[PRCo] Re: Fw: North side details - OT

[Boris Cefer]

Guess 98 % of this is absolutely correct.

B

----- Original Message -----
From: "Fred Schneider" <fschnei at supernet.com>
To: <pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org>
Sent: Sunday, March 06, 2005 2:09 AM
Subject: [PRCo] Re: Fw: North side details


> Continued off topic warning!
>
> I somewhat disagree with my learned colleague Edward that communism was
not
> fondly remembered throughout most of its coverage area.  Your fondness or
hatred
> for the former state run economy has a lot to do with your age.  If you
are 64
> years old and you have had difficulty finding a decent job since the
economic
> shift in the early 1990s, you probably will not like capitalism. You went
> through most of your life with a guaranteed make believe job and make
believe
> wages, and, while you had  not been rewarded with great riches, you did
have a
> modicum of comfort.  You would have had an apartment at state regulated
rates
> (can you imagine $50 month today).  You had free health care.  You took
off most
> Friday afternoons.  And you waited in lines to buy bread.  I'm recalling
two
> shop workers for the street railway in Naumberg in the Deutsche
Demokratische
> Republik back about 1991.  Two years later I passed through the city again
and
> wanted to give them pictures of themselves in front of a streetcar.  They
no
> longer worked for the city.  Policies had changed.  They no longer had
play jobs
> for play money.  The trolleys were not running.  They had been replaced
with two
> Mercedes Benz buses, which could be fixed on demand by the local
> Daimler-Chrysler dealer.  There was no shop force.  And these were men in
their
> 50s that were suddenly out of work.  If you had seen the East in 1980 or
1990
> with all the factories going full blast (and smoke everywhere), and then
you saw
> it in 1995 with three-fourths of the factories closed, you can understand
how
> the old timers felt.  Communism, for them, was a security blanket.   (As a
> peripheral comment:  There was a great rush to throw out all the old stuff
in
> the early 1990s, but many of the favored commodities (including a cola
drink
> which I thought tasted like it should have come off the back of a medicine
> wagon) have come back by public request.
>
> If you are 40, you were probably able to adapt and are comfortable with
the
> change. Maybe you even moved to the west.  You are now probably making far
more
> than you ever had before.  You now have a Fiat or a Volkswagen. Maybe you
even
> drive a Beamer.   You drive to a brand new supermarket in the burbs to buy
your
> groceries.  The name may be different but the concept is the same as
K-Mart.
> In fact I actually remember seeing a new Wal*Mart just a few blocks from
> downtown Jena.  There are all sorts of new jobs, which, of course, require
new
> skills.  (I'm painting a picture of East Germany.  Russia is much more
dismal.)
>
> If you are in the 20-30 range, you have no idea what communism so asking
if they
> like it is irrelevant.  You can only go on what your parents told you.
It's
> been 15 years now and asking a teenager or twenty-something is like asking
a
> teenager in this country about Lee Harvey Oswald or the meltdown at Three
Mile
> Island or how to use a rotary dial phone.
>
> Fifteen years ago I found a track maintenance worker in East Germany who
was
> very down on communism.  In his case, he was old enough to remember the
world
> before 1945.  And maybe he remembered what Grandma told him about the
world
> before 1914.   If he is still around today, perhaps his pension covers
expenses
> and perhaps it doesn't ... not being sufficient is an acute problem in
Russia.
>
>
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
>
> Harold:
>
> Regarding welfare housing in Europe ... it exists.  For example, the
British
> call them council homes after the city or county council.   There are a
lot of
> large blocks of council apartments on the southwestern light rail line in
> Sheffield, England, and that is what forced them to reevaluate proof of
payment
> fares.  The kids took the ticket vending machines home to empty the coins
in
> comfort.   There are similar public housing programs everywhere.  Maybe,
> however, they do a better job than we do of maintaining the older
> infrastructure.  Maybe because I've never been inside an English council
home or
> a similar structure elsewhere.  I've been in many European homes but they
were
> not people on welfare. (That is not a jab.)
>
> There was a nice college text book written by an urban history prof at
Franklin
> and Marshall College here in Lancaster, and it used this city for the
point of
> discussion.  One of the issues he found important was tearing down their
slum
> housing without first thinking through where are we going to move these
people.
> Does that not remind us of tearing down the Lower Hill and moving the
people to
> Homewood?   Does it happen in Europe?  Yes, but I cannot believe it
happens to
> the same degree that it does here or there would not be so many homes
going back
> 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 centuries.   There is another aspect to redeveloping
European
> cities ... The U. S.  and the British helped to redevelop a lot of them
after
> World War II because we left a lot of empty spaces in cities like
Hannover,
> Mannheim, Dresden and Berlin.  And the Germans wiped out one-third of the
> housing in London.  Different kind of urban renewal?
>
> Ed was 100% correct, however, in his comment about the Europeans taking
their
> money.  The governments have many social programs that have to be funded
in some
> manner.  You can tax the employer, or the visitor, or the resident, but
you have
> to take from someone to pay for public programs.  And the Europeans have
many
> more programs than we do, therefore it costs a lot more.  Socialized
medicine
> (or call it a national health service if you wish) is common everywhere.
I can
> cite, as just one more example, that German women who give birth are
entitled to
> a percentage of their income (I think the initial percentage is 100%) for
one
> year and it may be two, and a lower percentage for one more year, with
automatic
> rights to their job afterward. But that is only the start.  Giving the
> government more than 50% of your income in taxes is not unusual.   It
would be
> interesting to have a large spread sheet comparing our social programs
with
> theirs.  I don't have that.   I'm not sure how Germany pays for their
obligatory
> vacation program (I think it is five weeks for everyone), but someone pays
...
> if government doesn't, then it has to be covered by reduced wages.  After
all,
> we live in a world wide competitive market and they can't give away
vacations
> and compete.    I am going to stop short of being critical of their
programs ...
> there just happens to be a lot within the European life style that I
appreciate
> (and don't take that to mean I don't like it here).  This can easily
degenerate
> into a Republican versus Democratic issue and I don't want that.
>
> And regarding your friend's horror stories about the projects on
Pittsburgh's
> north side ... and attempting to project that to Europe.  There is crime
> everywhere.  You and I have had these arguments before.  In the U. S. it
is
> normal for the victim to know when it happened ... the purse was ripped
off by a
> guy on a running down the street, or the 7-11 clerk found himself looking
down
> the barrel of gun, or the person walking down a quiet street was ambushed
to two
> guys bearing knives.  I've never read about that in Europe.  Having your
pocket
> picket is normal ... you simply do not carry more money in your wallet
than you
> are willing to loose. Maybe you want to carry a decoy wallet and put the
real
> stuff in a chest pouch.  I've had my pocket picked several times .... it
goes
> with being distracted while taking pictures ... it also goes with being an
> American in poor countries.  But I only once felt threatened and I solved
that
> by escaping through a McDonalds.  And I guess, with the proliferation of
drugs,
> we can expect that level of comfort to change too.
>
> fws