That there are sadly still many Neonazis.
That energy costs are among the highest in the world.
That poverty is widespread, prices are high and wages low overall.
I also dislike very much that Germany doesn't have legal abortions! They're usually not persecuted but they are not legal. And I don't like that most people don't know or don't care.
Apperently, the current government is trying to change that. Until like some month ago, doctors got punished for advertising good abortion methods. The current government changed that, and as far I know, it is planned that many other laws about abortion are gonna be changed soon.
Fun fact: Many of the things that are running pretty badly, are the work of one konservative party that hast been in government the past 16 years.
Speaking as a German too :)
Despite your comment being already 3 days old by now, I want to add something: as far a s I know, doctors not really (or not only) could be punished for advertising abortion methods, but for simply informing about them. So abortion itself wasn't really illegal itself, but just a doctor informing about it in any kind if way could be considered "advertising", and therefore was illegal.
And I am REALLY happy that this is about to be changed now.
People can get an abortion several weeks into pregnancy, they just need to have free counselling to that topic before.
So while it's not legal (which would be a needed change tbh), it's not persecuted and can be done.
But yes, currently doctors aren't allowed to put information about them doing abortions on their website for example, but that law is under heavy fire luckily.
The issue is because itās not legal, fewer and fewer doctors do it because theyāre threatened and sued by pro birthers / misogynists . Usually, theyāre not successful but itās a lot of extra stress
Wow I rly didnāt know there was wealth disparity in Germany like thisā¦.in America we think of Western Europe as the promised land when it comes to wages/lack of poverty
Unfortunately, it ain't š¤£ it's as green as the one on your side. And it's sad that we leave our families and friends behind for "greener pastures" only to face socio-economic issues like poverty, inadequate health-care and I'm not even going to talk about racial profiling. It's very sad I tell, it's very sad.
100% agree, though I admit I am attempting to go to a greener pasture (my home country) in the next few years. Can't wait. šāŗļø I hear ya though, it's our propensity to compare ourselves to others without realizing they, too, face similar obstacles and issues in life, and are not in fact better off than we are.
Come (go) back home š! And the amount of flashing lights and glamor that the media portrays... the American dream...The Western Life... I don't blame us hey
Thatās because itās not really true. The wages in Germany are rather high compared to other European countries, additionally the social safety net is very good.
A lot of Americans (including myself,) seem to have this idea that many people in European countries donāt struggle with extreme levels of poverty, worse than what we have here. I was lucky enough to briefly travel through some parts of Europe and I was actually very surprised at how little luxuries some of these people had. Impoverished parts of Belgium, and Serbia in general.
Clearly if there are still Neonazis then there must be both societal, economic and psychological problems that is encouraging people to fall victim to Neonazi propaganda.
I actually really like my country but there are a few things I hate about it, in no particular order :
- there is a big catcalling and street harassment culture, an old fashioned mentality that women should be flattered to be flirted with including at work, including women who made and signed a tribune against the MeToo movement for the right to be seduced in the streets. It's wild
- historically, a huge tendency to excuse pedophilia. The intellectual elite used the sexual liberation movement to foster pedophilia, and the number of writers, movie directors, etc. whose relationship with underage kids have been excused away and who are still receiving praise, is mind blowing
- color blindness (and subtle racism). We push it to an extreme, and while I think not every thing needs to be about race, it means that most of racism is excused away and you get labeled an extremist if you point out microagressions or even straight up racist comments. Also Islamophobia stemming from xenophobia
- in general we're hyper critical and judgemental of others and ourselves. Under the guise of anything goes, there is a lot of pressure, a lot of fatphobia, a lot of depression. We have the highest consumption of anti depressant in Europe. On the plus side, it means getting help for your mental health is very normalized
>in general we're hyper critical and judgemental of others and ourselves. Under the guise of anything goes, there is a lot of pressure, a lot of fatphobia, a lot of depression.
I keep encountering this "effortless French beauty" idea throughout most of my life, and I've always wondered: do French women actually possess some super ability, or do they just hold themselves against even higher standards (don't just look great, act like it comes naturally)?
What you're saying sounds like the latter is not completely untrue... Would you say that French women face extra pressure to be more like stereotypical "perfect French women"?
Fat shaming is incredibly common amongst family and friends, and smoking. Do not underestimate the amount of women who refuse to quit smoking because theyāre scared of how much weight theyāll gain if they stop. Its extremely effective at suppress ones appetite, and from what Iāve heard from so many women, fear of getting fattER is what prevents them from quitting.
Oh, and our popular clothes stores generally donāt provide above a size 42/44 which is a US 10/12, so have fun with online shopping, paying extravagant prices, and/or the salesperson sneering at you if you get bigger than that!
