Berlin Wall Annotation

Annotated Bibliography #1

Topic- The Berlin Wall and freedom

Citation: Reagan, Ronald. "Tear Down This Wall." Germany, Berlin Wall, West Berlin. Speech. June 12, 1987

Throughout his speech, Ronald Reagan (1987) presented a direct notion concerning the Berlin wall. Specifically, that it acts as a hindrance of freedom between East and West Berlin. His beliefs extended to worldwide implications, suggesting that liberty eventually leads to prosperity for all citizens. In other words, citizens acting upon their own autonomy prevent conflicts between countries. Reagan established a connection to the United States by using it as an example of a country that reinforces the ideals of freedom, and that by doing so, peace ensues within the general

Namely, the poem concerns the speaker and his neighbor, debating whether or not to eliminate the fence separating their land. Notably, the speaker desires to eradicate the barrier, and attempts to convince his neighbor that doing so would benefit multiple parties. He then provides examples of specific perspectives that would influence the neighbor directly. For example, the cows on the neighbor’s property could roam liberally if the physical restraint was removed. The apples on the speaker’s side could feed his neighbor, and even his neighbor’s cows if the property was combined. The speaker justifies his ideas by providing beneficial effects from removing the boundary. However, the neighbor disagrees with the speaker’s claims, despite the potential advantages. Furthermore, I believe that the speaker’s ideas may be extended to a simplistic solution to disputes over resources, both natural and manmade. Specifically, combining multiple types of resources and equally distributing them among contributing entities benefits everyone. This would be especially useful if one group had an abundance of one particular resource, but in need of another. A similar idea can be concluded from Garrett Hardin’s article, Lifeboat Ethics. Rather than resources, it concerns the spaces available on a lifeboat. After proposing a variety of seating combinations, the most optimal one is to include an assortment of people in order to preserve diversity and encourage equality. The speaker’s ideas of combining differences (in his case, differences of assets on property) ensures a medley that is easy to redistribute