re: How does the fall of the Berlin Wall help the average American?

One obvious answer was “the peace dividend”. Shortly after the fall of the Berlin Wall we were able to cut defense spending enough that, along with the welfare cuts and expanding Reagan economy, we were able to briefly balance the budget.

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But the fall of the Berlin Wall reflected the collapse of the Soviet Union, and that’s a good thing unless you’re nostalgic for the Bolsheviks…

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My best memory of this was the televised debate from the USSR. A US college debate team took on the USSR team on "Communism vs. Capitalism." They had translators and it was before a large audience in a college auditorium in Moscow.
The question that nailed it for the US team was simple: 'If communism is better why must you build walls in Berlin to keep your people in?'
The Soviet team was stunned and the crowd went silent. They had no answer.