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#1 15:45 January 8, 2010 by bdk9988
Personally, I would rather have a sister in a whorehouse than a second cousin in France.
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#2 15:55 January 8, 2010 by hggal298
No surprise to me! Isn't that why we live here as expats?
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#3 16:44 January 8, 2010 by West_Indian
Yeah if you ent an Auslander, Germany would be tops or i'm not seeing the big picture?
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#4 16:47 January 8, 2010 by Thames
Tell me something I don't know. However, as the globelists and pushers of multi kulti nonsense continue there work at destroying Germany's culture we won't be able to say the same thing in 20 years time.
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#5 17:52 January 8, 2010 by Fredfeldman
Germany will indeed be over shortly along with the rest of Europe. It will be their own fault - as the middle east wars reach a critical mass the europeans are being caught with their pants down wondering why Uncle Sam couldn't protect them the way he always has in the past. "We have seen the enemy and he is us." (Pogo).
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#6 18:01 January 8, 2010 by OkieinBerlin
¦quot;In Germany, everything works and works well,¦quot; it said.
-- hmmm, I don't think that these guys have ever really lived here...
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#7 18:10 January 8, 2010 by martell
"High average wages"??? Where in Germany? And over 50 % off from the income for taxes, healthcare and pensions? Plus increasing prices for everything?
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#8 19:18 January 8, 2010 by Keefy
Quality health insurance, high average wages, and quality infrastructure are also an important draw.
?In Germany, everything works and works well,?
6 months of chaos on the Berlin S-Bahn says it doesn't.
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#9 20:00 January 8, 2010 by swimmer
Indeed. I think the right wording is more like: ?In Germany, everything works and works well.......unless you actually live here, in which case it doesn't?
The stuff about "high average wages" is a bit misleading too, at least if the data in a pay survey I've just been reading in Stern is anything to go by. It also ignores much higher tax. Although I bet a lot of the satisfied "international living" respondents don't actually pay that, of course, they just take the high gross and expect the locals to pay 50% tax for the "great infrastructure" they consume and rave about.
If the average doctor's gross pay (before those whacking deductions) is 6k a month, an estage agent or head of internal audit a bit over 4k and tile fitters are earning 2k, then those are hardly numbers to excite a lot of their British or American counterparts. Similarly, all those older Americans who apparently form the basis for this result, might not be so excited were they living off German pensions.
And real estate is cheap? Not in the successful places people want to live, it ain't. Many Brits would balk at the prices in the successful, sought after
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#10 21:47 January 8, 2010 by kent
that report is nothing more than BOGUS PROPAGANDA , hogwash
the tax structure is insane, prices are waaay to high because of artifically inflated tax structures.
real estate is a JOKE 200,000k for a small two bedroom APARTMENT in munich when that same cash will buy you a HOUSE withL;AND in the burbs of sacramento california near the mountains with driving distance of san fran and napa.
military retirements i have met some of those guys they just enjoy riding their harleys and like the none gun culture and the fact that the cops are not cowboys cant say i blame them for that and is one of the main reasons i am over here.
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#11 22:36 January 8, 2010 by So36
Yes, go live in the suburbs of Sacramento. Enjoy.
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#12 01:18 January 9, 2010 by frankiep
Comparing the SUBURBS of Sacramento with a large and extremely cultural city like Munich is ridiculous. Hell, comparing Sacramento itself with Munich is ridiculous also.
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#13 02:49 January 9, 2010 by sc123
I would much rather live in munich than in sacramento, let me ask you kent what exited has ever happend in sacramento it is a backwater city have fun there
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#14 06:15 January 9, 2010 by wood artist
Surveys such as this are always going to generate questionable results, largely because they assume some things not apparent to everyone.
If you live in the US, and do not have health care the German system, regardless of taxes, looks pretty darn inviting. If you live in parts of the US where Spanish has become the local language, you might well feel that living in Germany, where German is the official language, looks pretty good, even if you can't speak it worth a darn. If you live anywhere, someplace seems to have things better.
In the UK people continually complain about the National Health Care system, but they only have that for comparison. Sure it's not perfect, but it's a bunch better than the mess in the US.
So yes, Germany has its problems, just like everywhere else. But looking in from the outside, those problems might seem minimal to those which we live with every day. The S-Bahn looks pretty good (most the time) compared to a complete lack of such service in most US cities.
