For my Canadian friends

[sear]

"The number of people wanting to leave East Germany was actually not large." R5 #420

We don't know that.
We may have a fairly accurate count of how many tried to breach the Wall at or near Berlin.

But successful escapes perpetrated a hundred kilometers away would have been an embarrassment to the Soviets, who would have preferred to keep quiet about it.
Thus the full tally of successful escapes from East to West may remain under-counted to this day, potentially substantially so.

"The number of people wanting to leave East Germany was actually not large." R5 #420

Let's not conflate what they did, with what they wanted to do.
Anecdotes I've read indicate rumors inside the Soviet Union of Western prosperity resulted in for example a simple pair of bluejeans being swapped even up inside the Soviet Union, for a Trabant.

 

[Rigby5]

We don't know that.
We may have a fairly accurate count of how many tried to breach the Wall at or near Berlin.

But successful escapes perpetrated a hundred kilometers away would have been an embarrassment to the Soviets, who would have preferred to keep quiet about it.
Thus the full tally of successful escapes from East to West may remain under-counted to this day, potentially substantially so.


Let's not conflate what they did, with what they wanted to do.
Anecdotes I've read indicate rumors inside the Soviet Union of Western prosperity resulted in for example a simple pair of bluejeans being swapped even up inside the Soviet Union, for a Trabant.

That actually poses a question of status and style that makes it even more a case of propaganda.
The reality is the Trabant was one of the best cars ever made.
It was what was used for the flying car that took Harry Potter back to Hogwarts.
The body was rustproof fiberglass and it had a light 2 stroke engine that was not only indestructible, but got over 40 mpg.

 

[sear]

"The reality is the Trabant was one of the best cars ever made." R5 #422

"Proof of Trotsky's farsightedness is that none of his predictions have come true yet." Isaac Deutscher

" propaganda " R5 #422

Yes.

"... the Trabant was one of the best cars ever made. ...
The body was rustproof fiberglass and it had a light 2 stroke engine that was not only indestructible, but got over 40 mpg." R5 #422

This is why so many 2026 and 2027 model year cars so closely emulate these spectacular market-coveted features you've disclosed here.
What's more prestigious than showing up at a gasoline station with a Trabant?
Showing up at a gasoline station with a Trabant, pouring a quart of oil into the fuel filler neck, and then topping it off with ethyl. "All the way with ethyl !"

 

[Rigby5]

"Proof of Trotsky's farsightedness is that none of his predictions have come true yet." Isaac Deutscher


Yes.


This is why so many 2026 and 2027 model year cars so closely emulate these spectacular market-coveted features you've disclosed here.
What's more prestigious than showing up at a gasoline station with a Trabant?
Showing up at a gasoline station with a Trabant, pouring a quart of oil into the fuel filler neck, and then topping it off with ethyl. "All the way with ethyl !"

As a mechanic until 1978, I find US cars to have been incredibly silly.
A V8 engine is going to weigh over 700 lbs all by itself, and use up a great deal of gas just accelerating its own mass.
Which is why now makers are more likely to install a turbo charged 4 cylinder engine with the same hp as a V8.
Two stroke engines make much more sense than 4 stroke engines, since they produce twice the hp without needing a larger engine.

The only bad thing about the Trabant was mixing oil with the fuel.
By using fuel injection and super charging, they did not need to do that, and it would have had much better emissions ratings, which is what killed the Trabant in 1991.

 

[sear]

"As a mechanic until 1978, I find US cars to have been incredibly silly.
A V8 engine is going to weigh over 700 lbs all by itself, and use up a great deal of gas just accelerating its own mass.
Which is why now makers are more likely to install a turbo charged 4 cylinder engine with the same hp as a V8.
Two stroke engines make much more sense than 4 stroke engines, since they produce twice the hp without needing a larger engine.

The only bad thing about the Trabant was mixing oil with the fuel.
By using fuel injection and super charging, they did not need to do that, and it would have had much better emissions ratings, which is what killed the Trabant in 1991." R5 #424

I got in trouble for topic-drift before.
But there's ramble potential in the following, from the For my Canadian friends topic:

 

[sear]

"People confuse what they want with what is best." R5 #406

I've had a few days to puzzle over this one R5.

"... what is best"? For whom?
The axiom asserts we seek what is in our own enlightened self-interest. But then why did Trump get elected?

 

[Rigby5]

I've had a few days to puzzle over this one R5.

"... what is best"? For whom?
The axiom asserts we seek what is in our own enlightened self-interest. But then why did Trump get elected?

The problem is that people enjoy emotional responses so much that they often don't bother thinking through the consequences.

One of the things people get tripped up on is how they like power, speed, and size for cars, when they actually should know that smaller and weaker cars actually are much better.
An example is they think US cars with large engines are good because they pass strict parts per million emissions tests.
But the reality is that they are only getting 20 mpg when the VW TDI was getting 50 mpg and had less than a fourth the CO2 emissions of the US cars.
So they made VW then pay all sorts of fines for a car that actually was 4 times cleaner than most US made cars.
Testing ppm has nothing to do with how much total emissions a car produces.