The Germans

ukcarper

John1993 wrote: »

Again, you make assumptions that don't match reality, so look foolish. I live in Canary Wharf, not Surrey.

I fulley expect you to make yet another ignorant generalisatin about what this shows about me.

I'll say it again, if you are seeing disfunctional families, an societal decay, then you aren't doing as well as you'd ike us to think.

Work harder, work smarter, move to somewhere nicer, and you'll see.

And tell me, which part of Germany did you live in that you found to be such a paradiise by comparison?

Please don't tell me that you "know" it's better without having lived there...

Don't you ever leave Canary Wharf I thought it was in Tower Hamlets.

John1993_2

ukcarper wrote: »

Don't you ever leave Canary Wharf I thought it was in Tower Hamlets.

Indeed I do. I'm fortunate in that I get to travel all over the world, which is why assuming that one country's culture can be boiled down to a few trite "truths" rubs me up the wrong way.

To hear someone who spent a long weekend in Berlin as a tourist ppontificating on the whole German national character is just painful.

I see that he wrotes the French off as surly, likely after a similarly "deep" investigation.

ukcarper

John1993 wrote: »

Indeed I do. I'm fortunate in that I get to travel all over the world, which is why assuming that one country's culture can be boiled down to a few trite "truths" rubs me up the wrong way.

To hear someone who spent a long weekend in Berlin as a tourist ppontificating on the whole German national character is just painful.

I see that he wrotes the French off as surly, likely after a similarly "deep" investigation.

Personally never been to Germany no real idea what it's like but I hear there football hooligans have a bad name.

Jonbvn

John1993 wrote: »

I've lived in ENgland, Germany, the US, France and Switzerland.

What no third world countries? I've lived in twice as many, but perhaps that's because I am a "Brit", who understands that life in the UK does not revolve around a few streets in London.;)

Tancred

John1993 wrote: »

Indeed I do. I'm fortunate in that I get to travel all over the world, which is why assuming that one country's culture can be boiled down to a few trite "truths" rubs me up the wrong way.

To hear someone who spent a long weekend in Berlin as a tourist ppontificating on the whole German national character is just painful.

I see that he wrotes the French off as surly, likely after a similarly "deep" investigation.

Trust me, I know enough to be able to be sure of what I'm saying. Also please don't lecture me on how well travelled you are - I've worked in several countries myself. And living in Canary Wharf doesn't make you as big a success as you claim to be. Most people don't work in the City - if that's you then you are part of a tiny elite and have no right to claim to speak for the majority.

You are correct in saying that no country is without its social problems but I also think you are missing my point. What I'm trying to say is that this country has been on the decline for decades - irrespective of the 'cool Britannia' crap that Blair and his unctuous acolytes came up with. Dysfunctional families exist even in the middle class estates packed with neat houses and BMWs. It's not a generalisation to say that German society is more at ease with itself and more solid - it's obvious to anyone visiting Germany. There might well be yobbish behaviour there as well, but it's on a much smaller scale than in the UK, unless you look at the immigrant areas, which is another issue altogether.

Tancred

ukcarper wrote: »

Personally never been to Germany no real idea what it's like but I hear there football hooligans have a bad name.

Mainly some boneheads who associate with the far-Right, likewise in Italy, Croatia, Serbia, Russia etc. Not as big an issue as it's made out to be.

Tancred

John1993 wrote: »

Indeed I do. I'm fortunate in that I get to travel all over the world, which is why assuming that one country's culture can be boiled down to a few trite "truths" rubs me up the wrong way.

To hear someone who spent a long weekend in Berlin as a tourist ppontificating on the whole German national character is just painful.

I see that he wrotes the French off as surly, likely after a similarly "deep" investigation.

OK then.
What is your assessment of the nations you've visited? Let us have your pearls of wisdom.

Thrugelmir

globalds wrote: »

There is an unwritten code of purchasing loyalty ,at all levels ..This directly affects how profitable businesses look ..It might be more expensive buying bottled German water than evian ...but that money keeps swilling right back around the German economy ..

Same as the USA. They understand that using local products will create jobs for their family. The UK has a mentality of take the profit now. Not retain for the longer term and provide a secure income stream.

pqrdef

purch wrote: »

At 10:30 precisely all the traders got up from their desks and went to the cafeteria and had a glass of wheat beer and a Weisswurst, which apparantly is a good hangover cure.

Seems more like an obsession with conformity. Dare to be different, you mark yourself as a rebel and people don't trust you.

Generally this sort of thing is the mark of a society in which people live in constant fear of losing respectability.

gfplux

I live in Luxembourg and have been here a long time and have no desire to live full time back in England or anywhere else.
No Country can be described in a few sentences. I could describe Luxembourg as taking the best from its three neighbours (Belgium, France and Germany) and while I feel there is some truth in that, there is much, much more to a Country even one as small as Luxembourg.
Now well into my sixth decade and having been and still am well travelled I would describe the whole world chasing each other to the bottom.
What I mean by the bottom is....
Faster, quicker, greed, me too, look at me, want want want, selfishness and I could go on and on.
As mentioned by another poster parts of German Television are no better or worse than anything thought up on British TV but the Brits following on from the Americans have had more time on the journey to the bottom. French TV is also on its way.
Some say that a Nation gets the TV that it deserves. For me Popular television is a remarkably good window into a Country.