Initial findings...

I have spoken to a few folks about the Wall's old guards over the past couple weeks.  Their familiarity with Berlin ranged from living in the city for 20-some-odd years to visiting for a week--but they all seemed to know their stuff.  I mentioned to all of them that my goal was to sniff out at least one ex-guard (the more, the merrier!) and find out what his experience was immediately after the Wall came down.  They liked the idea, but warned that execution would be difficult.  Each of the three people stressed that Berlin was rife with tension over its past misdeeds.  Coming as an outsider and trying to openly discuss autarkic fascism and communism and the Wall would be a mistake; Berliners are still in the midst of new beginnings.  I got the sense that a lot of older Germans deal with crises of the conscience and have had to develop a sort of societal amnesia.  "An old guard might feel like a pariah... they don't list themselves with 800-numbers in the phone book," said Sharon, who went through elementary school in West Berlin and Regensburg while her dad worked for the US military.

I got to thinking about ditching the 'what did the guards do afterwards?' idea.  There is a solid chance I could go to Berlin and only find tight-lipped folks.  Doing something on education or fashion would certainly be easier.  But, alas, I'm stubborn.

So here is what I'm going to do: the Mauer Museum in Berlin dedicated to US Military Checkpoint Charlie from the Wall. In the museum's description is a little blurb about how escaped guards came to work for the museum in the '60s.  I will find the Mauer Museum, talk to the curator/director/person-in-charge, and track down one of the escaped guards.  I figure there has to be at least a list of phone numbers for former employees.  Basically, I want to pull my best bounty hunter impression and chat with a few of the old guards.

Here's the museum's website, if you were curious:  http://www.mauermuseum.de/english/frame-index-mauer.html

Germans are getting old, Chancellor Merkel noticed

It turns out that Germans are old, active, and bereft of penny-pinching habits.  An article in today's New York Times tells of Chancellor Angela Merkel's strong effort to protect the pension plans of 20.2 million Germans--a bloc that composes right around a quarter of Germany's population.  Most of the time, the two main political parties butt heads and rabble-rouse. With elections looming in the fall, however, Merkel's administration and her counterparts in Berlin were almost unilaterally decisive in fixing pension figures. No one wants to look like the bad guy in this case.

The old law (last touched upon 22 years ago, according to the article) stipulated that pension rates varied according to the average income for working Germans. That way, Grandpa Dieter couldn't take too much of the pie. But with an important election starting to creep into voters' minds, Chancellor Merkel wanted to leave a strong first impression for her re-election bid. The political stalemate only serves the large (and probably ornery) voting group of pensioners. By simple economic reasoning, working Germans will have to incur slightly higher taxes for the foreseeable future. It's not too big a deal, but the decision bears some implications for the future.

The pension edict shows that the 20.2 million person bloc figured out how to employ its political clout. This could spell interesting things for the near future of German policy making. Suppose the car industry tanks (again) or Germany's financial markets crash (again), and inspires legislation to either increase taxes or reduce pensions to stockpile money for a bailout. Will the 20.2 million voting group speak up again? You bet. If politicians neglect or piss off the elderly, they'll get the axe. It is important to note that Germany will continue to get older, meaning more pensioners will join the voting mass. Give it some time, but I have the feeling this will be popping up again in headlines soon.

If you want to take a lookie-loo, here's the article:  http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/07/world/europe/07pension.html?_r=1&adxnnl=1&ref=europe&adxnnlx=1241733639-BqinGbkYbA+dOZENuJHwdQ

Reagan's Speech to Berliners, 1987

Hey y'all.  This does not pertain to any particular assignment, but it came up in my international studies class (Amy, this should look pretty familiar).  Have a little looksee if you're stumbling through my blog and have a minute to spare. I promise it's slightly interesting.

http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/ronaldreaganbrandenburggate.htm

Muhammed and Manuela's blogs

I really like how much Manuela has embraced the photo upload feature. She has a great eye for photography. It's also reassuring to see how Manuela's sense of humor ties into her blog. The first link I found was to Spiegel Online news; more specifically, the link goes to the "Berlin, Poor but Sexy" page. I can picture Manuela giggling like an imp when she found that link, and that cracks me up. I think I will start posting series of pictures, like Manuela, in my blog. My talent for photography is extremely poor, but I relish the challenge.

