Found at the DDR museum in Berlin. Apparently making childrens play with each other is communist propaganda.

Parenti quote.

  • REgon [they/them]@hexbear.net
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    3 hours ago

    That’s just a regular kindergarten though. What am I missing? “They indoctrinate” yeah, that’s what insitutions of education do. Just because we like our system doesn’t mean we should pretend you don’t get served your head and ass with liberal talking points (case in point: That museum text).
    Also all kindergartens plan the day for the kids. They’re toddlers, that’s kind of what they need, some adult supervision alongside the opportunity to socialize and experiment in a safe environment (which is what happens when they play together.) What would the alternative even be? The kids have to eat meals on their own? They don’t get fed the whole day? They don’t take naps? Try having them take naps while the rest are playing and see what happens, lmao what the fuck are they saying here?

    Furthermore the kids do have individual expression in the playtime! Like what are they talking about?

  • piccolo [any]@hexbear.net
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    17 hours ago

    Lol I was there recently and also noticed that. The whole museum was full of propaganda, but it was cool to see some of the exhibits, like the Trabant. Some “fun” anticommunist highlights included:

    • The dystopian evil jail cell run by the communist dictators (about the same size as the room I rent in [major city, imperial core country])
    • The dystopian evil kindergarten with a rigid schedule including play and nap time
    • The dystopian evil standard allocated apartment that EVERYONE had and there was NO individuality (much bigger than the room I rent, and for much less money)
    • The dystopian evil SEX that all the HORNY EAST GERMANS were having (the museum explained it as a result of there being nothing else to do, lol)
    • The dystopian evil DIY repair culture
    • The dystopian evil tired bureaucrats who looked more like people than Bond villains
    • The dystopian evil LGBTs who weren’t forbidden from existing by the state
    • The factory farming that happened under the DDR (which, like, as a vegan, sure, but it’s not like the Federal Republic or any Western country wasn’t doing this)
    • There was literally a panel saying that all Eastern bloc states weren’t allowed to deviate from the USSR’s policies or will, then gave an example of the DDR doing just that to resist Soviet reforms in '85

    And every single bullet point here made my blood boil (supposed to be a translation of some of the key terms, without propaganda):

    spoiler (sorry, I only photographed the English text)

    Anyways, I guess I funded anticommunist propaganda by visiting and also buying a DDR patch

    • REgon [they/them]@hexbear.net
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      3 hours ago

      The dystopian evil standard allocated apartment that EVERYONE had and there was NO individuality

      As opposed to the cheap dime-a-dozen housing that gets smacked up everywhere, rented for outrageous prices and god help you if you paint a cabinet or drill a hole in the wall - Goodbye deposit.

    • UlyssesT [he/him]@hexbear.net
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      7 hours ago

      The dystopian evil kindergarten with a rigid schedule including play and nap time

      That alone would piss off “no veggies for dinner, no bedtimes” internet adults too.

  • 7bicycles [he/him]@hexbear.net
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    20 hours ago

    I’m genuinely pretty sure the DDR Museum in Berlin is run by socialists who want you to notice this, I swear to god that entire fucking place makes 0 sense otherwise. All the stations are like this, they’re describing something good that nominally west germany did or still does but then describe it as bad because the communists did it, it ends with you looking at ginormous flat which it tells you cost the equivalent of 50€ per month or something and that nobody but the the richest 5% of the country could afford in Berlin today, before letting you out via the gift store full of DDR nostalgia to buy. Even all the most unpolitical, co-worker-belief-system people I’ve went there with caught on to it.

    • REgon [they/them]@hexbear.net
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      3 hours ago

      Example of the one thing the west is good at being used against it: Propaganda.

      You don’t say “we’re perfect.” You say “oh well sure we’ve got our flaws, but it’s nuanced and really the other guys aren’t even trying!”
      Now it’s just being deployed by socialists. They say “oh well the DDR wasn’t perfect, you couldn’t choose your own apartment (which cost 50 euro a month) and people had so much free time they fucked a lot, which isn’t very productive. Compare it to our modern system where we can’t fix our own things and we work so hard we’re too tired to fuck! We make so much stuff! Anyway if you wanna ironically buy a Lenin poster or this book going into more details, feel free to do so!”

