Memorable story about the disadvantages of digitization

One day I was in Leipzig looking for the Stasi Museum. The East German State Security Service used to be notorious for its rigorous surveillance of the GDR population. I asked an older East German for directions and had a memorable conversation with him.

Among other things, I asked him whether things were better in everyday life now than under socialism. He told me:

“It used to take me 3 days to find good things, get in line and buy them. Today, it takes me 3 days to find out what’s really good on the internet and where to get the best price. That’s both stupid! “.

Then he told me how he was spied on by the Stasi. How his letters were opened, how it was documented who he met with, when he went to church and how he expressed himself politically. He had an idea of the surveillance but no idea of its extent.

I finally entered the Stasi Museum and watched two young people talking about the former surveillance outragedtook photos and then shared them on “social media” such as Facebook…