Agreed...
My hometown. Nuremberg, Germany:
Population count 2011
German - no migration background: 300.863
German - with migration background: 113.056
EU foreigners - 33.428
Non-EU foreigners - 56.055 (those are mostly Turks, and even some US Americans)
Religion:
Christians, Muslims, Jews, Atheists and non-religious, Mandeans, Bahai, Buddhists (Theravada, Mahayana und Vajrayana), Hindu.
All in all sounds very multicultural. Yet the city has never lost it's medieval atmosphere, and the people are very rooted to the region. There's even a very distinct and unique dialect used, which is only found there. As long as one shows the will to contribute to the society as a whole, and to adapt to the native customs and culture, they are fully accepted, and no one has a problem with them enjoying their own cultures and exercising their customs and traditions for themselves.
The hell, anyone telling me what language to use in my own home. The primary language used here in my home, almost literally in the center of the US, is German. I know when to resort to English, I have enough manners to know when.
I think in some aspects Europeans are just a lot less selfish than Americans. In some other aspects however it's the other way around. It really depends on the topic.
We Germans are really not that big with fundraisers. We don't have Girlscouts or Boyscouts raising money through selling cookies. We believe that that's the govt job to provide that money. After all that's why we pay taxes. To provide for the community. We don't have neighborhood watches for the same reason. We pay taxes as the first reason for the government to provide us with every protection we need. Socially, Security, and Convenience too in form of top quality infrastructure.
And in case of some tragedy in our street, we tend to be rather introverted. We usually don't approach the neighbors if they need any help. If they do, they will ask.
That part is a lot better in the USA, the small community neighborhood sense, that's hard to find in Germany. Not impossible, but rare.
What is there to talk about? The USA is a worthless dumbass country that gets worse and worse everyday. canda and eourpe are 100x better places to live in. every news story that comes out of the USA makes me kinda sad for the poor saps that live there.
[Infracted]
Last edited by Radux; 2012-12-29 at 12:02 AM.
As an American who loves his country, http://i.imgur.com/FwZS5.gif .
Also, when we're talking about countries that are "as nice", you might as well fit in Germany, Austria and France there. I'd also say UK, but then I'd also have to say the Czech Republic, which is actually as developed as the UK, and Slovenia, which is more developed than both. And i obviously can't say that because that would make me a DAMN COMMIE!!!
Morocco is essentially France.
---------- Post added 2012-12-28 at 05:18 PM ----------
After visiting London twice now, I really want to live there. I'm saying this as an American who has been to England, Scotland, Wales, France, Belgium, Austria, Germany, and Italy.
Currently I live in Los Angeles, so it's about as ethnically and culturally diverse as it gets in the U.S. From personal experience, I can tell you living in an apartment building with 5 different languages is more of a interesting learning experience than anything else. The person living in the apartment next to me is Korean and speaks fluent Korean and decent English. The landlord is German, speaks German, and extremely good English. There are over a dozen Hispanics living in this apartment building that all speak Spanish, some don't even speak English. There are also a few Chinese and Japanese people that speak their respective languages living here as well.
Somehow, I've managed to develop relationships with these people, even if they don't speak perfect English. I eat dinner at my Korean friends house once or twice a week because she is a fantastic cook and makes me kimchi(which is amazing).
I have to have a good relationship with the landlord otherwise my ass is gone.
I may not go over to other peoples apartments for dinner, but I can wave and have a decent conversation in the bits and pieces of Spanish and other languages I've picked up from being around these people.
Do you mean Monaco?
I'm of differing minds when it comes to America. It's absolutely fascinating as it's big and brash, the place where movies are made, so many different climate regions and lots of food.
But then it does have it's dark side with all the guns, and the health care system and the education. I'd love to visit one day day, but I don't think I could live there.
A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies. The man who never reads lives only one.
Like compared to other countries that have 90% or greater ethnic homogenization? Because countries like that rarely even have a context to evaluate what is racist and what isn't.
Just about any country with sub-75% homogenization of ethnicity or its ethnic majority in a state of flux has race issues.
I hear Japan is both very homogenous and pretty racist. In the other thread they post pictures of signs saying that you cant enter this or that without an ethnic japanese escort.
---------- Post added 2012-12-29 at 03:18 AM ----------
Ethnicity is a very broad term...
Did you read starship troopers recently? Then you must love the old cold war Scandinavian system then all male was drafted and did serve in the military or civil defence unit (example fire fighter) there was plane to draft all female to but the cold war ended before that, some was medical unfit for service, but to the point all was drafted, but all did have the privilege of a welfare state like free education and health care.
30h/month it is about 1/5 of full working time that's really hard work for minimal government support as "salary" compare that to "normal" paid military and civil servants, I do a better work then a young inexperienced person but he/she get a much more money because he/she was lucky to get a "real" employment.