I need to link this blog again, because Jesse just wrote some very interesting things on how he perceived the difference between Germany/ Europe and his own home country, the USA. Cultural theory agreed on the fact that it takes the mirror of "The Other" to understand the self better. Personally I think, German politicians (and inhabitants of this country...) should pay a lot more attention to how their country is perceived by open-eyed and open-minded travellers from other systems, like him. They tend to forget about the good things and we all know how easy it is to loose something that is really really good (like good education for example, or values and laws people agreed upon, or a sense for community and the sharing of resources). And once lost, it might be hard to regain. Some things are better preserved than gambled about out of a new fashion or lazy mindset, that can be more fun and more rewarding than gambling.
I am looking forward to read more of Jesse's impressions.
(and to finish my thesis to keep on rocking this world inside the next level of the great game - work in progress, as usual ... )
1 comment:
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Also for welfare state issues and stuff, it is pretty good here, but it gets difficult because many people abuse our system like grabbing money from the state and bringing it somewhere else.
Again, less responsibilty at times, also for folks who don't give a damn about generation contracts like you get security and a very good education during your youth, then you "pay the people back" by using this education to the best for the country as a whole. Gonna be a big deal in the future....
The US also has a Social Security Crisis, but ours is happening now. It's more or less accepted knowledge that unless the system changes in a serious way my generation will not be receiving any social security in our old age. This is because our incomes are currently not providing enough money to pay for our parents generation, which was enormous (the baby boom). However they can't just stop giving them money so they're doing even more deficit spending than they usually are. As if our economy wasn't bad enough we're already setting up for another crash.
Had an interesting discussion with Vesna last night about the german welfare system and how although it's not terribly different in function it is different in philosophy. In the US if you get any money from the government the way you feel towards it is not gratitude or the feeling that you owe them something but rather that you deserved what you got. Maybe this is because our government makes it such a hassle to get any money out of it. In Germany it seems like they just give and then kind of guilt you into giving back.
Thanks for the blog shout-out!
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