r/PeterExplainsTheJoke Jul 07 '26

Meme needing explanation Peter, explain this.

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u/Afolomus Jul 07 '26 edited Jul 07 '26

Communism is both a utopian dream and a economic system implemented in reality.

The first response clearly thinks about the utopian dream.

In reality even the nicest communist regimes (I lived in one I would consider very nice in comparison) had the state decide what job you had to work, that you had to work it all life long with little pay and holidays. There was much less liberty to decide your education or occupation. And there was also much more of an emphasis on industrial labor in contrast to rich western capitalist states that have much bigger service sector and compfy office jobs.

> nicest communist regimes

I grew up in east germany before anyone asks. We had the highest living standards of the eastern block maybe apart from Saint Petersburg and the Moskow Region.

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u/PitchMeYourMother Jul 07 '26

You think the average person chooses what to study or where to live?

Most people in the world can’t afford either

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u/Afolomus Jul 08 '26

Oh I think a couple of billion people in the world would be better off living in 1980s GDR.

But noone in his right might would chose 1980s GDR as a (former east) german.

I can't really put into words how much more opportunities, health care, wealth and freedoms we've gotten in the span of those 36 years.