The Origins of the Wirecard Scandal • Hacker News Board

Re: The Origins of the Wirecard Scandal

#61

Post by luckylion » Tue, Apr 27, 2021, 10:53 AM UTC

durnygbur wrote: post #11

luckylion wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Funny though how Germans turn blind eye on their own oligopolies dominating and devastating European markets. Everybody wants sellers to compete when they're buying, nobody wants to compete when they're selling. > For them internet is whether "stupid websites", a medium serving copyrights violations, or legal compliance issue (see "Impressum" hysteria). The large corporations and media companies had issues with the…

> Larger companies didn't care at all -- they were generally compliant way before that law was introduced. If you write anything on the internet you're publishing content, ie. media might start consider you a competition, certainly after achieving certain visibility. Why not create an easy way to shot someone down or to suck someone into an expensive time consuming legal swamp?

Oh, I misunderstood your comment, I believe. I took it to mean that the companies got into a craze about new requirements, not that they were welcoming the new requirements as it gave them some/more control over online publishing (which is how I understand your comment now, please correct me if I'm wrong).

I generally agree in that case, they were probably happy for that moat.

Re: The Origins of the Wirecard Scandal

#62

Post by pjc50 » Tue, Apr 27, 2021, 10:58 AM UTC

volta83 wrote: post #55

ChuckNorris89 wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>I take a socially relatively cohesive country, where an illness or going to university will not bankrupt you, where your kids can travel alone in public transportation, where police shootings per year are single digits, where the air is very breathable and the tap water is drinkable over world leadership any time You're obviously entitled to your oppinion, but can we please stop pushing this cherry picked cliché nar…

> Fine, but can we please stop pushing this cherry picked cliche narrative of "US bad because healthcare, shootings and tap water."? Are you saying those aren't issues? Because I've lived in the US, and know many Europeans that have lived there or traveled there on holidays, and pretty much all of them agree that: - the first time in their lives they were afraid of getting ill was when they started living in the US -…

Europe's "mass terrorist attacks" are so much less frequent than US mass shootings that they would barely register.

The sexual assault issue seems to have been a couple of big nasty incidents, which were heavily spun by media personalities whose main line of business was talking up the threat of Islam. How big a problem this really is is hard to tell, especially since nightlife has been cancelled for fourteen months.

Re: The Origins of the Wirecard Scandal

#63

Post by volta83 » Tue, Apr 27, 2021, 10:59 AM UTC

ChuckNorris89 wrote: post #59

volta83 wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Fine, but can we please stop pushing this cherry picked cliche narrative of "US bad because healthcare, shootings and tap water."? Are you saying those aren't issues? Because I've lived in the US, and know many Europeans that have lived there or traveled there on holidays, and pretty much all of them agree that: - the first time in their lives they were afraid of getting ill was when they started living in the US -…

>Your argument that "the US has no issues because Europe has issues" is typically known as "whataboutism". Sorry, but wasn't grandparent's (u/allendoerfer) original post the one that started the whataboutism? I was just contradicting him with a mirrored whataboutism to prove why his way of thinking is wrong? Why are you only cherry picking mine? The topic was regarding one of Germany's failure, and Grandparent (u/all…

> Sorry, but wasn't grandparent's original post the one that started the whataboutism? I was just contradicting him with a mirrored whataboutism to prove why his way of thinking is wrong? Why are you only cherry picking mine?

The OP is making a trade-offs. They are arguing that they prefer the value proposition of living in Europe than that of living in the US. They don't seem to weight the downs of Europe or the pro's of the US much, so they are not mentioning them, which is IMO fair.

We can argue about these pros and cons, whether they missed some, whether we weight them differently, etc.

What I don't think is very helpful is just a straight "whataboutism" answer.

You, me, and the OP are all different. What's a good value proposition for the OP might be bad for you and me. That's ok. It does not make the OP "wrong".

Re: The Origins of the Wirecard Scandal

#64

Post by celticninja » Tue, Apr 27, 2021, 11:00 AM UTC

Thomasmack wrote: post #56

lnsru wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So many wishful thinking. I bet there will be no changes after election. Why should it be? Germany will continue slowly declining with whole Europe. This pandemic management was/is real shitshow. The universities are other funny thing. They have no future with heavily underpaid staff and work contracts for 6-12 month working contracts. Max Planck and Fraunhofer are sweatshops for industrial partners. They do the task…

> Germany will continue slowly declining with whole Europe. I agree and this is really sad. Thinking of migrating because I plan to have a family and want them to grow up in the best environment. Which countries you guys think will be the best bet?

Europe will be a safer option than most others. Everywhere else will be a backwards step in terms of safety and education of your children. The US might seem like a better option for now with higher wages, but with the increase in the gap between rich and poor, how sure are you that your children will be on the rich side of that gap?

If you are a person of colour, even more reason to avoid the US. Not that Europe is perfect, but your chances of being shot by the police drop dramatically.

Re: The Origins of the Wirecard Scandal

#65

Post by lnsru » Tue, Apr 27, 2021, 11:00 AM UTC

Thomasmack wrote: post #56

lnsru wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So many wishful thinking. I bet there will be no changes after election. Why should it be? Germany will continue slowly declining with whole Europe. This pandemic management was/is real shitshow. The universities are other funny thing. They have no future with heavily underpaid staff and work contracts for 6-12 month working contracts. Max Planck and Fraunhofer are sweatshops for industrial partners. They do the task…

> Germany will continue slowly declining with whole Europe. I agree and this is really sad. Thinking of migrating because I plan to have a family and want them to grow up in the best environment. Which countries you guys think will be the best bet?

