THINGS PEOPLE DISLIKE ABOUT GERMANY (but I do not)

:_goat:Complaining is the national sport of Germany and many people are not afraid to express their dislikes about the country. There is however a difference between complaining and actually disliking a particular piece of a society/country. In today's video I go over a few complaints that have turned into legitimate dislikes people have regarding Germany:_hayley:

I see my fellow Germans constantly crying over the fact that no one goes onto the streets to protest stuff but then when strikes from unions happening, they get mad. like what the fuck do you want? I work for DB and I have been working under one of the lowest contracts there and let me tell you, the chaos these days happening is necessary and I am glad, SO glad our union finally stands strong. I am literally praying rn that unlimited strikes will start and Germany will stand still and I don't give a damn about the Ppl having to go to work complaining because THAT'S WHAT STRIKES DO!! we deserve proper payment and I am so done with media and our oh so mighty CEO for painting us as villains when there are thousands of workers not even reaching minimum wage. it is our given right to strike and if people don't understand why we do it, they are just selfish

You forgot to mention there are LESS commercial breaks in the public TV channels. AND starting 8pm there are NO commercials at all until 12pm!

Haha, the cashier thing is funny. I as a German always challenge myself, buying groceries once a week for our family which tends to be a huge amount of things to pack, to finish packing the same moment the cashier is done scanning it. Sometimes I even have to wait for the cashier to scan bc I am so quick at packing. That always makes my day, haha!!

The UK also has something like the Rundfunkgebühr (TV licence fee), that fund the BBC. The arguments for and against that are pretty much the same here I would say. Personally I support a publicly funded broadcaster.

Have lived and studied in GDR ( East Germany at that time), just have a lot of respect for Germans for their love( or its not a love, its a rules...maybe) for order, cleanness and common sense, thanks to Germans i am who i am!

I also appreciate the Rundfunk. In the past I did not use it, but two years ago I thought, to myself, I'm paying for thus I might as well use it. Now I mostly listen to the rundfunk radio and I think the content they make is really good. And radio is also a bit more diverse with the viewpoints then tv.

As an American 15 years in Germany, I would not say that Germans avoid risks, rather I'd say that Germans are cautious and tend to be success-oriented. Further, especially when driving, I like that Germans are cautious. Many Germans seem very aware that to act impulsively or to take non-calculated risks can often lead to unnecessary complications and costs / losses. re: caution and driving -- In Boston, where I lived for 30 years, it seemed like a large proportion of drivers were 1) impulsive 2) impatient and 3) relying on other drivers to take the necessary measure to avoid having an accident with them.

Can we please appreciate the camera work during the add of the desk?

I'm glad that you defended the strikers.

I‘m German and I take risks: Nearly every day I left my house and walk to the bakery for Teilchen. 🤪

Hayley, all the best on your new journey! We will certainly miss you on this side of the Big Pond. Will you continue vlogging from Florida?

Hey Hayley, in an international comparison, Germans are not very keen to go on strike. The annual average is less than 10 days of strike per 1,000 employees, in France it is about 10 times as many. (Less strikes in the USA than in Germany, much more in Canada.) In most sectors, strikes are rare and short. The railways and the airlines are exceptions, for structural reasons.

The fast checkout operators are OK as long as there is plenty of space for the checked out items. I've been to smaller supermarkets where there is just a tiny shelf, sometimes with a perspex screen that limits your access to the goods. You have to take stuff off that shelf at breakneck speed before it starts falling on the floor!

Hey Haley! Thank you for your Video! 😊 Addressing the „Rundfunkgebühren“… As a student, I always complained about these mandatory fees, in which I never saw a sense in. But NOW I see the democratic relevance of it! Due to its (mostly) independent crowdfunded financial base, the press can keep its independent mind and can address and criticize companies or even the government. Compared with the US, the influence of big companies' money is less, and we don’t have a „Staatsfersehen“ like in autocratic states like Russia. There might be a tendency to a more left political mind within the independent media, but it is not due to a financial dependence on any political party or the government. I think this is a big and important thing for our society. A free and financially independent press is the fourth force of a democracy.

People who complain about the frequency of strikes in Germany have never been to France, the UK or Italy. The mistake people make when they think cashiers are moving too fast is that they want to bag things, not just put them in the cart and take it to the car and bag them there. In Germany there are rules on how to change the rules, in some countries it just happens by accident. I gladly pay the broadcasting fee, because the public broadcasters are obliged to tell the truth, and if they do not comply, you can take action against them. Furthermore, they do not interrupt their programs every 5 minutes for advertising.

Ich freue mich auf Dein Schlachtfeld! 😂 About Rundfunkgebühren: on major idea of that is to make the broadcasting stations more independent from different organisations, economic companies, an also the state itself. Private stations depend typically on advertising: the more peopele see your program the more money you earn. Leading to low quality, but high viewing rates. The most people want entertainment instead of culture or reliable information. On the other hand, stations driven by the state will more likely depend on the current government an possibly suppress other point of views. Our "Öffentlich Rechtlicher Rundfunk" (public-law broadcasting) is a way between this two poles: every household has to pay this broadcasting fee, PLUS the statios will also broadcast some advertising in the afternoon (making the fees cheaper) which leads to the situation that the stations get money from the citizens PLUS from industry and comerce making the stations more independent.

The desk looks amazing, very practical. Do they have a english version website.

I don’t think, we (the Germans) are AVOIDING risks, but I think for us there is no reason for taking risks.

Schlachtfeld? I'm with you all the way: Strikes ... not too prevalent in Germany anyway, in other countries they are worse. Cashiers ... well, sometimes annoying but overall - yeah, it is a quick shopping ... Avoiding risks - you are not obliged to take a risk. It's cultural. And it seems to work. Rules: well, look, I rarely ever feel a bad impact. And where they have it, I look at other countries and I see that there are stupid rules in other places, too! I love watching TV and listening to radio and using certain Mediatheken without adverts.