Eastern Euros (and former Eastern Germans), what was like to live under Socialism until 1989-1991?

I would like to hear your opinion of what was like living in under Socialism? The pros and cons, how good/bad were the standards of living, was there common shortage of goods, security at work, in terms of crime etc etc etc...

I'm adding poll here with some options to have a general idea of what you think.


I'd like to make a disclaimer to do not base your opinion on stereotypes or just wild guesses if you were born after the fall of Socialism and the East Bloc, base your opinion on your memories if you were alive back then or on the opinions of your parents or close relatives/friends who lived in that period.

I'm including here members from the following countries

- Former GDR

- Former Czechoslovakia

- Poland

- Hungary

- Bulgaria

- Romania

- Former Yugoslavia

- Albania

- Former USSR

Doubt there is actually anyone old enough to tell. Most of East Euro members here are sub 30yo.

From what I have heard from my own family, there was an element of carelessness to life, crime was minimal and society was decent. Everyone had a job and was given one by force if needed, and there was no homeless because they too were put to work in some way. Despite a lot of propaganda involved - education was high quality, and sports were very well funded. Everywhere where there was a field something was planted and everywhere where there was space a factory was built.

As the downsides, most things were cheap but not always available, and it still was a totalitarian regime so a lot of things and freedoms were restricted. The police force was very overinfluential and even abusive. Nobody was allowed to travel beyond the iron curtain without a specific task from the government, which was itself extremely toxic, abusive, corrupt and filled with simpletons with connections. The usual stuff you would hear from all former socialist states.

I too, am to young to judge on that, but I have a great share of family from the former DDR and all of them agree on one thing, that there was a lot more solidarity than today, also they say that you were practically non- terminable, even if you wouldnt show up to work for two weeks straight without any reason. Sure, they were a lot spyed upon by retards who supported the government a bit too much, but all in all it was probably more chill than modern day media would tell us. Also it wasnt exactly that hard to smuggle western music (rock, metal etc in this matter), so it just underlines what I say.

Yea my folks also told me a lot about the spying thing, some people would just wait for you to say something bad about the government and go straight to the police to report you about it. The infamous professional rats of socialism. Forgot to mention those in the first post.

And if you score too many "dissident" points you get sent to a labor camp along with criminals and hobos.

The main difference is that no one was afraid for tomorrow, life was simple and predictable, it was possible to work for 40 years in one place and grow to a director.
The disadvantages were mainly related to travel to the capitalist part of the world and the need to refrain from public criticism of the authorities. The commodity deficit was created artificially for the sake of increasing the degree of hatred for socialism among the population for the sake of legitimizing the transition to a "free market" and privatization (the unforgettable neo-liberal "Chicago boys" and their reforms).
The main regularity of anti-communists on the Internet is that the younger the person, the more he suffered from the GULAG:).

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Linebacker

Yea my folks also told me a lot about the spying thing, some people would just wait for you to say something bad about the government and go straight to the police to report you about it. The infamous professional rats of socialism. Forgot to mention those in the first post.

And if you score too many "dissident" points you get sent to a labor camp along with criminals and hobos.

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I cant speak for eastern Europe on that matter, but my relatives say was, that it wasnt even that common to get send to a labour camp, than it is believed. Only, if you really fucked up.

I can say what my parents say about it.

Good: Yugoslavia had very good living standards because of receiving generous western loans and it was much more developed (western Republics at least) than eastern block countries, but only until Tito's death, later standards went down very fast. My parents grew up pretty much like any other westerners, with western music, fashion and many other stuff. Unlike Warsaw Pact members Yugoslav citizens could travel freely so my father spend his youth living in Prague and by going to London for concerts during heyday of rock music. People could go to shop in Italy or Austria and lot of them received latest western fashion and goods from their families in the new world like USA (my mom did).

There was less poor people than today, but it did exist even than. Working tempo was very slow and laid back and people didn't have to work very hard. There was lot of opportunities for young people to go out, party or have leisure time. Big state companies would have vacation facilities for their workers and their families who could vacation on the coast for example for free. Some companies provided free apartments for their workers and if you had a child for example you would get a bigger flat. Crime was low, but so is today so no difference in that aspect. Film and pop culture that was made during Yugoslav times was suprisingly good and many now classic movies and songs were made in that era. I'd argue my country had better and more thriving cultural scene during Yugoslavia than it does today.