    • TechnoUnionTypeBeat [he/him, they/them]@hexbear.net
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      14 hours ago

      before letting you out via the gift store full of DDR nostalgia to buy

      Holy shit you’re not kidding

      I went to check their online shop and it is entirely the kind of merch you’d expect to see in a pro socialist shop: plenty of Hero of Labour merch, Marx and Lenin stuff, a faux DDR passport notebook, that kinda stuff. There’s a few things that border on either being actual anticommunism or possibly parody (like a sign saying “No Goods Today” in German), but none of it looks like it’s meant to be ironic

      Adding on as I look at more things: they sell a magnet celebrating the formation of the DDR (Republic Day, October 7th). I’m with you, there’s no way this place isn’t run by socialists

    • normal_user [none/use name]@hexbear.netOP
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      18 hours ago

      Yes, i think there is a panel where it tells you that some worker for a 3 room apartment pays 10% of their salary. Then they show you a standard 3 room apartment and while going through it I was so surprised because I would never be able to afford anything even close to it.

      But all the museum is about how people where oppressed and poor !?

    • for real. I have some childless friends. which I should say I am also childless, but I like kids and used to teach kids from ages 10-17. my friends have never worked with kids and never interact with them, but they remember school as being mean to them and not letting them achieve their maximum individual potential, so they think kids should just have all this unstructured magic playtime to explore their own genius.

      I’m not saying we need to be shitty to them, but kids are crazy. they need to be constantly reminded not to cough in others’ faces, not to dig in their own assholes and then touch group food, not to act like goddam maniac when someone it’s someone else’s turn with a shared resource, and that it’s important to play in a group activity or accomplish a task with a partner and realize a shared vision.

      kids can be absolutely fuckin bonkers’ ass little terrorist monsters with no impulse control, and people who think they are magic enlightened angels should be forced to work with them for like one day.

      • REgon [they/them]@hexbear.net
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        3 hours ago

        I’ve done improv and TTRPGs with large groups of 7-9 year olds. So many theater teachers love to talk about how “kids are just so creative” and “just go back to your childhood” and act all enlightened about how the system just pushes us into boxes.

        Kids fucking suck at improv. Their creativity is ass in any group project. They cannot relate to others and lack empathy. “I’M A BIG YELLOW ELEPHANT AND I AM BREATHING FIRE OUT MY ASS” okiedokie Philip, but actually it’s Lisa’s turn and we’ve already made characters. Michael is actually being burnt alive right now, so maybe instead of making it burn more, you think of a way you can help your good friend? Love the input though.

        Kids are put into boxes, but those boxes are titled things like “be nice” and “you are not the only person in the world
        and “if you play the ‘kick each other over the shins game’ then at least one of you will cry. Which is okay, but you gotta be prepared for it
        and “GODDAMMIT DO NOT CLIMB TREES WITH A BROKEN ELBOW!**"
        and "hey when your nose is broken, maybe don’t play dodgeball?

        and “your friend didn’t punch you out of nowhere, he punched you because you kicked him and those things are related, but yes I agree getting punched isn’t nice, don’t you think getting kicked isn’t nice too?
        and “Hey remember yesterday when you came up to me, crying, because your friends wouldn’t let you play with them? Well now Sophia, your friend, is telling me you won’t let her play with all of you. Do you think Sophia feels like you felt yesterday? Oh I’m sure this game can accomodate one more person, since it’s the same game you were playing yesterday when it could suddenly accommodate you

      • UlyssesT [he/him]@hexbear.net
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        7 hours ago

        Teachers have to work with the students they are given, and those students can come from some rough conditions. The fact that many parents already see teachers as “glorified babysitters” (what glory?) means many parents outright expect teachers to pick up parenting duties, including teaching basic manners and decency, on top of everything else.

        • Awoo [she/her]@hexbear.net
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          16 hours ago

          Rofl this is probably caused by the hilarious reactions she gets when she does this, either the elation adults show because it’s funny af or the shock and surprise being entertaining. Discouraging it is very difficult and a lot of kids do it for the same reasons - incorrect reactions from those around them end up reinforcing the behaviour.

