• UK's quality of life worse than those of Ex-Soviet Bloc countries.
    164 replies, posted
[QUOTE=Tu154M;19534519] There you go. Yes, there is a higher unemployment rate. No, there is not more poverty and the rest is just one big stereotype. I am right here, I know what I see and experience.[/QUOTE] higher unemployment means more poverty. which means more financial anxiety and more people looking to the left for answers to their problems, and thinking of the GDR's time as the good old days where they didn't have to worry about putting food on the table or losing their job. as i've said, there's a reason why die linke and east german merchandise and memorabilia are popular. the transition from a planned economy with numerous amounts of social benefits to a market economy where your own future is uncertain never sits well. it didn't sit well for the people of the former USSR, it didn't sit well for the yugoslavs, it didn't sit well for the vietnamese etc, and it's not surprising that it's not sitting well with most east germans. [editline]04:02PM[/editline] east germans are notorious for being unhappy with the social instability of capitalism. you, living there, should know of all people.
[QUOTE=Trotsky;19534424]YOu may think that, Boba_fett. but it's not true. [/QUOTE] THe population density of England is 246/km2.
[QUOTE=Conscript;19534812]higher unemployment means more poverty. which means more financial anxiety and more people looking to the left for answers to their problems, and thinking of the GDR's time as the good old days where they didn't have to worry about putting food on the table or losing their job. as i've said, there's a reason why die linke and east german merchandise and memorabilia are popular. [/QUOTE] There is lower income and generally less wealth, however there's a threshold for poverty and there isn't really a big difference between the people under that here and in the west. The thinking of the GDR as better times does hardly have to do with anyones financial situation. It's just that everyone >30 grew up with it and who doesn't look back on his younger days, remembering them being better than they actually were. In fact, I don't know which eastern Germany you're looking at but the silly commies are a minority here. Just because a bunch of disoriented old people on the countryside can't get their politics straight doesn't make the lefties a popular party. East German memorabilia is popular for the facts I mentioned above and simply because the GDR and everything in it had it's own culture. There wasn't a lot of influence from the western world but east Germany was too German to adapt Russian culture after all. There is something special to stuff from a rather unique country which doesn't even exist anymore. Basically, what you say is what every history book and atlas tells me. Related Fun Fact: Teachers in eastern Germany are advised to keep mentioning of anything that's not negative about the GDR on an absolute minimum.
I dont think the USA should be that high on the list, and I dont think the Netherlands should be that low on the list.
Wtf is Denmark doing there.
[QUOTE=Conscript;19534812] east germans are notorious for being unhappy with the social instability of capitalism. you, living there, should know of all people.[/QUOTE] Mostly everyone in my direct environment has at least average income and is pretty happy with his situation. The ones complaining are the silly lefties, among those quite some <18. But that's not exclusively a German thing.
[QUOTE=Tu154M;19535244]Mostly everyone in my direct environment has at least average income and is pretty happy with his situation. The ones complaining are the silly lefties, among those quite some <18. But that's not exclusively a German thing.[/QUOTE] whhaaa lefties are all evil and i have no facts whaaaa [editline]10:18PM[/editline] [QUOTE=Boba_Fett;19535108]THe population density of England is 246/km2.[/QUOTE] uh, so?
[QUOTE=Trotsky;19535262]whhaaa lefties are all evil and i have no facts whaaaa [/QUOTE] Communism is awesome, right? Drushba, comrade.
[QUOTE=Tu154M;19535298]Communism is awesome, right? Drushba, comrade.[/QUOTE] Uh, what?
[QUOTE=Trotsky;19535262]whhaaa lefties are all evil and i have no facts whaaaa [editline]10:18PM[/editline] uh, so?[/QUOTE] To put it in perspective, the EU population density is estimated at 114/km2, and the US is 32.02/km2. [QUOTE=demisemiquaver;19534421]I don't like the one child rule. I think it's good for a child to have a sibling. All the only-child's I know are slightly odd/boring. And yeah E-arguments are lame but I cannot resist getting involved. Perhaps a reflection on my reluctance to get involved in real life ones.[/QUOTE] I don't like it either, but it may be necessary unless we find other ways to tackle population and its associated problems, such as pollution and climate change.
