"Tear down this wall" ... and it was done


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Ask yourselves this question: Will they be content in such a state of slavery? If not, look to the consequences. Reflect how you are to govern a people who think they ought to be free, and think they are not. Your scheme yields no revenue; it yields nothing but discontent, disorder, disobedience

- Edmund Burke, 1774

Today, we recognize the day that, twenty years ago, the Berlin Wall came down, followed by the fall of the Soviet empire which envisioned the wall, both in physical and figurative terms. This had much to do with the words and the deeds of President Ronald Reagan, who stood before the wall two years before its fall, challenging those who built it to tear it down:


General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe , if you seek liberalization: Come here to this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate! Mr.Gorbachev, tear down this wall!

- Address from the Brandenburg Gate


As discussed previously on this blog, two Berlin Wall segments can be seen in Spartanburg, in front of the Menzel plant, which is near Mile 3 of the I-85 Business route. We encourage our readers to include a pilgrimage to this location next time they're in the Upstate.

If you go, think about the courage of those who defied the wall, by overt acts as well as by refusing to allow those who built it to crush their dreams of freedom. We'd also ask you to remember the 136 who died along that wall, as well as several hundred who died while attempting to escape East Germany elsewhere during the Cold War.

For those who haven't seen it, here's Reagan's 1987 Berlin Wall address:

1 Response to ""Tear down this wall" ... and it was done"

  1. Mike Reino 9/11/09 20:17
    So when will we see Earl doing the PR work in Berlin for the rebuilding project? C'mon Earl - Germany. BEER ???????????

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