Has anyone one actually grown up in a fascist or communist country?

[Ravenblade]

I grew up in the DDR. What was it like?

Although they leaned towards communist ideals they called their system "real socialism" (Realsozialismus). Who was "they". Well, they was "The Party" or the SED or socialist unity party. They were the de facto head of the state with its boss called Erich Honecker, who was general secretary of the committee for the party. They did have a parliamentary body called "Volkskammer" (People's Chamber), however its functionality was to say Yes to anything the party presented.

How was life? It was a system that fought against its own disintegration long before the peaceful revolution in 1989, plants and factories were in a ramshackle state, so was the infrastructure, our asphalted streets were plastered with craters hence why the DDR kept their bulging cobbled streets since they required now service and were excelled to stumble over in winter for the elderly. Winters were examplary, in the DDR everyone heated with lignite, most people couldn't afford central heating so every room had a lignite oven. Carbon monoxide poisoning when inside as well as respiratory problems from sulfuric and sooty clouds billowing out of chimneys everywhere were common side effects, as was acid rain when it finally got washed out. For school kids it was a nice time too because winter service was uncommon buses couldn't service villages and towns and so everyone had school-free days even for weeks going.

That said travelling and food was dirt cheap, even though there was constant shortage of foods leading to a oversupply of some other foods (like beets and cabbage, everyone's favourite vegetable) noone really had to suffer from malnutrition. Beer was not so good, due to shortage of certain grain types they "propped" beer with bile and sometimes with rice hence why it was coined "Sterbehilfe" (assisted suicide). Higher goods and tech was fairly in shortage and expensive hence why people were ready to repair stuff themselves and help eachother, people were in general more inclined to help eachother and be more social. Greeting eachother, evens strangers was common, it's some of the things that died out fast after reunification.

Cars especially were expensive, the DDR only knew two major brands, Trabant and Wartburg, for these they had to wait for years or buy them horrifically overpriced on the black market or even used. You could buy cars from Soviet or socialist countries, their....reputation was not spectacular. We had more names for these than they had models. In general people did have a social life but it was a lot more about gatherings. These are just a few examples, could fill a book and still not be done. There were a lot aspects of life that can hardly be covered in a few paragraphs.

Do I miss it, though? No, not really. I wished however that the reunification didn't have such huge impact on social life as it had. People were told their economy was inferior, so were their lives, people were happily buying into this. It's biting them back today and it still has political impact.

[Deleted]

It's always fun hearing from people who lived in/through facist/communist regimes tell their experiences and then seeing a bunch of 20 something fuckbois that suffer from a serious case of 1st world problems swarm them and interject about how wrong they are.

I think 20-something fuckbois would be characterized by the use of memes and words no one over the age of 18 would use in civilized company, such as "fuckbois".

If you'd actually visited some of these countries you'd know the indigenous populations are much more sympathetic and nostalgic for communism than expatriates. Expatriates tend to be under social pressure to praise their host country, they tend to be more entrepeunerial, and they left their country for a reason. Similarly you'd think, say, Americans were centre-left if you just spoke to expatriates, they are usually at pains to disassociate themselves with Bush/Trump etc because they don't want to be socially ostracized.

[Tackhisis]

check the eastern block of countries in Europe, how far they are economically behind the west countries.

Because they sold everything they had to the Western Europe countries, destroying their industry and economics for a empty promises of "democracy", "freedom", and "post-industrial world". The very idea that they, the former outskirts of great empires which had been plundering the world for centuries, could compete with the West is absurd, and people who bought it to destroy their own country are miserable.

[Deleted]

Because they sold everything they had to the Western Europe countries, destroying their industry and economics for a empty promises of "democracy", "freedom", and "post-industrial world". The very idea that they, the former outskirts of great empires which had been plundering the world for centuries, could compete with the West is absurd, and people who bought it to destroy their own country are miserable.

Most of the former soviet countries are still, by American standards, communist. They kept most of the social programs. There was a unilateral rejection of us-style freemarket monetarism.

[draynay]

Not until this year.

[Ulfric Trumpcloak]

Can't really see any difference between Cuba and Miami, of course from I've heard Miami doesn't feel anything like the rest of the United States. Cuba is actually a really good place to live if you stay away from politics and you got money. The latest generations of Cubans want nothing to do with the US, although admittedly, things have gotten a lot better over the last decade.

I have a cousin who i sold my house to when i came to the US. She's pretty much making more money there than i do here, and life over there doesn't cost 1/10 of what it costs here. THey're living like kings/queens.

[Flarelaine]

What is it actually like? It's difficult for me to even imagine what it feels like to live in a country where the government controls every single aspect of society, or where one man gets to decide everything you do and you have no freedom or say in it whatsoever.

I grew up in the Eastern Block and even there government control was mostly like "don't rock the boat". They did more harm through mismanaging the economy.

(Also through cultivating the notion the the state should and would take care of everything, but that's a long-winded thing...)

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I grew up in the DDR. What was it like?