          • UlyssesT [he/him]@hexbear.net
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            7 hours ago

            The son of one of my long-time friends likes to run around hitting random adults, myself included, just to see their reactions. burgerpain

      • EelBolshevikism [none/use name]@hexbear.net
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        17 hours ago

        used to teach kids from ages 10-17

        that’s like seven years at a minimum after they start being conditioned to BE selfish monsters, idk this seems like a more systemic issue than a biological ‘kids need to be kept in line regardless of social structure’ thing

        in fact i think it’s borderline reactionary. yeah kids are gross and selfish and shitty but who taught them to be that way? they had ten or more years of experience at that point. if people treat you as subhuman, not worthy of consultation, and inherently worthless and a drain of resources for ten years and you have no other experiences you’d be fucked up too (case in point: you/everyone here probably was fucked up until they experienced things other than being treated like that)

        edit: read theory https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/toby-rollo-brian-davis-arthur-silber-no-against-adult-supremacy-vol-10

        you’re probably right to be annoyed, actually. but that isn’t the kid’s fault that they’re doing stupid shit while they’re learning. it’s the fault of us underpaying and forcing teachers and child care workers to work too many hours simultaneously, because we don’t treat them as valuable as they are. child care workers should be paid like degree holding medical doctors at minimum

        In this manner, the child is prevented from developing a genuine, authentic sense of self. As he grows older, this deadening of his soul desensitizes the child to the pain of others. Eventually, the maturing adult will seek to express his repressed anger on external targets, since he has never been allowed to experience and express it in ways that would not be destructive. By such means, the cycle of violence is continued into another generation (using “violence” in the broadest sense). One of the additional consequences is that the adult, who has never developed an authentic self, can easily transfer his idealization of his parents to a new authority figure.

        Whoops! We Made Ten Year Old Hitler!

        • REgon [they/them]@hexbear.net
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          3 hours ago

          I’ve worked with kids from the age of 2-9 and I gotta tell you, they are not conditioned to be selfish monsters. They are selfish. They’ve just barely learned that they themselves exist, expecting them to have empathy is a lot. They don’t learn how actions and consequences are related until very late.

          in fact i think it’s borderline reactionary. yeah kids are gross and selfish and shitty but who taught them to be that way?

          Honestly I think it’s the other view that’s reactionary. Kids are taught empathy. They do mean shit to each other all the tme. They’re selfish and mean. They are also so much more, but pretending like these other qualities aren’t inherent, just because they’re ugly… It’s pure ideology.
          The system we exist in then hits them with contradictions. They’re taught to care for others and share their stuff and be nice and then… Welcome to the world! You just got punked, sucker! Give me all your free time!

        • Poogona [he/him]@hexbear.net
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          15 hours ago

          Okay this is a very earnest examination of a little joke I was making but I will say that I agree, it’s just that kids at like 5 simply can’t really conceive of a “social contract” for the most part

          There are some cool chimp studies though that showcase how infant humans and infant chimps, when presented with a little “play” involving a shape atop a hill that pushes another shape down whenever it climbs up, have very different priorities. When presented with physical toys that match the shapes from the play, infant humans usually chose the shape that was getting pushed down, while the infant chimps chose the “dominant” shape

          It’s not super conclusive tbh but it’s cute that kids seemingly want to console the bullied actor

  • mathemachristian [he/him]@hexbear.net
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    20 hours ago

    Yes hi I’m sending my kid to kindergarden in Germany right now. It’s the same thing under capitalism 😲

    Except there’s worse coverage, non-german citizens get discriminated by not getting the same coverage and it costs 250€/hour if you go out of pocket.

  • PolandIsAStateOfMind@lemmygrad.ml
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    18 hours ago

    What the fuck, please show me even a single kindergarten in the world where things are not done as a collective, not only early socialisation of children is the point, but there’s one teacher per group.

    Whomever wrote this must be a camouflaged Solarian from Asimov books.

  • Andrzej3K [none/use name]@hexbear.net
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    17 hours ago

    Speaking as a parent, I can say that all babies are born Libertarian. Even liberal education systems understand that they need that shit socializing out of them at an early age