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Note that I am a German. I would say there are few. Bad education, especially in schools, a broken railway and public transport system, as well as incredibly hi

Note that I am a German. I would say there are few. Bad education, especially in schools, a broken railway and public transport system, as well as incredibly high taxes. You may say "free healthcare" and a point can be made here, but when you take a look at the high taxes you have to pay, it's not worth it, if your income is above average. All in all it's a mess and I haven't even begun speaking about German people and their mentality, as well as poverty and unsuccessful immigration.

lrem 3y ago
Looks like you really want to move to Switzerland :D
- fransje26 3y ago
  To then start complaining about the costs of living..?
Keyframe 3y ago
(rants) yep, you are German alright!
- MrJohz 3y ago
  Truly the worst thing about living in Germany is the apparent national hobby of complaining about things that perhaps aren't great, but really aren't as bad as you might think. In practice, German schools are pretty decent, but they obsess about PISA scores and so neglect to ever notice what the schools are doing well. The train networks are fairly extensive, can be quite cheap depending on how you travel, and consistent across the country, but a lot of Germans would much rather complain about how late they are than recognise anything positive about the system. The general public transport networks (i.e. transport inside towns and cities) are amazing, and one of the things that I would most miss if I went anywhere else. I think part of it is just that if you're German, you rarely see these systems from an outside perspective, so you only see the points that chafe regularly. But another part of it really is just that German tendency to criticise first rather than to view things holistically.
  - sien 3y ago
    I went on exchange to Germany. Somehow there should be a ranking of the foreign language abilities of countries. There Germany would do incredibly well. It's strange that people obsess over math school rankings, but how many people do calculus beyond their schooling where as many, many people use a foreign language often in their work. It's a non-BS thing people can learn at school and something that Northern Europeans do spectacularly well at.
  - deleted 3y ago
    [deleted]
  - RamblingCTO 3y ago
    I disagree heavily. Just because you have trains going everywhere (that's not a Germany-specific thing) doesn't mean they are allowed to be hours late. The transport system is broken, was destroyed by trying to cut costs in the past. Same with schools and educators. And don't get me started on healthcare. Your sentiment is part of the problem to be honest: Germans are always complaining, it's fine as it is bla bla. It is if you compare yourself to third world countries. But we compete with Japan, Switzerland, the nordics and so on. Also note that this is not a sentiment that is only found in Germans but also a lot of (high value) immigrants who move on after touching base. Germany has a lot of potential but utilizes that very little. Why would I recognize anything positive about the transport system that has a high likelihood of making my trip a nightmare? It's literally the most important thing, to get me from a to b. That doesn't work with massive delays, cancellations, reschedulings and I miss my connections.
    - earthnail 3y ago
      For what it’s worth, I’m German and live in Sweden and the train network is significantly worse than in Germany. There are serious structural deficiencies at Deutsche Bahn, absolutely. But the gras is also always greener elsewhere. The nordics don’t have a better train network. It’s bad enough in Sweden that a Chinese company has started offering the MTRX, basically the ICE equivalent between the two largest cities (although much slower, more like an IC) and that’s the best connection you can get. Imagine the outcry if that was the case in Germany for Munich-Berlin…
- barbazoo 3y ago
  In certain parts of Germany the German equivalent of "You really can't complain" is the highest form of praise.
  - croes 3y ago
    The sentence "You really can't complain" is a complain itself.
    - dkga 3y ago
      Yes, never noted that!
croes 3y ago
Incredibly high taxes? Denmark has higher taxes. And don't forget Germany has one of the lowest annual working hours in the world https://data.oecd.org/emp/hours-worked.htm https://data.oecd.org/emp/hours-worked.htm
- RamblingCTO 3y ago
  You're misinformed. Second highest tax burden [1], in Europe and the OECD [2]. [1] https://taxfoundation.org/data/all/global/tax-burden-on-labor-oecd-2021/ https://taxfoundation.org/data/all/global/tax-burden-on-labo... [2] https://taxfoundation.org/data/all/eu/tax-burden-labor-europe-2023/ https://taxfoundation.org/data/all/eu/tax-burden-labor-europ...
  - croes 3y ago
    Never trust a conservative think tank on taxes. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_Foundation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_Foundation >Payroll taxes are typically flat-rate taxes levied on wages and are in addition to the taxes on income. In most OECD countries, both the employer and the employee pay payroll taxes. These taxes usually fund specific social programs, such as unemployment insurance, health insurance, and old age insurance. Social security and pesnions aren't financed by taxes, in Germany taxes are not earmarked for a specific purpose. If you would replace social security and pension contributions by private insurances with the same costs people wouldn't have more money available but the Germany's index position would be better. You could even double the costs and the index would claim an advantage for workers even though they would have less money.
    - RamblingCTO 3y ago
      Sooo is statisa [1] also a conservative think tank? I don't see anything wrong with the quote you provided. > Social security and pesnions aren't financed by taxes, in Germany taxes are not earmarked for a specific purpose. Not sure I can follow. Of course the pensions and social security are quite substantially tax funded [2]. [1] https://de.statista.com/infografik/13660/oecd-vergleich-steuern--und-abgaben/ https://de.statista.com/infografik/13660/oecd-vergleich-steu... [2] https://www.ihre-vorsorge.de/rente/nachrichten/haushalt-fuer-rente-und-sozialleistungen-ist-auch-2024-der-groesste-posten https://www.ihre-vorsorge.de/rente/nachrichten/haushalt-fuer...

lrem 3y ago

Looks like you really want to move to Switzerland :D

fransje26 3y ago
To then start complaining about the costs of living..?

