Germany - and what you think you know about it.
The ignorance is high these days and rumors and lies are spread even by long standing members. Intentionally or not, I want to clear up some things!
I´m aware that this in itself is a small generalization but at least it comes from someone born and living here. To be honest a recent post made me
write this thread, but because I´m at it now, I´ll expand it to more topics than US/Germany.
I put this in the rant because it
a) riles me up when lies are spread
b) I cant figure out the right forum for it.
Military
- The US pays rent for their bases in Germany and that pays our healthcare
WRONG. Painfully wrong. For every base the US builds in Germany, they only have to pay 5-7% of the costs. Actually they pay around 15-20%, more than
they need according to §23 ABG 1975 NATO treaty. So that leaves the Germans with 95%-80% of the building costs for evey base the US decides to build.
Official governmental source:
dip21.bundestag.de...=2
- Out military is in bad shape.
We do not even have enough men to be called a "militär", but yes everything is in bad shape, extremly bad shape. From the NH90, missing spare parts,
not working G36, Drone project bound to fail because of legal issues and many more.
- We are reliant on third party sources to defend.
While that is true, it´s not directly our fault that it came to this. There are conditions that we need to adhere to, setup by the winners of WW2. If
you´re interested in this, please PM me and I´ll dig you the sources but it would be to much for that thread now. But I ask the ones who think this,
do you have a clue how small Germany is?19x smaller than the USA. So OF COURSE we can´t defend ourselfs 100%
- We do not pay the 2% NATO.
Partly wrong. It´s not mandatory but I agree, we´re not paying enough.
Social systems
- Someone said that the US is paying partly for our healthcare.
FALSE. I don´t know why you put up such lies but you should be ashamed.
- Healthcare is free
FALSE. 50% of your healthcare is paid by your employee, 50% is paid by your monthly income and taken automaticly. HOWEVER, there is this thing called
HARTZ4, I´ll come to that.
- If you do not work, you still get enough money to live.
Partly true. If you loose your job but it´s not your fault, you´ll get up to 90% of your last payment for around 24 months, while you have to search
for work actively. The money for this is taken every month from your loan, so you basically are insured beforehand and it´s your money.
If you fail to do that in 24 months, you get nothing before you´ve not sold your house, car. Then you´ll get around 400-500€ each month with
special conditions like you can´t have a huge flat/house to rent etc. Many anti-social people take advantage of this but it´s generaly looked down
and if someone asks you what you do for a living and you answer "HARTZ4" your basically an outcast. Because if you can work and want work, you WILL
find work in Germany during that 24 months of non-HARTZ4 payment (the one from your own pocket).
- You get free loan/payments at the end of your life (67years) (It´s called "Rente" and I refer to it as "rent")
No, you have to pay it yourself. With each monthly loan, a percentage is taken away for your rent. You are basically financing the current old people
as the money on that "bank account" lasts for around 28 days. That´s why we´ll have a big problem in 30 years, when so many old people retire into
their rent and there are not enough young people.
Europe
- Germany is one of the benefitors of the Euro.
Partly wrong. We lost >50% buying power since 2001. Over the course of ten years, products that cost 1 DM, now cost >1€, while the 1€ = 0.50DM. We
are an export nation, because of that, we benefit from the Euro somehow, yes. I am confident to say that we´re one, if not the strongest nation in
the EU in financial and economic terms. That´s not because of the €.
Culture
- The german language is harsh.
No one talks like Hitler here. The dialect is Austrian, btw but they also do not talk like Hitler.
- Germans are not polite.
We are polite, but direct. Directness is very importan to us because we say it like it is and don´t like to talk around corners to get the point.
That´s often missunderstood espacially with my posts. I´ll say things like I see them and not # around. If you´re offended by directness, remember
it´s not ment to be unpolite but straight faced. Politeness is actually very upheld here. If you live in a small town, you greet each other when you
walk by them, even if you don´t know him. Cities not so much but in rural regions this is a thing.
- Germans drink beer in the morning / the whole day.
Actually, there is that saying "Kein Bier vor Vier" and that means, no beer before 4p.m. It has to do with work ethics and ethics in general.
- Germans are prude
Some are, some not. We have naked chilling zones by the way. You have to be naked there. If the public swimming pools declare "it´s naked time", you
have to get naked or out of the bath.
- Germans are naked all the time.
You see, some think we are prude, some think we are naked all the time. Both is incorrect.
- No sense of humor
We can be rediculous as well. We are very direct. if someone asks us "How´s your day?" We will answer you that question to the fullest extend. Most
Germans are a bit reserved towards new friends, because we value friendships and relations very much. Someone we know for ten years is not a friend
just because we know them that long. We do not open up that fast but when we do, you can have the blast of your life. Our fests are exactly for that,
having a great funny time.
- Germans are sternly / strict.
Most of us have a very clear picture of morals and efficiency. We like it if things work out like we want and we do the best to achieve that. That
includes being "sternly" sometimes.
- Germans can´t have guns.
We can and do have guns. Almost every small town with more than 1000 people have their own shooting ranges and clubs, mainly for airrifles and .22 but
there are also big ones where you can shoot bigger calibres. You can get up to three pistols and two long rifles to take home if you train for a year
at the shooting range. If you want to collect weapons, you can. What we can´t have is the NATO 5.7x28mm round, full-auto and bullpup trigger groups.
If you do your hunting license (it´s one of the hardest exams in Germany to take) you can walk into any gunstore and buy a firearm right from the
getgo but you have to register it in time (2 weeks after you bought it).
- Germans are timely.
Partly wrong. We like it if something works like clockwork, that does not mean we are never late to an appointment. But if you say you´re here at 15
o clock, we expect you
a) to show up in general or at least give a call.
b) to show up until 15:10. Or else you could have said 15:15. Stand behind what you say.
- The sunday is holy.
True for most. Don´t you dare mowing your lawn or doing heavy loud work at sunday or after 10pm in general.
- Germans are greedy.
I can´t speak for all but generous hospitality is widely practised.
edit on 29-5-2017 by verschickter because: (no reason
given)
edit on 29-5-2017 by verschickter because: (no reason given)