Aroddo
Emperor
Viewing something from an outer perspective often reveals insights into a problem that are not readily apparent from the inside. This is true for foreigners looking at the madness of american politics and it is true for foreigners looking at other countries. Like germany.
I am german. I think my country has flaws, but it's largely a good place to live in.
From my perspective (I'll obmit that quantifier from now on) corruption is low and even most politicians act ... well, maybe not honest but at least they don't cause too much damage to society. We recently kicked out our president because he accepted 'favors' from a friend (who is also a businessman) amounting to about €50.000.
Our whole education system is free - i.e. tax-payed - and produces respectable results. Kids are assigned a school depending on where they live, although parents can freely apply for a different school depending on circumstances. The request is usually granted.
Higher education (e.g. university) is free too (there's a small administration fee each semester - about $300), and you are able to apply to any university you want. Depending on your school grades and study places available at that university you are either admitted immediately or you have to wait a couple of semesters (which can be spent studying on a different university if so desired).
We have free (i.e. tax payed) health care. Every citizen is either insured by the state or by a private insurer. It is a legal requirement to be insured if you want to get a job. If you can't afford to pay for insurance, the state will pay the fees. No exceptions.
Medicine (drugs) are largely paid for by the insurer if prescribed by a doctor. In that case you only have to pay about 5% the total cost.
Waiting times for medical procedures range from immediately to several weeks, depending on what you need. You can see a doctor for a basic checkup whenever you want - seeing a dermatologiest might require a weeks wait and brain surgery even longer. Urgent cases will get pushed to the top of the queue, though.
Most germans think we have a diverse ethnic population and when they think that they mean turks, which are by far the largest foreign population in germany. There are large groups of koreans there, too, as well as people from all over europe. Blacks are a rare sight, probably due to germany not having taken black slaves in the age of empires. There is racism - overt and subtle - but as a rule you can live a safe and respectable life - as long as you speak good german!
There is freedom of religion in germany even though about 95% are christian. And we do our very best to prevent muslims from building large mosques. Unsurprisingly we don't have very many synagogues in germany either even though they don't face the kind of opposition muslim holy houses do.
We do not have free speech as americans do. It is illegal to publicly deny that the holocaust ever happened for example. Online forums are required to be moderated and any lawyer can require the webmaster to delete certain messages (like posting "lies" about companies or politicians). You either comply or take a lawyer yourself to battle their attempt of censorship.
Apart from things like that and other little qualifiers, we DO have freedom of expression.
Police is (personal experience) polite and respectful, even helpful. They are all armed with handguns but you practically never see them drawing it. Unless they are actually threatened with deadly force, they never threaten you with deadly force, either.
I once was at a student party late at night when police came and informed us that a neighbour complained about the noise. The host turned down the volume and chatted a bit with them before they went their way. Our american guest seemed quite nervous the whole time and couldn't understand why the host was taking it so easy. Not sure what his experiences with cops were.
Internationally we have good and peaceful relations with most of the world. There are no signs of us going on a war of conquest again and for the first time in history, germany is surrounded by friends and allies. Even france doesn't want to kill us anymore.
Economically we are the driving force in europe and the main financial contributor to the EU. Our industry is strong and highly developed, infrastructure is exceptional, we are food self sufficient and we export more than we import.
The environment is clean, drinking water is of the highest quality (apparently tap water regulations are even stricter than for regular drinking water), trash gets recycled (although I don't know the percentage nor do I know of any gigantic waste dumps). All industries have to accomodate hordes of regulations to prevent environmental pollution and are liable for any damages.
Nuclear plants I think are the sole exception. In case one explodes they are required to pay a pittance, no matter how many trillions of damage they cause. Needless to say that most germans oppose nuclear power.
Oh yeah, something cultural/psychological: Money isn't important.
Well, of course it IS important. We all need it and we want more. Lots of it, if possible. And our workers unions raise hell regularily if we don't get enough of a raise every year to offset inflation.
But in the end money as such isn't important to germans. Few brag about their wealth and when they do they are seen as dicks. It is actually impolite to talk about money (i.e. personal wealth) in many occasions.