[QUOTE=Tu154M;19535188]There is lower income and generally less wealth, however there's a threshold for poverty and there isn't really a big difference between the people under that here and in the west.[/quote] there is a difference, but it has to do more with the fact that germans under the poverty line in the former GDR can only think to 20 years ago when there was no such thing. that's one of the big reasons why fondness for the GDR isn't an uncommon thing [QUOTE=Tu154M;19535188]the thinking of the GDR as better times does hardly have to do with anyones financial situation. It's just that everyone >30 grew up with it and who doesn't look back on his younger days, remembering them being better than they actually were.[/quote] of course it does. if everyone in that region had a guaranteed job and a nice source of income, thoughts about the GDR would vanish. except that's not true, and is why people fondly on east germany today. [url=http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,634122,00.html]after all, 57% of people living in the former GDR defend it[/url] [quote]As an apologist for the former East German dictatorship, the young Mecklenburg native shares a majority view of people from eastern Germany. Today, 20 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, 57 percent, or an absolute majority, of eastern Germans defend the former East Germany. "The GDR had more good sides than bad sides. There were some problems, but life was good there," say 49 percent of those polled. Eight percent of eastern Germans flatly oppose all criticism of their former home and agree with the statement: "The GDR had, for the most part, good sides. Life there was happier and better than in reunified Germany today." These poll results, released last Friday in Berlin, reveal that glorification of the former East Germany has reached the center of society. Today, it is no longer merely the eternally nostalgic who mourn the loss of the GDR. "A new form of Ostalgie (nostalgia for the former GDR) has taken shape," says historian Stefan Wolle. "The yearning for the ideal world of the dictatorship goes well beyond former government officials." Even young people who had almost no experiences with the GDR are idealizing it today. "The value of their own history is at stake," says Wolle.[/quote] [QUOTE=Tu154M;19535188]In fact, I don't know which eastern Germany you're looking at but the silly commies are a minority here. Just because a bunch of disoriented old people on the countryside can't get their politics straight doesn't make the lefties a popular party.[/quote] [url=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9c/Bundestagswahl2009_Zweitstimmen.svg]this is not a minority[/url] [QUOTE=Tu154M;19535188]East German memorabilia is popular for the facts I mentioned above and simply because the GDR and everything in it had it's own culture. There wasn't a lot of influence from the western world but east Germany was too German to adapt Russian culture after all. There is something special to stuff from a rather unique country which doesn't even exist anymore.[/quote] That's ridiculous. If capitalism had more appealing characteristics to east germans then what the GDR had, then east german culture would have been forgotten after the fall of the berlin wall. [QUOTE=Tu154M;19535188]Related Fun Fact: Teachers in eastern Germany are advised to keep mentioning of anything that's not negative about the GDR on an absolute minimum.[/QUOTE] That might have to do with the fact that people are becoming increasingly alienated from the conservative german state, which after the fall of the wall has overpowered the conception of life in the GDR.
Well I'm out of this. I'd like to see you cite one source that's not popular media but first hand experience. I've heard all of this and can confirm you that this is not a sad, grey land full of horribly depressed and poor people who want the GDR back.
Portugal is so underrated. [editline]09:46PM[/editline] Though if someone offered me the chance to leave Portugal and go to the USA for a year or two, I would gladly accept it. I have never left this small-ass country.
Spiegal.de is staunchly anti-communist and anti-left and follows the same western dogma that existed during the cold war that map was done by the government I don't believe the former east germany is a grey depressed area, I'm saying that it has its own social problems largely stemming from re-integration that cause a majority of its people to look back on a system and a society that didn't have such problems. If east germany was absolutely a poor depressed area then there would have been a revolution by now. Clearly that's not the case. Rather, the way capitalism works is causing east germans to compare socialism to it on a personal level. I would say it has more to do with adjusting to capitalism then east germany being poor and depressed, but that's not to say the latter does not exist or is a small problem.