Bad: Limited quality job and promotion opportunities if you were not member of communist Party. Primitive and uncivilized people from rural backwaters lacking any serious education became new elite and negative selection was to extreme level (from business to everything else). Yugoslavia had extremely brutal secret Police that was carrying out murders of prominent Yugoslav emigrants (mostly Croats) abroad. You could end up in jail for singing patriotic (non-Yugoslav) song or carrying national symbol like necklace. We know for cases where people ended up in penal colony because somebody in power took liking to their wife and simply got rid of them on false accusations. Croatian culture and language was repressed and deeply balkanized. New Yugoslav culture was promoted which was hybrid version of pred. Serbian culture. Corruption was endemic and mismenagment in business the rule, so companies were very inefficient and unable to compete on open market. Croats couldn't own weapons, unlike Croatian Serbs. In SR Croatia, Serbian minority formed ruling class together with local Croat communists and they were heavily overrepresented in police, among army officers, and among bosses of major companies.

We are happy Yugoslavia is gone.

One major flaw:
The Union needed "glue" to ensure the functioning of the entire system - the Russian people. By themselves, the national fringes are weak and in need of an overseer.
The mistake (or plan?) Of the Lenin-Trotskyist group was that the republics were not annexed to the RSFSR on unitary principles, but had their own governments and some freedom of self-determination, which played a role in 1991. Stalin did not have time to correct this, although and was going to.

Practice also says that the "Soviet republics" were parasitic and in fact simply received money for loyalty in the name of increasing the geopolitical influence of the Russians.
But now everything is honest in a socialist way: "to each according to his work." Georgians were the richest in the USSR, but they became poor shit. Balts wash toilets in the EU. Ukrainians have pierced all the bottoms. So where did they get all the prosperity in the USSR? Precisely at the expense of the robbed and exploited Russians!
And now the standard of living directly depends on the ability to learn and work. Now socialist justice has come for the peoples of each republic.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by KirillMazur

One major flaw:
The Union needed "glue" to ensure the functioning of the entire system - the Russian people. By themselves, the national fringes are weak and in need of an overseer.

Practice also says that the "Soviet republics" were parasitic and in fact simply received money for loyalty in the name of increasing the geopolitical influence of the Russians.
But now everything is honest in a socialist way: "to each according to his work." Georgians were the richest in the USSR, but they became poor shit. Balts wash toilets in the EU. Ukrainians have pierced all the bottoms. So where did they get all the prosperity in the USSR? Precisely at the expense of the robbed and exploited Russians!
And now the standard of living directly depends on the ability to learn and work. Now socialist justice has come for the peoples of each republic.

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That`s exactely how the whole of the EU works today but change Russia for Germany (also Britain til it brexited) and France.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Stearsolina

I can say what my parents say about it.

Good: Yugoslavia had very good living standards because of receiving generous western loans and it was much more developed (western Republics at least) than eastern block countries, but only until Tito's death, later standards went down very fast. My parents grew up pretty much like any other westerners, with western music, fashion and many other stuff. Unlike Warsaw Pact members Yugoslav citizens could travel freely so my father spend his youth living in Prague and by going to London for concerts during heyday of rock music. People could go to shop in Italy or Austria and lot of them received latest western fashion and goods from their families in the new world like USA (my mom did).

There was less poor people than today, but it did exist even than. Working tempo was very slow and laid back and people didn't have to work very hard. There was lot of opportunities for young people to go out, party or have leisure time. Big state companies would have vacation facilities for their workers and their families who could vacation on the coast for example for free. Some companies provided free apartments for their workers and if you had a child for example you would get a bigger flat. Crime was low, but so is today so no difference in that aspect. Film and pop culture that was made during Yugoslav times was suprisingly good and many now classic movies and songs were made in that era. I'd argue my country had better and more thriving cultural scene during Yugoslavia than it does today.

Bad: Limited quality job and promotion opportunities if you were not member of communist Party. Primitive and uncivilized people from rural backwaters lacking any serious education became new elite and negative selection was to extreme level (from business to everything else). Yugoslavia had extremely brutal secret Police that was carrying out murders of prominent Yugoslav emigrants (mostly Croats) abroad. You could end up in jail for singing patriotic (non-Yugoslav) song or carrying national symbol like necklace. We know for cases where people ended up in penal colony because somebody in power took liking to their wife and simply got rid of them on false accusations. Croatian culture and language was repressed and deeply balkanized. New Yugoslav culture was promoted which was hybrid version of pred. Serbian culture. Corruption was endemic and mismenagment in business the rule, so companies were very inefficient and unable to compete on open market. Croats couldn't own weapons, unlike Croatian Serbs. In SR Croatia, Serbian minority formed ruling class together with local Croat communists and they were heavily overrepresented in police, among army officers, and among bosses of major companies.

We are happy Yugoslavia is gone.

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I agree on the serb thing. They were only good at keeping muslims out of the west.