Why Germany Has It So Good...
- Thread starter Debaser82
- Start date
In all fairness a lot of Germans I know are very nationalistic. When I first visited Europe in 94 I spent a couple of week with my extended German family. My friend told me Dan I had some Turkish immigrants over for dinner and they didn't like all of the food we served. He then went on a tirade for about 5 minutes against Turks. So I think there is blame to go around for that one.
standard of living in germany is no where near to the that of the US or Canada. Small houses, little disposable incomes, technology 2-5 years behind etc. etc.
germany is also a racist country.....even now.........and thus holds little chance of standing ground in globalized world.
german treatment of turk immigrants in the last 50 years has been bad with no right to citizenship after decades or even start own businesses to sustain a middle class living.
the day US pulls the plug on protecting thankless Europeans, their what so called 'having it good' days will soon be over
germany is also a racist country.....even now.........and thus holds little chance of standing ground in globalized world.
german treatment of turk immigrants in the last 50 years has been bad with no right to citizenship after decades or even start own businesses to sustain a middle class living.
the day US pulls the plug on protecting thankless Europeans, their what so called 'having it good' days will soon be over
Quote from toc:
standard of living in germany is no where near to the that of the US or Canada. Small houses, little disposable incomes, technology 2-5 years behind etc. etc.
germany is also a racist country.....even now.........and thus holds little chance of standing ground in globalized world.
german treatment of turk immigrants in the last 50 years has been bad with no right to citizenship after decades or even start own businesses to sustain a middle class living.
the day US pulls the plug on protecting thankless Europeans, their what so called 'having it good' days will soon be over
You do realize that you are referring to all Europeans when you say small homes. Europeans, in general, favor stability and free time over an Expedition and the latest flat screen. They don't mind paying higher taxes because there services are provided and they have lots of 'holiday'.
Now as Ghost of Cutten has pointed out my above statement if more for Western Europe than FSU countries, CZ, SK, etc
I do agree they are hypocrites in Europe when it comes to defense spending, and my Czech wife agrees. They bitch that the US is imperialistic, which I believe we are, but don't want to pony up for their own NATO costs. They want it both ways.
You haven't addressed the fact that many perceive Germany quality as the best in the world and until that changes nationalist, racist or not people will buy their products.
BTW any avg European I know has the latest gizmo's Ipad, smart phone, fast computer so I don't know where you refer to them being behind the times tech wise.
europeans have more defined social system because US carries the weight of their defense.
productivity and net ROI basis, Europe still lacks behind the US and when mentioning this I exclude the FSU and Former Commie nations.
folks should talk to any german, british, french, dutch, italians and spanish etc. who come to visit the US.............and they will find that nearly all of them would want to live in US if given a chance or choice between EU and the USA. Case Closed!
productivity and net ROI basis, Europe still lacks behind the US and when mentioning this I exclude the FSU and Former Commie nations.
folks should talk to any german, british, french, dutch, italians and spanish etc. who come to visit the US.............and they will find that nearly all of them would want to live in US if given a chance or choice between EU and the USA. Case Closed!
Correct Dan.
The other funny thing is that there are so many assumptions in these discussions.
Calling Germans racists is fun:
- but are they more racist than Australians
- but are they more racist than Chinese
- or Japanese?
I suspect that the answer to the last two is NO. Not so certain about the first.
More importantly there is an assumption that racism makes one economically poorer. Although sociologists and economists might have written about it I doubt that there is solid evidence. I know that in the post 1960s liberalist swing we might hope it was true but the Chinese are not getting poorer and the Japanese were at their most racist in the 1980s when they just got richer and richer. Imagine the grand days of the British empire as it got wealthier and wealthier without a Brit looking down his nose at the natives
(Note: and without evidence I don't buy that it will even in a "globablized" world.)
The other funny thing is that there are so many assumptions in these discussions.
Calling Germans racists is fun:
- but are they more racist than Australians
- but are they more racist than Chinese
- or Japanese?
I suspect that the answer to the last two is NO. Not so certain about the first.
More importantly there is an assumption that racism makes one economically poorer. Although sociologists and economists might have written about it I doubt that there is solid evidence. I know that in the post 1960s liberalist swing we might hope it was true but the Chinese are not getting poorer and the Japanese were at their most racist in the 1980s when they just got richer and richer. Imagine the grand days of the British empire as it got wealthier and wealthier without a Brit looking down his nose at the natives
(Note: and without evidence I don't buy that it will even in a "globablized" world.)
Would this be the Germany of million% + hyperinflation where people bring bags of money to make basic store purchases? Or, the Germany of WW1 or Nazi Germany???
It's kind of hard to answer such a question given how diversified the European Union is despite it's image of being one giant socialist holiday camp.
Benefits, holidays, pensions, taxes, cost of living and salaries are different country to country so an adjustment in holiday days in Holland for instance might still result in having more holidays then Germany just to give an example.
In general I would say benefits have come under pressure across the board and it's a trend that will stay with us for some time to come but you will have to look into each regions specifics to get a clearer view certainly.
I live in Belgium indeed. A 10 million people country living together on a ground about the size of Manhattan.
The country is divided in 3 districts. One of the districts has the highest net worth of the entire EU zone, one of the other districts has the highest youth unemployment rate in Europe.
So who is to say the country is a good place to live?
I'm sure the same phenomenon can be witnessed in the US.
If I can add just one more comment: Be carefull about media coverage from one continent to another.
If you have to believe media over here everyone in the US is living in tent cities and on foodstamps, if you follow US media the entire Eurozone is going up into flames rioting because they refuse to give up some of their socialist benefits.