I chose to poke around Muhammed Idris's blog because he'll by my roomie in Berlin. I figure it's time to dig in and get to know Muhammed better, and you know what they say... "Ya don't know a fellow until you glance through his blog." It struck me how much I like Muhammed's writing style. Where my own is wordy and overly colloquial, Muhammed's writing is clear. He makes his points. I tend to write too informally for non-academic projects--I should apologize, I'm guilty again with this piece.

To wrap this up: I need to put more effort and brainpower into my blog posts. I promise that my next post will be a glittering gem of bloggy writing. Until then, here's something fun:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hllqpstavoc

Project Proposal

I'm pretty set on the first project idea I stated in seminar, but I am not sure if I will be able to track down the right people in Berlin to really get this project in gear. We'll see how this turns out...

What did the Soviet guards and officials who spent (at most) 38 years along the Wall do immediately after it was torn down in 1989?

Altar items:

- unlocked handcuffs

- job application papers

- tour map of West Berlin

- old uniform for sale in a hobby shop or second-hand store

- graffiti/tagging done by East Berliners

I like this topic because it will help me inspect the psyche of "the others." I would love to get the chance to meet and greet men and women who maintained a barrier for almost four decades only to see it crumble. Most interestingly, I want to know their methods for re-establishing a normal life once the Berlin Wall fell. What jobs did they get? Do they ever hang out with West Berlin folks? Is there still an allegiance to the old, Soviet doctrines?

The Barriers of Having and Not-Having

I saw an old, haggard man the other day at the corner of 45th Street and 17th Avenue a few days ago, leaning on the street light. He stood alone, content to bask in the sun while students milled around him. Nobody paid attention to the old fart. His wry smiles and attempts to make conversation were never returned. A pack of girls crossed the street simply to avoid the bum--they didn't even break stride, the decision was tacit and automatic.

Our community here at the UW has a black sheep population: the homeless, non-academics, and who-the-fuck-are-you?'s. Students and faculty, and the neighborhood types associated with the school, established an invisible barrier. As you trace along 45th, the downtrodden pock University Way and 15th Avenue like free-range chickens. They seem to belong there. But to find a homeless man benignly standing on the corner of 17th seems odd. Likewise, if a pack of of homeless men and/or women were to wander onto Greek Row, kids would call UWPD and receive pats on the back for it. Somewhere between 15th Avenue and the UW campus is a line in the sand.

I don't mind the barrier, really. As a young, somewhat-morally-sound man I would argue that the rift between communities is bullshit. People are people, and spoiled 18-22 year olds can't lay claim to a barrier that doesn't exist. But there is another side, the dominant side, that believes the folks living the day-to-day grind should be kept away from campus. As bad as it sounds to express out loud, I am comfortable with the buffer. A student taking a nap on the lawn in the Quad is fine with me; and if there's a group of them hanging out together, that's just gravy. Picture that scene. Inviting, eh?

But now imagine those kids are 54 years old, long-haired and scraggy. The whole scene seems a little off, right? I would like to say that we keep the downtrodden at bay for our well-being, but that's a lame excuse. If anything the barrier is established for our piece of mind. We picture college as a utopia, a structure that shouldn't be muddied by the influence of bums. If prospective students saw three homeless guys reading the paper next to Drumheller Fountain or tossing a football in the median of Greek Row, I have no doubt they'd be turned off. The barrier is preserved (strengthened, even, with the surge of violent crime in the area) because the haves have the means to keep the have-nots censured. It's sad and surreal, but it is what it is. College life and vagabonds just don't mix.

A Quick Epiphany

I just watched Spike Lee's "When the Levees Broke" and, well, God damn. It's a pretty emotionally powerful documentary. I recommend the crap out of it, but that's neither here nor there at the moment. What's crucial for this blog is a little epiphany I had, and it went a little something like this:

After the walls crumble, how long does it take for the societal psyche to heal and stigmas to fade? How long will it take for the horrors of post-Katrina New Orleans to transform into a lattice of grim statistics? Similarly, have Berliners learned to appreciate the history of the wall or is it still a bitter memory?

What interests me most within this inquiry is what, if anything other than time, facilitates the healing process? Americans swathed Lousianans and other Gulf Coasters with support after it was evident the government had their priorities mixed. The NBA put the 2008 All-Star game in New Orleans, which kicked off a campaign to reunite New Orleans with the economic and cultural fabric of America. Did the USSR send Berliners a fruit basket? Better yet, would it have helped?

I might bring over a little treat for Berliners when we fly to Germany, apologizing for the Soviets. Hopefully I don't get my ass kicked.