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Ask HN: Berlin - costs of living, python jobs?

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Re: Ask HN: Berlin - costs of living, python jobs?

#61

Post by kablamo »

poet wrote: post #42
kablamo wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Singapore. English speaking. Modern clean safe beautiful city. Mostly banking and finance here. Something like 2% unemployment, 15% economic growth this year. Lots of Westerners (and Indians, Chinese, Malay, Phillipinos, Indonesians, etc hugely diverse). Little India, Chinatown. Very easy to get a work visa. Low taxes. Tropical island. Can be as cheap as $50 to fly to Bali and a weekend of surfing. All of Southeast A…

Singapore is also a police state, if you care about such things. Some choice quotes from the US Department of State: Singapore has a mandatory death penalty for many narcotics offenses. Singapore police have the authority to compel both residents and non-residents to submit to random drug analysis. There are no jury trials in Singapore. Judges hear cases and decide sentencing. http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw…

Its true there is not as much political freedom in Singapore as there is in the West. Its also true there is not as much economic freedom in the West as there is in Singapore.

Singapore's judicial system is consistently ranked in the top 2 in Asia and usually in the top 10 globally, often ahead of places like the US and Germany. http://app.subcourts.gov.sg/Data/Files/File/Research/issue29...

I'm an American who has lived in Singapore almost 2 years. The Singapore government delivers good, fair, cost efficient government, a high standard of living, and is responsive to citizens. This is incomprehensible to Westerners who have been taught to believe that democracy is the only system that works. Western democracy is great and does a decent job. I believe Singapore's government is better in many or most cases. Here is a list of ways that Singapore's government is better than most or all Western governments:

- easier to start a business

- lower unemployment

- higher economic growth

- less corruption (private and government)

- lower, simpler taxes

- less paperwork (everything is online)

- less crime

Re: Ask HN: Berlin - costs of living, python jobs?

#62

Post by poet »

kablamo wrote: post #61
poet wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Singapore is also a police state, if you care about such things. Some choice quotes from the US Department of State: Singapore has a mandatory death penalty for many narcotics offenses. Singapore police have the authority to compel both residents and non-residents to submit to random drug analysis. There are no jury trials in Singapore. Judges hear cases and decide sentencing. http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw…

Its true there is not as much political freedom in Singapore as there is in the West. Its also true there is not as much economic freedom in the West as there is in Singapore. Singapore's judicial system is consistently ranked in the top 2 in Asia and usually in the top 10 globally, often ahead of places like the US and Germany. http://app.subcourts.gov.sg/Data/Files/File/Research/issue29... I'm an American who has l…

The People's Action Party has a long history of suing political opponents for defamation and bankrupting them with judgements handed down by the courts. This contradicts your claims that (1) Singapore has a good judicial system and (2) Singapore's government has less corruption. To be frank I don't think you have the correct picture of Singapore's government at all and you've been taken in like so many others. Order and peace in Singapore is bought by corruption and intimidation behind the scenes.

The following essay on the subject is worth your time: http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/journal_of_democracy/v006/6.3br....

Re: Ask HN: Berlin - costs of living, python jobs?

#63

Post by Uchikoma »

piotrSikora wrote: post #60
Uchikoma wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I might add: Freelancer is 500 EUR to 1000 EUR (and above) a day depending on your skills (obviously ;-)

I have to ask... Doing what exactly can get you constantly 500-1000 EUR per day? I know a lot of good programmers that earn that much per month, so this daily estimate (especially for a freelancer) seems way too high to me.

Programming Java and C#, database development etc. It usually is not for more than some months, people would usually negotiate a lower price if the duration of the project/work is longer.

Re: Ask HN: Berlin - costs of living, python jobs?

#64

Post by Uchikoma »

sudont wrote: post #45
Uchikoma wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Most recruitment in Berlin seems to be done via social networks rather than via job boards." Most hiring I've done in Berlin is via job boards.

Do you hire mainly in Germany? I'm curious about working abroad for a while (Australian work holiday, mainly) and am interested in the the opinions on hiring a US citizen.

I hire mainly in Germany - Berlin to be specific. So sorry, I haven't any opinions on hiring abroad.

Re: Ask HN: Berlin - costs of living, python jobs?