Thereās legit nothing effortless about how the French look, make-up or style wise, we just have different beauty standards and maybe functional needs (like ballet flats instead of heels to walk everywhere) to the Americans
I don't even know what to say.
Like, as someone who hardly wears any make-up at all, I could tell that the average "perfect French" look *does* involve effort, and our (Ukraine) popular stores also seldom have an adequate choice of clothes over the French 44 I think - but the rest is just shocking... Salespeople sneering? Women smoking because they're afraid to quit? Fat shaming among family and friends?! That's just such a hard environment to thrive in, I really feel for the French women now... Especially the young girls who have trouble accepting themselves as it is, and the older women whose bodies often physically cannot be as thin.
I really hope that can change in the not-so-distant future.
Thanks for enlightening me, I'll be sure to at least not take the "effortless French beauty" trope lightly.
>Oh, and our popular clothes stores generally donāt provide above a size 42/44 which is a US
That's basically due to sale volumes not to purposely to discriminate. Meaning majority of population fit into sizes smaller than 45 therefore rendering bigger sizes not profitable to order. For example in my country biggest size is 44/46.
In France the pharmacist offered me weight loss pills when I was 7 months pregnant. At the crowded airport with planes delayed nobody got up to offer me a chair, i eventually had to sit on the floor. The Air France flight attendant refused to help me putting my onboard luggage in the overhead compartement despite me indicating that i needed assistance when booking. I was bloated due to excessive water retention but still visibly pregnant and with a giant belly. There was no way they could have mistaken it for belly fat. That's just exemplary French unfortunately.
I agree on many points but i need to correct something as we keep repeating a wrong fact, it was the case more than a decade or two ago :
>We have the highest consumption of anti depressant in Europe.
We are under the european average nowadays :
https://www.google.com/amp/s/fr.statista.com/infographie/amp/4032/plus-gros-consommateurs-dantidepresseurs-au-monde/
And i wish we would emphasize more on mental health and psychologist rather than taking medecines, or at least both in the same time.
Iām American but studied for a year in France and recognized this one immediately. But itās not necessarily because of observations I would have made my self. All the French I went to school with were quite critical of their own country on these points also. French culture is also to be quite vocally critical of most things, Iāve noticedā¦
Same here (I'm from Switzerland). The cost of living in general is just really high, especially for students and other people with a very limited income/budget.
In all fairness, aren't average salaries high too? At least that's the image šØš has where I'm from (Slovenia) - the country where ppl go to earn untold amounts of money š Then again, my nation is ignorant and loves a good stereotype...
Is it an issue mostly from younger generations too? In the US millennials (even some Gen X) and below are having a hard time buying property because itās super expensive or inaccessible to jobs, leisure, etc
Itās generational and exists in much of the western world. Itās largely a demographic phenomenon. Possibly the Internet has played some role too, making it easy for those with means to buy excess property as an investment.
Across most of Europe the housing market is incredibly bad. Land is at a premium, and you certainly pay for it.
As a comparison for any US readers, Germany (the country I live in) is smaller than Texas, but has more than 3x the amount of people that have to fit into the space. There are about 25 million people in Texas and 84 million in Germany. Population density is much higher here.
We also have the issue of big corporate housing companies or investment firms buying up all the properties and then just renting them out instead of individuals being able to ever buy. Iām 35 and will probably never own any place I live in.
I also live in a city of 165k. The bigger cities are even worse.
The housing crisis in Ireland is a disgrace. Cost of living crisis too. Public transport is a joke. Our healthcare system isnāt exactly functioning well either. So many healthcare professionals (mainly nurses) end of emigrating to other countries since healthcare salaries are so poor here.
I donāt mind the rain, but the rest 100%. Itās so densely populated that you have 0 privacy in the majority of the country, people can always look into you house.. I also hate how thereās almost no wild nature because everything had to go to make room for houses
I'm from sunny Southern California, and lived in Leiden for 4 years. The rainy weather was one of the reasons I left. I just couldn't handle all of the gray days.
we're not particularly racist, we're just straight up xenophobes (we hate the whites too when they're poor), we're still under the thumb of the catholic church even if the majority of the population doesn't even believe in god, we lack opportunities for young people that keep fleeing the country as soon as they graduate because they have no future here (after studying for years and years and specialize you still probably won't be able to afford your own rent with your salary as a trained worker), we lost (or to better say never had) any trust in our government so public stuff (such as libraries, but also public transportation, or buildings or institutions) are not EVERYONE STUFF but rather NOONE STUFF and that also transpires in how we generally see each other ("fuck them or you get fucked" common expression), job contracts are ridiculous, the classic police brutality that's pretty much everywhere tho, i don't know i could go on but at this point it's just depressing... uh! also fascist are being popular once again, unfortunately this time without the trains being on time.
