From Wall to Wall: A trip through the ages

I wrote this in March 2009! Never published it and forgot about it. Today, as I wrote my Arab Spring Blog, saw this sitting as a draft. What a perfect find for a time Another Wall might be built!

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I am sitting in a hotel room in Berlin on this beautiful Spring day thinking about life in general. Right across from my window, on the other side of the street, is a large office building with glass windows. From my 5th floor vantage point I can look into more than 50 office rooms- fairly interesting urban sight! Some people are milling about, while others are trying to work or check emails! Also seems to be a party in progress in one end of the building! Perfect setting for writing a mystery thriller..I can imagine Alfred Hitchcock getting ready for scripting "Rear Window". Jimmy Stewart watching Grace Kelley...Grace is all grace in the magical green attire...oh I digress!

I am in Berlin for a 3-day visit, to attend a conference. Just finished the first day of meetings and am waiting for dinner time! Till this morning Sun was nowhere to be seen. There was the occasional sprinkle and even a light snow flurry as recently as lunch time, but now the Sun has come out. Temperature is still close to freezing- 34F. The cold weather reminded me of my trip to the China just 4 months ago. And my trip to the Great Wall! It was freezing when I visited in early December. 5 months before that, in the Summer of '08, I was right here, in Berlin, trying to see the remnants of the not-so-great Berlin Wall!! Pieces of what was once a dividing line symbolic and synonymous with the cold war!

That brings me to my musings! One is called the Great Wall, has lasted through the ages, and we are trying our best to preserve it. The other, the Berlin wall, was always seen as a sign of strife, disharmony and violence! And we worked hard to tear it down. Don't get me wrong - it was indeed a glorious moment in the recent history when the World came together to bring down this wall - can't believe we are coming up on the 20th anniversary of this historical occasion! While it delivered part of its promise, cold war being all but forgotten and unknown to today's generation, other problems cropped up in its aftermath....but again I digress...we can save this discussion for another day!

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Premise behind both of those walls were the same! Keep out the enemy! Now, in November 2016, US has elected a new President on the strength of his pledge to build Another Great Wall! Those Who Do Not Learn History Are Doomed To Repeat It. I can only hope there are better ways we can spend our energy and resources than building and tearing down walls!

White Man's Arab Spring

It was about half a decade ago, in March of 2011, that the western world was rejoicing the rise of “democracy” in the Arab world. The wait of centuries was finally over and the “angry” men and women from the Middle East were finally going to come around to the ways of the West. Democracy, self-rule, popular governments and general upswing in the fortunes of the common man was the expectation. From Tunisia to Egypt to Yemen, protests led to overthrow of what was seen as authoritarian or dictatorial governance in favor of a more accommodating will of the people! In other places like Syria, this dream turned into a nightmare.

Five year later, Middle East is a mess. Not one of those countries can claim to have achieved the end goal, not even close. The ruler of the past is replaced by ruler of the present but try asking the common man in the street how his life has changed. In the meantime, the anger has led to the rise of the evil empire, variously known as IS, ISIL, ISIS and the like. Thousands of men and women have pledged allegiance to this even more authoritarian empire that has spread it ugly wings and taken deep roots all over the region. Their message is clearly “Us” vs. “Them” where the “Us” only includes those who pledge undying allegiance to the caliphate! Rest don’t matter and are trampled upon. Neither the old powers in the middle east nor the new ones that emerged in the last few years know how to deal with them. And the West is clueless. So where has all the anger left us? A destabilized and weakened region that has itself become a victim to the disease which is killing it.

That brings us to the present US election and the rise of Angry White Man. Similar to the anger in the middle east, there is palpable anger in the western world. And similar end-results can be expected – destruction of the society as we know it in the name of reform but with no plan on what to do afterwards. While the best example of this may currently be playing out in the US, Germany, France and others aren’t far behind.

What drove this anti-establishment surge of Trump? Any other candidate with his background would have long been kicked off the stage. So why is he still there, as the ruler of the bastion of democracy? Is it his charm?  His savvy political commentary? His understanding of the world stage? His reverence for the office of the Presidency of the USA? His all inclusive view on how to make America Great Again? His tolerance? His unbiased and impartial rendering of view points? His sense of justice and message of peace? His welcoming diversity in color, religion or heck, even gender? His message of non-violence delivered passionately to his supporters? His kindness towards the opponents and civility in his discourse on and off-stage?

Well, those are rhetorical questions. None of that really matters now. Democracy is a great leveler. The pundits have been brought to their knees by the "not college-educated". The coastal elites have been humbled by the working class Middle-America. The cities boasting diversity in their population reminded that the Angry White Man is not to be forgotten!

I am a great believer in establishment. A company man, if you will. I believe in the office of the POTUS, even if I don’t like the person who is going to occupy the office. That is in fact the beauty of the democratic process. It has to be correct only a little over half the time for a little over half of the country! I am on the losing side of this one but know that another day will bring a different result. I can hear the argument about who won the popular vote, but give it a rest. We knew the system going in and knew the Presidential election was about electoral college, not a population based voting. This is not a popularity contest or a beauty pageant. No point lamenting after losing in the very system you were trying to win. Democracy may seem harsh. There are no “do-overs”, no buyer’s remorse, no Lemon laws and no Morning After pills! You get one vote. You screw up. You pay the price!

So where do we go from here? First, let’s not be reactive before he even has taken over the office. As the President, he has the right to try to govern the country the way he sees fit. That’s what the victor in the election is guaranteed. It will not do anyone any good to impose independent will on a democratically elected president. However, democracy requires a vigorous opposition. We stay right where we are and stay vigilant. While we can’t control whom he appoints to various cabinet posts and what kinds of laws he tries to pass, in a democracy, we still have the ability to hold the POTUS and the congress accountable. It can’t be a passive approach. Whoever won the election, We the People hold the ultimate key. Let’s not forget that!

The gentlemen of the past may long be gone and a Lady may not have another chance till the next Cubs win in another 108 years but the country will march on. It was Already Great and We are Stronger Together, but hope no harm comes in making it even Greater. Let’s pray for the best!