GERMAN IN THE US: My 6 Culture Shocks

This young woman was shocked by the widespread poverty and the way many of us work more than a full-time job just to be able to afford college for the children and other such "dreams." She speaks German in the video (it's a language learning video by nature), but there are subtitles in both German and English that are edited right into it (so you don't need YouTube's subtitles feature to see them).



So, yeah. Our Republican paradise of overworked working people and poor people without a safety net and private services that many simply cannot afford despite working is a little shocking to the Germans, who somehow manage to have work and money together with free higher education and affordable, quality health care, and of course an excellent standard of living all around (which I've seen first hand also).

 

See, in the US, we pursue happiness - there's no guarantee, stated, implied or otherwise, that we well catch it.
Welcome to the right to self-determination.

 

Where do you get the idea that there is "no safety net"? I could list scores of government programs to assist poor and disadvantaged people.

 

Granted, yet somehow we manage to have shocking numbers of people living in a bad way. Why would it be more common here than in Germany? Is our economy that much poorer, or are our numerous social programs failing to do what they're supposed to be doing?

 

She’d be even more shocked if she had to learn Russian because her government cannot defend her country. Good for her she can rely on we poor Americans. I’m sure if we started charging for protection, we could budget more towards social programs here, while her country would suffer having to endure the cost of their liberty.

 

Maybe it's just her perception and she doesn't see the homeless in Germany.

Homelessness in Germany is a significant social issue, one that is estimated to affect over 200,000 people. However, there are limits to the studies on the topic; reportedly, there are no statistics of homeless youth in Germany, and estimates range from 1,500 to 50,000.

Researchers maintain that the legal definition of homelessness in Germany is quite narrow. Alternatively, researchers maintain there is no nationally accepted definition.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homelessness_in_Germany

They limit the studies and the definition of "homeless" is narrow in order to cover up is what it sounds like to me.
They also don't have troops stationed around the planet like we do - something I wished we'd stop doing. Very expensive.

 

i thought she’d be shocked at our appalling driving skills.

 

LOL, most interesting part of this thread so far is an OP "just an average person interested in politics" posting a German language video on an English language U.S. forum. Could you BE any more obvious?

...and then not simply summarizing the 6 points.

Wonder where she lives? If in a big blue city governed by Democrats for decades, no wonder she finds the poverty in places like that appalling. Tuition at my perfectly adequate local state extension college is about $200 per credit hour, trade school significantly less and a far better investment.

 

Poverty rate, Germany: 15.7%
https://www.dw.com/en/german-poverty-rising-despite-economic-growth/a-37787327
Poverty rate, US: 12.3%
https://www.census.gov/library/publications/2018/demo/p60-263.html

 

Nope, no homeless in Germany.

 

I'm missing your point. Germans can live like Germans because they are German, with all of the positive cultural values that go with that to create a society like...Germany.

As Germany becomes less German over the next few decades, let's see how they do.

 

Or our freedom of speech.

 

Indeed. In Germany, you can't call someone a Nazi.

 

ha ha, joke's on the libs, eh?

 

Ironic...

 

I have lived, many times, in Germany. There are equivalent ghettos and poverty everywhere throughout Germany, especially in what used to be the eastern part. German standards of living aren't anywhere near what is common for us in the US. Home ownership, just as a single metric vastly better than in Germany. I'm not saying that Germany is poor, but it's kind of like going to any high density population site around the world. Lots of renters. Very little accumulated wealth, etc. Very few elite, and it's designed to continue to work that way. Ask why folks have to spend 16% on their wealth every year? On top of property taxes, use taxes, super high income taxation etc. The standard of living is what's left after the people pay. Everyone I know who is a citizen there has private supplemental health insurance. Almost all of them graduated from private education. Germany has an unemployment rate among immigrants over 40%. They are unable to speak conversational German. Few are willing to employ them.

 

If Sweden and Germany Became US States, They Would be Among the Poorest States

 

Mostly lifestyle choices. Though you do have a point about the numerous social programs. Action by the U.S. federal govt. is probably about the most inefficient way of fighting poverty.

 

Which programs are actually federal? Seems to me it's mostly up to the more local levels to handle those.

 

Federal unemployment insurance. AFDC (Aid to Families with Dependent Children). What used to be called the Food Stamp program (administered by the Dept. of Agriculture). That is just three I can name off the top of my head.

 

I'm sure your kooky right-wing website author knows better than the people of Germany.

 

Lol. Facts know man.

You have some random person on a video anybody can upload, living in the united states, painting broad strokes while ignoring factual data.

 

Not surprising..our company has a division in germany and they get 3x the holidays and whenever they call out sick its never for less than a week and they never do overtime. americans are overworked...thats why u have so many illegals..they want to chill out while we bust ass for their welfare checks...

 

A driver's license in Germany costs $2000 and requires 25 hours of study. They're very serious about driving.

 

I don't believe she lives in the US, she said she visited, probably as a tourist. Note that she was also quite complimentary of the American people and also critical of some Germans in the video.

I am a German who actually lives in the US since about 15 years. I can see her points. With regard to poverty, i think it would be futile to claim that there are no poor in Germany. The cities have their fair share of homeless, although not as bad as in San Francisco. However, you won't find that trailer park poverty of the US working poor like in Appalachia. People who work in Germany may not be able to afford a house (real estate is expensive), but many people are quite fond of their apartments and furnish and decorate them as their home. Apartment living and renting is not frowned upon as a signal of being poor, as it is in the US.

Overall, I would say that living quality in Germany is quite high, maybe higher than in the US. People value things other than work only, they like to go on long vacations, eat outdoors, walk, bike, but drive much less than in the US. Many people don't feel like busting their behind working just to constantly buy stuff they don't need, so they can show off to the neighbors. I think this mentality is taking hold more and more in the US as well, one just has to look at the FIRE movement.