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A tax code worthy of American emulation.
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12-24-2008, 12:23 AM
NeverMind wrote: So what was it like being alive in 1503? Geesh, do you people read this stuff on Drudge? 1988-90
12-24-2008, 12:33 AM
Black Landlord wrote:I lived in Germany for 6 years, "on the economy" as you folks would say. I felt very sorry for the americans living in their little american McMayberries, completely "protected" from learning anything about a foreign culture. Just curious-- how did you meet these germans you knew? I made friends all over, some friends of friends, some were the other renters in the building, going to the annual volksmarches around, going out drinking, I made some good friends over coffee at the local coffee house. One I almost brought home. Some were thirty somethings still in college because they still could be, some were out working from being a auto mechanic, to clerking in a shop. All of them were very much settled on the fact that being working poor is as good as it gets, so there is no point in dreaming of anything better. Like I said Very happy indeed.
12-24-2008, 03:49 AM
I was there at the same time, with friends in the same age range.
It was popular among that age group to be sort of a neo-hippie, rejecting modern values (which typically were referred to as "jeder Scheiß der aus Amerika kommt") and living for today. Wake up, make tea, roll a cigarette, drink tea and read the newspaper, take a nap. The older generation referred to them as "well-fed". They really were neo-hippies, the product of the prosperity of their parents, just like here in the sixties. I don't get your comment about having your career chosen for you at age 12 (were you in east germany?), or how it relates to drugging and boozing and living a happy-go-lucky lifestyle. 
12-24-2008, 05:08 AM
Black Landlord wrote: The German secondary school system is far different than ours. Teachers recommend/decide what type of secondary school a student will attend after the fourth grade. Some students attend a school that is designed to prep them for University, while others are sent to schools designed to prepare them for a vocational life. Since very few children in the fourth grade have any idea of what they want to do in life, these teachers are indeed deciding what someone will eventually become.
12-24-2008, 05:16 AM
freeradical wrote: The German secondary school system is far different than ours. Teachers recommend/decide what type of secondary school a student will attend after the fourth grade. Some students attend a school that is designed to prep them for University, while others are sent to schools designed to prepare them for a vocational life. Since very few children in the fourth grade have any idea of what they want to do in life, these teachers are indeed deciding what someone will eventually become. Yup, got that, Gynasium vs. Realschule with eventual abitur. Still far from deciding one's "career". And not without advantages over our "system".
12-24-2008, 05:48 AM
Black Landlord wrote: I'm not saying that our system is perfect, but it is far more democratic. Having a child's career path decided in the fourth grade is madness - that sort of decision should wait until at least the seventh or eighth grade, and only with the consent of the parents. Anyhow, in our system, kids who blow it in high school always have the chance to redeem themselves at a community college. There is no such thing in Germany. If you become a waiter at a restaurant after you graduate from school in Germany, you will always be a waiter.
12-24-2008, 06:03 AM
Pluses and minuses. People in Europe are happier than people in the U.S. ? That's pure B.S. What part of Europe? What age group? What income level? How do they measure happiness? If they're happier, does it have _anything_ to do with their tax codes? In my opinion, we have more freedom to do what we want here. That can be good and bad. kj.
12-24-2008, 07:32 AM
freeradical wrote: I'm not saying that our system is perfect, but it is far more democratic. Having a child's career path decided in the fourth grade is madness - that sort of decision should wait until at least the seventh or eighth grade, and only with the consent of the parents. Anyhow, in our system, kids who blow it in high school always have the chance to redeem themselves at a community college. There is no such thing in Germany. If you become a waiter at a restaurant after you graduate from school in Germany, you will always be a waiter. The choice is between pursuing a trade course and pursuing higher education and a career in the arts or sciences. You do not choose a specific career path in 4th grade. I really think you are mixing in some old east block lore there. |
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