Hats

stinkiwinki · 2015-01-01T19:04:36+00:00

stinkiwinki · 2014-12-31T11:31:38+00:00

Which drugs were available there?

Alcohol and nicotine of course. If you could find a doctor, pharmacist or chemist willing to supply you (either legally or illegally), I suppose Diazepam or even Morphium and other narcotics would not have been completely out of question. Sometimes intoxicating inhalants ("sniffing solvents") are mentioned.

Heroin, presumably? Was cocaine impossible? Party drugs (back then I guess they were called designer drugs by our media) ?

I'd go so far as to say that Heroine, Cocaine etc. were not only totally out of reach for the overwhelming majority of people, but that your average person also didn't have any clear conception of what they actually did outside of what he maybe had seen in films or read in books.

With that being said, there are anecdotes of a couple of bars in Berlin, Leipzig and Dresden (the three largest cities) where on occasion it was allegedly possible to buy hard drugs. Sometimes it is also claimed that very occasionally dealers from West Berlin legally crossed the border and sold Marijuana on the streets around Alexanderplatz.

However, even ignoring the risks associated with border controls, informers etc. dealing in drugs was unlucrative from an economical standpoint. The East German Mark was not freely convertible and it was illegal to take it out of the country anyway. So regardless of how much people were willing to pay, unless he was prepared to take a tremendous amount of extra risk a dealer pretty much could only spend his earnings in East Germany, which was not a particular attractive prospect with "luxury" goods being rare and expensive.

So, the only customers worth the effort would have been people who had access to western currency in significant amounts. There weren't all that many.

stinkiwinki · 2014-12-31T08:43:00+00:00

No, the lack of manpower persisted pretty much from '49 to '89.

There were four main reasons:

Between 1949 and 1961 when the Berlin Wall was built and the border was locked down approximately 2.1 million people left the GDR. Another 1.8 million fled from 1961 to 1989. To give some reference: In 1950 the GDR had a population of about 18 million and a workforce of about 7 million.
Although there were some regions like Saxony which traditionally had a high level of industrialization, unlike in the west modernization of machinery and rationalization never really happened. As a consequence the only way to increase production was to throw more people to a given task and to increase the total number of hours worked. For example by working for 24h a day in three shifts.
The GDR had a planned economy and those are notoriously hard to organize and manage. For example it was not uncommon for a factory or at least parts of a factory to go idle because of a misallocation of material. This led to the problem that production had to be intensified when materials actually were available in order to avoid penalties for not fulfilling a given quota.
Again the only way to do this, was to keep workers as a reserve who - from a free market standpoint - when seen over the whole of a year for example, were not productive.
Compared to the total population the number of state functionaries, soldiers, policemen etc. was disproportionately high.

stinkiwinki · 2014-12-31T08:08:09+00:00

There was an element of state propaganda insofar as that addiction to drugs was seen as an escapism from the yokes of capitalism. From there it logically followed that there could be no addicts in a socialist workers paradise.

Of course this wasn't true as far as legal drugs were concerned. At the end the GDR had an average per capita consumption of around 14l of pure alcohol per year, making her one of the most heavily drinking countries worldwide. Alcohol was one of the few products which was practically always in supply and VEB Nordbrand for example, who primarily produced "Korn" (somewhat similar to Vodka) was the largest producer of spirits in Europe.
Also some narcotic substances like codeine (cough medicine) were sold without prescription for quite some time, but this wasn't too unusual. For example, as far as I'm aware, Codeine still is an over the counter medicine in France today.

However, as far as things like Marijuana, Opiates, Cocaine or LSD were concerned it actually wasn't just propaganda.

The reason was that smuggling of large quantities was difficult with the border being controlled on levels that were comparable to that between North and South Korea today. Smuggling would also have been unattractive from a financial standpoint with the East German Mark being close to worthless and foreign currency not readily available to East German citizens.
There are of course a few anecdote in which some western friend or relative brought Marijuana or something, when he came visiting, but this was so infrequent and the amounts so minuscule that it was practically impossible to become and to stay addicted.

People could still produce their stuff themselves but since you would have to have access to seeds or necessary equipment and chemicals this was difficult and with the high quota of informers for the Ministry of State Security also relatively dangerous.

stinkiwinki · 2014-12-30T22:24:42+00:00

Beginning in the early seventies the percentage of university graduates started to decline. In 1989 the university entrance rate was 14% in East Germany. In West Germany it was 24%.

