QandO

August 23, 2004

But Democracy's Hard!
Posted by McQ

According to Expatica, East Germans long for the "good old days":

Some 15 years after the Berlin Wall came down, more than 75 percent of eastern Germans polled in a survey released Monday believe communism to be a good idea in theory.

Over half of the people in formerly communist eastern Germany are disillusioned with democracy, said the survey by Datenreport 2004.

Some 25 percent of respondents agree with the statement: "There are other, better forms of government than democracy."

A whopping 76 percent eastern Germans said they believed communism was a good idea that was only poorly carried out by the regime in the former German Democratic Republic.

The canard that "communism is a good idea" but was "poorly carried out" is an article of faith among members of the socialist left and limo liberals. They believe it would work if only someone else had done it properly. Despite the contrary evidence to be found in the west's success, it remains a siren song to them. Despite all that's written about its theory and its reality, there are large numbers who still choose to believe that a socialist or communist utopia is both achievable and best. It still amazes me that in the face of the real repression communism brought to that region that a majority would pine for it.

But then it seem memories fade quickly. The East German generation that grew up under the banner of the DDR and never knew anything but communism until now seem to be engaged in selective nostalgia. My guess is if their newly found freedoms were again taken from them, and the oppression that was rampant in the good old days were returned, perhaps it would jog their memory.

Then again, maybe not.

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