I think it is very human not to consider the possibility that you might lose what you’ve already got. East Germans didn’t realise that the BMW’s were part of a system with unemployment, lack of community and disgusting inequality. East German media tried to tell the whole picture about the west but were ultimately not believed.
I think this systematizes the entire situation of the Eastern bloc very well. There were some major issues with the system, for a number of reasons, and people of course didnt like that, and its normal for people to desire things that will improve their material conditions. However, the 90s and 00s really took away the good things that were there during socialism. The entire period of the 90s was basically a dissolution of society. In many ways, it feels like the same level of neoliberalism is only now reaching the West, and the situation in the US and UK really rhymes a lot with that of 90s Eastern Europe, with the absolute dissolution of social institutions, absolute mistrust in society as a concept, rampant individualism and everyone having conspiray theory brainworms.
I think this systematizes the entire situation of the Eastern bloc very well. There were some major issues with the system, for a number of reasons, and people of course didnt like that, and its normal for people to desire things that will improve their material conditions. However, the 90s and 00s really took away the good things that were there during socialism. The entire period of the 90s was basically a dissolution of society. In many ways, it feels like the same level of neoliberalism is only now reaching the West, and the situation in the US and UK really rhymes a lot with that of 90s Eastern Europe, with the absolute dissolution of social institutions, absolute mistrust in society as a concept, rampant individualism and everyone having conspiray theory brainworms.