democracy in the world I expect our leaders to reconsider their simple minded choices, invest more thought in their problem solving of any issue and deliver a sound intelligent solution, worth the democratic values we represent and fought for and the ideology of our forefathers

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