6 ms·
In which area of this planet? I wish friends and I would support each other in final struggles, but it's a huge taboo in my country in central Europe.
by erikb 10y ago
In which area of this planet? I wish friends and I would support each other in final struggles, but it's a huge taboo in my country in central Europe.
- e1g 10y agoLiving Australia, I had seen money change owners among friends literally dozens of times. Not huge sums ($500-$3,000), but big enough to matter in mid-20s. It felt normal at the time, though in retrospect I can see that most of our families were poor and we had nowhere else to turn save for other young professionals. I'm not sure if that was due to co-dependence or friendship, nor if there is much difference between the two.
- tasuki 10y ago"a huge taboo in my country in central Europe" ... I wonder which country that is. I'm Czech, currently spending lots of time in Poland, acquianted with Slovak and Hungarian culture, and haven't seen this being a "huge taboo".
- erikb 10y agoFor me Central Europe is Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourgh, Germany, Switzerland, Lichtenstein, Austria, and maybe I may add Italy or Denmark. All the countries you mention I would call Eastern Europe, and from my Eastern European friends I hear the same opennness about money and friends. Just out of curiousity. If you call these countries Central Europe, what's Eastern Europe for you? (I'm aware that there's more than one truth to most of these vague terms)
- Blackstone4 10y agoThose countries are conventionally considered part of Western Europe in countries such as the US, France and the UK
- ido 10y agoAt least the German speaking countries explicitly call themselves Zentraleuropa (Central Europe) in German: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitteleuropa https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitteleuropa
- tasuki 10y agoI thought "central Europe" was mostly a label used in some post-communistic countries to feel less Eastern. This "central Europe" thing is very funny indeed. I've lived in the Netherlands - they think of themselves as "Western Europe". In the UK everyone knows Europe is split into West and East by the Iron curtain. For me as a Czech, Eastern Europe is everything East of Slovakia - Ukraine, Romania, Belarus. But try asking a Romanian - they'll tell you Romania is Central Europe! When you ask them what is Eastern Europe then, you'll learn it's Ukraine and Russia.
- oblio 10y agoThe thing is, Europe is has a lot of countries. Except for the Eastern part, where Russia covers 1/3 of the continent. Geographically it would make sense to consider Romania as a part of Central Europe, however culturally or geopolitically few Romanians would disagree that Romania is part of Eastern Europe. Even our manuals say that Romania is part of South-Eastern Europe ;)
- erikb 10y agoAh and in my circles Russia, despite maybe even publicly being considered European (is it?) is considered Asian. There even the political distinctions are completely ignored it seems.
- erikb 10y agoHehe, I'm quite sure though, that none of my Shanghai friends would consider themselves Central European, at least.
- oblio 10y agoIn no way shape or form are Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Denmark or even Italy considered Central Europe. You could maybe consider them the Central Europe of Western Europe, if you want to stretch some definitions :) Central Europe is basically Germany, Poland and the former Habsburg Empire.
- erikb 10y agoReally, never heard that before. In my circles even part of Germany is secretly considered Eastern Europe. Maybe it's more political than geographical. Don't know.
- xor-xor 10y agohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geographical_midpoint_of_Europe https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geographical_midpoint_of_Europ... (Europe != European Union)
- wst_ 10y agoI wouldn't call it vague. East border of Europe is Ural mountains. I'd say Czech or Poland are in the center. Check the wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Europe https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Europe
- Onewildgamer 10y agoFrom India here, lending money to friends in times of urgency is quite common and is not considered as a taboo. In fact, some of my friends jumped to help me in need. Also I feel it considerably strengthens the friendship.
- zeroer 10y agoIs it really that common for people in India to live so close to the edge without savings that they regularly need help? I know my friends and I (in the US) all have buffers of at minimum a few months of expenses. I guess it's not inconceivable that someone might have an emergency that requires more, but that would end up being a rather substantial of money. In my friend circle, I've never heard of someone borrowing money.
- ehnto 10y agoThat honestly surprises me. I cannot say the same for people in Australia, a similar culture to the US. I think you might be surprised how many people outside of your friendship circle are actually living paycheck to paycheck. It is a smart thing to try and have though.
- geodel 10y agoSeems you are not much aware of outside the relatively well off friends' circle. Here is how precarious financial conditions for lot of americans is [1]. Key Quote: "47 percent of respondents said that either they would cover the expense by borrowing or selling something, or they would not be able to come up with the $400 at all." On the other hand in India it would be very obvious to borrow money considering around 80% of population live on couple of dollars a day. 1. https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2016/05/my-secret-shame/476415/ https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2016/05/my-secr...
- ido 10y agoIt may help to remember that the average yearly wage in India is about $3000[1]. [1] https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-average-annual-salary-in-India/answer/Praveen-Venkiteswara-Annu https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-average-annual-salary-in-I...
- michaelt 10y agoThere's a reason giving nontrivial loans to friends is taboo. I've only had a few friends come to me for $500+ loans. All had already hit their family up for as much money as they could, maxed out their credit cards and overdraft, and were behind on their rent. Needless to say, I didn't think they would pay me back - or that my money would fix their financial troubles.
- pm90 10y agoTo be fair though, there is a difference b/w helping a friend in need of liquid capital (e.g down payment on a car) and lending money to a chronically financially irresponsible person.
- ido 10y agoWe live in Germany (Berlin) & received (and will render if needed) amazing support from friends at times of need.
- ionised 10y agoMe and my closest friends (about 4 or 5 people) do all the time. Never had an issue. There are a lot of 'mates' that I wouldn't lend a penny to though.