Switzerland, maybe Norway, maybe Iceland. Singapore? New Zealand or Australia? You must decide. Nordic countries are too cold for me. Swiss salaries for engineers weren’t that different from my German salary. The others too far. I settled down between Munich and Alps. I love nature and still can reach Munich in 40 minutes if needed.

Re: The Origins of the Wirecard Scandal

#66

Post by luckylion » Tue, Apr 27, 2021, 11:09 AM UTC

pjc50 wrote: post #62

volta83 wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Fine, but can we please stop pushing this cherry picked cliche narrative of "US bad because healthcare, shootings and tap water."? Are you saying those aren't issues? Because I've lived in the US, and know many Europeans that have lived there or traveled there on holidays, and pretty much all of them agree that: - the first time in their lives they were afraid of getting ill was when they started living in the US -…

Europe's "mass terrorist attacks" are so much less frequent than US mass shootings that they would barely register. The sexual assault issue seems to have been a couple of big nasty incidents, which were heavily spun by media personalities whose main line of business was talking up the threat of Islam. How big a problem this really is is hard to tell, especially since nightlife has been cancelled for fourteen months.

> The sexual assault issue seems to have been a couple of big nasty incidents, which were heavily spun by media personalities whose main line of business was talking up the threat of Islam.

Sorry, but that's nonsense. In Rotherham or Cologne, the opposite was true: the media was actively working on covering it up, not "heavily spinning it" to talk up some threat.

Re: The Origins of the Wirecard Scandal

#67

Post by scanny » Tue, Apr 27, 2021, 11:13 AM UTC

EdwardDiego wrote: post #57

What got me about German business, as a Kiwi working with Germans, was a few things: 1) How cosy everyone in a given sphere is with each other 2) The nearly inevitable strip-club and coke in relationship building 3) The prevalence of kick-backs in contracts, although obviously euphemistically renamed. 4) How Germans accepted corruption as part of life 5) How they were proud that their corruption still got things buil…

I think NZ is far better off than most other nations, we consistently rank 1st or 2nd as the least corrupt country on earth [0] (I am also a kiwi living in Germany :) ). Also anecdotally I cannot think of a single corruption scandal on par with anything here in DE or even across the Tasman.

0. https://www.transparency.de/cpi/

Re: The Origins of the Wirecard Scandal

#68

Post by hutzlibu » Tue, Apr 27, 2021, 11:17 AM UTC

FabHK wrote: post #27

lnsru wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So many wishful thinking. I bet there will be no changes after election. Why should it be? Germany will continue slowly declining with whole Europe. This pandemic management was/is real shitshow. The universities are other funny thing. They have no future with heavily underpaid staff and work contracts for 6-12 month working contracts. Max Planck and Fraunhofer are sweatshops for industrial partners. They do the task…

Oh come on, there is amazing progress in Germany on digitalisation and hi-tech. The government of Upper Frankonia is now switching from 4-digit fax numbers to 5-digit fax numbers! https://www.regierung.oberfranken.bayern.de/presse/pressemit...

Sigh. Satirical jokes don't work anymore, when reality is more ridiculous than anything you can imagine.

(oh and fitting, their government website does not seem to use a valid certificate )

Re: The Origins of the Wirecard Scandal

#69

Post by hutzlibu » Tue, Apr 27, 2021, 11:19 AM UTC

allendoerfer wrote: post #30

lnsru wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So many wishful thinking. I bet there will be no changes after election. Why should it be? Germany will continue slowly declining with whole Europe. This pandemic management was/is real shitshow. The universities are other funny thing. They have no future with heavily underpaid staff and work contracts for 6-12 month working contracts. Max Planck and Fraunhofer are sweatshops for industrial partners. They do the task…

> Germany will continue slowly declining with whole Europe. If what's currently happening to Germany (uninterrupted boom since > 10 years) is decline, then let there be more of it. It's great, that you are living in the moment, but I take a step back once in a while. The other side of the fence is probably not greener. Germany is by no means perfect. Administration is a shit-show. But stuff is indeed improving (very…

"Administration is a shit-show."

It is. But ... there are probably not many countries with better administration.

Re: The Origins of the Wirecard Scandal

#70

Post by volta83 » Tue, Apr 27, 2021, 11:21 AM UTC

pjc50 wrote: post #62

volta83 wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Fine, but can we please stop pushing this cherry picked cliche narrative of "US bad because healthcare, shootings and tap water."? Are you saying those aren't issues? Because I've lived in the US, and know many Europeans that have lived there or traveled there on holidays, and pretty much all of them agree that: - the first time in their lives they were afraid of getting ill was when they started living in the US -…

Europe's "mass terrorist attacks" are so much less frequent than US mass shootings that they would barely register. The sexual assault issue seems to have been a couple of big nasty incidents, which were heavily spun by media personalities whose main line of business was talking up the threat of Islam. How big a problem this really is is hard to tell, especially since nightlife has been cancelled for fourteen months.

Just because they happen less frequently (which I don't know if this is the case) does not mean that they are not an issue.

I don't know how the situation is in the US about these things, but if these problems do not exist there at all, its normal for Americans coming here and seeing it happen "occasionally" to freak out about it.