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The Differences Between Germany and the United States

math-www.uni-paderborn.de

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Re: The Differences Between Germany and the United States

#111

Post by sanderjd »

tjoff wrote: post #108
sanderjd wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

...Which is why it's so similar to how a typical American probably knows where some large cities in Europe are without having the slightest clue about which country many of them reside in.

I'd say that few outside of America could write that sentence. The difference between two neighbouring countries is a huge deal and apparent (regardless if you are a local or not) where you don't even speak the same language, have the same currency (the euro has of course changed that a bit (in Europe)) and for all practical purposes a complete different sets of laws and culture. The reason for why many cities are no…

I think we're both wrong to a certain extent - you're de-emphasizing the differences between states in America too much, and I'm overemphasizing them. You believe that countries are different enough culturally that not knowing which culture a city is part of is ridiculous, I believe that states are different enough geographically that not knowing which geographic area a city is equivalently ridiculous. It's a pretty dumb argument.

Re: The Differences Between Germany and the United States

#112

Post by HeyLaughingBoy »

afterburner wrote: post #82
rogerbinns wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The US state of Montana is slightly larger than Germany. I can't name more than one city there and many airlines don't even fly to the state. The US is really big!

Or, really, European nations are incredibly tiny. Fun fact: Guyana is as long as Germany.

And only slightly smaller than the UK in land area, yet has about 1/50th the population.

Re: The Differences Between Germany and the United States

#113

Post by fhars »

Argorak wrote: post #59
anamax wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Germany also has a diverse culture Compared to what? Compared to Madison Wisconsin, maybe, compared to all of Wisconsin, probably not, compared to Texas or CA, not a chance. Heck, South San Jose is more diverse.

I din't compare anything. Also, it looks a lot like you never travelled through Germany from north to south. Every piece of Germany has different traditions, dialects and food. I am from a place where I cannot understand people from the next village. Also, all those parts are pretty vocal: I think Germany is the only country that has developed regional Wikipedias (at least Bavaria, Palatinate and Northern Germany).

Pennsylvania has one, too: http://pdc.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pennsilfaani

Re: The Differences Between Germany and the United States

#114

Post by HeyLaughingBoy »

luisfer wrote: post #11

I hate to sound trivial and to deviate from the conversation, but I would like to draw attention to Finland for a moment and say that the US government should follow suit (for the most part I agree that people in the US have learned to tolerate substandard quality when it comes to many technology services). In Finland, legislation dictates that it is the right of every citizen to have free access to at least a 1Mbps…

Interesting, but the cost would be insane.

I live about 8 miles or so outside the closest incorporated town. I have 1Mbps DSL that costs me, along with basic landline phone, about $90/month. I think the fastest connection I can get is about 7Mbps. 2015 is only 3 years away, I very much doubt that I will have 100Mbps available by that time.

Now consider the very large number of Americans who live much farther from a town or city than I do: the people who do monthly grocery shopping trips rather than drive 80 miles round trip to the store every week. The costs associated with providing them with high speed internet are going to be even higher.

Re: The Differences Between Germany and the United States

#115

Post by [deleted] »

mshron wrote: post #74

I'd like to suggest another reason for large military expenditures that have nothing to do with corruption. The US has the only two-ocean navy, and a very extensive one at that. A lot of the burden of protecting shipping lanes for members of the "global system" is covered by the States. That's really, really expensive. Of course, that means that countries that don't want to play by US rules (North Korea, Iran, Cuba)…

[deleted]

Re: The Differences Between Germany and the United States

#116

Post by ucee054 »

tubbo wrote: post #27

"What are they afraid of?" Have you not been paying attention in the last 50 years? We've made a hell of a lot of enemies, and before that it was communism, and before that it was world wars. Our military is strong because if it wasn't we would be getting attacked constantly. I'm pretty sure that a major reason why there haven't been any substantial terrorist attacks on the US since 9/11 is because our military will…

> Our military is strong because if it wasn't we would be

> getting attacked constantly

Which is why Sweden, Cabo Verde, Malaysia and Trinidad are getting attacked constantly.

Or maybe the USA gets attacked because it routinely decides to "FUCK UP ENTIRE COUNTRIES" ?

Or even better, why not leave your foreign policy ideology out of a thread about a cultural/sociological article?

I was enjoying it until you ruined it

Re: The Differences Between Germany and the United States

#117

Post by brazzy »

SeanLuke wrote: post #24
hexagonal wrote: post #4

The section on American internet access is pretty old. (ISDN?)

Apparently all cell phones in the US are analog too.

That's probably a misunderstanding based on most US carriers using CDMA rather than GSM (like most of the rest of the world).

Re: The Differences Between Germany and the United States

#118

Post by brazzy »

pureyang wrote: post #96

One of the areas where Germany has and always will be different from the US is in their motoring culture. Drivers license Cost 15 $ 1400 EU http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4itwh8C4kn8 National Max Highway speed US 65 GERMANY none* *I know, its not everywhere or all the time, but go once, and its pure bliss, cruising around ~100mph just feels right. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_autobahns#Speed_limits

Don't forget minimum age to get a license: 16 vs. 18, and possibly related, minimum drinking age 21 vs. 16...

Re: The Differences Between Germany and the United States

#119

Post by brazzy »

vacri wrote: post #20
Indyan wrote: post #18

"Many extension cords still come without a third hole for grounding in the US. When you plug things into electrical outlets, you'll often observe cute little sparks. That never happens in Germany." So in Germany there is no concept of grounding? Why? Also, is there any scientific explanation behind no sparking in Gemany?

I think you have it backwards - he's saying that all German extension cords have a third pin for ground.

That's not true, there are lots of extension cords with smaller sockets for Europlugs ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Europlug ) that don't have the ground pins.

However, I've never seen those on a wall socket, so I guess building codes say those must be full Schuko sockets ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schuko ).

Re: The Differences Between Germany and the United States

#120

Post by charonn0 »

tjoff wrote: post #108
sanderjd wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

...Which is why it's so similar to how a typical American probably knows where some large cities in Europe are without having the slightest clue about which country many of them reside in.

I'd say that few outside of America could write that sentence. The difference between two neighbouring countries is a huge deal and apparent (regardless if you are a local or not) where you don't even speak the same language, have the same currency (the euro has of course changed that a bit (in Europe)) and for all practical purposes a complete different sets of laws and culture. The reason for why many cities are no…

In America I don't need to travel at all to hear many different languages, experience different cultures, etc. They're all in walking distance in any major city. European mono-cultures need to make nationalistic distinctions, the American multi-culture doesn't.
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