Although they leaned towards communist ideals they called their system "real socialism" (Realsozialismus). Who was "they". Well, they was "The Party" or the SED or socialist unity party. They were the de facto head of the state with its boss called Erich Honecker, who was general secretary of the committee for the party. They did have a parliamentary body called "Volkskammer" (People's Chamber), however its functionality was to say Yes to anything the party presented.

How was life? It was a system that fought against its own disintegration long before the peaceful revolution in 1989, plants and factories were in a ramshackle state, so was the infrastructure, our asphalted streets were plastered with craters hence why the DDR kept their bulging cobbled streets since they required now service and were excelled to stumble over in winter for the elderly. Winters were examplary, in the DDR everyone heated with lignite, most people couldn't afford central heating so every room had a lignite oven. Carbon monoxide poisoning when inside as well as respiratory problems from sulfuric and sooty clouds billowing out of chimneys everywhere were common side effects, as was acid rain when it finally got washed out. For school kids it was a nice time too because winter service was uncommon buses couldn't service villages and towns and so everyone had school-free days even for weeks going.

That said travelling and food was dirt cheap, even though there was constant shortage of foods leading to a oversupply of some other foods (like beets and cabbage, everyone's favourite vegetable) noone really had to suffer from malnutrition. Beer was not so good, due to shortage of certain grain types they "propped" beer with bile and sometimes with rice hence why it was coined "Sterbehilfe" (assisted suicide). Higher goods and tech was fairly in shortage and expensive hence why people were ready to repair stuff themselves and help eachother, people were in general more inclined to help eachother and be more social. Greeting eachother, evens strangers was common, it's some of the things that died out fast after reunification.

Cars especially were expensive, the DDR only knew two major brands, Trabant and Wartburg, for these they had to wait for years or buy them horrifically overpriced on the black market or even used. You could buy cars from Soviet or socialist countries, their....reputation was not spectacular. We had more names for these than they had models. In general people did have a social life but it was a lot more about gatherings. These are just a few examples, could fill a book and still not be done. There were a lot aspects of life that can hardly be covered in a few paragraphs.

Do I miss it, though? No, not really. I wished however that the reunification didn't have such huge impact on social life as it had. People were told their economy was inferior, so were their lives, people were happily buying into this. It's biting them back today and it still has political impact.

Spent a few weeks in the DDR in the summer of 1989. Even for a Hungarian schoolboy, the place was dirt cheap. But I loved your mountains and quaint old towns, man.

[Ravenblade]

Spent a few weeks in the DDR in the summer of 1989. Even for a Hungarian schoolboy, the place was dirt cheap. But I loved your mountains and quaint old towns, man.

Best thing yet, you could reach almost every remote place via train. I say almost because in one of the villages we lived the train station was torn down by the Soviets after the war and never rebuilt, and some towns like Ruhla had theirs removed during DDR times due to awkward connection. My own town I am living in now has a ton of old rails still going off to nowhere, after reunification only the connection to Erfurt survived, and a weekend "nostalgic" connection to a tourist location in the mountains paid by the state. They finally got their steam locomotive repaired again so they will be using it for this connection soon again. Apropos, I still remember steam locomotives being a thing as the DDR used them until the late 80s even because when the Sovietunion cancelled their subsidiaries the Deutsche Reichsbahn was caught in troubles, so they hastily started to electrify even remote lines and use steam locomotives as bridging solution. I remember they finished electrification up to 20 km from here shortly before reunification as it was a major hub, after reunification they undid it all and the formerly major hub is now a regular station.

[shadowmouse]

@Under Your Spell You rang?

It's difficult for me to even imagine what it feels like to live in a country where the government controls every single aspect of society, or where one man gets to decide everything you do and you have no freedom or say in it whatsoever.

I haven't grown up here, but I've been here a bit shy of 20 years. I am, obviously, an outsider. On the other hand, I live my day to day life in an ordinary Chinese apartment complex rather than one of the gated expat hangouts. I tend to spend much of my time with regular Chinese (as opposed to expats or returning overseas Chinese), get treated as a relative by my quasi adoptive daughters, and I'm marrying a woman who identifies intensely as being from the Dongting Lake area of Hunan, PRC (and in that order) and doesn't even speak English.

With that disclaimer, as noted by others the PRC is Communist with Chinese characteristics and in the wake of recent remarks that's a bit of a stretch:

BEIJING, Oct. 19 (Xinhua) -- Xi Jinping on Thursday called on members of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and people of all ethnic groups in the country to advance socialism with Chinese characteristics for a new era.

Source: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/20..._136692190.htm

This is a big place, with a whole lot of people. Instead of being the tightly controlled hive existence that I sometime hear people use to talk about China, it is more like trying to herd cats. In the US, stick a stop sign in the middle of plowed cornfields, where people can see way down the road on a clear night with a full moon, and people are likely to stop even if it is 0300. In China, at least in Beijing, they may not stop for a stoplight at 1700, and driving on the right side of the street if going the other way would be a shortcut might be optional. That will give you an idea about just how much everything is tightly controlled by the government or its leaders. For the most part, people go about their day to day business much like anywhere.

[d00mGuArD]

You want to help me out?

