PRIDE

Do I have too much or do you have too little?

I don't hate Germany, but am often frustrated by Germans. If you are not German this may help you understand them. If you are German this may help you understand yourself

I am a foreigner living in Germany. If you are German & have lost your job, I did not take it. You can not do what I earn money doing. I have earned the respect of many Germans for my work. From Udo Lindenberg to the alcoholic neighbor & Harz IV empfanger of one of my employees. I employ Germans & stimulate the German economy with my taxes & spending.

Authoritative comments & comparisons between countries about the quality of life there should be limited to persons who have LIVED in the respective countries. That includes but is not limited to being an official resident, renting an apartment in your own name, being gainfully employed, filing income tax returns, learning the language, & being socially engaged in the community (not just an enclave of ex-patriots). I say this not to devalue anyone's opinion but to distinguish between impressions from a short term visit and the experience that comes with residence.

The German "experience" is very different if you are vacationing, studying, living with your native born spouse, self-employed, (by the average German)instantly racially/nationally visually identifiable (Black, Russian, Asian, Middle Eastern, etc.), wealthy, speak fluent accent-free German, etc. Taking the advice of anyone fitting a drastically different profile than your own could be problematic. Native Africans have a very different experience in the United States as slave descendant African-Americans. A third generation Azerbaijani man has a much different perspective as woman visiting Kreuzberg from Turkey.

Having objectively observed German culture for more than 12 years, I believe I have discovered the cause for many of the behaviors that many foreigners find objectionable.

Self-esteem/Self-Worth/Pride...or more correctly the lack thereof. Very few Germans under 30 have any pride. Many who say that they are proud are overcompensating to combat prevailing views of their country. The line between national pride & exclusionary extremism is seen as dangerously thin & is therefore not popular. A man who hangs a German flag in his apartment window or in his backyard (when no German national team is in a championship) will make his neighbors (and any foreigners in the area) nervous. Civic pride that is seen as positive for many of us back home is virtually unheard of here. Populations who suffer from low self-esteem do not integrate well. They are fearful & mistrusting of outsiders. There is often a lack of education & social exposure that exacerbates this condition. The children & grandchildren of the war generation have transmitted the diminished expectations that they experienced after WWII. Post war life in the countries of the Allies were times of great social & financial growth. The media age allows every new advance to be instantly advertised around the world. Countries not experiencing such growth & prosperity become bitter. Jealousy becomes an epidemic. This manifests itself as hate & there are widespread attempts to discredit & devalue the more successful society (the propaganda battle between East & West Germany is a prime example). Personal & inherited war shame + low self-esteem + the media age x jealousy = Defeated Master Race Syndrome. (or DMRS) It is highly contagious & most Germans have a terminable case of it but haven't been diagnosed. Many who seek treatment escape from Germany to prevent re-infection. This decreases the number of "Proud Germans" & the talent pool (higher skilled/educated Germans are infinitely more like to leave Germany than those with a minimum education).

Seen with a compassionate eye Germans are a potentially good society currently affected by an enormous list of disadvantages. It is their unwillingness/inability to improve that many foreigners find horrible. If you come from an optimistic country, Germany will smother you. If you come from a country where inefficient or outdated rules can be repealed or overlooked, Germany will stifle you. If you come from a society where individualism is cherished, Germany will mock you. If you bring your originality to Germany, they will copy you. If you come to Germany & look better than, dress better than, earn more money than, have deeper faith than, receive more education than, have a bigger home than, have a bigger car than, or are happier than the average German, they will hate you....but these are all symptoms of Defeated Master Race Syndrome. Unless you are able to find those Germans who have been cured of (or hopefully never got) this ailment you will experience this.

Architects of the Third Reich could not have predicted that those that fled or survived their regime would rise to control much of the media is the USA. Accordingly the atrocities of WWII are retold with Dolby surround sound in theaters all over the world & probably will in perpetuity (lest anyone forget we'll release a new story every 18 months). Germany is not the only country to commit genocide...just the only one to do it in the media/information age where their victims have the power to tell the world & make a profit while doing it. As long as this is the case Germany will never escape its past & the world will never be allowed to forget it.

