Earlier quoted context omitted.
"And there are only few countries where all open landscapes are yours to have." Well, I am into wild camping and here germany is definitely not so open. You have to be very well hidden.
Come to Norway.
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More German than many Germans
521–530 of 543 posts
Re: More German than many Germans
#522Earlier quoted context omitted.
Germany has been shifting wealth from middle class and lower class to the rich for a long time now and is at the forefront of inequality increase in Europe. All the xenophobia and polarization is happening for a reason. The people are no longer happy with their lives here. It is a result of decades of bad politicians and policies, bad election results, and mismanagement of the whole country and immigration and integr…
Spoken like a true German. All goes to shit. All the time.
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Re: More German than many Germans
#523Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Additionally, the recent reforms to the pension system here pissed many young people off The tax rates are already so high in Germany, it is probably impossible to raise taxes enough to sustain the system. What realistic alternative was there to fixing the (fiscally) unsustainable pension system? And if you think Germany has it bad, then look at France. That place is a ticking (fiscal) time bomb with their massive…
> What realistic alternative was there to fixing the (fiscally) unsustainable pension system I think there are multiple alternatives. To make people work up to 70, when Men have a life expectancy in average of 78 and Women, in average 86, is probably not the most attractive one.
> I think there are multiple alternatives.
Re: More German than many Germans
#524Earlier quoted context omitted.
I miss speaking my native language, too, but English is what I take as common ground. As an adult, I can never hope to compete on native German fluency with someone who's born and raised in Germany to educated German parents. That's just biased. You missed the point. Just take an immigrant in front of you next time and see him make two mistakes in a row in one sentence while casually talking to him (maybe he's tired,…
> Just take an immigrant in front of you next time and see him make two mistakes in a row in one sentence while casually talking to him (maybe he's tired, maybe he's lazy but who's to judge). You'd inherently think less of him, deep down, wouldn't you? No, I wouldn't. I think a lot comes down to differences in mentality: - Many Germans think that they had a hard time getting to a decent level in English. So they expe…
Hart daran zu arbeiten, besser zu werden, führt nicht immer zu linearen Fortschritten.
See, I didn't need to write in German, but you instantly understand my point better. Gleich und gleich gesellt sich gern, that's also true when it comes to speaking the same language. But you can't create born-and-raised Germans from immigrant adults, and attempting to fix them at every opportune moment just gives the impression that being better at German somehow gives you an air of superiority. In some cultures, this is just straight up bad manners, so is quoting single sentences and writing essays about them while missing the forest for the trees.
Re: More German than many Germans
#525Earlier quoted context omitted.
It seems unwise to go to a country without a plan to learn the language. If you are as unable to learn languages as you stated, then I suggest living in English speaking countries for life
Unwise, sure, but there are precious few options for English native countries, particularly when my partner has a skin condition that makes persistent cold temperatures untenable.
New Zealand, Australia, many NZ and US dependencies in the Pacific, South Africa, some Caribbean countries and territories?
Re: More German than many Germans
#526Earlier quoted context omitted.
You are describing assimilation, not integration, also disproven by the fact that the name alone is the only differentiator in this example. Plenty of justifications will be found ex-facto in any case, all are excuses. I'm not claiming any nation to be above racism, in fact globally most are worse, but this one is really high on its own supply.
They are not excuses. If you move to a foreign country but 100% keep your own culture without taking up the culture of the host country then you have not integrated and the locals are right to not want you there.
The willful ignorance is also exceptional, I daresay, second only to the average US citizen.
So much for Günter Wallraffs legacy
Re: More German than many Germans
#527What a nice and heartwarming read! I'm german, and really hope we can pivot away from the rise of the far right. How that can be done, I don't know. I just hope we can do so before we start scaring away people like him who would otherwise come here, decide they like it, become germans, and end up making it a better place for everyone. (Part of it is I think we should make it easier and more incentivized to learn the…
> But a struggling economy, questionable planning for many years now, the "educated middle class" he mentioned in the post shrinking don't bode well for it.
Indeed. I left the country recently for this and many other reasons. I don't even think the problem is with party politics. The people are too comfortable with the promises that have been made to them and who don't want anything to change. The situation is even worse in France especially with regard to pensions. Any change that is necessary will be fought against with tooth and nail.
The last government to do long-term reforms was under Gerhard Schröder. His party, the SPD, paid a heavy price. The far left wing of the party split off into the WASG, which in the meantime has become Die Linke. The voters don't reward but instead punish long-term reforms.
So now the divided party politics have learned their lesson and just deliver what the divided people are demanding. Best of luck.
Re: More German than many Germans
#528Earlier quoted context omitted.
The way I see it is the cultural change happened after the Prussian elites lost power and the general German public understood their recent history as far from the eternal victory they were promised. That's a major cultural change however you want to spin it, and there are enough examples in history where countries haven't gone through the same changes in similar situations (Weimar Republic also comes to mind) Regard…
> The way I see it is the cultural change happened after the Prussian elites lost power and the general German public understood their recent history as far from the eternal victory they were promised. But the "Prussian elites lost power" because of the rise of the National Socialists who are universally not considered pacifist. It might be a "major cultural change" but it was not affected by people staying at home a…
The Prussians nobles were a big reason why the Nazis rose to power and were well integrated to the party and the army.
The Prussians losing power is not the reason why Germany changed, but because Germany changed its values (militarism wasn't sacred anymore) the Prussians lost power post-war.
That change was a change in the collective opinions of the entire country, and that did not happen because the allies took everyone to school but because people saw the effect of that ideology and the disaster with their own eyes, and their decision was not the same decision they collectively reached post-WW1
Re: More German than many Germans
#529Earlier quoted context omitted.
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I just copied the term from the parent post of my earlier post. In German I would have chosen "Auslaenderfeindlichkeit", which might fit a bit better. And yes, it can be irrational. I still do believe, that most people coming to Germany actually want to work for a better life. Just the problem being, that it is hard to make that happen, with Germany's failing integration and assimilation policies.
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Re: More German than many Germans
#530[flagged]