Hi Team,
I just happened to read two articles back to back that are a study in contrast.
2019 is the 30th Anniversary of both the Berlin Wall and East Germany coming down, and Tiananmen Square massacre that solidified Chinese mercantilist authoritarianism.
1)interesting story of West German high school girls who in 1984 hid an East German in their school bus while on a school trip to East Germany and helped him defect:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...oss-the-border
2)interesting story of China surveillance society today and the rise of the Moore’s/Metcalfe’s Law Tech enabled STASI State:
https://www.technologyreview.com/s/6..._hsmi=72569964
One of the primary contributing factors in the collapse of East Germany was the lack of price/performance in surveillance technology in the 1980’s. Surveillance on everyone resulted in extremely high frictional economic costs in East Germany when everyone is informing on everyone.
Exponential growth in price/performance leveraging Moore’s Law and Metcalfe’s Law make mass individualised surveillance far more affordable 30 years later in today’s world.
Some of the biggest takeaways I have from reading both articles is the behaviour of a few GDR sympathetic teachers in the girls’ West German high school and the negative effects it had on the girls’ on their successful return.
It reminds me of efforts to activate and amplify support of pro PLA messaging and disrupting anti-PLA protests on western academic campuses.
I’m still trying to fully grasp the contrast between 1989 and 2019.
All I know is that the lessons and learnings from both the fall of the Berlin Wall/East Germany and PLA entrenchment at the Tiananmen Square massacre should be learned by all this important and timely anniversary year.