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6 Nov, 2009 17:18

Fall of Berlin Wall – “triumph of capitalism”

The collapse of the Berlin Wall did unite East and West Germany, but still hasn’t overcome all sorts of social divisions between two parts of the country, Adrian Pabst from Kent University told RT.

The events of November 9, 1989 were “a trend of events which is still shaping the world”, Pabst said. It “marked the triumph of capitalism” and, as people thought at the time “it marked the victory of democracy over totalitarianism and, perhaps, also the victory of the values of pluralism”.

However, he went on, “Twenty years later we realize that the one thing that has remained with us is capitalism, whereas democracy and values are in a much more difficult state”.

After the collapse of the wall, the external unification of East and West Germany has taken place. “But what occurred in Germany was more than annexation of the East by the West,” the analyst said.

“There were very few fundamental constitutional reforms in Germany that would allow for the integration of the East, not just in western terms, but try and forge a new common German settlement,” Pabst said. And, he went on, we are still seeing the results today “with unemployment being much higher, with a lack of housing, and all sorts of social divisions that haven’t been overcome, even 20 years on.”

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