Nobody learned from communism

If you want to be depressed about the human condition, think about the complete absence of adult humans' ability to learn from experience.

Start with the Germans. One third of Germany fell under the control of a statist system while the remaining 2/3rds developed under a democratic pro commerce system.  Both started at the same point with the same German social values.

The statist system remained in place for a mere 45 years.  Yet within just a few years, East Germany became a backward, hungry, incompetent, lazy third-world society and remained that way for the entire 45 years.  When liberated from the statist shackles, East Germans remained disproportionately lazy, incompetent, third-worlders, sentimental for the old statist disaster.

It isn't just the East Germans who failed to learn the lesson of state control, it is all Germans.  To this day, 75% of the voters in Germany vote against the pro-commerce society they live in, that generated their wealth and prosperity and vote for statist-socialist, union dominated political parties.

It is not only the Germans, who live with the best example available of human statist failure.  The Spaniards, Persians, the Arab-Israelis, the South Koreans and the Finns all live with close-by examples or historic experience of statist ignominy. And they continue to support such values in the political parties in their own societies.