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WALLS - A short essay designed to keep thinking in place - by Nigel A JAMES
WALLS - A short essay designed to keep thinking in place - by Nigel A JAMES
Walls have never failed to interest me. Whilst still very young, I remember being fascinated by the thought of that which lay behind a very long brick wall which I passed on my way to my school everyday. Unfortunately, I never discovered what it was! But, I have never forgotten the wall . And then, later on in life, I couldn't help wondering why Berlin needed a wall which ran bang through its middle! Walls, in a word, are a subject of interest.
And, walls come in many different shapes, lengths, sizes and heights. And, all this has to do with the purpose for which they were built. And, surprisingly, the number of reasons for putting up walls are, in fact, only two.
Walls are either for keeping people or things in, or for keeping them out. And, that's why walls are a very big part of our lives. All of us need them and most of us want them.
Walls are the guardians of our privacy. We need them to separate that which is ours from everyone else's; and the higher and stronger the better. And, society is walls within walls within walls. Some are good and some are bad, and many are necessary and some are of no use at all. And our walls begin with ourselves.
Many people build invisible walls around themselves so as to prevent others from getting too close, and others see walls around others which really aren't there at all. Walls are both real and imaginary.
Prisons, of course, need walls to keep people in. And quite rightly so. But what about our borders which are there to keep people out? They, too, are walls – but of a different nature. shouldn't national boundaries be things of the past? We are, after all, all part of the one same world!
So, which walls do we really need? There is a saying in America which says that good garden fences make very good neighbors. There is a lot of truth in this pocket size packet of wisdom. And the truth of this saying lies in the fact that there are people who are not happy with only that which is theirs; they want more. And, the only way to prevent others from getting that which is yours is to build a wall to protect. So walls, at the end of the day, are all about angst.
And history is packed full of examples of angst inspired walls. The Great Wall of China, the Berlin Wall, the wall which separates the two sides in Israel, the Maginot line which failed in the war, and, of course, the wall – or fence as it is called - which stops Mexicans entering the United States of America. There are countless other examples as well.
But, most walls are really incapable of resisting the attempts of the determined. How many people escaped from East Berlin? Did the Maginot line stop the Germans from invading France in the 2nd World war? How effective is the wall along the Mexican border? The point is that all walls have doors, and not all doors look like doors!
Doors, just like walls, come in many forms. It all depends on the wall! The Berlin wall allowed people to pass in a variety of ways. There were tunnels, ladders, disguises and cunning. A wall is only as strong as the imagination of he who erects it!
But, walls will always be needed. And, that's because we are how we are – victims of angst. But, there is light at the end of the tunnel, however strong and permanent a wall may seem to be, it will not stand for ever.
Walls are the products of our thinking, and thinking is stronger than even the biggest of walls. So, if we stop thinking walls, then, one day, they might disappear. A world without national boundaries – a wonderful vision – but – this vision, too, is being kept where it is by a very strong wall of old fashioned and out of date thinking.
Walls, I'm afraid will stay with us for ever. But, maybe I'm wrong! As I said, thinking is stronger than walls, and the Berlin wall disappeared, too. Every wall on earth – however strong – will one day be part of our past – and life will go on as if they'd never existed. People quickly forget, and, that's the weakness of walls! nj
