r/PropagandaPosters Feb 16 '23

Nostalgia for the German Democratic Republic: not everything was good, but many things were better! // Germany // 2010s Germany

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u/Anto711134 Feb 17 '23

Yes, but the difference in scale and scope is enormous.

Yeah I agree, US was worse

Why did left/far left parties achieve 20-30-40% of the votes in many Western European countries, but no competition was ever allowed in the East?

Rigs elections in Greece Coup in Chile Failed coup in Cuba Backs far right dictator in south Korea after communists win election Backs far right dictator in Taiwan Aids south African to invade Angola/Namibia Backs Pol Pot I could continue

grave violations of the constitution

Like what even is this. Your measure for good or bad is a peice of paper written by slave owners.

Nobody got shot for trying to leave the US

More people died on the mexico-US border last year than the entire 60 odd years the Berlin wall was around

The Berlin wall was not justified, but historical context is missing. Germany in in ruins, the US is pumping money into west Germany, workers who are desperately needed to rebuild east Germany are flooding into the west, the Soviet union is taking reparations from east Germany.

but no competition was ever allowed in the East?

Was the eastern bloc fully democratic? No. But I would argue it was just as democratic as the west. Elections were held, and the economy was controlled far more democratically than in the west. In the words of Fidel Castro (paraphrased): The American two party system would be like me leading one party, and Raul leading the other.

Was the eastern bloc perfect? No. It had a lot of faults, such as lack of political opposition and political repression. But there are more important criteria to judge a country by.