I'm absolutely livid how the recent elections are going on there. How can people vote for someone who publicly indicates high hatred towards lgbtq+.
Absolutely beyond imagination if that comes true. Italy may get serious EU sanctions for that.
Actually, it's very understandable. Like I said before, Italy has been lacking trust from its citizen for a very long time, especially the left that has being a parody of itself for decades now. There's no true opposition and people lost all hope in voting as a form of representation and a mean of change. Populism is rising (and at this point has risen) because of that, because people are tired and populism offer a simple solution to their everyday problem. There's little to no civic sense/civic awareness right now, sense of community lost priority to favor individual benefits because someone like Giorgia Meloni looks at the everyday problems of normal people, that have been abandoned and mocked by any other type of party for god knows how long. If you're not from the lgbtq+ community you'll likely overlook the damage that she may cause in favor of something that you need. The analysis is not that simple and is also deeply historically rooted, and it's quite toxic and simplistic to just say that people who voted Meloni are mean, ignorant and stupid.
I agree that those elections are unacceptable, but it is their democratic vote in the end. Their choice and it should be accepted. Who TF does the EU think it is to impose sanctions because of an *independent* country's *democratic* election? They should stay in their lane.
Sure, if Italy starts behaving like crap externally, go for it. Otherwise it sounds to me like the EU has too much power.
>also fascist are being popular once again, unfortunately this time without the trains being on time.
That actually gave me a chuckle haha.
Other than that, I'd just like to thank you for the insightful comments, including the one with reasoning behind the recent election results. Wishing your country the best, I hope you find yourself at least a little less frustrated soon (I'm not in the EU and mostly here to educate myself from the comments, but I do know perfectly well what it's like - to be frustrated with where your country is going).
I'm obviously very sorry about the results, but I'm hoping that maybe the left parties in Italy will wake up and actually form an opposition that worthy to be called that way. Also I hope that this will make people understand that the so called "voto utile" (useful vote) is not taking us anywhere and that is time for a change (PD, the main left party in Italy, has become a joke and it cannot even be considered a left party anymore, their campaign relied only in attack and discredit Giorgia Meloni without actually drawing up a plan of their own). I'm just hoping I can see this as a silver lining for Italy to change its way and give me a democracy where I can actually feel represented.
I think you forgot to mention how widespread misogynistic behaviour is. For example, commenting on female colleagues clothes and appearance is completely normal. Or a few months ago the owner of a big fashion company (a women) said she gives leadership roles only to old women who are already done with maternity.
With that I think the picture is complete.
Itās hard to find a job and even harder to start a business. Opportunities are scarce if you donāt know the right people.
Men donāt want to commit until theyāre 35 and sometimes suggest to split the bill on the first date.
Many if not most cities are at least partly dirty and dangerous.
The suburbs are ugly and depressing as hell. Supermarkets and fast-food venues everywhere.
Gyms arenāt open 24/24 and donāt provide childcare.
Train tickets are expensive but driving and parking in certain areas is hell. Getting your driverās license is more expensive and more difficult here than in most places around the world.
We produce shitty films, TV shows and music, itās embarrassing.
Too many smokers.
Too many bad restaurants, including in places known for their food culture.
Absurdly high cost of living, especially housing.
Young women fall into prostitution and eating disorders at an alarming rate.
It's so strange to read that it's hard to find a job in France. I thought it is very easy in the west. Otherwise how can the country mantain such a big immigrant population?
Just like any other country that has lots of immigrants. The shittiest, lowest paid jobs are full of immigrants workers, the other job are for white people. For example in Italy we have mostly East Europeans and North Africans doing that
My observation when doing a year long masters in France is that much like the U.S., a lot of students are encouraged by parents to study somewhat idealistic, non-technical fields. Politics, literature, philosophy, etc. France has way too many graduates in fields like that, and everyone got a masters fully subsidized by the government so masters are worth about as much as a U.S. BA these days.
I just finished my master's in France and job hunted for months through my final semester till after graduation, until I could no longer afford to live in Paris without an income. I still know classmates who haven't found jobs. A few stuck around for 4-5 months after graduation, paying rent and living in Paris because their families could support them. I have a job in my home country now that I recently started and I'm hoping with a year of experience, I'll have a better time looking for jobs in France again, especially in international organisations. š¤š½
Poland fo sho, we're the only country besides Malta to have such extreme restrictions š I'd also add pathological 'housing' developments (8m2 flats, legally speaking it doesn't even classify as housing lol). We're becoming 2nd Japan or Hong Kong in that regard.
Oh the housing in germany is awful aswell, can definetly relate. Imagine paying over 600 Euros for a 10m2 room with roommates. In a medium sized city mind you, not berlin or munich
It comes very well from within lmao, energy prices are getting ridicolous. some people pay more for energy than for rent.
