Watching Myths Unwind - How East German Intelligensia Illustrate The Power Of Self-Delusion

A few generations from now our descendants will wonder, “What took them so long to figure out that we’d reached the limits to growth?” The answer, of course, is that growth is the core of the myth holding the American psyche together. If it’s false, what’s the meaning of “life, the universe, everything?” Karen Armstrong writes: “We are meaning-seeking creatures. Dogs, as far as we know, do not agonise about the canine condition, worry about the plight of dogs in other parts of the world, or try to see their lives from a different perspective. But human beings fall easily into despair, and from the very beginning we invented stories that enabled us to place our lives in a larger setting, that revealed an underlying pattern, and gave us a sense that, against all the depressing and chaotic evidence to the contrary, life had meaning and value.”

I want to step back from our gargantuan dilemmas of 2009 and reflect on the East German intelligentsia I interviewed in 1990-1992 at the time of the unification of Germany. Readers might find this recollection tangential, irrelevant or idiosyncratic; nonetheless, my rationale is this: these East Germans faced the destruction of their national myth, which held that socialism was the true victor over Nazism and that capitalism’s demise was inevitable. In America unquestioned belief in growth has inspired us throughout our history, yet it is going the way of the East German’s mythology. Since myth is universal and timeless I see instructive parallels –there are major differences to be sure- between the demise of socialism in the GDR (East Germany) and the end of growth in America.

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Two people I interviewed illustrate the ubiquity and depth of the socialism myth in the GDR. One was a Stasi operative whose cover was as a hospital based physical therapist. He told me that the younger generation of Stasi members like him worked in the field and “we could see that the people were turning against the Party. We could not possibility deal with all the discontent. We relied on intimidation of the few to control the many.” When he and his colleagues attempted to inform their superiors –who were men from the WWII era- they were rebuffed with, “Oh, these are just a few malcontents stirred up by Gorbachev. We can arrest some of them and this will pass.” When the demonstrations intensified, the Party forced Erich Honecker, the long-time dreaded and despised heard of the Party and the government, to resign in late October 1989, reasoning that this would calm the people. This of course emboldened them. The demonstrations became larger and spread to Berlin, where intelligentsia began to join in with the demonstrators who carried signs reading, “We are the people.” The Stasi operative told me “on November 4th somewhere between five hundred thousand to one million people came out to demonstrate in Berlin.” There were some Stasi and police attempts to repress the demonstrators but one demonstrator I later met told me, “You could see shame in the eyes of the police. Many held back their blows and rough tactics when their officers were not looking.”

This Stasi operative went on, “I began destroying documents on November 1st. I knew all was lost and the people would turn against us; there were a few things I did while with the Stasi that I am not proud of and I wanted to destroy the records of these acts.” Then he said something I found astounding. “The decision to open the Wall and the entire border was made in panic in reaction to the massive demonstrations, as a way to finally placate the people. The Party did not intend to open the border permanently, you see. They gave our GDR citizens a three-day holiday to ‘visit’ the West. They even said passes would be issued; you know, we Germans are very orderly.” I was not sure I understood him and asked, “You mean the Party thought they could open the Wall for the weekend, issue passes, and then everybody would return Sunday and go back to normal Monday?” “Yes, they thought, ‘Let the people -whom they regarded as children- see the West and then they will realize that they live in a worker’s paradise.’ They had no idea the decision to open the Wall was their final one in control of the country. It was the end of the GDR.”

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http://www.energybulletin.net/49919

You ever read "Man's Search for Meaning" by Victor E. Frankl? Very good book. This reminds me of.

Another person I interviewed worked in what is the equivalent of the Commerce Department. She told me, “I saw the economic and fiscal data. It all pointed to the conclusion that the GDR was bankrupt and we had no prospects of recovering. But no one higher up could grasp this simple fact; they always had some silly scheme to try to save the economy –they even sold cobblestones from closed off streets in East Berlin to the West Germans to raise hard currency. You see, there was pre-world war equipment in many factories, corruption by government officials, incredible environmental pollution and degradation, and a lack of the will to work among many workers worn out by empty promises from the Party. All together, I knew in 1987 that the GDR would fail.

