Re-unification of East and West Germany

[Bert Blitzkrieg]

@Bert Blitzkrieg: You´re right. It was a totalirism thing. As it is now in a "democratic" way in whole Germany.

I don't know what you mean with this remark.

Sempai, there is a big difference between a state sanctioned and/or state lead sportcheat scheme then when individual sportspersons decide to cheat.

As a schoolboy of 18 years old I went in 1979 for a week with my highschool to West-Berlin. Of course we had to cross East Germany to get there and visited East Berlin for a day. The difference between the two cities was huge ! West Berlin was thriving, bustling etc. East Berlin still had gaps from WW2 which weren't rebuild and a lot of big (and red) banners hanging from buildings with stupid slogans like "the socialist people of the DDR are working for a better future". The square in the centre near the radiotower looked new but was a concrete waste-land. In my eyes anyway.
we went to a large warehouse in East Berlin (near that same square) and you could buy a LOT of DDR stuff like flags etc. In the Netherlands that is and was very hard to find stuff like that.

What I mean is that the DDR didn't look that good through my eyes. Compared to the Netherlands and West Germany. Or any of the other Western European countries I had visited.
Undoubtedly there were good things in the DDR but there was less personal freedom and less wealth then in the west.
And in the Netherlands grammar school is free too.

 

[mgk]

We weren´t communism. We were socialism.

you could say we were social-democratic but I am sure you now the difference between democratic and social-democratic it is almost like difference between chair and electric chair


There were some interesting and valuable things in communists block but it was only exception in rule
we were relatively safe from common crime ( a lot of police and secret police)
we got high culture also in television (famous Polish film-school were developed in comunistic Lodz and now students of that university are shooting "Black hawk down" or "Saving Private Ryan" and many more
we got quite interesting TV art
women are more emancipated than in western countries
all people (also from very poor villages) got good education... etc
Poilsh footbal was 3th in the world and now......


but there were a lot of dull, terrible, stupid thing and I am very happy that we get rid of communists

 

[Sempai]

@mgk: I never said socialism and so on were perfect. We had our problems too as every state. What I hate is if somebody means he have to tell the world how bad other systems and countries are. I underline again - sytems and countries are made by men and dependent from them. So no system is better or worse as another. The system is what humans make of it. And I´m glad that at least You seem to understand what I´m fighting for to make understandable. And I love Your picture from chair and electric-chair. Very good!

@Bert Blitzkrieg: I meant the names (GDR to FRG) changed but the main problem is still there. Now the folk is threaten as before but in the east german case from a new government. And that government works with the same methods as the east one before. Only difference they reason it with the fight against terror (now You have to watch that You will not named terrorist). In the east they fought against the class enemy and You had to watch that You wasn´t named a spy, class enemy or traitor of the folk. And the democratic way is they hold a vote and if the vote is against their interests they do it all the same and claim there would been something wrong with the voters, the kind how it was voted or whatever. That we know from East Germany where all votes were always to about 100% in favour of the government.

@all: What is lacking is the possibility for the folk to annul decisions of the government if it´s not what the folk wanted. So that politicians can´t do what they want without fear to be punished. So they would been forced to work for the folk.