East Germany Turnaround

[erfalf]

Not really sure if this goes here, but Bates always puts a bit of a political spin on everything. Course in this case I completely agree that totalitarian/solialist/comunist (whatever they go by) regimes only create wealth and happiness for those that make the rules. That being said, there are some pretty interesting photographs of before and after in East Germany.

http://www.batesline.com/archives/2012/03/saving-east-germanys-near-ruins.html

On a side note, my wife finished reading the Hunger Games books the other day and asked if I thought a society like that would ever occur. I said that it does and it has (just without a fight to death match with teenagers although that is probably debatable). I hope the citizens of the United States don't feel so complacent that they feel that it would never happen here. A representative form of government has rarely lasted throughout history. I hope we are the exception.

[Townsend]

Pretty amazing pictures.



Wow

[nathanm]

Nice photos. Too bad I made the mistake of reading Bates' commentary. It's like he takes pride in being ignorant of what other people actually think, preferring to use caricatures he made up in his head instead.

[Townsend]

Nice photos. Too bad I made the mistake of reading Bates' commentary. It's like he takes pride in being ignorant of what other people actually think, preferring to use caricatures he made up in his head instead.

I try to skip as well.

[we vs us]

I guess I've missed his political commentary up till now.  Oy.  What a lousy collection of strawmen he's collected . . . and then somehow tries to graft on a sentimentalist tip of the hat to some of Tulsa's more dilapidated buildings.  As if the reason they aren't being redone now was because "the leftists" are somehow keeping capitalists from investing in these rehab projects.  Rather than a capitalist (Moroney, out of CA) who's stymied the public's interest over and over and over again in getting at least one of these buildings back into productive use.     

[Conan71]

I guess I missed where the straw men were in the article.  Life behind the iron curtain was very bleak for 45 years and they have made great strides in the last 20.

At least he didn't blame the failure to renovate the synagogue or Tulsa Club due to the BOK Center.

[Hoss]

I guess I missed where the straw men were in the article.  Life behind the iron curtain was very bleak for 45 years and they have made great strides in the last 20.

At least he didn't blame the failure to renovate the synagogue or Tulsa Club due to the BOK Center.

He pretty much has quit coming here due to us..well, to you.  Didn't you tell him you'd pay to him his share of what he'd pay for the BOK Center if he'd just shut his piehole about it?  That was classic.

[nathanm]

I guess I missed where the straw men were in the article.

The thing about "leftists" wanting to bring back the GDR was a pretty good one.

[we vs us]

I guess I missed where the straw men were in the article.  Life behind the iron curtain was very bleak for 45 years and they have made great strides in the last 20.

At least he didn't blame the failure to renovate the synagogue or Tulsa Club due to the BOK Center.

Maybe one big strawman vs. a whole bunch.

"Duane Lester is right to say that these photos "tell an economic story leftists either can't comprehend or simply refuse to believe." 45 years of Communism did little to restore East Germany's cities. The economic incentives weren't there: Rent control kept a building owner's income too low to fund renovations."

Trace the quote back to Lester's blog and he's obviously referring to American liberals, separate from the very different kettle of fish a "leftist" in the European sense might mean.  But he's saying that American liberals love them some Communism, and can't "comprehend" the benefits of capitalism or are just in denial about the beauty and rejuvenative benefits of capitalism.  

Which is horsepucky.  There aren't American liberals like that.  If they exist at all they're far from the centers of power.  American liberals who get elected to office and who shape policy are all exceptional capitalists, and believe in markets without a shadow of a doubt.  No one gets close to suggesting that government suppress markets in ways that approach the old Communist models.  All of us libs are pretty much free marketeers, just don't want it to turn into the free for all that the current conservatives seem to like.

[Conan71]

He pretty much has quit coming here due to us..well, to you.  Didn't you tell him you'd pay to him his share of what he'd pay for the BOK Center if he'd just shut his piehole about it?  That was classic.

Personally, I like Michael and miss his contributions to TNF on old Tulsa.  I also seldom pick up UTW since he quit writing there because, even as myopic as I think he is on the BOK, some tax issues, and his support of some real neanderthal political candidates he was really pretty thorough on his research and usually could back up his opinions with pretty solid fact and logic (except for that Tulsa World lawsuit thingy).

Unfortunately, he's like a lot of bloggers in that they don't like dissension from their views and prefer to use their blog as a bully pulpit.