European countries in the 20 th century,'socialism','state socialism' and 'communism' have been used somewhat synonymously. Therefore, 'socialism' is nowadays associated with the former East European states. The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics(USSR) and its'satellite states'(e.g. the German Democratic Republic(GDR)) had a single party system with parties calling themselves either'communist' or'socialist'. They referred to Marx's and Engel's ideas about an egalitarian and classless society as central theoretical concepts. For instance, the philosophers' concept of public ownership of the means of the production was highly important for the East European economies. But while Marx imagined communism as a classless and stateless society in which the means of production belong to all workers, the East European reality looked different. The communist governments created very strong states, which owned all production sites and planned any major economic step. In the former GDR central planners decided five years in advance on, for example, agrarian details, like harvest dates. As these five-year plans were highly inflexible, regular product short-cuts occurred. Some commodities(e.g. cars) had to be ordered years in advance and, due to the planned agriculture, even food was often short. Experience proved that a planned economy cannot respond quickly enough to the concrete needs of the customers. Besides problems in implementing, a planned economy and a strong state do not fulfill Marx's communist ideas. Marx imagined a society in which classes and state would be abolished. In contrast, the East European societies were characterized by parties which created very strong states restricting peoples' lives in various aspects. Most people were not free to travel, act as independent business men or have their own critical opinions. It could be even said that two new classes existed: the party members in power and the rest. Today's understanding of socialism varies largely from country to country. In the U.S. or Germany you would never call a social democrat a'socialist'. Here the word'socialist' suggests an ideological proximity to the brutal and unjust dictatorships of the former East European systems. For German or American social democrats, which clearly believe in a vibrant market economy and oppose any form of anti-democratic movements,'socialist' is very negatively associated. Basics on Social Democracy “The communist governments created very strong states, which owned all production sites and planned any major economic step.” 37