alexander3d
後輩
- 31 May 2006
- 1
- 1
Hi,
I read the forums for some time now and I realised that the opinions here are very sophisticated and you can have a neutral and substantial discussion. And I think many users here are interested in other countries, so why not a thread about it? Hopefully that´s the right sub-forum. I will start and tell you something about my home country Germany.
The good things (or some of them):
I guess many know the term "german welfare state". Because the german state gives financial aid to poor, jobless or old people there is some basic covering for the basic and urgent needs of those people. If you visit big cities like Berlin or Munich you will recognize that there are not as many homless people as there are in the US or even in Japan (Ueno Park!).
Our foreign policy is very diplomatic one and our foreign secretary is mediating in all the major international cases. Iran for example. So german citizens are very popular in foreign countries now (maybe especially UK). I have been to Japan last year and in a youth hostel I spoke with a south korean guy, he told me that the german philosophy in terms of foreign policy is great. He thinks the japanese should do this as well, but instead Koizumi yisits the Yasukumi(?) shrine and their policy isn´t very apologizing.
The western parts of Germany have a great and flourishing economy. In terms of biology, chemistry or medicine research the german research is world-class. World famous car companies like Audi or BMW still produce in Germany (and in China or eastern europe, of course).
Germany is a country with a huge and great history of writers, researchers, philosophers. Cities like Weimar (Goethe and Schiller), Dresden (Frauenkirche), Trier (Karl Marx) or Munich are very popular among tourists. Only to name a few. Maybe the famoust german researcher is Albert Einstein.
- - - - - - -
The bad things (some of them):
The germany society is too old. We get more and more old people who don´t work but get retirement pension. In 2040 there will be 40% old people. Because of that our welfare state isn´t very stable anymore. There aren´t enough children to hold the system up. German politicians are too reserved and halfheartd to do real reforms. They only "improve" the system. But it needs structural changes.
We think everythink is bad. The biggest german daily newspaper "BILD" is writing all the time how bad german football is, how stupid german politicians are and how poor the condition of the country is. One consequence is: Germans don´t spend too much many in new products and consum, but they save it. Therefore the retail industry in Germany is not like the one in Japan, where people buy all the time.
The eastern parts of Germany (former communist country DDR) are in a very bad condition. The economy there is absolutely slow and drags the western german one down. The future outlook isn´t shining, too. More and more people relocate from the East to the West. That is threatening the welfare state as well, because the government needs to spend a lot of tax money for the eastern parts.
The gap between poor and rich gets bigger, especially in terms of education. Children from poor families don´t have the same chances to get a higher education than richer children (according to an OECD study).
I read the forums for some time now and I realised that the opinions here are very sophisticated and you can have a neutral and substantial discussion. And I think many users here are interested in other countries, so why not a thread about it? Hopefully that´s the right sub-forum. I will start and tell you something about my home country Germany.
The good things (or some of them):
I guess many know the term "german welfare state". Because the german state gives financial aid to poor, jobless or old people there is some basic covering for the basic and urgent needs of those people. If you visit big cities like Berlin or Munich you will recognize that there are not as many homless people as there are in the US or even in Japan (Ueno Park!).
Our foreign policy is very diplomatic one and our foreign secretary is mediating in all the major international cases. Iran for example. So german citizens are very popular in foreign countries now (maybe especially UK). I have been to Japan last year and in a youth hostel I spoke with a south korean guy, he told me that the german philosophy in terms of foreign policy is great. He thinks the japanese should do this as well, but instead Koizumi yisits the Yasukumi(?) shrine and their policy isn´t very apologizing.
The western parts of Germany have a great and flourishing economy. In terms of biology, chemistry or medicine research the german research is world-class. World famous car companies like Audi or BMW still produce in Germany (and in China or eastern europe, of course).
Germany is a country with a huge and great history of writers, researchers, philosophers. Cities like Weimar (Goethe and Schiller), Dresden (Frauenkirche), Trier (Karl Marx) or Munich are very popular among tourists. Only to name a few. Maybe the famoust german researcher is Albert Einstein.
- - - - - - -
The bad things (some of them):
The germany society is too old. We get more and more old people who don´t work but get retirement pension. In 2040 there will be 40% old people. Because of that our welfare state isn´t very stable anymore. There aren´t enough children to hold the system up. German politicians are too reserved and halfheartd to do real reforms. They only "improve" the system. But it needs structural changes.
We think everythink is bad. The biggest german daily newspaper "BILD" is writing all the time how bad german football is, how stupid german politicians are and how poor the condition of the country is. One consequence is: Germans don´t spend too much many in new products and consum, but they save it. Therefore the retail industry in Germany is not like the one in Japan, where people buy all the time.
The eastern parts of Germany (former communist country DDR) are in a very bad condition. The economy there is absolutely slow and drags the western german one down. The future outlook isn´t shining, too. More and more people relocate from the East to the West. That is threatening the welfare state as well, because the government needs to spend a lot of tax money for the eastern parts.
The gap between poor and rich gets bigger, especially in terms of education. Children from poor families don´t have the same chances to get a higher education than richer children (according to an OECD study).
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~pats~
