The closest I came to becoming a socialist was when I was a teenager growing up in the U.S. Midwest in the 1980s. I first had to move to Russia to grasp the folly of socialism and reclaim my middle-class roots.
Communism
Moscow Style Claims New Fashion Victims
Even Russian men, whose clothing choice was once limited to polyester business suits or polyester jogging suits, have become fussy dressers. Local trends in men’s fashion have developed in mysterious directions: pointy elf shoes or the male purse.
Trial of German Skinheads Who Kicked Immigrant to Death Leaves Widow in Fear
A shadow lies over the town made famous by the Bauhaus arts movement. Dessau was spared any serious incidents of right wing terror – until the night Alberto Adriano walked across the park where he often played with his children.
German Village Refuses to Let Its Future Turn to Coal Dust
Bernd Siegert is leading a last-ditch fight to save his 650-year-old village from destruction by a mining company.
Embattled German Conservatives Try ‘Girl’ Power
Angela Merkel is the most unlikely personification of the conservative political party she is trying to save.
‘Old Bull’ and Friends Honor Culture an Ocean Away
Saxony is a long way from the badlands of the American West, and most of the Germans decked out in native American tribal gear have never set foot in the United States. They draw a curious crowd of onlookers as they dance to traditional Sioux drumming.
Uzbeks Try to Blunt Islam’s Rise
“The government itself is creating fundamentalism,” says Mikhail Ardzinov. “We say we need to conduct a dialogue with religious people. Now it’s become dangerous.”
Distant Germans Feel Pull of ‘Homeland’
“I don’t say that I live badly. I have my husband and sons. I live with God,” says Zina Ida Leipi. “When a person has bread, water, and peace, then he is happy.”
At World Crossroads in Central Asia, Identity Is Submerged
The reality of life makes ethnic identity secondary to the main task of getting by. The monthly wage on the cotton farm is less than $20, and many villagers look back wistfully to the days when Chairman Kim made it rich and famous.
East or West, New Ways Are Best – Sort Of
“The Wall at the end of the street was our horizon,” says Michael Gabbert. “It was unimaginable that these two parts of Germany would ever be together.”
