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Why skilled workers come to Germany and then leave again

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Re: Why skilled workers come to Germany and then leave again

#881

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I had to think about this. I don't think it's wealth that's the differentiator. I think it's partly colonialism and partly culture. > If Cambodia had a GDP per capita similar to Japan/Korea/Taiwan, they would "suddenly" become less racist Japan is also, famously, extremely racist. Probably to the same extent that Cambodia is, but I haven't been there so I can't compare. Colonialism has a lot to answer for in SE Asia.…

> Japan is also, famously, extremely racist. seems to contradict > I suspect a lot of the defensive patriotism there is a product of being so badly treated for so long. Racism can also take different forms. India has the world's oldest and most deeply embedded racism, but westerners rarely even recognise it for what it is.

    > India has the world's oldest and most deeply embedded racism, but westerners rarely even recognise it for what it is.
Do you mean the caste system in Hindu society?

Re: Why skilled workers come to Germany and then leave again

#882
post #752

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe you need to live somewhere with more options to compare? As one example, Tokyo has 160,000 restaurants. NYC has 21k. Divided by population that's 5x more in Tokyo. Other example would be most major Asian cities. Taipei for example has 20-30 night markets each with 50 to 500 stalls. Kuala Lumpur has mamak food stand areas all over, often open till 4am.

Cool numbers, so are you making an argument for eating out, for getting take out, or for ordering delivery? Or for moving to Asia? Sorry I don't know what to do with all that information.

The point is you don’t have the experience of large numbers of options to know that you’re giving up.

You’re comparing few choices outside to few choices at home. others are comparing many choices outside to few choices at home.

Re: Why skilled workers come to Germany and then leave again

#883
post #771
post #338

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>I spent a day or so traveling through Germany with my parents a few weeks ago as part of a (much longer) trip and a common refrain during that day was, "So much for German efficiency." I've heard it said that the idea that Germans are efficient is a myth. (The new Berlin airport is one example.) Germans are, rather, * rule followers* .

Individual Germans on the whole are very efficient, possibly because they have to be to survive the awful sclerotic bureaucracy in Germany . The country is a Darwinian training system. Possibly.

what a hilarious and seemingly accurate observation

Re: Why skilled workers come to Germany and then leave again

#884

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are sclerotic forces at work in Germany. I sometimes wonder if the digestion of East-Germany hasn't somehow hurt a post-war rejuvenated Western&Southern German spirit. Maybe it's just post-traumatic-stress from the Russian occupation still lingering: 1989 is not that far, generations-wise. There is hope still... https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCT7MCko43YqeZ1x55O1DRtw

East Germany was completely looted by West German corporations. There were east german workers who's final job was packing up all the machinery and inventory in their plant to ship to the west german company that had bought it all for €1, for example. Basically west germany did to the former east what private equity in the united states does to many companies- tear it down for scrap and sell it off. Then years later…

Absolutely right: they took advantage of us and exploited us, and ever since then they’ve been calling us lazy. Many people in East Germany and West Germany don’t even realize this, but what actually happened during reunification closely resembles the way a colonial power treats a colonized territory: extraction of value, exploitation of cheap labor, and systematic discrimination against the local population. For many people from the generation before mine, there’s the typical term “Wendeverlierer” (those who lost out in the reunification). I would classify my father and other members of my family into this group. Even in my generation, it’s still the case that West Germans from comparable social classes have disproportionately more inherited wealth and prosperity. We East Germans, on the other hand, have longer de facto working hours and lower salaries. I don't blame every single West German for this, but collectively, I do hold Germany largely responsible for the fact that East Germany and East Germans remain economically disadvantaged to this day.

The saddest part is that there are even many East Germans who don't see this at all, but instead attribute the economic stagnation of many regions in eastern Germany to the mindset of the people living there.

Re: Why skilled workers come to Germany and then leave again

#885

The situation is kind of similar in my country (France). My partner and I lived together in Czech Republic for 7 years where I was working as a scientist (EU to EU, pretty much no paperwork involved). She is american and obtained a "partner of EU citizen" long stay permit. We decided to move back to France and now we have to deal with bureaucracy and it is exhausting. There are many paths by which an non-EU citizen c…

you're comparing people who enter ilegally with people who follow the legal process. It's hard to immigrate legally

Re: Why skilled workers come to Germany and then leave again

#886
post #98

This reminds me that I got fired from a German company (operating in DK) because I asked too many questions and would not stop complaining about the software architecture which was terrible. The company culture was clashing with the Danish culture that I was used to and also I didn't give a fuck.

if it makes you feel better, this is also my experience as an se in germany, (althought i didn't get fired). I am greeted with complete annoyance and sometimes even perpexlity when pointing out rather obvious flaws in software systems. Almost as if the mentality of "this is how we have always done it" has implanted itself even in here. However I have had the rare ocurrence where these did lead to solutions.

Re: Why skilled workers come to Germany and then leave again

#887

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>First, things are bad: trains are getting worse every year, the highways are in disrepair (ask me about Bonn!), overloaded doctors, impossibly slow bureaucracy, economic crisis, growing inequality, housing crisis, and so on. Any minute now those millions of doctors, lawyers, and engineers from the MENA countries that flooded Germany the past decade will fix all that! Any minute!

> Any minute now those millions of doctors, lawyers, and engineers from the MENA countries that flooded Germany the past decade will fix all that! Any minute! I would assume this would take a generation. Y'all don't understand how lucky you have it, tbh.

Yes, in a generation there will be more Peace Trucks and ISIS 2.0. So lucky!

Re: Why skilled workers come to Germany and then leave again

#888
As a European and Canadian, I find very painful the fact that in the EU you MUST know English, yet there is no country with English as primary language in the whole EU. There is also no way to live in a country by knowing only English, so effectively you need to know 2 languages by default to be part of the EU.

I know two languages and for me learning English was a terrible experience,it took so many years and so much effort, if I could get by with just one, I would.

Re: Why skilled workers come to Germany and then leave again

#889
post #312

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Then why are you complaining about the language requirement for permanent residency? You knew the tradeoffs and chose them willingly, enjoy your income, invest in your home country and move back once you retire. Simply making higher-than-median income should not make you eligible for permanent residency. Cultural immersion and assimilation is important to maintain social stability and language is just the first step.…

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Re: Why skilled workers come to Germany and then leave again

#890
post #852

Earlier quoted context omitted.

C1 can be achieved (I did it on 360 hours). C2 is academic level of language proficiency -- you have to either deliberately study for the difficult exam or get an university degree in German. Most of the Germans won't be able to pass a C2 test. When a company sets C2 as a requirement, it can be interpreted as "must have a degree from German University".

Hi, I am interested in language learning, and your first sentence caught my attention. I am currently learning german, do you have a blog post on your journey of learning a language in 360 hours? around 45 days if 8 hours per day. How were you able to achieve so much with so little time?

Cut the pace to 1 hour a week, than some bursts of two to four months of up to 4 hours a day two to three days a week -- that would be close to how I did it. 45 days 8 hours per day is beyond my brain ability to adapt.
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