Did it fall or was it pushed?

"90% of the world lives under capitalism. 90% live in poverty. If Socialism is not the answer, there is no answer."

“HISTORY is dead” became one of the capitalist mantras of the 1990s. Two iconic events added to the force of this dictum – the dismantling of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the break-up of the Soviet Union into 14 different republics in 1990. Communism had its day and had collapsed, as the capitalist order had predicted. Capitalism had triumphed, its legitimacy reinforced.

Such a view was resurrected this week as a replica of giant dominoes was on show in Berlin, representing former communist regimes, to illustrate how one by one they collapsed. Indeed, when the GDR, USSR and other eastern European countries were governed by communist parties, we in the West were drip-fed “evidence” of poorly-stacked shops, lack of food and a general picture of greyness and misery. People in the West were conditioned to accept these images.

Once, however, you scrape beneath the surface of this capitalist mythology a totally-different picture emerges. Many people who travelled to the GDR, and who were not communists or socialists, tell  of a country of well-stocked shops, run to meet people’s needs rather than to earn big profits for the few. There were no chains or megastores, merely shops that responded to the needs of the population. They saw a country where everyone lived in the dignity of having a job, where everyone had a decent home. Homelessness and poverty did not exist. All the utilities were owned by the state, rather than to line the pockets of the rich. They provided the basics of life cheaply for all citizens, as the utilities once did in Britain. And the people enjoyed universal and free education and health provision, including probably the best maternity provision in the world..

The working population received a “social wage” – a vital concept for the development of socialism. No huge fat-cat salaries existed as in the West, where profit is wrung from people’s misery. A decent living wage allowed the state to use its resources in a way that had an immediate impact on people’s lives: subsidised food, subsidised rent, cheap and efficient public transport, cultural and recreational provision at all levels and at minimal cost.

The GDR was a country with few raw materials, whose industry had been devastated by the Second World War. Yet it became the fifth strongest economy in Europe and a land where well over 90% of all assets were owned by the people. Contrast that with the position in The Federal Republic of Germany, as vaunted in the West as the GDR was vilified. There, 10% of the people owned 40% of the wealth; 50% of households owned 4.5% of the wealth.

If the GDR and indeed other Eastern European countries governed by a communist party could make such excellent provision for its people, why then did we witness the dismantling of the Wall, the reunification of Germany and the collapse of the Soviet Union?

It is difficult if not impossible to halt the juggernaut of capitalism in Europe. As technology expanded to allow images of the West to be beamed into Eastern Europe, the reality of capitalism was hidden under a veneer of glitz and greed. The illusion was created that capitalism provided the best for everybody.

At the same time problems inherent in the socialist system were not addressed and led to unease. Some felt that they were being restricted from traveling, especially abroad. Others felt that inadequate opportunity existed to register criticism or disapproval. Although clothing of good quality was readily available, it was seen to lack variety and colour. Lack of attention to people’s concerns and the  resulting problems, coupled with the inability to combat the onslaught of capitalism brought about disaffection and ultimately collapse.

But far from improving conditions the capitalist invasion brought in its wake inevitable disasters. In Hungary over £97 billion of public assets were sold off to Western multinationals, whose prime aim is to make profit not provide for the people. Capital not the ordinary people is the beneficiary. People are now beginning to see what has really happened.

One fifth only of the population of Eastern Germany surveyed in a recent poll believe that things have changed for the better. The rise of poverty, endemic unemployment and economic hardship are rarely mentioned by those who gloated over the death of communism and celebrated “the liberation of the people”. The only liberation has been that of the multinationals to make huge profits, to create high unemployment in the process. Hungary has had to initiate austerity packages as western financial institutions rape the country. There are increasing numbers of people unable to afford the basics of life. There are beggars on the streets. Unemployment is rising.

The capitalist illusion had tricked people yet again into believing that wealth was available to all if they took the neo-liberal route. The very system that has created the worst recession for 70 years -  a system in which such events are inevitable, a system where utilities and transport systems are run for profit not to provide a service, a system which is hell bent on privatising health and education so that the rich may benefit, a system that will create and use wars to find new markets, and it is still seen as a superior system.

As the West revels in the 20th anniversary of the destruction of the Wall and the ‘”collapse of communism”, it is indeed an appropriate moment to re-examine the strengths and weaknesses of the East German experience. There were huge benefits for the people. There were problems, also. We need to realise that the answer is not to abandon socialism for the free market but to analyse, criticise and to refine socialist goals. If not we are left with a system in which the rich get richer and the rest can go to the wall. To appease the bankers the government can find a trillion pounds. To fight unnecessary wars further billions must be found. Meanwhile, unemployment rises – in reality – to over five million. The government wants to sell off almost all that remains of public assets to the private sector. We are warned to expect huge cuts in services and consequent job losses. So capitalism is working?

Some 90% of the world lives under capitalism. Some 90% live in poverty. If Socialism is not the answer, there is no answer.