austin-murphy-the-triumph-of-evil

98 THE TRIUMPH OF EVIL
less conflict between men and women, virtually no prostitution, far less
incidence of sexual perversion, and women who were considered by
many foreigners to be both more pleasant and more intelligent than in
capitalist countries. Also contributing here was the lack of stress with
respect to job security, fewer financial worries, and no life-sustaining
money anxieties, which also resulted in the well-documented fact that
East Germans engaged in sex much more frequently (and with more
sexual partners on average) than West Germans (dpa, 1990b). Another
study indicated that East German women typically enjoyed sex much
more (with a 70% orgasm rate), at least partially because communism
allowed East German women to feel equal, far more independent, and
far less oppressed (Kleinschmid, 1985).
8. Much less crime. Narcotics were almost nonexistent in East Ger­
many, although there were some illegal homemade drug concoctions,
such as combining legal alcoholic beverages with legal tranquilizers
and even mixing a detergent with cola (Leopold, 1985). Regardless,
murder and violence were rare, and theft was much less prevalent than
in the capitalist countries (Diedrich, Ehlert, and Wenzke, 1998). For
instance, in 1988, there were 7 criminal acts per thousand residents
in East Germany compared to 71 per thousand residents in West Ger­
many (Northoff, 1995). As a result, a 1999 survey of eastern Germans
indicated that 81% felt less secure from crime in the unified capitalist
Germany than in communist East Germany (Kramm, 1999). An Ameri·
can woman visiting East Germany in the 1980s was astounded that she
could actually walk the streets alone at night without any fear (Filmer,
1985a).
9. Less overall pollee control. For instance, the amount spent per
capita on police, secret police, and public security was less in East Ger·
many than in West Germany. In particular, such spending by East Ger­
many was $225 per East German citizen in 1989 (Diedrich, Ehlert, and
Wenzke, 1998), using the official exchange rates which approximated
purchasing power exchange rates (Collier, 1985), while spending by
West Germany on internal security was about $264 per citizen in the
same year (Statistisches Bundesamt, 1996). s
It should be mentioned that about t/5 of the total police, secret police,
and public security personnel in East Germany were actually heavily­
armed military troops (primarily trained to fight armed enemy infiltra-
CHAPTER 2
tors, paratroopers, and saboteurs), whereas all West German military
formations are paid for out of defense spending as opposed to public
security spending (Diedrich, Ehlert, and Wenzke, 1998). In addition,
the East German figures include foreign espionage spending, which is
included in. West Germany as a separate (and secret) budgeted amount
estimated to be about $8 per capita (Schmidt-Eenboom, 1995). Thus,
per capita spending figures for East Germany that would be more com­
parable might be $225x{ 1-.20}=$ 180, or about 2/3 that of West Ger­
many's $264+$8=$272. Given that East German income per capita was
about 2/3 that of West Germany's in 1989 (Gregory and Stuart, 1995),
it can be concluded that East Germany spent about the same percentage
of National Income as West Germany.
It should be mentioned that over half of East German spending on
internal security was for secret police (Diedrich, Ehlert, and Wenzke,
1998), which was perceived to be needed to defend against the stated
intent of the much larger and richer West Germany to take over East
Germany (von Schnitzler, 1992). As a result, there were more secret
police than other police in East Germany (Diedrich, Ehlert, and Wenzke,
1998). In particular, in 1987, there were 91,015 secret police compared
to 15,646 regular police, 6226 police liaisons with neighborhood watch
groups, 8294 criminal police, and 62 12 traffic cops (with all these fig­
ures including supporting administrative personnel). Also included in
the East German internal security figures were 31,555 full-time national
guard troops (consisting of 1 1 ,000 members of a Stasi "Wachregiment"
� !ready included in the 91,015 secret police population, 14,115 "Bereltschaftpolizei,"
and 6400 "Transportpolizei"). There was a total of
8526 prison guards and 3377 immigration officers (as well as almost
10,000 more of the 91 ,015 secret police who were directly involved in
emigration/immigration tasks) also in East German internal security.
There were 15,129 security guards (and supporting administrative per­
sonnel) in East Germany whose costs are not included in the internal
security spending Gust as amounts for security guards in West Germany
are separately budgeted, there as private business expenditures). Over­
all, ac�al secret and other police, prison guards, security guards, and
supportmg administrative personnel represented about 0.8% of the East
Gennan population (with national guard troops and immigration offi­
cers representing a further 0.3% of the population).
99