In his speech, President Reagan presents a false dichotomy by contrasting the prosperity and freedom of West Berlin with the poverty and oppression in the Communist East, implying that the only path to success and well-being is through freedom and capitalism. He suggests that the existence of the Berlin Wall symbolizes a broader choice between freedom and tyranny, thereby framing the issue as a binary choice. This tactic is effective in rallying support for anti-Communist sentiment, as it simplifies complex geopolitical realities into an easily digestible narrative that resonates with listeners’ values about freedom and prosperity. However, it oversimplifies the situation by ignoring the nuances and potential variations in governance and economic systems beyond mere dichotomies.
"Reagan speech from the Brandenburg Gate" by Ronald Reagan We come to Berlin, we American Presidents, because it's our duty to speak, in this place, of freedom. You see, like so many Presidents before me, I come here today because wherever I go, whatever I do: "Ich hab noch einen koffer in Berlin." [I still have a suitcase in Berlin.] To those listening in East Berlin, a special word: Although I cannot be with you, I address my remarks to you just as surely as to those standing here before me. For I join you, as I join your fellow countrymen in the West, in this firm, this unalterable belief: Es gibt nur ein Berlin. [There is only one Berlin.] Behind me stands a wall that encircles the free sectors of this city, part of a vast system of barriers that divides the entire continent of Europe. From the Baltic, south, those barriers cut across Germany in a gash of barbed wire, concrete, dog runs, and guardtowers. Every man is a Berliner, forced to look upon a scar. President von Weizsacker has said: "The German question is open as long as the Brandenburg Gate is closed." Today I say: As long as this gate is closed, as long as this scar of a wall is permitted to stand, it is not the German question alone that remains open, but the question of freedom for all mankind. "Our policy is directed not against any country or doctrine, but against hunger, poverty, desperation, and chaos." Where four decades ago there was rubble, today in West Berlin there is the greatest industrial output of any city in Germany-busy office blocks, fine homes and apartments, proud avenues, and the spreading lawns of park land. In the 1950's, Khrushchev predicted: "We will bury you." But in the West today, we see a free world that has achieved a level of prosperity and well-being unprecedented in all human history. In the Communist world, we see failure, technological backwardness, declining standards of health, even want of the most basic kind-too little food. Even today, the Soviet Union still cannot feed itself. After these four decades, then, there stands before the entire world one great and inescapable conclusion: Freedom leads to prosperity. Freedom replaces the ancient hatreds among the nations with comity and peace. Freedom is the victor. Are these the beginnings of profound changes in the Soviet state? Come here to this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall! Address from the Brandenburg Gate (Berlin Wall), Ronald Reagan, June 12, 1987 Question Use the speech by President Ronald Reagan to answer the question. In this speech, President Reagan uses a false dichotomy to support his conclusion that “Freedom leads to prosperity.” In 3–5 sentences, describe the false dichotomy and evaluate its effectiveness in supporting his argument. (4 points)
2 answers
1 answer