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I'm from the former west, and now live in Berlin (less than a minute walk to one of the photo locations). The east/west cultural conflict was a thing in the 90

I'm from the former west, and now live in Berlin (less than a minute walk to one of the photo locations). The east/west cultural conflict was a thing in the 90s. But today, nobody cares anymore. Berlin, and one or two other large cities in the east have become vibrant centres of culture, attractive to young people from all over Europe. The former east still lags economically. But by and large, the investments helped to catch up, and the economy has been doing well everywhere, making people less anxious about their taxes going to "undeserving" people. But, of course, history never ends: now we have xenophobes protesting against their taxes helping refugees from Syria. Especially in the former east (go figure). The same dynamic is also playing out in Poland and Hungary: two countries massively profiting from EU membership, with large parts of the population turning their backs on the EU, and the values it stands for.

denzil_correa 9y ago
> The east/west cultural conflict was a thing in the 90s. But today, nobody cares anymore. The recent rise of AfD has been fueled by the resentment of the former East [0]. The vote share of the AfD has strong correlations to the east-west divide. It might be worthwhile to understand the reasons behind this pattern. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/sep/28/is-germanys-election-result-the-revenge-of-the-east https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/sep/28/is-germanys-el...
majewsky 9y ago
> The east/west cultural conflict was a thing in the 90s. But today, nobody cares anymore. Since you live in Berlin, I suggest you take a daytrip to the villages around Berlin, or maybe down to the Lausitz (Cottbus, Hoyerswerda, Bautzen, etc.). You'll find plenty of people who care. The GDR was an oppressive regime towards its critics, but if you managed to keep your head down, you could live a very stable life there. Upon starting work at 15, you had reasonable confidence that you could work at the same place until retirement if you wanted to. Until, of course, the reunification happened, and large parts of the East-German economy were flushed down the toilet for not many good reasons. Now you have a huge number of people who suddenly have to change jobs every few years to keep themselves afloat, and those (and their children!) are the ones voting for the AfD. Source: I know some of those people.
- yks 9y ago
  > reasonable confidence that you could work at the same place until retirement based on what? on belief that the wise communist party conquered the laws of economics, history and nature? Maybe disintegration with plunging into poverty is inevitable and natural end for the "oppressive regimes". Then at least East Germans got it easier than their neighbors to the East thanks to reunification.

denzil_correa 9y ago

> The east/west cultural conflict was a thing in the 90s. But today, nobody cares anymore. The recent rise of AfD has been fueled by the resentment of the former East [0]. The vote share of the AfD has strong correlations to the east-west divide. It might be worthwhile to understand the reasons behind this pattern. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/sep/28/is-germanys-election-result-the-revenge-of-the-east https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/sep/28/is-germanys-el...

majewsky 9y ago

> The east/west cultural conflict was a thing in the 90s. But today, nobody cares anymore. Since you live in Berlin, I suggest you take a daytrip to the villages around Berlin, or maybe down to the Lausitz (Cottbus, Hoyerswerda, Bautzen, etc.). You'll find plenty of people who care. The GDR was an oppressive regime towards its critics, but if you managed to keep your head down, you could live a very stable life there. Upon starting work at 15, you had reasonable confidence that you could work at the same place until retirement if you wanted to. Until, of course, the reunification happened, and large parts of the East-German economy were flushed down the toilet for not many good reasons. Now you have a huge number of people who suddenly have to change jobs every few years to keep themselves afloat, and those (and their children!) are the ones voting for the AfD. Source: I know some of those people.

yks 9y ago
> reasonable confidence that you could work at the same place until retirement based on what? on belief that the wise communist party conquered the laws of economics, history and nature? Maybe disintegration with plunging into poverty is inevitable and natural end for the "oppressive regimes". Then at least East Germans got it easier than their neighbors to the East thanks to reunification.