‘Dad! Did they really build the Great Wall of China to keep the rabbits out?’
‘No Son! Not really. It was built because of the millions of young Chinese who were hanging around with nothing to do except draw the unemployment cheques and get up to mischief. It was the first big work for the dole scheme… if the young people didn’t work they didn’t get any pay… so it was a good opportunity to build something that would last a long time.’
‘But why did they build a wall Dad, what good did it do?’
‘The Emperor! Yu Chew Fat was a powerful man at that time… he was a God and he had a vision of the future, he saw that one day China would open up it’s borders to the rich peoples of the world so he built ‘The Wall’ as a tourist attraction, a kind of Oriental Theme Park.’
‘Oh! That was a good idea. Is that why they built Hadrian’s Wall and The Berlin Wall?’
‘No, they were built for entirely different reasons. It was the thousands of Romans who were holidaying in Britain at that time they built Hadrian’s Wall. They were a peace-loving people and they couldn’t stand the wailing of the Scottish bagpipes night after night. When the people complained about the horrible drone of the pipes the Caledonians just gave them the one-finger sign and showed them their bare bottoms. Naturally, that conduct couldn’t be tolerated by the peaceful citizens of Rome so it was easier to build a wall to shut them out than to argue with inferior savages who didn’t wear underclothes.’
‘And why was the Berlin Wall built, Dad?’
‘The Berlin Wall was built to keep the communists inside and the rest of the world out. The leaders believed that communism was good for their people… that’s why they built the wall to keep the people inside.’
‘What was communism Dad?’
‘Oh, I think it was a situation where everybody would happily work together and all would be treated as equals. They would enjoy all that the State had to offer and everything would be fine as long as they obeyed the rules without question.’
‘What happened if they didn’t obey Dad?’
‘Then they were punished and many were executed for not being good communists but some did manage to escape before the wall was built.’
‘But Dad, if communism was so good for the people why did they want to escape?’
‘That was because their leaders were real baddies. They were dictators, they ruled with an iron fist and made life a misery for their people and they were never going to allow democracy in that country. They built the wall to keep the people enslaved and so the outside world couldn’t see what was going on inside.’
‘What’s democracy Dad?’
‘It’s when the people of a country have the right to voice their opinions without fear of persecution and to elect a government of their choice. The people are free to make the choices that suits them best… just like we do here in Australia.’
‘Is our Prime Minister a dictator, Dad?’
‘No Son! He’s not a dictator but if he was we could not get rid of him at the next election. The banks and the multinationals are the real dictators in this country… but we can’t get rid of them… we are stuck with them and there is nothing much we can do about it… they are the ones who really control our lives and our democracy.’
‘Dad! Why are our soldiers in Iraq?’
‘They are helping the Americans and the British to force the people of that country into a democracy so they can be free like you and me.’
‘But why do we have to go to war to do it, Dad?’
‘That’s so we can have a lasting peace there Son. You can’t have peace unless you have a war first… that makes sense doesn’t it.’
‘Dad! What is Peace?’