Friday, November 13, 2009

Walls

"We build too many walls and not enough bridges." -- Isaac Newton

I remember when the Berlin Wall came down 20 years ago. Here is another wall to be torn down: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MaBpvauMFLU



When you look at the Earth from space you see there are no walls, no lines clearly demarcating the ever-changing borders on a globe. When I was a child the countries on my globe were a lot different -- there was a U.S.S.R. and a Rhodesia and a Yugoslavia. But the Earth kept turning and now all these places are gone, they were nothing more than constructs of the mind.



How much blood is spilled defending the unreal each year? Constructions of the mind that make what should be a beautiful planet a cold and lonely prison? I recall a verse from Woody Guthrie's This Land is Your Land:

As I went walking I saw a sign there
And on the sign it said "No Trespassing."
But on the other side it didn't say nothing,
That side was made for you and me.

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