4 ms·

You're not totally wrong, but it's a bit more nuanced than that. What I see, from living in America and from spending a very small amount of time in Germany, i

You're not totally wrong, but it's a bit more nuanced than that. What I see, from living in America and from spending a very small amount of time in Germany, is that in Germany the rules are the rules, whereas in America it is not quite like that. Small companies, especially new ones, employ "better to ask forgiveness than permission" a lot. However, as they grow, they are required to ask forgiveness, and this is given, but then you have to start following rules which are not enforced (usually) on small startups. Some, such as Uber/Lyft, grow so quickly that they can achieve some size before finding out that cities and states can impose requirements on you, but in the end regulation does come for them (perhaps not perfectly, but much more than when they were starting up). In Germany my impression is more "get your ducks in a row before you startup", which does make sense and has some advantages. I don't even think that it is that much easier to startup in the U.S., if all the rules (tax and otherwise) were enforced all the time. However, because in the U.S. you aren't (usually) as harshly punished for not having your ducks in a regulatory row before starting, the company is able to get big enough to afford accountants, lawyers, etc. I'm not saying the American "system" here is perfect, or even really a designed system at all, but it does have the effect (normally) of requiring more regulatory compliance as you grow in size, much like we as individuals are allowed to do things when 2 years old that we are sanctioned for if we do them when adults. All varies a lot by sector, etc. of course, but that's the general trend.

ChuckNorris89 4y ago
>spending a very small amount of time in Germany, is that in Germany the rules are the rules, whereas in America it is not quite like that That's the impression you'll get as a foreigner who spent a little time in Germany, but if you're long timer deep in the system you'll realize that "rules are rules" is only true for the little guy whereas the wealthy elite and old-money individuals and companies can and do bend and break the rules with the help of regulators, politicians and courts all the time who kindly look the other way because they are directly or indirectly invested in those companies or tied to the individuals who run the companies. High level corruption in Germany is rampant and the scandals are numerous. VW, Wirecard, Deutche, Axel Springer, real estate giants, basically pick any rich big German company, chances are they have powerful friends in politics greasing the gears for them making sure the regulatory authorities are always looking the other way.
- InCityDreams 4y ago
  Fairly long-term .de resident. Just try crossing the road against the red man......"rules are rules", to the nth degree. And, I agree of course, the rich have a better system.
  - ChuckNorris89 4y ago
    >Just try crossing the road against the red man......"rules are rules", to the nth degree Meh, that's just a rule OCD public façade since people are watching and so kids don't learn bad habits and get killed by cars, but privately many Germans are more than willing to break rules if it benefits them and nobody is looking and won't find out about it, just that they don't openly talk about such things since the Germans are super private about their personal affairs and finances, and you also won't hear about such things if you only hang abound in bubbles of SW devs and other repeople with corporate jobs in big cities. My favorite is them not paying taxes on cash earnings. Cash is king for a reason in Germany: many small businesses, self employed or side hustles love doing business in cash since they can dodge the tax man and pad their incomes with untaxed earnings. Please tell them that "rules are rules" when it comes to paying their taxes on cash earnings and they'll tell you to shut up and piss off because "everyone is doing it" and "it's always been like that".
    - magnuspaaske 4y ago
      Which ... why do you think we have GDPR? Data privacy to Germans is what the second amendment is to Americans, a defence against tyranny
      - ChuckNorris89 4y ago
        You can have data privacy without normalizing tax fraud, except in Germany one is used as an excuse for the other which is unfair to those who can't dodge taxes and have to carry the burden of financing the government costs for everyone else. Financial transparency is a big thing in Scandinavian countries where cash is basically non existent and you can view the tax returns of others, and they still have GDPR and no tyranny while having low corruption and high government transparency. It's the sign of a fair and high trust society. So I'm not baying it.

ChuckNorris89 4y ago

>spending a very small amount of time in Germany, is that in Germany the rules are the rules, whereas in America it is not quite like that That's the impression you'll get as a foreigner who spent a little time in Germany, but if you're long timer deep in the system you'll realize that "rules are rules" is only true for the little guy whereas the wealthy elite and old-money individuals and companies can and do bend and break the rules with the help of regulators, politicians and courts all the time who kindly look the other way because they are directly or indirectly invested in those companies or tied to the individuals who run the companies. High level corruption in Germany is rampant and the scandals are numerous. VW, Wirecard, Deutche, Axel Springer, real estate giants, basically pick any rich big German company, chances are they have powerful friends in politics greasing the gears for them making sure the regulatory authorities are always looking the other way.

InCityDreams 4y ago
Fairly long-term .de resident. Just try crossing the road against the red man......"rules are rules", to the nth degree. And, I agree of course, the rich have a better system.
- ChuckNorris89 4y ago
  >Just try crossing the road against the red man......"rules are rules", to the nth degree Meh, that's just a rule OCD public façade since people are watching and so kids don't learn bad habits and get killed by cars, but privately many Germans are more than willing to break rules if it benefits them and nobody is looking and won't find out about it, just that they don't openly talk about such things since the Germans are super private about their personal affairs and finances, and you also won't hear about such things if you only hang abound in bubbles of SW devs and other repeople with corporate jobs in big cities. My favorite is them not paying taxes on cash earnings. Cash is king for a reason in Germany: many small businesses, self employed or side hustles love doing business in cash since they can dodge the tax man and pad their incomes with untaxed earnings. Please tell them that "rules are rules" when it comes to paying their taxes on cash earnings and they'll tell you to shut up and piss off because "everyone is doing it" and "it's always been like that".
  - magnuspaaske 4y ago
    Which ... why do you think we have GDPR? Data privacy to Germans is what the second amendment is to Americans, a defence against tyranny
    - ChuckNorris89 4y ago
      You can have data privacy without normalizing tax fraud, except in Germany one is used as an excuse for the other which is unfair to those who can't dodge taxes and have to carry the burden of financing the government costs for everyone else. Financial transparency is a big thing in Scandinavian countries where cash is basically non existent and you can view the tax returns of others, and they still have GDPR and no tyranny while having low corruption and high government transparency. It's the sign of a fair and high trust society. So I'm not baying it.