[QUOTE=Trotsky;19534424]YOu may think that, Boba_fett. but it's not true. [/QUOTE] Then again England's population alone is almost 61 million people, Britain is starting to turn concrete if you get my meaning.
Where the fuck is Sweden? I thought we were in the top 25 atleast.
[QUOTE=Conscript;19535949] I don't believe the former east Germany is a grey depressed area, I'm saying that it has its own social problems largely stemming from re-integration that cause a majority of its people to look back on a system and a society that didn't have such problems. If east Germany was absolutely a poor depressed area then there would have been a revolution by now. Clearly that's not the case. Rather, the way capitalism works is causing east Germans to compare socialism to it on a personal level. I would say it has more to do with adjusting to capitalism then east Germany being poor and depressed, but that's not to say the latter does not exist or is a small problem.[/QUOTE] I have been to east Germany and yes, the Germans there are very different to the western Germans, the western ones regard the eastern Germans as weird people. And well, the East is less developed because the Soviets didn't bother with looking after it, it fell apart, especially Eastern Berlin which its buildings were still covered in bullet holes from WWII (and the fact they were literally falling down), its taking some time to bring it all back together. The Germans are doing what the British do and they're just repairing old buildings which are obviously harder to maintain.
I live in the North of England and I'm fine thanks.
Those ratings are all wrong.
If this is case, it is time for UK to go and join the GLORIOUS REVOLUTION. I have found a suitable flag. [img]http://img697.imageshack.us/img697/2126/uobgovnp0.jpg[/img] But seriously, these rankings are bullshit. The magazine it comes from is not exactly the go-to source for these kinds of things. Though maybe the guy was trying to troll epically or something :downs:
someone plays kaiser reich
[QUOTE=Zeke129;19534648]The UN isn't all that good at resolving conflicts but when it comes to humanitarian issues they're the people to go to.[/QUOTE] Yeah bring in their peacekeeping forces. I'm sure they've got all the rape out of their system now. [editline]04:01PM[/editline] [QUOTE=Conscript;19535602][url=http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,634122,00.html]after all, 57% of people living in the former GDR defend it[/url][/QUOTE] And Russians practically worship Stalin. (Hint: propaganda)
[QUOTE=Trotsky;19531401]You don't watch much TV, do you? and the cost of living is actually, compared to the rest of the world, very good. [/QUOTE] I only watch the BBC, most other stuff is shit.
Why is Canada behind the US? They're basically the same other than climate.
UK has Top Gear, everywhere else automatically loses :smug:
Fuck yeah. (I live in Czech Republic). But I wonder what moron did that research. This place is a hellhole.
[QUOTE=lazyguy;19552219] And Russians practically worship Stalin. (Hint: propaganda)[/QUOTE] both post-socialist states demonize the socialism that existed before, so it's not propaganda. fondness for both the GDR and the USSR comes from mainly the fact that they were worker oriented and life had less worries, along with the culture that came with it. but when a majority of people in these former socialist countries have a positive view of their past, and it's their former enemies that propagate a negative view, who really is espousing propaganda?
Ahh, yes. Comrades Lithuanians. :ussr:
[QUOTE=lazyguy;19552219]Yeah bring in their peacekeeping forces. I'm sure they've got all the rape out of their system now. [/QUOTE] I believe he was referring to gathering data for livability indexes and what not. I'd trust a UN report on a nation's conditions far more than a half-assed list from a financial retirement magazine.
[QUOTE=Conscript;19556587]both post-socialist states demonize the socialism that existed before, so it's not propaganda. fondness for both the GDR and the USSR comes from mainly the fact that they were worker oriented and life had less worries, along with the culture that came with it. but when a majority of people in these former socialist countries have a positive view of their past, and it's their former enemies that propagate a negative view, who really is espousing propaganda?[/QUOTE] Putin pretty much had it nailed when he said "Whoever does not miss the Soviet Union has no heart. Whoever wants it back has no brain"
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