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Article: East Germans confront realities of capitalism
- Article from:
- Chicago Sun-Times
- Article date:
- July 23, 1990
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright (null) Chicago Sun-Times. (Hide copyright information)
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EAST BERLIN It was a coupling celebrated with champagne and
consummated with deutschemarks. But less than three weeks after the
two Germanys merged their economies, the honeymoon is over.
East Germans don't like the strange new symptoms wrenching their
lives. Irene Runge, an East Berlin sociologist with New York roots,
said: "They want to be half-capitalist, with West German standards of
living and East German security. And it can't happen."
What has happened instead, many East Germans complain, is the
worst of both worlds: soaring unemployment in companies run by the
same old bosses, farms facing ruin, striking workers, and
price-gouging in supermarkets.
But from the perspective of many ...