I will help you out by informing you that University of London degrees by distance learning cost 100$ per month *if you do them in 6 years to spread the cost.
For total 7000$ or so, for the whole bachelor. It is very part time and you study any time you like/can, so you can keep working while studying

This is cheaper than free education! *considering if universities where free you would spend more in transportation to go there 22 days per month, and a 3$ snack. And you are able to work at same time

I hope it helps

[BuckSparkles]

Anyone who actually thinks America is anything close to a fascist country is hilariously ignorant.

[Flarelaine]

Best thing yet, you could reach almost every remote place via train. I say almost because in one of the villages we lived the train station was torn down by the Soviets after the war and never rebuilt, and some towns like Ruhla had theirs removed during DDR times due to awkward connection. My own town I am living in now has a ton of old rails still going off to nowhere, after reunification only the connection to Erfurt survived, and a weekend "nostalgic" connection to a tourist location in the mountains paid by the state. They finally got their steam locomotive repaired again so they will be using it for this connection soon again. Apropos, I still remember steam locomotives being a thing as the DDR used them until the late 80s even because when the Sovietunion cancelled their subsidiaries the Deutsche Reichsbahn was caught in troubles, so they hastily started to electrify even remote lines and use steam locomotives as bridging solution. I remember they finished electrification up to 20 km from here shortly before reunification as it was a major hub, after reunification they undid it all and the formerly major hub is now a regular station.

Wow, I don't think I've ever seen a steam locomotive in live operation. We do have nostalgia trains with them for tourists, but that's it. We switched to diesel in the early sixties.

Fun trivia: we bought a handful of diesels from Sweden as a trial and they worked out fine... only the Soviets did not like us buying stuff from the dirty capitalists so we ended up buying a large order of Soviet diesel locomotives. The few surviving Swedish machines have a cult following, though.

[zenkai]

What is it actually like? It's difficult for me to even imagine what it feels like to live in a country where the government controls every single aspect of society, or where one man gets to decide everything you do and you have no freedom or say in it whatsoever.

I lived in CA for 6 months but I was only 2 so I don't remember it.

[BuckSparkles]

I lived in CA for 6 months but I was only 2 so I don't remember it.

I wish we could upvote.

[Echoherb]

The problem is not about things to be more equal, is thinking that communism will make them. Alright, we'll be all equal in poverty... except for the ruling class... and the military high command (you have to keep them happy because they're the ones that can make a revolt against you effective), I guess in the end will be the same shit only that at least on capitalism there's a small chance to make it.

Which is why most millennials aren't asking for communism, they are asking for democratic socialism. Most Americans have come to accept some form of wealth inequality as material incentive for hard work, but the top 1% of the 1% of people owning more wealth than the entire bottom half of the country is obscene.

[SupBrah]

My wife and her family are from Romania and all emigrated here after the fall of communism. They've told me plenty of stories, such as how they were required to work the fields like slaves with nothing to show for it. Even my brother-in-law was forced to work the fields some when he was still a child. How they were able to teach themselves English through crappy, illegal dubs of American movies. Apparently most of them were dubbed by some woman (including the male roles).

Edit: Here's an article on the woman (who deserves more credit than she receives). She was able to provide many Romanians a means of escape through entertainment. A sense of hope for a better life.

I'm not religious but I definitely respect their devotion to Christianity. They had to keep their faith secret as people were literally jailed for such beliefs.

It really makes you realize how much we take our cozy existence for granted and it's honestly repulsive that communism is actually taken seriously by many millennials (who ironically are almost always sheltered, privileged, college-aged white kids from a middle/upper middle class suburban home). Ignorance is bliss, I guess.

[Everwake]

Anyone here from Turkmenistan? Always curious to see how the Turkmen are doing.

[Calfredd]

Any American in this thread who doesn't answer "Yes" is a liar or delusional.

How do you figure? Did America turn into a communist or fascist country while I wasn't paying attention?

[Ravenblade]

Wow, I don't think I've ever seen a steam locomotive in live operation. We do have nostalgia trains with them for tourists, but that's it. We switched to diesel in the early sixties.

Fun trivia: we bought a handful of diesels from Sweden as a trial and they worked out fine... only the Soviets did not like us buying stuff from the dirty capitalists so we ended up buying a large order of Soviet diesel locomotives. The few surviving Swedish machines have a cult following, though.

The DDR was forced to buy Soviet diesel locomotives too. There was the infamous Taigatrommel (Taiga drum) which locomotive drivers and railway workers coined Stalin's Last Revenge because of its notorious hammering sound recognizable when the train was still kilometres away. The DDR did develop its own electro locomotives though. Speaking of development, this was one of the reasons why the DDR system fell behind technologically. They did have creative ideas of their own but the old people in the government rejected anything that could offend the Soviets or could be mistaken as carbon copy of West-German (read: capitalist) products even though a lot stuff was in fact sold to the West bloc, below production price, at a loss and as cheap products.

[Tackhisis]

They've told me plenty of stories, such as how they were required to work the fields like slaves with nothing to show for it. Even my brother-in-law was forced to work the fields some when he was still a child. How they were able to teach themselves English through crappy, illegal dubs of American movies.

And why do you believe her?