#65

Post by kablamo »

poet wrote: post #62
kablamo wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Its true there is not as much political freedom in Singapore as there is in the West. Its also true there is not as much economic freedom in the West as there is in Singapore. Singapore's judicial system is consistently ranked in the top 2 in Asia and usually in the top 10 globally, often ahead of places like the US and Germany. http://app.subcourts.gov.sg/Data/Files/File/Research/issue29... I'm an American who has l…

The People's Action Party has a long history of suing political opponents for defamation and bankrupting them with judgements handed down by the courts. This contradicts your claims that (1) Singapore has a good judicial system and (2) Singapore's government has less corruption. To be frank I don't think you have the correct picture of Singapore's government at all and you've been taken in like so many others. Order…

I accept Singapore is not a democracy and has less political free speech than the West. That doesn't make it corrupt. Singapore is ranked the 5th least corrupt country in the world. http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/gov_cor-government-corrupt....

The PAP sues its opponents for defamation. Has your government ever done anything worse?

You mention one small piece of the pie of justice: political free speech. What about property rights, banking law, business law, immigration law, tax law, criminal law, etc? I think you need to show a much broader pattern of abuse to say the judicial system isn't fair.

I'm actually a libertarian. Its taken some time for me to reconcile that with my support of Singapore. Basically, I believe Singapore is more free than most Western countries although sometimes in different ways.

You can quibble about minor issues, but in my experience the government delivers good service, safe streets, a growing economy, and opportunity to the vast majority of Singaporeans.

Re: Ask HN: Berlin - costs of living, python jobs?

#66

Post by poet »

kablamo wrote: post #65
poet wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The People's Action Party has a long history of suing political opponents for defamation and bankrupting them with judgements handed down by the courts. This contradicts your claims that (1) Singapore has a good judicial system and (2) Singapore's government has less corruption. To be frank I don't think you have the correct picture of Singapore's government at all and you've been taken in like so many others. Order…

I accept Singapore is not a democracy and has less political free speech than the West. That doesn't make it corrupt. Singapore is ranked the 5th least corrupt country in the world. http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/gov_cor-government-corrupt... . The PAP sues its opponents for defamation. Has your government ever done anything worse? You mention one small piece of the pie of justice: political free speech. What abou…

I'm not sure how you think anyone could take you seriously when you call the systemic suppression of political opponents a "minor issue".

Re: Ask HN: Berlin - costs of living, python jobs?

#67

Post by kablamo »

poet wrote: post #66
kablamo wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I accept Singapore is not a democracy and has less political free speech than the West. That doesn't make it corrupt. Singapore is ranked the 5th least corrupt country in the world. http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/gov_cor-government-corrupt... . The PAP sues its opponents for defamation. Has your government ever done anything worse? You mention one small piece of the pie of justice: political free speech. What abou…

I'm not sure how you think anyone could take you seriously when you call the systemic suppression of political opponents a "minor issue".

I assume you feel the suppression of political opponents is a major issue because it causes a government to become corrupt, abusive, and make bad decisions without the accountability that comes from criticism and competition. I agree.

But Singapore has made good decisions and hasn't been abusive or corrupt. (No government is without sin or without mistakes, so I mean Singapore isn't abusive or corrupt compared to the US and Europe.) Their economy has boomed, their standard of living has risen dramatically in a short period of time. Aren't you curious about how they did it?

Political systems have evolved and improved throughout history and will continue to do so. Western democracy is not the best government that will ever exist on Earth.

Re: Ask HN: Berlin - costs of living, python jobs?

#68

Post by kablamo »

poet wrote: post #42
kablamo wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Singapore. English speaking. Modern clean safe beautiful city. Mostly banking and finance here. Something like 2% unemployment, 15% economic growth this year. Lots of Westerners (and Indians, Chinese, Malay, Phillipinos, Indonesians, etc hugely diverse). Little India, Chinatown. Very easy to get a work visa. Low taxes. Tropical island. Can be as cheap as $50 to fly to Bali and a weekend of surfing. All of Southeast A…

Singapore is also a police state, if you care about such things. Some choice quotes from the US Department of State: Singapore has a mandatory death penalty for many narcotics offenses. Singapore police have the authority to compel both residents and non-residents to submit to random drug analysis. There are no jury trials in Singapore. Judges hear cases and decide sentencing. http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw…

The 2005 Quality of Life Index from The Economist

1. Ireland

2. Switzerland

3. Norway

...

11. Singapore

...

13. US

...

17. Japan

...

26. Germany

...

29. UK

...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quality-of-Life_Index

Re: Ask HN: Berlin - costs of living, python jobs?

#69

Post by piotrSikora »

Uchikoma wrote: post #63
piotrSikora wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have to ask... Doing what exactly can get you constantly 500-1000 EUR per day? I know a lot of good programmers that earn that much per month, so this daily estimate (especially for a freelancer) seems way too high to me.

Programming Java and C#, database development etc. It usually is not for more than some months, people would usually negotiate a lower price if the duration of the project/work is longer.

Oops, I totally forgot about this.

Thanks for sharing your experience... It differs a lot from mine.

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