Sunday, July 5, 2009

Unfree And Easy Or Free and Uneasy?

The German Democratic Republic - East Germany - disappeared from world atlases over two decades ago. No one expected adapting to the free world and capitalism to be easy for two generations of Germans who lived under the yoke of communism. The economic pendulum in the free world swings with a wide arc. The extremes of both good and bad times stress all of us. At the same time, I think most people who live in the free world would have expected East Germans to embrace their freedom and the opportunities it afforded them. That does not appear to be the case in a poll reported in Der Spiegel. In fact, 57% of former GDR residents defend the GDR as the provider of a "nice life" and a "happier and better" life than in a unified Germany.

What I find interesting here is the power of the collective psychology - not unlike slavery - to deeply affect adaptation to a free world where personal initiative and responsibility are paramount. Human adaptation is at once a blessing and a curse for the species. If you waited at the food coop each week for thirty years to receive the same loaf of bread, how would you respond when faced with 100 bread choices at the Kroger or Publix bakery? And there is a cashier expecting you to pay for the bread on your way out. And the money comes to your pocket from your personal initiative. When the economic pendulum swings into bad times, it's easy to see how the evils of tyranny fade with thoughts of virtually free bread. I pray the tint of the rose-colored glasses many former East Germans wear soon clears to reveal the evil they left behind and the promise their future holds in a free nation.

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