How living in Germany trumps living in the States (worth a read)

The question, it seems, is are you more likely to be happier living in Germany or America.
I've lived in both countries however was in my 20s when I lived in Germany but simply think that people who are unhappy are going to be unhappy regardless of whether they live in either Germany or America.
Some of the best years of my life were spent bicycling through the wine growing regions of Alsace Lorraine, the Alps, Black Forest but with my current abilities, interests, hobbies etc am better off in America now.

 

Germany basically has a variation of the Hindu caste system, though a person can somewhat advance a little across their life. There are no rags to riches stories in Germany. You may not work any type of skilled job or go into business for yourself without government permission.

For example, a elderly German doll maker, a wood carver, sold thousands of wooden dollars at top dollar in the USA (many hundreds of dollars each) plus numerous other types of wood carvings. He often traveled back and forth to Germany and still has the beautiful, fairytalish large family cottage in the Black Forest passed down generation to generation. When fully retiring in his 70s he wanted to permanently return to Germany and do some custom carving for a little income but also because it was the love of his life.

The Germany government told him no, he could not sell anything he carved. The only thing he could do is try to find someone else who is licensed and work for that person for many years, that person making the profits off his work. Maybe, someday, in many years, possibly he could sell wood carvings for profit. That's Germany. "Freedom" does not exist in Germany. If you say the wrong thing, Germany sends you to prison or the a mental institution - such as saying anything against Islam or any practices of it. You may not work at any job the government does not give you permission unless a menial labor job. You may not start a business. There can be no rags to riches stories because of taxes, government permission is required and maximum income limitations.

When someone claims it is better living in Germany it is the claim that being required to be a worker bee of the hive is a desirable life. As long as you don't have any ambition or which to be anything but one of the worker-livestock, you'll do ok because German human livestock is treated humanely.

 

I lived in Mannheim from 84-86 and it was great. I was in HS on an American base, and it is an experience that I wouldn't trade for the world. My buddies and I could go anywhere we wanted on the Strauss Bahn or the bus, and we did.

We could drink beer at any gahsthaus, pub or imbis without even being asked how old we were. We could buy cigarettes and beer out of vending machines at the strauss stop.

I worked as a grocery bagger at the commissary on post plus all my neighbors paid me to sweep the stairwells and parking lot when it was their turn (military housing rules), so I always had money.

We were metal heads, so the concerts were always great. We only got weed (terrible) one time while I was there, but we could get hashish anytime. It was very strong. The GIs were awesome and we would always hang out with them and get drunk as skunks. Speaking of getting drunk, Octoberfest was a drunk fest above and beyond anything I have ever seen in the states.

The girls were sweet, but some of them didn't shave their legs so that was weird. Most of the girls I talked to were Americans, so it didn't really matter anyway.

I traveled the country a little, but mostly just around Mannheim and Heidelberg (Worms). My dad would always haul ass on the autobahn, but we would still get smoked by the Germans. They would be literally flying.

I almost got ran over on the autobahn adjacent to our village. My buddy lived on the economy and we would all skip school at his house. His dad kept a stocked liquor cabinet and never knew when we drank out of it. But to get to his house we had to either walk way down to a pedestrian bridge or run across and climb an embankment right by his house. On the way back, and highly intoxicated I fell down on the autobahn. A car whizzed right in front of my face. I got up and ran across to the other side where I collapsed. I was so glad I survived. It was a section of the autobahn where they had a speed limit of 100 kmh because it was so close to the city, but they were still flying

There was a little lake just off post that we would swim at, and sometimes there would be naked people swimming. It was weird to me because I grew up here in the US. It froze over and my buddies and I walked across it. I am so lucky to be alive....LOL

There was some woods outside our village we called buffalo forest, that had old Nazi bunkers and bomb craters. We would hang out there a lot and climb on top of the hangers. Some people would repel off the front, but we never did. We would stand in the bomb craters and smoke hash so no one could see us...LOL We were at eye level to the ground.

Prostitution was legal on one street called P street. We went down there once and looked at the women sitting in the windows. To be honest it was sad. They were all beautiful and sexual, but I could never bring myself to pay for a hooker. I feel bad for a woman in that position (no pun intended).

For me personally, it was great times. That said, as a parent, I would not want my son to live there. I was way too wild, with way too much freedom for a kid like me. I am so lucky to be alive after that.

To answer the OP, I love it here in the US, but I would not complain if I had to go back. But, if I had to choose, I pick the US. It's bigger with more to do and freedom is always better than the alternative.

 

What about cost of living? Wages? How easy is it to find a job?

 

I do not know if women not being able to walk outside on New Year's Eve without risking being sexually assaulted or Jihadis slamming trucks into crowds on the street are signs of a safe society,

 

Then move.

My mother is German (now a naturalized America), so I understand Germany fairly well. My one first cousin is German. He wants to live in the U.S. He works hard. He would like to be able to shop on Sundays. He loves Wal-Mart, and always shops at one whenever he comes over. He likes not having a dozen different recycling bins when he visits here. (and in Germany, you get fined for not recycling correctly).

 

If anyone is going to immigrate legally to Germany, they'd better take money with them -- and plenty of it. I don't know exactly what exceptions the Germans make for 'immigrants' from 'shithole' countries, but if you're any other kind of immigrant, you aren't just welcomed with open arms and immediately provided with a lavish welfare smorgasbord, courtesy of the German government. No. If, zum beispiel, you're a White American, you go through a rigorous process toward becoming a German citizen, including proving that you have the ability -- in hand -- to provide for yourself and pay all of your own expenses for quite a long period of time. Oh, and you must demonstrate that you can speak, read, and write German. Yeah. An "official" language! What a concept! -- "Ich bin erstaunt!"

Think it over. Germany has changed a great deal since the fall of the Soviet Union. Forget all about crisply efficient, high-quality companies worked by 'little elves in the Black Forest'. Forget all about joyous Bavarians in lederhosen on endless holiday in the Alps. Forget about driving everywhere on the Autobahn as fast as you like. It's gone.... Today, it actually IS a lot like the United States, except that everything is very crowded, everything is horribly expensive, nearly everything is monstrously taxed and/or restricted, etc., etc. Want to have fun? Try parking even a very small car in Köln, München, or better yet, BERLIN.

Want to get away from as much of the suffocating, agonized bullshit of 21st-century as possible? Go to some small coastal village in northern Scotland, or maybe take the Russians up on their offer for free land in Siberia. But, Russia has its own requirements -- like proving that you can read and speak Russian.

 

Quoted the wrong comment.
Btw, that claim of yours "a wrong word ..." is utter crap, as pretty much everything you say about Germany. Got a problem with the country, obviously.

 

You made a mistake, unfortunately, you posted a reasonable question and, of course, expected a reasonable answer. Ain't gonna happen on this board. I live in Germany and trust me when I say 99% of what you read on this forum about Germany is ridiculously incorrect at best, utterly stupid at worst. The answers in this thread here are just 'face palm'. Unfortunately, there are too many people with a rather weird agenda towards certain countries.
If you're really interested, send me a pm and I'll gladly go into more detail.