1989 was one of the greatest years for humanity in recent human history. It seems you forgot that the Berlin wall was smashed down with sledge hammers in November of 1989. I remember it well since I was there at the end of a 7 month grand tour of Europe with a backpack. The entire iron curtain fell and Russian was freed from communism. 1989 was a year that saw a big part of earth freed from fascist doctrine. Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Yugoslavia, Eastern Germany all the Stans that were a part of the USSR and many other satellite countries that were all behind the iron curtain. The people in those countries could not travel or leave there home countries at the risk of death. There were walls fences guard towers with armed soldiers concertina wire all to keep the people in a prison. They could not leave they could not travel and if you were god forbid a capitalist you were killed or sent to Siberian death camps. 1989 was the year when this all ended peacefully and many were freed from a fascist communist nightmare. 1989 is the greatest year for human freedom in hundreds of years. Even the Tienanmen square event helped open up China to capitalism. For me personally it was the greatest year in my life.