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PaperclipPerfector  1mo ago (text post)   3506 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for September 6, 2026

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.

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The usual narratives are:

  • Western denazification was more effective.
  • The GDR discredited leftism.
  • They're just voting that way out of protest against their worse material conditions.
  • Capitalism has eroded the Western social fabric and the East Germans retain a more pragmatic worldview.

IMO all are correct to some extent. The East German socialist project really has done more to discredit leftism than to promote antifascism, whereas leftism in the West never had to take responsibility for real-world outcomes while also becoming ever better at propaganda. Westerners really do have it cushier, and East Germans do have more to complain about, and it's up to taste whether their protest voting is legitimate. And finally, Westerners really are "oversocialized", and East Germans remain better able to point out that the emperor is naked - even though they in turn buy into completely different weird conspiracy theories.

Ok very interesting, thank you for your informative reply

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