If living in East Germany was like living in the USSR, then why was

[Boojatta]

living in Chile much worse than living in the USA?

Why bother having a sphere of influence if it doesn't even give people a taste of the core of the sphere?

[Selatius]

1. There's something called the Bill of Rights in the US

It's difficult to assail, but the people who hold power don't have to deal with that when it comes to extending their power over poorer, weaker countries. They dispense with the velvet gloves and reveal the iron fist when they are out of sight of the US public.

[tocqueville]

2. it worked better in the relation USSR/East Germany than in the other one

East Germans had no more political rights than Soviet citizens but at least they weren't starving like in Chile.

[saltpoint]

3. I enjoyed my visits to Berlin, east and west, and feel that it's

must-see city for anyone who enjoys travel.

Many east Berlin galleries feature exhibits of repressed art during the time of the Wall.

That alone is worth the trip over.

[Hieronymus]

5. Berlin is next on my list of cities to visit.

[saltpoint]

6. Hi, Hieronymus. If you go, arrive hungry. The food is sensational.

And maybe try Tiergarten Park -- a huge place with hundreds of oak trees.

(I'm getting homesick for the city tapping this out!)

I hope you go & have a great time there.

[BlooInBloo]

4. Um, one has a sphere of influence so that someone ELSE....

... will do the dying (at least initially) when war comes. Duh.

What a nonsensical question.

[Boojatta]

7. Re "Duh": Please let me know when DU becomes an exclusive club...

for the highly intelligent. When that happens, I will read the rules to confirm that it is so, and then I will stop posting to this message board.

[BlooInBloo]

8. Aaaah.... the defense of those who refuse to think....

.... Because it CAN'T be their fault for not caring enough to actually think....

[Boojatta]

9. Did the USSR try to make part of Germany function the way that the USSR

functioned? How would you compare women's rights in Afghanistan under a Soviet puppet regime and women's rights under the Taliban? Why didn't the USA intervene before the Taliban became the government of Afghanistan? Did the USA recognize the Taliban as being the government of Afghanistan or did the USA treat the Taliban the way that Iran treats the regime in Israel?

Let me guess: the answers to my questions are either "duh, duh, duh..." or "Boojatta is bigoted against religion."

[northzax]

10. what's your definition of women's rights?

seriously, if everyone is oppressed and has no rights, but are oppressed equally, is that a womens' rights problem, or a human rights problem?

men and women in the Soviet Union, for instance, had roughly the same rights: none. same with occupied Afghanistan.

so I'd say women were actually about equally poorly off under the Soviets and the Taliban (in afghanistan, not globally)

How would you suggest the US intervene in post-soviet Afghanistan? the entire country was engaged in a brutal tribal civil war, one that had just chased out the world's largest military. If the non-squeamish Soviets couldn't occupy and pacify Afghanistan, we wure weren't going to.

The US never officially recognized the Taliban as the government of Afghanistan.

[JVS]

11. What a nation does with its satellite is its own decision

The reason that the USSR made the GDR as a state in its own image is probably related to the fact that the USSR thought that it had figured out the proper social system for a modern industrialized country. I think that Soviet Ideology made re-building of other countries in its image a greater priority than it was in the USA.

If you take a look at the Western treatment of its section of Germany, one could make the same statement though. In fact, it is my theory that the split of Germany provided 2 states in which the superpowers put on a model presentation of their systems. I say this because East Germany was the best Soviet Satellite state out there in terms of economy,technology, and loyalty to the Soviet cause (interestingly enough it was Gorbachev who hinted to the East German leadership after the Tienamen square massacre, that the USSR would not allow a similar reaction to disidents in the GDR even though the GDR leadership would be game for it). West Germany also functioned as a showplace of Western/capitalist might. This was no accident.

But not all client states are run in a way that reflects the operations of the superpower. For example, in Somalia there were close relations with the Soviets, but the creation of a soviet clone never was undertaken.