“When I told husband, a loving man, the GDR would fail, he said, ‘Du spinnst’ (you’re mad).”

“What about reforming socialism?” I asked, “Did you think that was possible?” She smiled wryly and said, “It was possible in my heart, but not in my head.”

A substantial number of those I interviewed after speaking with her vigorously rejected this explanation, saying, “No, the West Germans enacted policies aimed at undermining GDR industries and commerce. They colonized us to sell us goods and make us dependent on them. We could have saved the GDR economy.” My view is that both were right, but the economist in the commerce department was outlining ultimate or master causes that could not have been avoided.

http://www.energybulletin.net/49919

One day he came across a street vendor selling burned out light bulbs.

He asked the guy "Why are you selling burned out light bulbs?" and the guy said "Don't you get it? You go to work, put the burned out light bulb in at work, and take the good light bulb home."

Any society where people are that cynical has failed a long time ago.

Young Chuck in Montana bought a horse from a farmer for $100. The farmer agreed to deliver the horse the next day. The next day he drove up and said, 'Sorry son, but I have some bad news, the horse died.'

Chuck replied, 'Well, then just give me my money back.'The farmer said, 'Can't do that. I went and spent it already.' Chuck said, 'Ok, then, just bring me the dead horse.'

The farmer asked, 'What ya gonna do with him? Chuck said, 'I'm going to raffle him off.' The farmer said, 'You can't raffle off a dead horse!' Chuck said, 'Sure I can, Watch me. I just won't tell any body he's dead.'

A month later, the farmer met up with Chuck and asked, 'What happened with that dead horse?' Chuck said, 'I raffled him off. I sold 500 tickets at two dollars a piece and made a profit of $998.' The farmer said, 'Didn't anyone complain?' Chuck said, 'Just the guy who won. So I gave him his two dollars back.'

The lesson I take away from this story is that centralized control of a country doesn't work precisely because it is more susceptible to delusion. Decentralized market based systems with multiple players acting in competition are far far less likely to be deluded the way East Germany was. I'm amazed at how people look at the recent collapse of the financial system and take away the very opposite lessons they should. What really happened was the global economy grew at an unsustainable and unrealistic rate for years, and then a large segment of the market woke up and said: "wait, these crazy profits aren't real and this can't go on forever." The result was a crash and trillions of dollars of paper money disappeared. I emphasize "paper" money, because very little "real" wealth was not destroyed by this financial collapse. A comparison between what is happening now and what happened in the Great Depression for example, reveals that what's going on right now is barely a blip. Many are saying we are already in recovery and it may turn out that unemployment may not even break 10%. This is a testament to the superiority of markets over other types of systems. Markets predict and impose limits on growth far better than politicians do. The private sector has realized that we have hit a wall regarding growth and has responded by, well, stopping growth. Investment has dried up, production is down, new jobs are scarce--all of these things are putting the brakes on economic growth. Meanwhile, it is politicians that are still deluding themselves that we can return to the glory days of limitless growth. They borrow trillions, spend like drunken sailors in the hopes that somehow they can jump start the economy back to the way it was two years ago. They are about to realize that the effort is futile. I predict we will see a decade of little to no growth, much to the dismay of politicians who are far more addicted to continuous growth than the private sector is.

The basic direction it takes is controlled by an oligarchy.

That's why we can't get a single payer health care plan, for example. The health insurance companies and the pharmaceutical companies own the political process. That's why we can't shut down the coal industry. The power industry owns the political process.

to the need for radical change.

http://www.amazon.com/Lives-Others-Martina-Gedeck/dp/B000OVLBGC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1250938770&sr=1-1

pnorman

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