The failure of green socialism in East Germany

Socialism, unlike capitalism, causes severe damage to the environment. To give a clear example of this, but also to avoid the subjective factor of domestic reality before and after 1989, let's look at what the situation was like in East Germany (GDR) compared to West Germany (FRG).

In 1968, the GDR adopted environmental protection as a state goal in its constitution. [1] In 1972, a full 15 years before West Germany, the GDR created its own Ministry of the Environment to be responsible for this cause. But did yet another ministry and green policies achieve their goal? The results clearly show that despite 60% less economic activity per capita than West Germany, pollution in the GDR was many times greater. [2]

Poisonous water

The loss of 33% of drinking water, due to a record number of burst pipes worldwide according to GDR data [3], the outdated sewage system [4] and the lack of treatment plants lead to the inefficient use of this valuable resource. In the GDR, 9.6 million out of a total of 16 million people consumed water that did not meet Western standards. [5] Every second major river in the GDR was biologically dead due to toxic waste from heavy socialist industry, and even boat travel was prohibited.

Waste of energy

The inefficiency of the socialist economy meant that CO2 per capita in the GDR was one of the highest in the world. In 1990, the West German Republic emitted 11.5 tons of CO2 per person, while the GDR emitted 19 tons. [6]

Polluted air

The lack of purifiers/filters in the GDR's thermal power plants was the reason why the air there contained 15 times more sulfur oxides per person than in the FRG. [7] The content of particulate matter was 10 times higher in the GDR than in West Germany. Only nitrogen oxides were lower compared to the rich West, but the reason for this was the lack of cars in the GDR, which was typical of the socialist system.

The state against the citizens and the lack of information

The GDR government did everything it could to cover up the catastrophic environmental situation in the country. Just as the Chernobyl accident was denied [8], smoke alarms were deactivated. [9]

It turns out that it is NOT the "exploitative" nature of capitalism that leads to a worse environment, but quite the opposite - socialism in the GDR, the Green Ministry and their tragic results are proof that state intervention in the economy and the imposition of restrictions on the daily lives of people and businesses lead to the destruction of nature.

[1] Constitution of the GDR of April 6, 1968 http://www.documentarchiv.de/ddr/verfddr1968.html

[2] G. Heske (2005). Gross Domestic Product, Consumption, and Employment in East Germany, 1970–2000. Cologne: Center for Historical Social Research. https://www.gesis.org/fileadmin/upload/forschung/publikationen/zeitschriften/hsr/hsrtrans21._Ohne_Anhang.pdf

[3] according to a report by the GDR Ministry of State Security, https://www.thieme-connect.de/products/ejournals/abstract/10.1055/s-0033-1343443

[4] over 50% of the sewerage system dates from before World War II or the imperial era

[5] HF Buck HF (1996) Environmental policy and environmental pollution. In: Buck HF, Holzweißig G. (eds) The economic and ecological situation of the GDR in the 1980s. At the end of real socialism (Contributions to an inventory of GDR reality in the 1980s), vol. 2. Wiesbaden: VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften.

[6] https://cdiac.ess-dive.lbl.gov/ftp/trends/emissions/frg.dat

[7] B. Martens (March 30, 2010). The Economy in the GDR. Federal Agency for Civic Education. Available at: http://www.bpb.de/geschichte/deutsche-einheit/lange-wege-der-deutschen-einheit/47076/ddr-wirtschaft

[8] R. Erices and A. Gumz (2014). The GDR Health Care System in the 1980s: A Picture of the State Based on State Security Files. Stuttgart: Georg Thieme Verlag. https://www.thieme-connect.de/products/ejournals/abstract/10.1055/s-0033-1343443

[9] See underlined number 5.

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