I lived in Germany in 2010, briefly. It was… Interesting. I was in a small town, which clearly impacted upon my experience, but yeah…
If nothing else, I certainly got the feeling that teenagers (I was 15, I think) had more comparative “freedom” than we did in Aus, but then again, thinking back on it, maybe that was just me…
I was probably just much more… Liberated, per se, than I was at home. But honestly who knows. 🤷🏻♂️
There were a lot of things I did there, that I had never done before, I’ll say that much. And that, at least, I do not regret.
Their entire culture is based around letting people believe they the right to do things many western countries consider bad, or just repressed in many countries, but it's government sanctioned 'rebellion'. Actual free thought and freedoms are linked with Nazism and far-right extremism, even when the exact opposite. It's how they maintain order. Whores and underage drinking are their bread and circuses. Germans are well-trained dogs, barking only at the appropriate times.
Another aspect is that the Germans encourage/direct the natural anger and rebellious nature of the youth (and perpetually emotionally undeveloped) towards approved targets. This keeps dissent against their authoritarian bullshit down. Think of it as having goats eating the weeds so you don't have to mow them down yourself.
Honestly, on that trip, Berlin and Hamburg were amazing. And I’ve lived in Australian cities which are larger than either. So…
I guess that says something.
I think Europeans have a few things right that us “Antipodeans” just don’t. Like… Treating teenagers like actual sentient beings, for example…
And just… It’s hard to explain how cloying the Australian nanny state is, everywhere you go.
I just didn’t feel that, to quite the same extent, in Germany. They even replaced my camera, which I bought in Australia, because I broke it, but was made by the same company (i.e. Canon, or whatever) and was under warranty…
I guarantee you that the same wouldn’t apply, if you tried bringing in a German camera, and getting a replacement under warranty, in an Australian store… 😑
Things often look different when you're a guest. Or looking in from the outside, in general. As opposed to when you're stuck right in the middle of it as a matter of course.
Probably true…
I lived in Germany in 2010, briefly. It was… Interesting. I was in a small town, which clearly impacted upon my experience, but yeah…
If nothing else, I certainly got the feeling that teenagers (I was 15, I think) had more comparative “freedom” than we did in Aus, but then again, thinking back on it, maybe that was just me…
I was probably just much more… Liberated, per se, than I was at home. But honestly who knows. 🤷🏻♂️
There were a lot of things I did there, that I had never done before, I’ll say that much. And that, at least, I do not regret.
Their entire culture is based around letting people believe they the right to do things many western countries consider bad, or just repressed in many countries, but it's government sanctioned 'rebellion'. Actual free thought and freedoms are linked with Nazism and far-right extremism, even when the exact opposite. It's how they maintain order. Whores and underage drinking are their bread and circuses. Germans are well-trained dogs, barking only at the appropriate times.
Another aspect is that the Germans encourage/direct the natural anger and rebellious nature of the youth (and perpetually emotionally undeveloped) towards approved targets. This keeps dissent against their authoritarian bullshit down. Think of it as having goats eating the weeds so you don't have to mow them down yourself.
Honestly, on that trip, Berlin and Hamburg were amazing. And I’ve lived in Australian cities which are larger than either. So…
I guess that says something.
I think Europeans have a few things right that us “Antipodeans” just don’t. Like… Treating teenagers like actual sentient beings, for example…
And just… It’s hard to explain how cloying the Australian nanny state is, everywhere you go.
I just didn’t feel that, to quite the same extent, in Germany. They even replaced my camera, which I bought in Australia, because I broke it, but was made by the same company (i.e. Canon, or whatever) and was under warranty…
I guarantee you that the same wouldn’t apply, if you tried bringing in a German camera, and getting a replacement under warranty, in an Australian store… 😑
Little things like that.
Things often look different when you're a guest. Or looking in from the outside, in general. As opposed to when you're stuck right in the middle of it as a matter of course.
That is very true, indeed.
But nonetheless, Australia is still a pretty oppressive place, these days…
We didn’t just attack dog walkers. “We” also killed the rescue dogs, remember..? For “safety”… 😑