3 ms·

The Stasi did not vaporize in 1990

by orangepurple 4y ago

ben_w 4y ago
Kinda, but I would say that the Stasi were so reviled by the German population that the reaction by the latter against the former is why Germany tends away from the surveillance common in e.g. the UK.
- hnbad 4y ago
  I think it's fairer to say that the German population is opposed to the idea of surveillance, especially when it happens in public. It's also worth pointing out that "opposition" in this case is extremely tame. The most intense and prolonged protests (not counting the recurring riots surrounding events like G20 or the yearly Mayday protests) Germany has seen in recent history were over COVID measures and even those were pretty mild and didn't do anything. Germans like to complain, but protests usually just fizzle out or lead to delays at best. I think even interest in privacy is waning. Ever since companies have been dragging their heels and making users run through (often outright illegal) cookie consent popups I've been hearing people complain more about privacy protections than about privacy abuses. The attempts to portray these laws as "red tape" have been very effective.
hef19898 4y ago
And your source for that is?
- orangepurple 4y ago
  Its members and their knowledge lived on for another day, another chance.
  - hef19898 4y ago
    None of the fromer Stasi agents got any job in Government, by virtue of being communists. Feel free to provide proof to the contrary. Most did go to private industry so. Edit: In fact, post WW2 German intelligence started as "Organisation Gehlen", as in Gehlen, former head of Fremde Heere Ost of the Wehrmacht (none of the anti-Nazi Abwehr people). Quite an ibteresting choice, picking a Nazi intel officer that was wrong basically all the time to head the new German intelligence service. To be fair so, the Russians staffed the East German coubterparts with former Gestapo and Abwehr people as well.

3 ms·

The Stasi did not vaporize in 1990

by orangepurple 4y ago

The Stasi did not vaporize in 1990

ben_w 4y ago
Kinda, but I would say that the Stasi were so reviled by the German population that the reaction by the latter against the former is why Germany tends away from the surveillance common in e.g. the UK.
- hnbad 4y ago
  I think it's fairer to say that the German population is opposed to the idea of surveillance, especially when it happens in public. It's also worth pointing out that "opposition" in this case is extremely tame. The most intense and prolonged protests (not counting the recurring riots surrounding events like G20 or the yearly Mayday protests) Germany has seen in recent history were over COVID measures and even those were pretty mild and didn't do anything. Germans like to complain, but protests usually just fizzle out or lead to delays at best. I think even interest in privacy is waning. Ever since companies have been dragging their heels and making users run through (often outright illegal) cookie consent popups I've been hearing people complain more about privacy protections than about privacy abuses. The attempts to portray these laws as "red tape" have been very effective.
hef19898 4y ago
And your source for that is?
- orangepurple 4y ago
  Its members and their knowledge lived on for another day, another chance.
  - hef19898 4y ago
    None of the fromer Stasi agents got any job in Government, by virtue of being communists. Feel free to provide proof to the contrary. Most did go to private industry so. Edit: In fact, post WW2 German intelligence started as "Organisation Gehlen", as in Gehlen, former head of Fremde Heere Ost of the Wehrmacht (none of the anti-Nazi Abwehr people). Quite an ibteresting choice, picking a Nazi intel officer that was wrong basically all the time to head the new German intelligence service. To be fair so, the Russians staffed the East German coubterparts with former Gestapo and Abwehr people as well.