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[Redslavia]

I think the pertinent question here is whether the bad of the Communist system outweighs not just the good of that system, but the bad aspects of capitalism that have been introduced into the country since reunification.

Good OP by the by. Very insightful.

I think the even better question is, as someone here commented that, since both systems have their good and bad sides, it would be good if we could somehow combine the good sides of both, and see what would come out of it. Some would say China is trying to do that now. The opinions are split on this.

That'd be hard to do.

[Draferre]

A very nice first post. Though I'd like to add that some Germans aren't too happy about the Wall falling. "If you start placing bricks where the Wall was, you'll have at least 50 people helping you within a few minutes." Some people joke about it, some take it seriously.
I prefer joking about it... and before I get comments on how horrible it is to say something like that, I have former East-German friends that laugh at that (same thing with the banana jokes).

I only find it sad that quite a few people aren't interested in this day anymore and I was too young to remember. The only thing I remember is an East-German soldier with a gun staring at me through the car window. That memory kinda haunted me for quite a few years.

Making a long story short: Thanks for remembering.

[Risottia]

I thought it was going to be a thread about the book preceding Le Vicomte De Bragelonne.

[Alsatian Knights]

I think we have Harald Jaeger to thank for it not becoming a blood bath.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091108/ap_on_re_eu/eu_germany_guard_who_opened_wall

[The Snake Brotherhood]

Not to mention living in constant paranoia, what with the Stasi and all. People spying and reporting on neighbours for complaining about the lack of, say, oranges, or about not being allowed to read a particular book.

One could argue you have this in the US even today. A friend of mine in Chicago said he knew a man whose neighbor reported him for bringing "suspicious people" at home, and the police turned up in an hour and interrogated the guy.

[The Snake Brotherhood]

-snippage-
1. The Berlin Wall of course. Everyone knows the story how it went down.
-more snipagge-

EDIT-....I'm going to throw my mouse against the wall, but before I do that I'm going to finish this post...

Do you know the story behind how it went down? The start of it? Not the political crap, that story of that very night?

Yes I do. It's a long and curious story, btw. But I don't have the time and detailed knowledge to splash it here. And besides, let it be someone else to do it this time.
Preferably someone East German.

[Alsatian Knights]

Not to mention living in constant paranoia, what with the Stasi and all. People spying and reporting on neighbours for complaining about the lack of, say, oranges, or about not being allowed to read a particular book.

One could argue you have this in the US even today. A friend of mine in Chicago said he knew a man whose neighbor reported him for bringing "suspicious people" at home, and the police turned up in an hour and interrogated the guy.

Thats the Chicago PD for you.

[Risottia]

5. The one-party system. The Communist party was everything - a mother and a father to the people.

well... almost, but not quite entirely One-Party system.

wiki: East Germany

The Potsdam Agreement committed the Soviets to supporting a democratic form of government in Germany, and, unlike some Warsaw Pact countries, other political parties were permitted.
All parties operating in East Germany were obliged to join the National Front of Democratic Germany, ostensibly a united coalition of anti-fascist political parties. It was completely controlled by the SED. Members included:
Christlich-Demokratische Union Deutschlands (Christian Democratic Union of Germany, CDU), merged with the West-German CDU after reunification .
Demokratische Bauernpartei Deutschlands (Democratic Farmers' Party of Germany, DBD). This party was of special importance because of farmers' role in the economy. The party merged with the West German CDU after reunification.
Liberal-Demokratische Partei Deutschlands (Liberal Democratic Party of Germany, LDPD), merged with the West German FDP after reunification
Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands (National Democratic Party of Germany, NDPD), merged with the West German FDP after reunification.

11. Absolutely free health-care and education. It was on a top-class level, I'll give you that. It's probably the only positive legacy that I'd concede about communism (that, and the sheer absence of crime - you could send your 15-year old daughter to walk alone on a dark alley in the middle of the night, and nothing would happen to her).

12. Professional assignation after university graduation. It meant everyone would immediately get a job from Day One after graduation - the downside of this being that you had no voice as to where you should work. They just told you you should go work somewhere they had decided, and you went. Of course after 2-3 years of some experience (and developing connections), you could choose to work anywhere else. The best thing is, everyone worked exactly in the sphere for which they had been educated - much unlike now, when one could see the misery and need putting highly educated medics or teachers working on the bazaar.

You know, I really think that free health-care, free top-class education, absence of unemployment and absence of crime are somewhat linked.
If I recall statistics correctly, there's a positive correlation between diffuse poverty, poor average education and high crime rates.

20. Cyclostyle (the mimeograph duplicating machine) and typesetter machines. 8-inch diskettes, 8-byte PCs, home-made. We didn't produce cars, only some trucks and buses. One had to wait a year to get a Trabant car (the symbol of communist industry), 2 years for a Wartburg, 3 for a Moskvich, 4 for a Lada, and 5 for Skoda. Some waited for 10 years. You could imagine what a huge event the arrival of a car in the family was. Volga cars were available only to the nomenclature. My family had a Trabant, later a Lada...

Well... this year I had to wait 6 months to get a Twingo...

