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Is Germany once again the sick man of Europe?

economist.com

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Re: Is Germany once again the sick man of Europe?

#151

Post by mitjam »

wink wrote: post #104
mitjam wrote: post #91

For context: This refers to an Economist special published in 1999 ("The sick man of the euro") which fuelled a public discourse in Germany on what needs to be improved leading up to the labor market reforms under chancellor Schröder ("Hartz IV" etc.). This fixed the most imminent problem of the time (high unemployment rate, inflexible labor market) and led to a stronger economic period in Germany. This time, the und…

> little room left for other broad social discourses in Germany, at the moment Now you can call me a pessimist, but if we look back at the last 2 decades, did any social discourse really bring out anything positive? The right-wing politicians are gaining more platform and more supporters, even the so-called social democrats brought us things like Hartz IV, the populists are always at work to call in less taxation for…

I agree to some degree but in my view, in a democracy, big changes (especially those that hurt short term) require public discourse to be legitimate. In addition, on a practical level, few politicians risk pushing a big agenda without backing from the public opinion.

Re: Is Germany once again the sick man of Europe?

#152

Post by wageslave99 »

silverpepsi wrote: post #53
wageslave99 wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've always thought about having simple dialects of languages: limited vocabulary, only three tenses, no declinations (in the languages they have, i.e. German) and only regular verbs (in the languages they have, i.e. Spanish). Would it be possible?

You're writing this tongue in cheek or really not knowing? That's exactly what Indonesian is , a simplified standardized language to allow hundreds of different ethnicities with their own languages to easily communicate. There are tons more but I guess Indonesian is the world's best example because it is the language of one the most populated island on earth and one of the most populus nations And there's no need for…

I mean European languages, in the context of internal migration inside EU.

I don't know anything about Indonesian so, it's nice to know my idea is not a crazy one.

If Chinese and Indonesian do not have tenses, how they communicate when the action happens?

Re: Is Germany once again the sick man of Europe?

#153

Post by wageslave99 »

eastbound wrote: post #21
wageslave99 wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've always thought about having simple dialects of languages: limited vocabulary, only three tenses, no declinations (in the languages they have, i.e. German) and only regular verbs (in the languages they have, i.e. Spanish). Would it be possible?

Isn’t English this language? The past exists but the future barely doesn’t, there are no declinations, every noun can also be a verb. However, you have to learn every combination of “t”, “ght”, “i”, “ou” mixed up together.

English has its own issues. It is not phonetic and there is no official pronunciation. It also has inconsistencies like using auxiliar verbs to negate (I do not think this vs I think not this).

However, maybe a standardised pronunciation and the removal of some issues could make Neo-English a good and interesting language.

Re: Is Germany once again the sick man of Europe?

#154

Post by wageslave99 »

Dalewyn wrote: post #28
wageslave99 wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've always thought about having simple dialects of languages: limited vocabulary, only three tenses, no declinations (in the languages they have, i.e. German) and only regular verbs (in the languages they have, i.e. Spanish). Would it be possible?

You've more or less described how and why English became the lingua franca of the modern era. English can be used for basic communication satisfactorily with only a passing understanding of the language.

English has many issues (non-phonetic, auxiliar verbs, big lexicon, etc.) I was aiming for a kind of artificial language with a natural language foundations.

Re: Is Germany once again the sick man of Europe?

#156

Post by 2-718-281-828 »

Gud wrote: post #150
2-718-281-828 wrote: post #148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

this is a thread building up a context ... that's why. anyway - what are those countries? everybody would like to know!

Switzerland, Scandinavia, AFAIK Estonia. The UAE has excellent administration.

switzerland: possible - but many migrants complain about it being almost impossible to get accepted there beyond being a law abiding work force.

scandinavia: (not a country) strong contestants.

estonia: not really - i have several estonian friends who will give you a long list of reasons why germany is the better place to live and work. personally, i really like estonia. have been there many times.

uae (or singapure): sure ... but you are discrediting yourself by even mentioning those in this list or possibly considering them as a place to live.

first three are all in EU by the way - and very close to germany. so the good news is that you can just easily try to move there. have a nice trip.

Re: Is Germany once again the sick man of Europe?

#157

Post by jacknews »

smcl wrote: post #145

How can Germany be the "sick man" of Europe when the UK continues to UK?

Exactly, it seems hypocritical for a British-based publication to be calling out another nation.

Britain is the perennial 'sick man', except, I guess it's no longer 'of Europe'.

Re: Is Germany once again the sick man of Europe?

#158

Post by [deleted] »

2-718-281-828 wrote: post #149
the_common_man wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not sure why you think I am from India. We are not comparing countries here. We are talking of absoluyes. If German quality is about being better than India, then ok, best of luck

you are referencing the thehindu.com in your profile. no idea what "german quality" or "better" is supposed to mean.

[deleted]

Re: Is Germany once again the sick man of Europe?

#159

Post by littlecranky67 »

mschuster91 wrote: post #146
littlecranky67 wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> That's bullshit. A Gewerbeanmeldung for a one-person startup or a GbR (same, just with more than one person) takes one DIN A4 sheet of paper per person Now that is bs. Because you also need to register with the tax authorities (Finanzamt) to get your tax id after that. Oh, and if you want to do your VAT declarations ("Umsatzsteuervoranmeldung") yourself, don't forget to request a digital certificate for ELSTER, whi…

The thing is, the "time to start" is practically zero. You file the Gewerbeanmeldung and can start working immediately after, and do the rest (apply for a tax ID, ELSTER, IHK contributions) later on in the next weeks. Been through that twice. With the LLCs you can also operate as "UG/GmbH in Gründung" for a limited time if you need to start fast, but never went that route. > you are in for a surprise when the tax acc…

Thats also wrong, because you cant invoice without tax id.

Re: Is Germany once again the sick man of Europe?

#160

Post by mmkhd »

bgdam wrote: post #139
dhruvrajvanshi wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm also an Indian guy working in Germany paying "obnoxiously high taxes", and my experience has been quite different. > The only upgrade is in cleaner air to breathe and safety from crime - Easy access to parks - Good public transport (I used to live in Delhi, and it has an okay metro connectivity, but nowhere close to what even smaller German cities have). - Traffic. I liked living in India, but holy shit, the traf…

There are a lot of things you don't get in big cities in India, which you can easily get if you're in a small town or a village. Parks, trafic, quiet are all part of that. That said, there are indeed a lot more things that are in general better in Germany than in India, and this rant of mine was the result of a year of frustrated dealings with German bureaucracy (not that that makes any of the points I raised invalid…

> That said, there are indeed a lot more things that are in general better in Germany than in India, and this rant of mine was the result of a year of frustrated dealings with German bureaucracy (not that that makes any of the points I raised invalid though).

And as a German let me say that you are totally right, when it comes to the bureaucracy. While most of the time the bureaucracy doesn't fell too bad for standard German citizens, I can well imagine that it is horrible for you and that it feels really oldfashioned.

All other points are not wrong but debatable, which dhruvrajvanshi already did. The problems that our nations face are both abundant but also quite different.

As an aside: I also perceived you're post as too blunt and slightly unfair, just as some of the people in the sub-reddits probably felt. On the other hand sub-reddits are full of awful people and I can imagine that you have to deal with a lot of rudeness and prejudices yourself. I could understand where you were coming from and understood why you expressed yourself in this way after beuing frustrated by the German Bureaucracy. The quoted clarification was useful.

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