261–270 of 314 posts
i'm swiss living in berlin currently (leaving soon) germany is a country on the rapid decline. the recently decided investment effort and the new government are a step in the right direction but wont halt or revert that decline. the country needs a BIG shock and be rebuilt from the ground up. the new ministry is just pandering / virtue signalling and won't have any effect. some examples: 1) legacy financial holes lik…
Handling AfD by inviting them to a talk show where the audience/presenters were mostly people with Greens/Left background is emblematic of how this country has been delegating the ability to think democratically to someone else. No wonder we have extreme parties on the rise. (Both Left and AfD are extremes, no matter what)
Instead of listening, they made fun or criticized a party of monkeys that should have never reached 22%. Because that's all they could do. Make fun, minimize, claiming you're racist, etc.
Burning Tesla factories, breaking their cars while they are parked, ... letting protesters glue themselves on the streets blocking you from reaching whichever place you planned to (be it an office or a hospital). This is daily life in Germany in the last 3-4 years. Wtf!
I am personally sad that all the good things will change because the last 20 years I think Germany really became a great country, unlike all the criticism that people like to throw at it. All just because people couldn't confront the facts. And yes, this means making hard decisions where needed.
The upside is that this will actually provide lots of research funding to small companies. Think of it like the seed round from a VC, but instead of investing into new companies, they try to strategically invest into existing companies to boost future tax revenue. It'll probably be very German, meaning overly bureaucratic. But the basic idea of financing R&D in small companies to grow them more competitive seems legi…
Definition of government funding: Funding for everyone except you.
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Have you also done these things in the US? I have heard this sentiment that the German system is far and above the more bureaucratic before, but for all I know, Americans could just be relatively complacent in comparison to Germans and our systems function nearly identically. I’d like to hear from someone if they have been through both processes first hand who could answer this question. Americans constantly complain…
> Have you also done these things in the US? No, and in the context of the thread I care little about the US. This thread is about Germany and is specifically about "they [the companies] are drowning in bureaucracy" and "The problem is not the bureaucracy". And my post was a response to that. The US might be worse (I doubt it) but it has basically no relevance imo.
I quit my last job because of bureaucracy and I’m considering moving to Germany, so as individual, it is very important to me. Thanks for explaining to me that my life and major factors in my decision are irrelevant. Very helpful.
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> Dorothee Bär has a case of corruption where she was employing her husband That is an unfortunate case of nepotism that happens in the entire political spectrum. I was especially disappointed of the Greens setting up cozy positions for friends and family at the end of their term. I really thought they'd do better.. > Well, if you are a minister for infrastructure in germany it is not part of our job description to b…
I was lumping all these behaviors together (as the abuse of entrusted power) but of course its better to be precise (thank you for introducing me to "nepotism").
I must say as a bavarian citizen that this "abuse" has lots of benefits for us. Of course I am aware of my bias here. I can't find an interview but Söder has said that a lot of other states don't even apply to all Fördergelder they could possibly get. That always striked me as odd.
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Sounds like you kinda just want an excuse to vote AfD without pointing to an element of their policy platform you think the rest of us should support too.
Gruß aus Frankfurt, you really couldn't have proven his point any better if you tried. Some countries are approximately 50% national flag by surface area, fist pumping and chanting the country's name at every opportunity despite being run by people making Nazi salutes, but "it's okay to like your country's culture" is instantly equated with Nazism? Come on man...
i'm swiss living in berlin currently (leaving soon) germany is a country on the rapid decline. the recently decided investment effort and the new government are a step in the right direction but wont halt or revert that decline. the country needs a BIG shock and be rebuilt from the ground up. the new ministry is just pandering / virtue signalling and won't have any effect. some examples: 1) legacy financial holes lik…
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We should stop treating any kind of patriotism and German culture like it is from the devil.
I would say Germany needs to redefine what patriotism is. It currently has too many dual passport holders, and people with dual loyalties who do not put the long-term interests of Germany first, but rather consider Germany only as a source of welfare to extract and transfer elsewhere
In the US, immigrants make a point of showing their patriotism by immersing themselves into American culture. We don't have a similar cultural phenomenon in Germany.
> consider Germany only as a source of welfare to extract and transfer elsewhere
You would be surprised how many natives share this viewpoint. This can only work for so long before something collapses...
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I’m familiar with your site and appreciate it a lot, and I don’t dispute anything you said, but that does not contradict anything in my comment. Those people you mention who apply the rules differently everywhere are inflexible and unwilling to give leeway or look further then their own way. This is a cultural issue in my opinion and can explain most of excessive bureaucracy here. You’re also talking specifically abo…
My experience was a bit different. For example, the immigration office accepts almost all applications in the end (over 95% according to their stats). They make all sorts of exceptions in the applicants' favour. The Bürgeramt, the Ordnungsamt and the Arbeitsagentur are the same. They huff and puff and make an exception "just this time", every time. The inflexibility is an act, unless you're being difficult (from thei…
My experience when it mattered was that my rights were not recognised by the human in the loop. It was solved by going above their heads.
If you aren't willing or able you might just get the short end of the stick.
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> The problem is not the bureaucracy. It absolutely is. Try to open a company in Germany. Then try to do your tax. Then try to close your company. After that, let's talk again about bureaucracy. Oh, and the new government just announced plans that non-employeed people (freelancers, business owners, ...) are now forced to pay into national pension (with few exceptions). And don't get me started on that one. Just as an…
You make it sound much harder than it is. I've done that and am doing that. It's totally possible that it's easier in other countries, I don't know that. But if you're serious about building a company, this is the least of your challenges. Hire a tax advisor and accountant through a payroll and tax service provider and you'll spend 1-2 days a year dealing with this stuff.
And this is exactly how you kill off lots of innovation by adding unnecessary hurdles. Tax advisors are Hella expensive and hard to contract even. I'm speaking from experience.