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#15 06:25 January 9, 2010 by Bushdiver
I'm not retired military but have lived here for 42 years. I don't agree that the cost of living, climate or economy is better here than in the states. For one, most average German workers have a take home pay of €1,300 to €1,500 approx $1,900 to $2,200 a month. The prices here for practically anything you buy or rent are way higher than in America. An American in the US earning $1,300 to $1,500 a month can live much better than what a German can on his take home pay. The tax situation here is plain crazy and there's no end in sight to the tax madness. I would agree that it is safer here than in the US although the Germans don't tend to report all the crimes like they do in the US. I think what has kept me here all these years hasn't been my sole love of Germany but the fact that I can travel to most parts of Europe in hours.
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#16 08:38 January 9, 2010 by Fatz Lewinski
I come from the UK but I've spent half of my adult life in Germany. I don't live in Munich but in Augsburg where real estate is reasonable. I'm not sure that comparing Germany and the US or UK is relevant.
The wages and taxes vary greatly across countries. In the UK, the disposable income seems higher but the indirect taxing on petrol, alcohol, etc. is ridiculous. OK; you can argue that there are life choices there but consider the methods of taxation in the UK are devious: its a one pot system whereas in Germany at least you get some insight on where your deductions are going.
For me its not the cost but the quality of living that is much higher in Germany. My kids are in education under the Bavarian system and the quality,breath and control mechanisms of the curriculum are of a quality not seen by my sister's kids, both of whom are going to a semi-private, church school which my sister had to move house to get access to.
Describe the health care process to someone from the UK and their jaws drop: "What, you can just make an appointment with a cardiologist in your high street?" Yep, no lengthy wait for appointments at the hospital here. The NHS, bless it, is awful in comparison to Germany and, no I am not privately insured here. Good old DAK!
To the comments on housing. UK: Bad construction, no cellars, lack of controls over internal modifcations! I started out in Germany in low income jobs and my first flat here was crap but every residence I've had since has been way better than anything I lived in the UK. Never been to Sacremento but the San Diego region was certainly comparable to, if not more expensive than Munich. Oceans and mountains will always add a premium - hence my residency in Augsburg. Could Augsburg be the Sacremento of Bayern?
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#17 10:27 January 9, 2010 by Steviegee
hey guys, Germany isn¦#39;t such a bad place, its just full of German¦#39;s LOL. I am a brit and have lived here since the early 80ties. The only problem that I have experienced is its bureaucratic nonsense and political setup, but I guess we are in a way, responsible for that. Apart from that it isn¦#39;t much different to any other industrialised country. Perhaps you would like to read see these statistics which give a clearer picture of many aspects of the country¦#39;s infrastructure.
Cheers!
http://www.destatis.de/jetspeed/portal/cms/
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#18 13:29 January 9, 2010 by allhappy
For living,not so sure true or false,but for most of the people-they are cold,mean and simply inventors of wickedness.
They should be rated the Worst Being.
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#19 11:13 January 10, 2010 by pumbaadpig
I would have to agree with this article on some of the living conditions. Although Internet Infrastructure SUCKS! I think it's a good place tolive if you FIT IN.
It doesn't take into account people who are a little darker than tan living in a little Dorf that may have few minority residence except for a few Asian Brides, that it may take some adjustment. Despite the criticism of racism in the U.S. and growing up in the south most of my life, I never really experienced it or felt it until I moved here to Germany. But hey, what do we "Murikans" do...Kill Em with Kindness! =D
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#20 13:04 January 10, 2010 by DK_India
I kind of agree with the rating for Germany, not sure if this would stay the same in the coming years though!
cost of living - definately not that high, when you compare to the rest of Western Europe and UK & Swiss.
culture and leisure - preserved well
economy - is among the top economies, but I am skeptical to say if this would stay so, in the next 5 years or so. People are less risk taking, mentality of savings in all the Germans, this is not the best attitude in the times of recession. If Germany adapts to the dynamic attitude required to sustain in today's global world, it would do much better in the future.
environment, health: policies are people-friendly, makes some people too lazy, since they have more than basics without having to struggle for it. Younger people have it easy and served ready food hot on the table, might make them more lazy as compared to their ancestors.
infrastructure - Good, No or less population keeps the infrastructure going for years, without needing to expand.
safety - It is a safe country.
climate - sucks, but with the global warming, you cannot use this as a basis for comparision!
All in all, I view this rating appropriate, esp. cause rating is always comparative analysis and in that I think Germany stands well at 4th rank. Even though, if you ask Germans, you would see them cribbing about Infrastructure, etc etc...You have to have experience in developing and other developed economies to be able to justify your argument!
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