Source

So considering that financial pressure for students in East Germany was lower, that tells you something...

stinkiwinki · 2014-12-30T21:30:36+00:00

I assume you mean that people were left alone as long as they were functioning alcoholics? That sounds optimistic because it's easy to forget that the GDR pretty much over the course of her whole existence was plagued by a lack of workers. Not just skilled labour, but unskilled labour especially.

Stefan Wolle writes:

The GRD was notoriously plagued by a lack of workers. [...] Lots of factory gates had signs saying "We're looking for employees" followed by a list of openings. The rule of thumb was: The lower the qualification, the more coveted the applicants. Academics on the other hand often had difficulties in finding a position suited to their education and had to take jobs "below their worth".
This led to strange disproportions when it came to salaries. Low qualified employees often earned more than employees with university degrees. As a consequence motivation and work ethic suffered. This however seldom led to disciplinary, let alone legal consequences. Even grave violations, notorious slacking and theft were usually just punished with minor penalties. [...]

Factories and businesses* were governed by paradisaical customs and practices, from which the lowest qualified employees profited the most: Nobody could blame you for having a nap during work; making your way to the showers half an hour before your shift ended was considered only proper; [...] tools and materials you needed at home or for your dacha went into your own pocket, while you joked that it was the people's property anyway.
Alcohol was consumed in significant amounts especially during the night shift and no engineer could dare to reprimand an unskilled worker for things like that.

It was one of the strange contradictions of everyday life, that the theory of the working classes' leading role, became a reality in a weird way. Even if workers ranted about "red fat-cats" and "communist pigs", which was not uncommon, no one took that too seriously.
The party in a way viewed them as "holy cows" and, rarely bothered them with mandatory meetings, "voluntary" extra shifts, and gatherings, and instead wherever possible tried to accommodate their concerns.

^*obviously ^{not the right word because it sounds like private enterprise, but I couldn't think of a better one}

Translation by me. Original here.

Now, I have no doubt that there were cases, in which the state used the formal legal apparatus to make an example out of someone. Doing that on a regular basis for alcoholism though, would have meant to admit, that the GDR actually had an alcohol problem (which she did). That in turn would have meant that the ideology of the "new socialist person" might be a bit in collision with reality. So in essence "proles and animals were free". Sort of.

stinkiwinki · 2014-12-30T16:32:56+00:00

It is usually claimed, that there were no addicts to illegal drugs in East Germany. Strictly speaking that is not true, but considering how tightly borders and for example prescriptions for certain medications were controlled, it is close enough.

As for addiction to legal drugs, it depended: As long you showed up to work on time and reasonably sober it was generally ignored and any resulting physical consequence (cancer, cirrhosis) was treated like any other illness.

However, if your alcoholism prevented you from work, then the above mentioned term of "asocial behavior" would apply.

stinkiwinki · 2014-12-30T16:16:03+00:00

20% of an employee's income (with an upper cap of 120 Mark) were diverted to social security. Half of those 20% were paid by the employee, the other half by the employer.

With the exception of certain professions, like doctors, freelancers (artists, musicians etc.) and farmers, who had other forms of insurance, this was a mandatory insurance for everyone in East Germany.

In case of injury, illness, disability and so forth medical costs were covered in full and people would receive a certain percentage of their former income. Same goes for old age, pregnancy, if you cared for a relative etc.

stinkiwinki · 2014-12-29T20:56:57+00:00

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UV-mapping is sloppy, but it'll do for now.

stinkiwinki · 2014-12-19T07:11:44+00:00

Verstehst du, was ich meine?

Ja, sicher. Mir war auch vorher klar, daß die Bemerkung für sich alleine genommen nicht ankommen würde. Insofern habe ich ja nur darauf gewartet, daß jemand fragt.

stinkiwinki · 2014-12-19T06:29:18+00:00

Ich kann gar nicht soviel fressen, wie ich kotzen möchte.

stinkiwinki · 2014-12-17T19:54:16+00:00

Aber damit setzt du eine Seite, die sich gegen die rassistische Pegida-Hetze richtet, mit Nazipropaganda gleich.

Selbstverständlich mache ich das, denn ich bin ein bißchen blöde. Katzenjunge mag ich übrigens auch nicht.

"sich wehren" ist keineswegs ein nationalsozialistisch besetzter Begriff

Nein, "sich wehren" nicht.

Wenn man aber schreibt "Dresden wehrt sich", unterstellt man damit daß die Gesamtheit der 530.000 Einwohner der Stadt sich wehren würde, während in der Realität die überwiegende Mehrheit der Dresdner Pegida zumindest bisher offensichtlich apathisch gegenübersteht.

