[ahf8Aithaex7Nai]

Absolutely right: they took advantage of us and exploited us, and ever since then they’ve been calling us lazy. Many people in East Germany and West Germany don’t even realize this, but what actually happened during reunification closely resembles the way a colonial power treats a colonized territory: extraction of value, exploitation of cheap labor, and systematic discrimination against the local population. For many people from the generation before mine, there’s the typical term “Wendeverlierer” (those who lost out in the reunification). I would classify my father and other members of my family into this group. Even in my generation, it’s still the case that West Germans from comparable social classes have disproportionately more inherited wealth and prosperity. We East Germans, on the other hand, have longer de facto working hours and lower salaries. I don't blame every single West German for this, but collectively, I do hold Germany largely responsible for the fact that East Germany and East Germans remain economically disadvantaged to this day.

The saddest part is that there are even many East Germans who don't see this at all, but instead attribute the economic stagnation of many regions in eastern Germany to the mindset of the people living there.