Quote:
Originally posted by Kaz:
Quite unfortunately, here you can still occasionally hear jokes about the "Ossies" (former East Germans) and, for instance, that they can't drive, etc. And this was a border city, only about 10km from the border to Thueringen (formerly East Germany). Sad but true... and on an average, people in the eastern states still earn less, own less, have a higher unemployment rate and (as far as I know) more crime than in the western states. It will take more time until there is truly no difference between East and West anymore... 
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Kaz, I hear you, but with all respect those differences are not what I was talking about. Those sort of differences exist between New Yorkers and New Jerseyers and also between Eastern Sydneysiders and those from the western suburbs of Sydney for example.
These exist anywhere.
I'm talking about growing up in a world where the cold war enveloped all, which symbolically tumbled down when the Berlin wall came down. You are too young to understand the differences between then and now. The feelings of fearful futile acceptance of a world order, and then disbelieving joy when that world order was turned on it's head.
West Berlin was for many years the focal point of the cold war. A city under seige. A bastion of western democracy surrounded by a sea of hostile communism that at one point only survived on plane drops of food. Families prevented from seeing each other. People shot when attempting a crossing.
Things are radically different now Kaz. Absolutely no comparison.
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[This message has been edited by Yorick (edited 10-26-2001).]