On November 9, 1989, a new era appeared. It was the collapse of the Berlin Wall. I find this photo quite relevant, because in October of 1972 I was at this wall (right where it says "David"), touching it directly from the Western side. On the other side were armed guards, barbed wire and dogs, not to mention mines too probably. This summer I had several old friends ask how did I change from being a "pacifist" liberal to being a conservative. We were also discussing politics with Will too. I have been meaning to write this for some time. For those who don't know me, I was a McGovern/Carter supporter in my late teens/early 20's. I've changed and I believe this picture and the events that lead to this picture are some of the reasons for my change.
Before going to Germany, I had pretty much accepted that we were fed mostly propaganda here in the US about the communist countries and the Cold War and Vietnam, etc. After high school, I had the oppurtunity to be an exchange student in Germany for a year. During that year, I listened to the East German radio and tv programs. I was able to visit the "border" and I was able to cross over into East Berlin, through all kinds of checkpoints. There I saw a depressed and "enslaved" city. It had not changed much since WWII. I was able to walk back to the western zone, most in Eastern Europe could not. Many individuals died trying to escape the communist countries while I was there. The west was vibrant, alive and FREE. I listened to my German teachers talk about their relatives who still lived in the East, who had rationing and few freedoms. I also listened to my German host family talk about their experience during the war and what little choice they had under Hitler. I realized that much, if not most of what we were being fed by the liberals about communism wasn't much different than what the official communist party was telling its people.
After Terri and I were married and had children of our own, we became involved with the Right to Life movement, mainly because we saw how involved a neighbor (who was pro-abortion) was involved. It was in those years we saw how the newspapers rarely, if ever gave any positive information about the Pro Life side.(In the early 80's, a local Wooster reporter didn't want to give Terri any news space for the Pro Life side, because the editor said that "abortion was a dead issue" The regional Planned Parenthood director refused to debate Terri on a college campus if Terri brought along pictures of normal child development.) It maintained that abortion was nothing and that the fetus was only a tiny mass of cells. We also were hearing the drumbeat from the media that the sociatal definition of a "quality of life" was replacing any value of just life itself. They were justifying euthenasia, especially with individuals similar to whom Terri and I had worked with every day. The drumbeat reminded me of the stories my German relationships had told about the rise of the Nazi party. At the same time, people with values were being harassed for wanting a say in their child's education. Some were sent to jail for homeschooling their children. (I find it sadly "humorous" that homeschooling is now an official option offered by public school districts, often encouraged for trouble makers!) More and more in the 80's I found scenarios written in Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 to becoming more and more true, not from a conservative "book burning" witch hunt, but from the liberal political correctness developing.
While in Guatemala, we were there towards the end of the guerilla warfare(due to the collapsing of the Soviet empire). Most of the conflicts were out in the countryside, with scattered attacks and power outages. There we observed that, like in most cases I believe, the ruling government was corrupt (the "Christian" president who was elected while we were there, later fled with $60 million of the treasury money), yet the guerillas weren't much better and that for the most part, the majority of individuals wanted to work to feed and take care of their families and not support one way or the other. While there, we saw many unheralded selfless acts of kindness done by missionaries. We also saw extreme poverty. We were saddened to return to the United States and hear from the liberals that our economy was the worst it ever was and how everyone was struggling. We did not see nor hear of anyone in the US paying to ride on garbage trucks. In fact my assistant at the school I taught at (after returning from Guatemala) fed her dog steak and her husband made over twice as much as I did (a teacher with a Master's degree and 16 years experience) being a cook at the state prison nearby. I questioned where the liberals got the idea that the "economy' was the worst there ever was.
I do not claim that whatever a "conservative' says and does are always true, but I find it more often than not to be the case. A conservative acting inappropriately resigns, apologizes or is replaced. The recent situation with the President of the NAE and the former Hillsdale College president are indicators of that. Most liberals it seems offer excuses, blame others or are not held accountable by the press or their cohorts. I place a high value on truth, honesty and virtues.
As far as pacifism, I still struggle with this issue. While we attended the Mennonite Church, we had several discussions about pacifism. One interesting point that struck me was that someone brought up and most agreed that when persecution started, many Mennonites "fled" to safe countries. It was asked, what happens when there were no more safe countries? Just as we would want the police to intervene if someone was attacking us on the streets, don't we expect the same if attacked by others outside our borders. In Saddam's case, he had already attacked Kuwait. Hadn't we learned anything from WWII? I've known many individuals over the years who have served in the military, who weren't the massacaring marauders, but rather saw it as a sense of duty, responsibility and a willingness to sacrifice for others so we might live freely. I do not doubt there are "evil" people in the military, but I also saw the difference in a country we conquered and ones conquered by the other side.
So, these are my thoughts, experiences and insights. They are not in as detail as they should be, but they are some of the influencing factors of how I got to be where I am today. This country is a great country and we should never, ever take our freedom for granted. I know several of you disagree with me over these thoughts, but realize also what price was paid to give us these freedoms and by whom. As I learned in Germany, there is no guarentee that what happened there, couldn't happen here. I 'll do my part to keep the facists out, please do yours to keeps the "leftist" despots out (remember that Stalin and Mao killed millions more than Hitler!)
Happy Anniversary Germany!
Some good friends and family and new acquaintances