Keyframe 3y ago

(rants) yep, you are German alright!

MrJohz 3y ago
Truly the worst thing about living in Germany is the apparent national hobby of complaining about things that perhaps aren't great, but really aren't as bad as you might think. In practice, German schools are pretty decent, but they obsess about PISA scores and so neglect to ever notice what the schools are doing well. The train networks are fairly extensive, can be quite cheap depending on how you travel, and consistent across the country, but a lot of Germans would much rather complain about how late they are than recognise anything positive about the system. The general public transport networks (i.e. transport inside towns and cities) are amazing, and one of the things that I would most miss if I went anywhere else. I think part of it is just that if you're German, you rarely see these systems from an outside perspective, so you only see the points that chafe regularly. But another part of it really is just that German tendency to criticise first rather than to view things holistically.
- sien 3y ago
  I went on exchange to Germany. Somehow there should be a ranking of the foreign language abilities of countries. There Germany would do incredibly well. It's strange that people obsess over math school rankings, but how many people do calculus beyond their schooling where as many, many people use a foreign language often in their work. It's a non-BS thing people can learn at school and something that Northern Europeans do spectacularly well at.
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
- RamblingCTO 3y ago
  I disagree heavily. Just because you have trains going everywhere (that's not a Germany-specific thing) doesn't mean they are allowed to be hours late. The transport system is broken, was destroyed by trying to cut costs in the past. Same with schools and educators. And don't get me started on healthcare. Your sentiment is part of the problem to be honest: Germans are always complaining, it's fine as it is bla bla. It is if you compare yourself to third world countries. But we compete with Japan, Switzerland, the nordics and so on. Also note that this is not a sentiment that is only found in Germans but also a lot of (high value) immigrants who move on after touching base. Germany has a lot of potential but utilizes that very little. Why would I recognize anything positive about the transport system that has a high likelihood of making my trip a nightmare? It's literally the most important thing, to get me from a to b. That doesn't work with massive delays, cancellations, reschedulings and I miss my connections.
  - earthnail 3y ago
    For what it’s worth, I’m German and live in Sweden and the train network is significantly worse than in Germany. There are serious structural deficiencies at Deutsche Bahn, absolutely. But the gras is also always greener elsewhere. The nordics don’t have a better train network. It’s bad enough in Sweden that a Chinese company has started offering the MTRX, basically the ICE equivalent between the two largest cities (although much slower, more like an IC) and that’s the best connection you can get. Imagine the outcry if that was the case in Germany for Munich-Berlin…
barbazoo 3y ago
In certain parts of Germany the German equivalent of "You really can't complain" is the highest form of praise.
- croes 3y ago
  The sentence "You really can't complain" is a complain itself.
  - dkga 3y ago
    Yes, never noted that!

croes 3y ago

Incredibly high taxes? Denmark has higher taxes. And don't forget Germany has one of the lowest annual working hours in the world https://data.oecd.org/emp/hours-worked.htm https://data.oecd.org/emp/hours-worked.htm

RamblingCTO 3y ago
You're misinformed. Second highest tax burden [1], in Europe and the OECD [2]. [1] https://taxfoundation.org/data/all/global/tax-burden-on-labor-oecd-2021/ https://taxfoundation.org/data/all/global/tax-burden-on-labo... [2] https://taxfoundation.org/data/all/eu/tax-burden-labor-europe-2023/ https://taxfoundation.org/data/all/eu/tax-burden-labor-europ...
- croes 3y ago
  Never trust a conservative think tank on taxes. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_Foundation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_Foundation >Payroll taxes are typically flat-rate taxes levied on wages and are in addition to the taxes on income. In most OECD countries, both the employer and the employee pay payroll taxes. These taxes usually fund specific social programs, such as unemployment insurance, health insurance, and old age insurance. Social security and pesnions aren't financed by taxes, in Germany taxes are not earmarked for a specific purpose. If you would replace social security and pension contributions by private insurances with the same costs people wouldn't have more money available but the Germany's index position would be better. You could even double the costs and the index would claim an advantage for workers even though they would have less money.
  - RamblingCTO 3y ago
    Sooo is statisa [1] also a conservative think tank? I don't see anything wrong with the quote you provided. > Social security and pesnions aren't financed by taxes, in Germany taxes are not earmarked for a specific purpose. Not sure I can follow. Of course the pensions and social security are quite substantially tax funded [2]. [1] https://de.statista.com/infografik/13660/oecd-vergleich-steuern--und-abgaben/ https://de.statista.com/infografik/13660/oecd-vergleich-steu... [2] https://www.ihre-vorsorge.de/rente/nachrichten/haushalt-fuer-rente-und-sozialleistungen-ist-auch-2024-der-groesste-posten https://www.ihre-vorsorge.de/rente/nachrichten/haushalt-fuer...