Some of the most common sayings include: "Money doesn't make you happy, but happyness makes you rich." and "One doesn't talk about money. One has money."
Also, the use of credit cards is the exception, not the rule. The vast majority of germans buy only what they can afford using their bank savings. This includes larger investments like cars. I'm not entirely sure how americans do it, but i got the impression that they use credit cards for almost everything, including paying the meal at a restaurant.
Sex is considered natural. You don't discuss it at the dinner table but no one really cares about who is doing it with whom. If a nipple is flashed in public we enjoy the view and go on. Public breastfeeding is completely acceptabel and no one even lifts an eyebrow. There is no 5-second delay on live broadcasts to protect kids from seeing bodyparts they get to see during biology class anyway.
That wasn't always the case, though. In the early 60s, the topic of sex was taboo. With the invention of the anti-baby-pill (sold in germany after 1961) and the "free-love" culture (from the USA of all places) the germans grew more and more open and soon a flood of "sexual education films" flooded the cinemas (mostly by Oswalt Kolle), which germans (who were always keen on education) readily visited.
Prostitution is legal, although time and places where it's acceptable is regulated. Prostitution is now considered a legal occupation and is thus taxed like any other job. Some places like Berlin even have parking-meter-like things where prostitues have to clock in.
And in case you are now tempted rest assured that they are all receiving state health care, so doing business is relatively safe. You should wear a raincoat anyway. How to put it on is actually taught in school.
------------------
So ... this is my rosy tinted totally subjective picture of germany.
Now you shoot me down.
In fact, I never considered our high school education system as unfair/racist until an american pointed out to me that our multi-tiered schools (Realschule, Hauptschule, Gesamtschule, Gymnasium) is practically equivalent to social segregation.
Sometimes it takes the outside view.
So, have at me!
-------------------
Update: Education and foreign students.
While I knew that many foreigners visit germany to study, I wasn't aware of how much it costs for non-citizens. Turns out that even guests to our country enjoy the full benefits of out education AND health care system.
Soooo .... if you are an american and want to study whatever you want for 85 Euros per semester and get full health care coverage for 77 Euros per month, then by all means: Welcome to Germany!
Link to video.
I am german. I think my country has flaws, but it's largely a good place to live in.
From my perspective (I'll obmit that quantifier from now on) corruption is low and even most politicians act ... well, maybe not honest but at least they don't cause too much damage to society. We recently kicked out our president because he accepted 'favors' from a friend (who is also a businessman) amounting to about €50.000.
Our whole education system is free - i.e. tax-payed - and produces respectable results. Kids are assigned a school depending on where they live, although parents can freely apply for a different school depending on circumstances. The request is usually granted.
Higher education (e.g. university) is free too (there's a small administration fee each semester - about $300), and you are able to apply to any university you want. Depending on your school grades and study places available at that university you are either admitted immediately or you have to wait a couple of semesters (which can be spent studying on a different university if so desired).
We have free (i.e. tax payed) health care. Every citizen is either insured by the state or by a private insurer. It is a legal requirement to be insured if you want to get a job. If you can't afford to pay for insurance, the state will pay the fees. No exceptions.
Medicine (drugs) are largely paid for by the insurer if prescribed by a doctor. In that case you only have to pay about 5% the total cost.
Waiting times for medical procedures range from immediately to several weeks, depending on what you need. You can see a doctor for a basic checkup whenever you want - seeing a dermatologiest might require a weeks wait and brain surgery even longer. Urgent cases will get pushed to the top of the queue, though.
Most germans think we have a diverse ethnic population and when they think that they mean turks, which are by far the largest foreign population in germany. There are large groups of koreans there, too, as well as people from all over europe. Blacks are a rare sight, probably due to germany not having taken black slaves in the age of empires. There is racism - overt and subtle - but as a rule you can live a safe and respectable life - as long as you speak good german!
There is freedom of religion in germany even though about 95% are christian. And we do our very best to prevent muslims from building large mosques. Unsurprisingly we don't have very many synagogues in germany either even though they don't face the kind of opposition muslim holy houses do.
