German Mentality and Economy

[Alex Linder]

If you are really looking for an underlying cultural reason for contemporary German fiscal politics, a protestant work ethic that sees debt as morally wrong, a tradition of manufacturing feeding a distrust of anything that seems "conjured up" out of thin air and a strong middle-class belief in living within your means are more important factors than a single historical event, however traumatic it might have been.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisf...hyperinflation

[Alex Linder]

I am also a non-German living in Germany, and I laughed most of the way through this article... mostly because it is actually very accurate in many many ways. But also because I, too, have discovered that I often come across as critical and condescending by focusing on the (MANY MANY) differences between Germans and our culture. The truth is, however, as Georg has written, it is mostly the older folks, especially rural people and those with little exposure to anything besides the little "dorf" where they grew up. I have found that yes, on the one hand it can be incredibly difficult to get a German to loosen up and smile.... but on the other hand, once they do you will discover that they have the biggest and softest hearts you can imagine. And while they are incredibly crusty, rigid, negative,critical, nitpicking, resistant to change, and defensive people (generalizing of course) I have discovered that they are this way because it is the culture in which they have grown up. If you were always criticized and verbally taken apart, you would also grow a thick skin and begin relating to everyone else around you in the exact same way. If you were raised in a society where change was equated with uncertainty and instability, you would come to fear it too. If you were raised under a government which dictated to you every aspect of your life, beginning with mandatory schooling at the age of six (yes, mandatory, this is enforced by threat of police visits and possible removal of parenting rights) then you would come to view authority as the final ultimate word and you would submit yourself to something if you have never known any other way of seeing the world. I could say so much more if I didnt have to hurry all of a sudden, but lets just sum it up. Germans are EVERYTHING they are stereotyped to be, but Germans are also some of the most beautiful hearted people you will ever meet and the criticisms we heap on them is not anymore deserved than their stereotyping of us Americans in some of the demeaning ways I have heard.

http://www.expatica.com/de/life-in-g...ink_15895.html

[Alex Linder]

Bavarian joke about the Prussians:

Q - "What do you call a Prussian who hasn't got piles?"

A - "A pure and simple arsehole."

[Alex Linder]

DDR humour:

What's the difference between socialism and orgasm? With socialism you moan for a lot longer.

What's 20 meters long and has no teeth? The front row of the Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party.

[Alex Linder]

Wurst displays the typical stubborn nature of the German mentality never to admit to a fault. Attack Amero-british ways. Standard from. Self criticism is and never has been a part of the German character. Neither has irony and a sense of humour.

[Alex Linder]

But....

for every Yin there's a Yang.

- Because imho Germany's political centre of gravity is centre left it doesn't have a lawless underclass like we in Britain do. Germans are some of the widest travelled in the world. Almost every obscure place I travelled to I met fantastic Germans (bloody glad to have a rest from the Rools)

- Because business is regulated more in a social market there are still small independent retailers left in small towns. I'm thinking food here in particular. Still wonderful bakeries on every street corner. What nationality are the bakeries in Kathmandu and on the traveller trail? German!

- a wonderful sense of tradition and seasonality. spargel season and Christmas are two of my faves. Tomorrow is Martinstag which is still wonderful. Our traditions in Britain have been eroded by Americanisation and political correctness.

I've been here long enough to know there is a positive side, that overall the quality of life is higher here than in UK, esp for raising a family. But I feel entitled to have a good moan about the downside of Germany. This is TT after all.

[muslimsareathreat]

Originally Posted by Alex Linder

Wurst displays the typical stubborn nature of the German mentality never to admit to a fault. Attack Amero-british ways. Standard from. Self criticism is and never has been a part of the German character. Neither has irony and a sense of humour.

Which means we are so much alike the English then.
Stubborn and Arrogant Warmongers.
Well, the least germans are still hating the Allies cause of the WW2 which is understandable.
If you work all the time to pay for the E.U. there is not much space left to be honest.