3 ms·

You're still not actually addressing the substance of the article itself. First, based on a cursory search, the documentary was inspired by an actual study in

You're still not actually addressing the substance of the article itself. First, based on a cursory search, the documentary was inspired by an actual study in the 1980s, so you're basic claim seems to be flawed. I can try to find the study itself if that's helpful, though the I'm not sure how easy that'll be.

thesmallestcat 9y ago
I don't know because I don't speak German, and beyond that all I've got are a couple interviews with folks wishing for a return to the security of the good 'ol days, a trope in Russia now. The study cited is from 1990, and I don't think it's a big surprise that all kinds of dissatisfaction accompanied those chaotic times. What I'm saying though is that the article is not written for somebody who cares to confirm the thesis, which is pretty over-the-top, making for bad journalism, ergo parent's "parody of itself" assertion. So I would say that yes, based on the insubstantial (though entertaining) contents alone, the article comes to an improper conclusion.
- zzalpha 9y ago
  It's an over-the-top title to be sure, but the article itself is, I think, a pretty interesting survey of some facts I did not know about women's rights in Warsaw Pact countries, written by a scholar who studies the history of the region. As a result, while I get the criticism, I think it's a bit unfair. But at this point it's a matter of opinion and taste rather than fact. But hey, at least we had a conversation, so thank you for that!
  - thesmallestcat 9y ago
    Gern geschehen :)
- majewsky 9y ago
  > all I've got are a couple interviews with folks wishing for a return to the security of the good 'ol days, a trope in Russia now Not just in Russia. There's these people [1] who are protesting in my hometown (Dresden) every Monday under their famous slogan "I'm not a Nazi BUT..." [2], and the best theory I've heard for why they're shouting out racist paroles in public is basically that. Before 1990, East Germans were used to not living in particular wealth, but at a quite high level of social security: They knew that if they wanted to, they could perform their current job until retirement, always have a living wage (and then a similarly-sized pension), and their children would be able to afford a good education and raise their offspring in a similarly socially secure environment. [3] After re-unification in 1990, East German industry was sold out to rich people from West Germany [4], who dismantled most of it and told their East German workers that they don't know how to work [5]. Over the course of a few years, many East Germans lost their jobs, large parts of their pension claims (to currency conversion and increased cost of living), and their social rank (as they had to take a new, lower-paid job). Today, racism and criticism of immigration is stronger in East Germany than in the western states because many East Germans believe that it's 1990 all over again: Immigrants [6] from a foreign culture [7] take all the good jobs [8] from them, leaving only stressful and low-paying service jobs (or unemployment) for the natives. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pegida https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pegida [2] Not really, but could as well be. [3] Of course, all of this only applies when you're dutifully waving a little red flag at the May 1 rally, and careful about whom you discuss your true opinions about socialism with. [4] Cave-at: There are always exceptions to this; I'm painting broad strokes here. [5] Anecdata: My grandmother recalls being told literally that ("first of all, we're going to teach you how to work") by the West German who bought the supermarket that she'd headed for the past 20 years via a 60-hour work week. [6] Then West Germans, now immigrants and refugees from Africa, the Middle East, and from Asian countries whose name ends in -istan. [7] 40 years of separation by the Iron Curtain had caused German culture to diverge enough that it's easy for an East German to recognize a West German in the early 90s, and vice versa (and sometimes still today, not just because of dialects). [8] That's also why it doesn't help when people point out that many of the immigrants are actually quite well-educated.

thesmallestcat 9y ago

I don't know because I don't speak German, and beyond that all I've got are a couple interviews with folks wishing for a return to the security of the good 'ol days, a trope in Russia now. The study cited is from 1990, and I don't think it's a big surprise that all kinds of dissatisfaction accompanied those chaotic times. What I'm saying though is that the article is not written for somebody who cares to confirm the thesis, which is pretty over-the-top, making for bad journalism, ergo parent's "parody of itself" assertion. So I would say that yes, based on the insubstantial (though entertaining) contents alone, the article comes to an improper conclusion.

zzalpha 9y ago
It's an over-the-top title to be sure, but the article itself is, I think, a pretty interesting survey of some facts I did not know about women's rights in Warsaw Pact countries, written by a scholar who studies the history of the region. As a result, while I get the criticism, I think it's a bit unfair. But at this point it's a matter of opinion and taste rather than fact. But hey, at least we had a conversation, so thank you for that!
- thesmallestcat 9y ago
  Gern geschehen :)
majewsky 9y ago
> all I've got are a couple interviews with folks wishing for a return to the security of the good 'ol days, a trope in Russia now Not just in Russia. There's these people [1] who are protesting in my hometown (Dresden) every Monday under their famous slogan "I'm not a Nazi BUT..." [2], and the best theory I've heard for why they're shouting out racist paroles in public is basically that. Before 1990, East Germans were used to not living in particular wealth, but at a quite high level of social security: They knew that if they wanted to, they could perform their current job until retirement, always have a living wage (and then a similarly-sized pension), and their children would be able to afford a good education and raise their offspring in a similarly socially secure environment. [3] After re-unification in 1990, East German industry was sold out to rich people from West Germany [4], who dismantled most of it and told their East German workers that they don't know how to work [5]. Over the course of a few years, many East Germans lost their jobs, large parts of their pension claims (to currency conversion and increased cost of living), and their social rank (as they had to take a new, lower-paid job). Today, racism and criticism of immigration is stronger in East Germany than in the western states because many East Germans believe that it's 1990 all over again: Immigrants [6] from a foreign culture [7] take all the good jobs [8] from them, leaving only stressful and low-paying service jobs (or unemployment) for the natives. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pegida https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pegida [2] Not really, but could as well be. [3] Of course, all of this only applies when you're dutifully waving a little red flag at the May 1 rally, and careful about whom you discuss your true opinions about socialism with. [4] Cave-at: There are always exceptions to this; I'm painting broad strokes here. [5] Anecdata: My grandmother recalls being told literally that ("first of all, we're going to teach you how to work") by the West German who bought the supermarket that she'd headed for the past 20 years via a 60-hour work week. [6] Then West Germans, now immigrants and refugees from Africa, the Middle East, and from Asian countries whose name ends in -istan. [7] 40 years of separation by the Iron Curtain had caused German culture to diverge enough that it's easy for an East German to recognize a West German in the early 90s, and vice versa (and sometimes still today, not just because of dialects). [8] That's also why it doesn't help when people point out that many of the immigrants are actually quite well-educated.