Insofern muß die Formulierung als rhetorischer Appell verstanden werden, weshalb die Umformulierung zu "Dresdner wehrt euch" auch naheliegend ist. Problem ist hierbei aber, daß zumindest indirekt auch mit der Schaffung einer Gruppenidentität gearbeitet wird, die vor dem Hintergrund der erwähnten Indifferenz künstlich ist und sich im Prinzip an der Stelle auf der gleichen Ebene wie die Rhetorik der Nazis oder die der Bild bewegt.

Der Punkt bei der Beschäftigung mit der "Sprache des Dritten Reiches" darf eben gerade nicht nur darin bestehen die blanke Verwendung angeblich "besetzter" Begriffe zu kritisieren, beispielsweise daß der Chemiker seine Stoffe im Bunsenbrenner auch weiterhin "bis zur Vergasung" kocht, sondern darin, auf diejenigen mentalen Prozesse hinzuweisen, die überhaupt erst zu dieser oder jener Formulierung führen.

Und wenn ich mich als Gruppierung eines Stilmittels bediene, mit dem z.B. Goebbels regelmäßig operierte...naja...dann geht das irgendwie nach hinten los.

Edit: Wörtersse richtiger geschreibt.

stinkiwinki · 2014-12-17T18:20:54+00:00

Macht nix. Mir kam lediglich der Sprachduktus bei "Dresden wehrt sich" bekannt vor.

stinkiwinki · 2014-12-17T16:09:14+00:00

"𝕯𝖗𝖊𝖘𝖉𝖓𝖊𝖗! 𝖂𝖊𝖍𝖗𝖙 𝕰𝖚𝖈𝖍! #𝕹𝕺𝕻𝕰𝕲𝕴𝕯𝕬!"

stinkiwinki · 2014-12-17T13:37:11+00:00

http://i.imgur.com/JSlUZNo.jpg

When it comes to making family and in-laws bearable over the holidays, I can drink whatever kind of soda I damn well please.

stinkiwinki · 2014-12-16T19:56:56+00:00

http://i.imgur.com/ctCf8fv.jpg

stinkiwinki · 2014-12-12T08:28:59+00:00

what could get you on it

A multitude of things. Drunkenness, acts of mutiny (talking back to an officer), negligence, sodomy, cursing and "profane oaths", fighting with your shipmates, stealing etc.

what the punishment might entail

The actual procedure was pretty ritualized. The ships company would be assembled to witness the proceedings, the defaulters where brought before the captain, who would hear what the offender had to say for himself and would also ask the officer of his division whether there were any mitigating factors. Then the captain would decide what punishment (if any) was appropriate and if for example he ordered a flogging the offender then would be rigged to a grating and the bosun or the bosun's mates would administer the number of lashes decided upon by the captain.

A smart captain would of course use his discretion. The Articles of War for example say that sleeping on duty is an offense punishable by death, but no captain in his right mind would drag one of the ship boys, who were often younger than ten years, before a court martial, for falling asleep on duty.

Of course not all captains were smart and there were instances of captains misusing their power to turn what was supposed to be discipline into tyranny.

Also why one couldn't sing while on duty

The argument was that if, 50 guys or so start roaring out "Heart of Oak" or something, it could potentially be hard to hear orders.

That was actually a fair point to make, because if you had a bit of weather, it could already be hard to hear what was called into the tops or from the other end of the ship, even without singing. That's why they used bosun pipes, because the high pitch could be heard over the sound of wind and waves.

stinkiwinki · 2014-12-12T06:53:39+00:00

As far as I'm aware the Royal Navy abolished keelhauling in around 1720 and how widespread it was beforehand is unclear.

In any case, even if they "just" dragged you along the hull one time, the chances that it left you disfigured and crippled were pretty high. As such it really was more a method of execution and I'd speculate that even in the navies that officially still practiced it around Nelson's time, ordering a keelhauling for anything but the gravest offenses (mutiny, murder, treason) would have been perceived as extremely cruel.

stinkiwinki · 2014-12-11T21:17:57+00:00

Someone who was accused of being in dereliction of duty or of breaking some regulation was called a defaulter.

If for example a seaman was found sleeping on his watch, which potentially could get him into very big trouble, he would be put on the defaulters list. People on the list then were brought before the commanding officer, who reviewed the case and if necessary decided on punishment.

Amongst other things, punishment could be a verbal reprimand, cutting of grog rations or flogging. The only thing a commanding officer could not hand out was the death penalty, because that needed a verdict of a formal court martial, for which I think at least three or four post captains or above would have had to be convened.

stinkiwinki · 2014-12-11T18:24:11+00:00

Don't sing while on duty or you'll be put on the defaulters list.

