As an antidote to the annual spate of Leftist nonsense on May Day, check out this telling photo essay from Der Spiegel of sites in East Germany from before and after its liberation from Socialism. An example:
1991:
2011:
All the photos are by Stefan Koppelkamm. Go check out the whole thing.
I saw a good bit of the old DDR not long after the Wall fell, and the "before" photos confirm my memories of the East side. As I've noted in the past, it was the most godawful place I'd ever seen.
Remember those "before" shots the next time some Occupy yahoo starts going on about "equality."
UPDATE: Steve Green has more than a few cogent thoughts on this topic.