love my Oma, she's turning 90 next week (born 1934!) and was the first person I came out as bi to. Defo hanging one or two of these up in my dorm
Whenever people imply communism = lack of incentive for human greatness, I think about how my grandparents had lower class parents and were extremely poor (even starving) in their post-war childhood, but ended up leading pretty impressive lives, despite knowing they wouldn't live much above the material reality of their neighbors for it.
My grandma was an interior architect and my grandpa an astrophysics professor and professional photographer. Both were gymnasts in their 20's (my grandpa has a couple medals below). They didn't do any of that shit for luxury, they figured they'd lead a modest life in the standard plattenblau housing block as the other working people of their town (small but cute and cozy apartment, I was there not too long ago), and that's what they wanted.
They never needed to drive a car in their lives, and often visited countries across the Eastern Bloc by bike/public transit. My grandma always had a thing for making fruit preserves and cool pottery (still killing it), and my grandpa for art from wood carving (he was also a mountain climber). They had a nice community garden they always tended to too. It's a beautiful town with a lot to see, honestly can't wait to visit again
My mom was 19 when the Berlin Wall fell. She studied english abroad when everything went to shit under capitalism. Ended up moving to the US just because she met my dad. Usually when she tells an American she grew up in the DDR, they look all shocked and ask some insane shit like if she was starving to death, or if she knew anyone who was shot and killed trying to climb the wall (๐โ๏ธ). Certainly no one was starving by the 70s/80s. My mom and all her friends and acquaintances had great childhoods. She had a small town, middle of nowhere school system that pushed sports, music, art, multilingualism, sciences, etc. on her heavily (when I did track and field in high school she always told me how her school's facility was 10x better lmao). The DDR fostered genuine human greatness. But ig they didn't have bananas at grocery stores and a hundred car brands like the west ๐คทโโ๏ธ
I cant speak for OP but my Parents are also German boomers and a very rampant Part of Most boomers is the Attitude that If Others have it worse than you then it cant be that Bad for you.
You cant blame them all for it because some use it as a coping mechanism trying to be more content with what they have. For me that coping mechanism never worked because i never got how that should be making me feel better.
Then i got it. This only makes you feel better If you place your own wellbeing above others. This way you also trick yourself into accepting one of Capitalism oldest lies, the implicit scarcity of the world. Meaning If Others have it worse you implicitly have to be better Off because Theres Not enough for everyone.
Ofc in this system everyone has to Look for their own wellbeing. But i wont be Feeling better because Others have it worse. In fact in my Mind human suffering IS human suffering and Others having it worse Just makes me feel worse.
right there with you โค๏ธ