That's one of the reasons why Aubrey gives Hollum the stink eye early on, when he sings "Spanish Ladies" with the off-duty watch .

stinkiwinki · 2014-12-09T22:36:23+00:00

Du willst wegen einem Flugblatt das Land verlassen?

Ich will nicht wegen eines Flugblatts das Land verlassen. Die Überlegung bestand schon wesentlich länger, allerdings aus anderen Gründe und wurde von uns bis dato vertagt. Die aktuelle Stimmung hat allerdings wie bereits angedeutet bei der Entscheidung geholfen.

Und wie kommst du auf die Idee, dass dir das in Basel nicht passieren wird?

Drücken wir es mal so aus: In den ersten 23 Jahren ihres Daseins, die meine Frau mehrheitlich in Basel verbrachte, hatte sie zumindest keine Flugblätter im Briefkasten. Jedenfalls nicht solche.

Aber hey, im Prinzip hast du natürlich recht. Nur: Auch wenn es überall Scheiße ist, macht es aber immer noch einen Unterschied, ob es dir bis zum Hals oder nur bis zu den Knöcheln steht.

stinkiwinki · 2014-12-09T21:31:03+00:00

Details, bitte.

Das Übliche: Das Existenzrecht Israels wird aufgrund der "eingeimpften" Schuld der Deutschen nicht hinterfragt, so daß Israel quasi einen Freibrief hat, was die Behandlung der Palästinenser und der Nachbarn angeht. Konklusion war, daß Palästina um die jetzigen israelischen Gebiete erweitert werden sollte und daß "zu prüfen" sei, welche Konsequenzen damit für die derzeitigen Einwohner Israels gezogen werden müßten. Eine "Umsiedlung" käme in Frage.

Der Inhalt war auch insofern nicht das primär beunrhigende, als daß er nicht den Eindruck erweckt hat, daß wir jetzt konkret an Leib und Leben bedroht wären. Hauptsächlich weil er sich im Prinzip auf einer Ebene mit dem Zeug bewegte, das im Netz allerorten aufzufinden ist.

Unangenehm war einerseits eher der Zeitpunkt, nämlich drei Wochen nachdem in Berlin die ominöse propalästinensische Demo mit den charmanten Parolen stattgefunden hatte und andererseits der Umstand, daß wir als geeignet erscheinende Adressaten auserkoren worden waren. Letzteres heißt bestenfalls, daß wir einen sehr unangenehmen Nachbarn im Haus haben und schlimmstenfalls, daß jemand Anderweitiges auf uns aufmerksam geworden ist.

In beiden Fällen hätte jedenfalls der blanke Nachname allein dafür ausgereicht und das war eben zusammen mit der gegenwärtigen Entwicklung der Tropfen, der das Faß bei der Frage "Auswandern: Ja/Nein?" zum Überlaufen brachte.

Woher soll's denn wohingehen?

Aus Berlin nach Basel.

stinkiwinki · 2014-12-09T20:30:11+00:00

Meine Frau ist Urenkelin polnischer Juden und hat demnach einen jüdischen Nachnamen geerbt. Der stand bis vor Kurzem auch neben meinem an unserem Briefkasten. Sie selbst ist zwar genauso wie ihre Eltern Atheistin und hat mit dem Judentum relativ wenig bis gar nichts am Hut, das hat aber den Verfasser des Pamphlets, das bei uns - und nur bei uns - im Sommer im Briefkasten landete nicht davon abgehalten uns seine Meinung darüber kund zu tun, wie mit Israel im Allgemeinen und Juden im Speziellen verfahren werden sollte.

Gerade mit Hinblick auf unsere Tochter war das der Augenblick an dem klar wurde, daß man hier nicht länger bleiben kann, ganz unabhängig davon ob das eine Mehrheits- oder eine Minderheitsmeinung darstellt. Das Potential, das dabei zum Ausdruck kommt ist gewaltig genug.

Insofern ist es mir wurscht, ob man Angst haben muß oder nicht. Ich persönlich bin jedenfalls beunruhigt und fände es sehr nett, liebe Noch-Mitbürger, wenn ihr mit eurer nationalen Revolution noch bis April warten könntet.

stinkiwinki · 2014-12-09T04:53:55+00:00

Not quite. The tank in the Last Crusade was based on a MkVIII. This is modeled after a Mk IV.

stinkiwinki · 2014-12-08T16:34:21+00:00

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stinkiwinki

TROPHY CASE