The Simple Question Socialism Couldn't Answer
Berlin 1961–1989 was the cleanest experiment in economic systems ever conducted: one people, one city, split down the middle by ideology. The East ran on a plan decided a thousand miles away in Moscow. The West ran on signals from the checkout line. The simple question (how do you know what to make?) is the one the plan could never answer. This essay traces the arc from feudal land to factory town to Marx's Capital to the Wall, and ends where the Etymological Court ended: systems must compete, and everyone must be able to opt out.