Coffee PinewoodI can only second that. Dirk, I guess, is a few years older than me as I did not have a 'youth' under the regime. I was mainly a toddler and kindergarden child then.
What I lived through was the weird mixture of everything being renewed, allegedly made 'better' while communities were actually dying underneath. A lot of the things from back than I now understand with hindsight. And the whole thing is such a tragedy. Authoritarians ruined it for everyone to an extent that people will now cling to capitalism even though it kills us.
It's really weird living in that odd space between the two ideas, and for the longest time I was of the opinion that 'social(ist) democracy' is the sweet spot. But I am now forty-one years old and my whole millennial experience tells me that this ain't right either. It's rotten because everything is subsumed under the money people and their agenda.
And I honestly don't see too many purists. What I see is a radical simple truth.
- we need to stick together
- we need to fight those who have decided that their bank accounts justify death (fascists in a nutshell)
- we need to deeply distrust any one who seeks power (not leaders....distrust the ones that WANT to be leaders)
That's how it is actually really easy to be "leftist" but still despise 'tankies' (authoritarian left).
And sidenote: I wish I was a better writer. There is something my heart wants to tell about those years after the fall of the wall but it doesn't come out right. Ever
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