Although the GDR was little better than an open prison, a surprising number of its former citizens hanker after the old days. Such a longing for old certainties exists elsewhere in the West, too. Neil Davenport, Spiked review of books In the past decade, a number of middle-class radical acquaintances of mine have made a sort of pilgrimage to Cuba, to check out the country before it finally opens up to the likes of McDonald’s, Starbucks and Toyota. For some, Cuba has become an anti-consumerist paradise, even if actually living there is far from heavenly. It is surprising that former anti-Stalinists, with a long background in Trotskyist organisations, would slobber enthusiastically about Cuba’s welfare and healthcare system. So much for ‘neither Washington nor Moscow’.
Recently, there has been a similarly warm reappraisal of another Stalinist outpost: the German Democratic Republic (GDR).
Continue reading here:
http://www.spiked-online.com/i... 