Where would you rather live?

[opebo]

I'm quite sure there is far more hunger in the former 'communist' states in the last 15 years than there was in most of the 1945-1990 era.

[WMS]

And the whole mass-murdering of Jews thing doesn't bother you, either?  What do you have against Jews?

Living in East Germany under Nazi rule does not mean that you condone the Holocaust.  It would have happened regardless of whether or not you lived there.

Life in pre-war Nazi Germany wasn't really that bad if you were a heterosexual Aryan who was not a political enemy of Hitler.  This is not to say that the atrocities against the Jews were permissable, but under the Soviet Union, everyone's life sucked.

Of course, if we assume that WWII would have still happened, living in Nazi Germany would also mean that you would have gotten your ass bombed a few thousand times by the British, which would have kind of sucked more than living in the relatively peaceful confines of Soviet East Germany.

1933-9 living standards were certainly worse, in real terms, than those in the GDR, however much it lacked behind the West. (Which also sort of answers John's question.)

To play Devil's Advocate here: 1933-9 took place during a global depression where living standards sucked pretty much everywhere. Comparing it to the GDR in a postwar boom era or later, during which there was no global depsression, is thus kinda inaccurate, don't you think?

[Josh/Devilman88]

Option 2.

[Middle-aged Europe]

To play Devil's Advocate here: 1933-9 took place during a global depression where living standards sucked pretty much everywhere. Comparing it to the GDR in a postwar boom era or later, during which there was no global depsression, is thus kinda inaccurate, don't you think?

Unemployment rate in Germany...

1932: 29.9%
1933: 25.9%
1934: 13.5%
1935: 10.3%
1936: 7.4%
1937: 4.1%
1938: 1.9%

Now, some historians argue that the German economy was already in recovery at the time Hitler came to power and that he simply took the credit for it. His government also introduced extensive spending programs to create jobs through public works. And finally, the massive rearmament program helped to fight unemployemnt and poverty. When you turn a 100,000-men defensive army, which hasn't any tanks, fighter planes, or large warships in its arsenal, into a 10,000,000-men offensive force with state-of-the-art battle tanks, fighters, bombers, battleships and submarines it certainly leads to a major economic boom in the defense sector, which in turn has also positive effects for other sectors of the industry. Besides a lot of of unemployed young men were simply drafted into the new army.


What I'm trying to say:

1) Germany recovered fairly fast from the Great depression, maybe even faster than the United States.

2) In large parts, this swift recovery was achieved through Hitler's extensive rearmament program... something East Germany didn't have (and we all should be glad that it didn't have such program, we know how it turned out in the case of the Third Reich).

[WMS]

To play Devil's Advocate here: 1933-9 took place during a global depression where living standards sucked pretty much everywhere. Comparing it to the GDR in a postwar boom era or later, during which there was no global depsression, is thus kinda inaccurate, don't you think?

Unemployment rate in Germany...

1932: 29.9%
1933: 25.9%
1934: 13.5%
1935: 10.3%
1936: 7.4%
1937: 4.1%
1938: 1.9%

Now, some historians argue that the German economy was already in recovery at the time Hitler came to power and that he simply took the credit for it. His government also introduced extensive spending programs to create jobs through public works. And finally, the massive rearmament program helped to fight unemployemnt and poverty. When you turn a 100,000-men defensive army, which hasn't any tanks, fighter planes, or large warships in its arsenal, into a 10,000,000-men offensive force with state-of-the-art battle tanks, fighters, bombers, battleships and submarines it certainly leads to a major economic boom in the defense sector, which in turn has also positive effects for other sectors of the industry. Besides a lot of of unemployed young men were simply drafted into the new army.


What I'm trying to say:

1) Germany recovered fairly fast from the Great depression, maybe even faster than the United States.

2) In large parts, this swift recovery was achieved through Hitler's extensive rearmament program... something East Germany didn't have (and we all should be glad that it didn't have such program, we know how it turned out in the case of the Third Reich).

Thanks for the reply...even though I was responding to Lewis.

And actually...that's how the U.S. recovered from the Great Depression too.

[Republican Michigander]

Neither one.

[Alcon]

Neither one.

The general point of these polls (I gather) is presenting two undesirable options and then having to select between them.  I doubt many of us would want to live under either;  it's a lesser of the two evils sort of thing.

[Democratic Hawk]

The latter, albeit reluctantly

Dave