Additional problems that I have observed but won't extensively elaborate on:
Low bithrate: kids are too expensive for Germans
Exorbitant Taxes: .83 cents from every euro spent on gas is taxes. 19% sales tax on goods. income tax rates that go as high as 44%. Taxes/Fees on everything there's even a "fun tax" (vergnügungssteuer).
Crumbling Socialized medicine that has not enough tax revenue to support itself.
Church buildings that are too old, too large that are exclusively supported through taxes that more and more people are opting out of because they see the church as unnecessary (& the church is content to collect tax revenue & not serve the community).
The devaluation of German products: Goods produced in Germany are often given Asian or American sounding names to increase their marketability INSIDE Germany.
Lack of home ownership: It is common in Germany to pay rent (sometimes in the same apartment) for more than 40 years.
School system: It is decided as early as the 4 grade if a child will go on to higher education.
Foreign Language: Many students learn a foreign language for more than 6 years, receive good grades, & can not speak it conversationally.
Creative Arts: Originality is not valued. Artistic quality is based on one ability to copy an existing work.
Capitalism: The USA is seen as the capitalistic monster, but it's Germany with 1/4 of the residents who sells more things to the world than any other country...$1,530,000,000,000 in 2008...where is all that money?

Insecure Germans reading this now are probably very angry...because the things that I'm saying are unfortunately true. When kids in school called my mother a whore, I asked them "When should she have time to have sex? Between board meetings, raising my brothers & sisters, church council, & volunteering to feed the homeless, there was no time for her to stand on the street corner too." My mother was a vice-president of a Fortune 500 company. I didn't become enraged because it was categorically untrue. If I call your Father a cocaine addicted slob who beats your mother & raped you...if I don't know him personally AND none of it is true, it won't affect you. If I've been to your house & witnessed his behavior & everyone knows about his police record, then you will become infuriated when I print it in the newspaper. Angry, uneducated, factless responses or Anti-Foreigner (Go Home!) posts from Germans will only confirm that what I am saying is true.

Many Germans are not aware of how they are. They think that the "mean cold Germans" are somebody else. They don't see that they never smile while walking down the street. They don't recognize that they are rude to customers at their job. They don't see it as in their job description to be nice. They don't see that treating customers/clients nice is good for business...because in Germany it isn't. Most companies are not dependent on customer satisfactions, because a rudely treated customer still comes back. A rude salesperson in other countries would be fired or at the least earn less money through lower sales/commissions. German workers with direct customer contact have no motivation to treat you decently...so they don't.

Don't take it COMPLETELY personal...they treat each other the same way. Germans treat one another badly & hate it. They endlessly complain when they have to interact with governmental agencies, but won't fund these agencies giving the workers horrible working conditions. They hate rude people in public but cut in line themselves when they are in a hurry. They hate the lack of customer service (Servicewüste Deutschland), but accept it as normal.Germans hate cheap laborers from Eastern Europe but want everything for the lowest price possible. They exert twice as much energy complaining about their lives as it would require to make choices to improve it. The connection between choices & experience has escaped the German people. They believe that "Sh*t Happens" is a mantra. They don't see that they "chose Sh*t" & more importantly chose not to try to clean it up afterwards. If they offend someone or make a racial slur, it's the other persons fault for getting offended..."Es ist halt so!" (it's like that). Political correctness & civil courage are non-existent.

All of these things are the product of Post-War shame, low self-esteem/self-worth, the media age, & jealousy. Until these conditions change the climate will remain the same in German...continuing to worsen until it is unable to sustain life.

There are nice places in Germany & nice people as well. Your experience with Germans will completely depend on what/who you are by comparison. The things I describe are common in large cities as well as small towns. If you are not seen as better, a threat to their way of life, & don't cause or represent change...then your chances of a positive experience increases.

Know what you're up against & be realistic.

RN

ronniesneffe 16 Jun 2009, 04:05 - Report