It Was Twenty Years Ago Today

by Don Boudreaux on November 9, 2009

in Complexity & Emergence, History

My colleague Pete Boettke reflects on that marvelous day, exactly 20 years ago.

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{ 12 comments }

Colin November 9, 2009 at 2:52 pm

I was living in Germany when the wall came down and visited East Berlin two months later. I wrote my own thoughts down here:

http://togetrichisglorious.blogspot.com/2009/11/berlin.html

Art Carden November 9, 2009 at 4:52 pm

Best. Beatles-Related. Blog Post Title. Ever.

Anonymous November 9, 2009 at 5:12 pm

Agreed. First prize.

Anonymous November 9, 2009 at 5:10 pm

Hear hear!!

Anonymous November 9, 2009 at 5:19 pm

Since those who tore down the wall got by with a little help from their friends it sure made a difference to the typical day in the life of Berliners.At least for a while it was getting better all the time, let’s hope recent events are just a dip in the trendline.

Anonymous November 9, 2009 at 5:31 pm

You don’t know how lucky you are, boy…

Anonymous November 9, 2009 at 6:31 pm

It is good to be back home, but I hardly know the place.

I’ll unpack tomorrow…

Anonymous November 9, 2009 at 5:45 pm

Reagan’s best line of his Presidency:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xK30k2WTxY0&feature=related

“Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!”

The two best movies I’ve seen on the GDR are “Der Tunnel” and “The Lives of Others.”

The most dramatic escape IMHO happened not long before that vile wall fell; the two brothers who flew in with ultralights and sprung their third brother (this had been a progression – the first brother had escaped by swimming to freedom, he then got his second brother out and then finally the third brother).

Anonymous November 9, 2009 at 6:38 pm

Night Crossing (1981). “Two men want to escape from East Germany (under Communist rule) but they will only go if they can take their families with them. Based on a true story.”

And in a lighter vein, Good Bye Lenin! (2003).

Anonymous November 9, 2009 at 6:42 pm

East/West is a great anti-Communist movie.

Anonymous November 9, 2009 at 6:43 pm

And yes, the balloon crossing story is awe inspiring.

Anonymous November 9, 2009 at 6:52 pm

One of the most significant things we’ve learned in the past twenty years as the archives have opened is just how many in the West wanted Communism to putter on. Either because they thought its collapse would under socialism and socialist movements in the West or due to their fear of an uncertain future. This trepidation runs the the gamut of the political spectrum.

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