[Glorious Freedonia]

Nice post. I assume that the OP is a German (East German) but I am not sure. I am from the USA and your post was educational. We know more about communist life than people give us credit for but we certainly don't know 1/4 as much as the people who actually experienced it. It seems tha tthe main good things about communism could easily exist now if a free society. There is no reason why there cannot be more Olympic style athletic events for example. There is also no reason why military service could not be universal.

[Glorious Freedonia]

Not to mention living in constant paranoia, what with the Stasi and all. People spying and reporting on neighbours for complaining about the lack of, say, oranges, or about not being allowed to read a particular book.

One could argue you have this in the US even today. A friend of mine in Chicago said he knew a man whose neighbor reported him for bringing "suspicious people" at home, and the police turned up in an hour and interrogated the guy.

Nothing wrong with that. Your friend may have been annoyed but then that is the price we pay for inviting suspiscious people over to our homes I guess.

[The Snake Brotherhood]

Thats the Chicago PD for you.

I.e., the US police

[The Snake Brotherhood]

.

[The Snake Brotherhood]

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[Andaluciae]

And finally, where without the symbol of the old epoch:



Funny, isn't it?

I unintentionally broke one of those with my bare hands

I also ripped a chunk out of the Modlareuth wall with my bare hands.

Who know that the East Bloc version of the Hulk was me?

[Risottia]

5. The one-party system. The Communist party was everything - a mother and a father to the people.

well... almost, but not quite entirely One-Party system.

wiki: East Germany

Dude, I'm not exactly sure how should I put it in a way to make it clear enough that I'm talking about Bulgaria.

I am sorry, and I apologize. The wake about the anniversary of the Berlin Wall got me confused.

[OMGeverynameistaken]

The 'Lenin Saturday' thing doesn't sound so bad. Considering how our bourgeoisie capitalist-imperialist street cleaners suck so much at their jobs. If everybody in my neighborhood got out there with a broom and did a bit of sweeping once a week things would be a lot nicer.

Oh, but I forgot. Community labor is communism. Although, in this case, that line of thought DOES have some merit

[New Sociopia]

East Germany has fascinated me for a long time. As much as it's a political thing, I think the whole aesthetic side interests me. The architecture and design of the DDR was very powerful and impressive. I'd love a Trabant as well. I'd have to swap the engine for an electric motor though.

[Neo Art]

Nothing wrong with that. Your friend may have been annoyed but then that is the price we pay for inviting suspiscious people over to our homes I guess.

Troll better.

[Andaluciae]

East Germany has fascinated me for a long time. As much as it's a political thing, I think the whole aesthetic side interests me. The architecture and design of the DDR was very powerful and impressive. I'd love a Trabant as well. I'd have to swap the engine for an electric motor though.

What? You don't want to drive a car that puts out pollution so thick you could eat it with a spoon?

[Call to power]

aye Bulgaria sucks if for example you was a Polish your opinion may be different

7. The "noble socialist competition" between the collectives and the countries within the bloc

explain this I don't get it and google is being a dick

The 'Lenin Saturday' thing doesn't sound so bad. Considering how our bourgeoisie capitalist-imperialist street cleaners suck so much at their jobs. If everybody in my neighborhood got out there with a broom and did a bit of sweeping once a week things would be a lot nicer.

Oh, but I forgot. Community labor is communism. Although, in this case, that line of thought DOES have some merit

would suck living near a McDonald's though

[Intangelon]

First we take Manhattan...then we take Berlin.

[Charlotte Ryberg]

20 years on, I still remember one relic of divided Germany of that era: the Sandmännchen (Little Sandman). Neither of the versions produced for east nor west were worse or better: they were both plausible. Although the western version stopped production in 1991, the eastern version is still shown on MDR.

[OMGeverynameistaken]

The 'Lenin Saturday' thing doesn't sound so bad. Considering how our bourgeoisie capitalist-imperialist street cleaners suck so much at their jobs. If everybody in my neighborhood got out there with a broom and did a bit of sweeping once a week things would be a lot nicer.

Oh, but I forgot. Community labor is communism. Although, in this case, that line of thought DOES have some merit

would suck living near a McDonald's though

Ah, but if people had to clean up their own messes, even the sort that go to McDonalds would probably litter less.

[The Snake Brotherhood]

I unintentionally broke one of those with my bare hands

I also ripped a chunk out of the Modlareuth wall with my bare hands.

What if I tell you that when the windscreen wiper switches and the blinker switches of our family's Trabi got broken, we substituted them with various pencils of all possible colors? The wiper switch was blue, as far as I can remember, and I think the claxon was red.

[The Snake Brotherhood]

East Germany has fascinated me for a long time. As much as it's a political thing, I think the whole aesthetic side interests me. The architecture and design of the DDR was very powerful and impressive. I'd love a Trabant as well. I'd have to swap the engine for an electric motor though.

Well, I have good news for ya.

http://www.carsguide.com.au/site/news-and-reviews/car-news/trabant_makes_green_comeback

Trabant makes green comeback
German toymaker Herpa Miniaturmodelle unveiled the electric Trabant nT at last week's Frankfurt Motor Show. But the polluting plastic bodied car that signified Communist era has ditched its smoky two-cylinder engine and gone electric.

I hope I'll get one some day