We do not have free speech as americans do. It is illegal to publicly deny that the holocaust ever happened for example. Online forums are required to be moderated and any lawyer can require the webmaster to delete certain messages (like posting "lies" about companies or politicians). You either comply or take a lawyer yourself to battle their attempt of censorship.
Apart from things like that and other little qualifiers, we DO have freedom of expression.
Police is (personal experience) polite and respectful, even helpful. They are all armed with handguns but you practically never see them drawing it. Unless they are actually threatened with deadly force, they never threaten you with deadly force, either.
I once was at a student party late at night when police came and informed us that a neighbour complained about the noise. The host turned down the volume and chatted a bit with them before they went their way. Our american guest seemed quite nervous the whole time and couldn't understand why the host was taking it so easy. Not sure what his experiences with cops were.
Internationally we have good and peaceful relations with most of the world. There are no signs of us going on a war of conquest again and for the first time in history, germany is surrounded by friends and allies. Even france doesn't want to kill us anymore.
Economically we are the driving force in europe and the main financial contributor to the EU. Our industry is strong and highly developed, infrastructure is exceptional, we are food self sufficient and we export more than we import.
The environment is clean, drinking water is of the highest quality (apparently tap water regulations are even stricter than for regular drinking water), trash gets recycled (although I don't know the percentage nor do I know of any gigantic waste dumps). All industries have to accomodate hordes of regulations to prevent environmental pollution and are liable for any damages.
Nuclear plants I think are the sole exception. In case one explodes they are required to pay a pittance, no matter how many trillions of damage they cause. Needless to say that most germans oppose nuclear power.
Oh yeah, something cultural/psychological: Money isn't important.
Well, of course it IS important. We all need it and we want more. Lots of it, if possible. And our workers unions raise hell regularily if we don't get enough of a raise every year to offset inflation.
But in the end money as such isn't important to germans. Few brag about their wealth and when they do they are seen as dicks. It is actually impolite to talk about money (i.e. personal wealth) in many occasions.
Some of the most common sayings include: "Money doesn't make you happy, but happyness makes you rich." and "One doesn't talk about money. One has money."
Also, the use of credit cards is the exception, not the rule. The vast majority of germans buy only what they can afford using their bank savings. This includes larger investments like cars. I'm not entirely sure how americans do it, but i got the impression that they use credit cards for almost everything, including paying the meal at a restaurant.
Sex is considered natural. You don't discuss it at the dinner table but no one really cares about who is doing it with whom. If a nipple is flashed in public we enjoy the view and go on. Public breastfeeding is completely acceptabel and no one even lifts an eyebrow. There is no 5-second delay on live broadcasts to protect kids from seeing bodyparts they get to see during biology class anyway.
That wasn't always the case, though. In the early 60s, the topic of sex was taboo. With the invention of the anti-baby-pill (sold in germany after 1961) and the "free-love" culture (from the USA of all places) the germans grew more and more open and soon a flood of "sexual education films" flooded the cinemas (mostly by Oswalt Kolle), which germans (who were always keen on education) readily visited.
Prostitution is legal, although time and places where it's acceptable is regulated. Prostitution is now considered a legal occupation and is thus taxed like any other job. Some places like Berlin even have parking-meter-like things where prostitues have to clock in.
And in case you are now tempted rest assured that they are all receiving state health care, so doing business is relatively safe. You should wear a raincoat anyway. How to put it on is actually taught in school.
------------------
So ... this is my rosy tinted totally subjective picture of germany.
Now you shoot me down.
In fact, I never considered our high school education system as unfair/racist until an american pointed out to me that our multi-tiered schools (Realschule, Hauptschule, Gesamtschule, Gymnasium) is practically equivalent to social segregation.
Sometimes it takes the outside view.
So, have at me!
-------------------
Update: Education and foreign students.
While I knew that many foreigners visit germany to study, I wasn't aware of how much it costs for non-citizens. Turns out that even guests to our country enjoy the full benefits of out education AND health care system.
Soooo .... if you are an american and want to study whatever you want for 85 Euros per semester and get full health care coverage for 77 Euros per month, then by all means: Welcome to Germany!
Link to video.
