FENCES AND WALLS 

The controversy is as old as Mankind. Nobody knows for sure if the first fence, or wall, was erected to unite or divide. Most scholars would say Divide. The concept of Unity must have come later, as we became civilized, and understood the need to join forces in order to achieve goals.

Even today the confusion persists, depending on what side of the fence, or wall, you are at. In a Zoo, humans consider fences essential for their safety.

For the animals imprisoned, though, fences are undesirable dividers since they keep them from enjoying a more varied diet.

The Berlin wall apparently did both, uniting and dividing people at the same time, which ended up being the very reason for its destruction — by the way, the greatest massacre of building materials ever recorded.

The Great Wall of China, at one time the great symbol of China’s unification, was saved from destruction by becoming an apolitical tourist trap.

On the other end of the spectrum we find the humble white picket fence, too weak of a barrier to unite or divide anything but, more than ever, a strong reminder of the lost American dream.