austin-murphy-the-triumph-of-evil

92 THE TRIUMPH OF EVIL
indicate a figure over 100 billion Marks (Merkel and Wahl, 1991 ),
which represented several times tiny East Germany's National Income
or annual output at the time of the payments (most of which occurred
between 1945 and 1953). While West Germany also made some postwar
payments related to Nazi Germany's atrocities and war defeat (including
compensation to war victims), they were largely offset by Marsha11
Plan aid given to West Germany by the USA shortly after World War 11
{Apel, 1966). If East Germany had instead been able to invest the 100
billion Marks in reparations (starting in 1953 and reinvesting all capital
and earnings each year) at its average 18% rate of return on investments
(Naumann and Truempler, 1990), it would have compounded to give
East Germans income per capita equal to about 15 times the level in
West Germany in 1989. 1
Instead, however, the enormous reparations caused East German
income per capita to be only about 2/5 that of West Germany in the
1950s (Merkel and Wahl, 1991 ), although it had risen to 2/3 of the West
German level by 1989 (Gregory and Stuart, 1995). It was the discrep·
ancy in personal income arising from differences in reparations that
had caused East Germany to build the Berlin Wall in 1961 in order
to prevent its skilled workers (such as essential doctors and nurses)
from being "bought" by the richer West Germany (Ape1, 1966). In fa ct,
before the Berlin Wall was erected, several million East Germans ( espe·
cially skilled workers like doctors and engineers) moved to West Ger·
many for the higher incomes available there, and this migration resulted
in a large loss to the East German economy (Apel, 1966). Besides the
large net migrations of people, black market activities and outright sab·
otage by both the CIA and West Germany also helped motivate the
building of the Wall (Blum, 1995).
Given that East German income would have been higher than in West
Germany without the reparations payments, it can be deduced that it
would not have been necessary for East Germany to have the Berlin
Wall if West Germany had made its share of the reparations payments
fo r Nazi Germany's war crimes. In particular, the burden to East Ger·
many would have thereby been enormously reduced and would have
allowed its income to be substantially higher. At the same time, West
Germany's income would have been reduced by it making its share of
the payments. In this situation, it probably would not have been nee·
CHAPTER 2
essary for East Germany to have slightly longer work weeks (since
it would not have been necessary to catch up with the West), nor to
have such severe shortages (that could have been alleviated with greater
wealth), nor to spend so little on pollution control (that reflected East
Germany's relative poverty), nor to restrict political freedoms (that East
Germany did not want the richer West Germany to take advantage of),
nor to have such an obnoxious secret police (whose primary purpose
was to keep East Germans from leaving the country for the greater
riches of West Germany). All the relative disadvantages of communism
in East Germany may therefore derive, at least partially, from its postwar
reparations (and not from communism). Thus, it is possible to conclude
that communism in ·East Germany was superior to capitalism in
West Germany in all respects (except of course for the super rich, who
would become less wealthy and powerful under communism).
A list of the relative advantages of each system is provided in Table
3, fo llowed by a more general discussion.
TABLE 3
A LISTING OF THE RELATIVE ADVANTAGES OF
COMMUNISM AND CAPITALISM IN GERMANY
Adngtagn of Communist Society
I. No unemployment
2. No inflation
3. No life-sustaining anxieties
4. More rights for women and children
5. Equal educational opportunities
6. Socially more just
7. More natural
8. Much less crime
9. Less overall police control
I 0. Not harassed by Western secret police
II. Not as manipulated by the Western press
12. Not manipulated by Western marketing
13. No need to shop around for the best price
14. Simpler tax system
IS. Faster economic growth
Western Adyantun•
I. Shorter work hours"
2. Fewer shortages"
3. Lower pollution•
4. Political freedom fa�ade'
5. More travel freedom•
6. Less transparent police'
7. Greater wealth, i.e.,
escaped I'Cllaratjoos•
a. Note that all of the advantages of capitalism in Germany stem at least in
part from (or were made possible by) the greater beginning wealth of West Ger­
many.
93