Communism

Young people today, which in my mind is most people, are not aware of how communism fears capitalism. As WW2 ended and the Soviets took over Eastern Europe, the city of Berlin was left in the middle. This resulted in dividing the city into east and west Berlin. The economy under the Soviets stagnated while the west using free market capitalism grew rapidly. The contrast was apparent early on and the Soviets could not allow a capitalist economy so close to home so they blockaded the city. The US replied with the Berlin airlift which lasted for about a year and the Soviets backed down. In just a couple of years the contrast was so stark than many of the better educated in the East began to move to West Berlin. While the population in the west rose quickly the east was losing people. By the mid 1950's the GDP of the west was double the east. By 1961 the Soviets began building a wall to keep people from leaving. The Soviets maintained control of their territories through fear and force while in the west the people were kept satisfied with economic growth. This Berlin wall remained for almost 30 years but it was clear from the start that the central control government could not compete with free enterprise.