by John Murphy
 
As we move forward with our economic recovery I see a lesson as we look back at the former West Germany and East Germany. For nearly half a century, the industrious and intelligent German people were divided between one state where free enterprise and political liberty held sway — and another where a state-centric, command-and-control economy was imposed. The result of this painful experiment was a living standard in the West that was 10 times that in the East, with a robust democracy and even a cleaner environment that put the East to shame. In the end, East Germans voted with their feet for what the West had to offer.
 
The German people deserve great credit for the peaceful and happy end to that division, but so does the United States. We should take pride that our own values, including free enterprise, played a leading role in the liberation of all of Eastern Europe. And how is a life of freedom in the East?

'Fantastyczne!"

That's the word Adam Michnik, the man who played one of the starring roles in bringing the Cold War to an end, exclaims in Polish as he thinks back over the two decades since the Berlin Wall fell that Nov. 9 evening. He repeats it in rapid fire, each time flawlessly, with no hint of his trademark stutter.

"Fantastic! Fantastic! Poland has not had such 20 years in its last 400 years, 300 years. We are on the side of the West. We are sovereign. We have all possible civil rights. Democratic elections. Open borders. No censorship. That is simply a fantastic change."