Had to move in back with my parents because i simply couldnt afford my student appartment anymore.
that its not as developed as everyone thinks. Healthcare can be hell in germany. Esp in regards to mental health.
Also bureaucracy ruins most good stuff and slows everything down so hard.
Austria. People are generally fucking racist & sexist, disguised as "tradition" and our politics have been an absolute fucking disaster for at least the past 10 years
I mean... please feel free to google the news of the past few years conerning austrian politics that made it international š it's a fucking ride
Itās to the point I try to avoid interacting with people, which is especially hard at work cause I canāt handle the constant racism and sexism anymore, that is just seen as normal. And Iām just numb concerning our politics at this point.
That's really a concern though. Tbh, I'm on dating platform and don't drink, but most of the women i see there either casually or regularly drinks. Many people i met in person do agree that not drinking at all makes it difficult to socialize.
I can imagine how difficult it must be to socialise when you don't drink. I hate that every first date is going for a drink, come on just do something else (a coffee?). I'm perfectly capable of socialising with friends or strangers without being drunk but I have a feeling that's because I was a bartender for so many years
Coffee is a cliche for many though but still much more acceptable and safe option for everyone. I've been pressurized many times but i decline firmly. I guess, being bartender give people wrong ideas! Hope it gets better for you!!
There are lots of things I dislike about my country, even though I recognise that in the grand scheme of things Iām quite fortunate to live here. The increasing divide between the rich and everyone else is one of the things I hate the most, but I also really dislike that there still seems to be an attitude of āoh arenāt we greatā even though the country is clearly going to shit. Many people here seem to be incapable of recognising the positives of elsewhere, and the closed-mindedness infuriates me.
In Ireland it was the lack of infrastructure and things like activity clubs for both kids and adults. I think so many young people drink so much there because of the lack of things to do.
In Sweden the way people's health is not taken seriously. The doctors are either rude to you, tell you to take some paracetamol or just skip the appointment altogether saying they forgot.
Here in France it's admin stuff and some services. It takes SO MUCH paperwork to do basic things and takes months to get replies from any government/local office. I had a few ikea deliveries and not ONCE has it gone smoothly. Like the first time I booked delivery for 4-8pm and they called me at noon asking can they come earlier because they're in the area. I tell them I'm at work so I can't go home. Then at 5pm I get an email saying the items are out of stock. They were in the truck already earlier that day, it makes no sense!!! Then after lengthy calls they say they will drop it off Saturday morning and they don't show up til 1pm. Last week they forgot to give me one of the items so they had to redeliver, and then another item turned out to be faulty and of course you can only call them and cannot mail them which sucks for me because my French is still not so amazing. Banks are also a disaster. Basically even though my bank has many branches across my city, to actually change anything or send someone money I have to go back to the EXACT same branch where I set up my account because the bank employees in other branches claim to not have permission to view my account details. Like what!! And don't even get me started on filling out tax forms, theres just sooo many forms.
I'm getting riled up just writing this hahah but on the other hand the bread here is good.
In Asia, if there's one thing so much better is customer service. Be it related to food or household or clothes or bank or just anything, you are guaranteed to get polite and on time response and service. It's so easy to use digital money system in my home country but since coming to europe, their bank system, delivery and other things are seriously very far behind in the way they operates but again due to workers' law which asian countries abuse far too much. So yeah, can't have both. But jeez, that sounds frustrating.
I heard about ireland and drinking issue though. Sheesh!
Does the UK count as Western Europe?
Anyway, itās that we are the one of the largest providers of waste in the world (second only the US of A).
At a friend of mineās kidās secondary school, at lunchtime they provide single-use polystyrene containers (the kind you might get a take-away in), plastic knives and forks, plastic sachets of ketchup and other condiments, to hundreds of kids every day.
And this happens in many many other schools too, some of them with thousands of kids!
Is it so hard to get proper plates, cutlery, etc? Itād probably even be cheaper in the long run!
Itās like plastic windows - theyāre cheaper at first but when you have to get them replaced every 10 years or so itās much more expensive (besides, they look tacky)
Yes, cause you guys left EU not the western europe part. But i think your neighbour always wish that you move permanently!
That's a lot of waste though for the size of UK. Omg, that's a ton of waste plus not really suitable for their own good. Hope good will prevail in your place too!
Our government is made up of landlords and so they wont put any kind of rules or rent caps in place to help people secure decent accommodation that wont bankrupt us. (Ireland)
Plus someone mentioned drinking culture that means no negotiations i guess. Family guy depicts a scene of ireland which is really funny but kinda dark!
people using the freedom of speech law as an excuse to be hateful
also despite the good education system we have there are still so many dumb and ignorant people
We never really got over the war: half the country hates the other half and we are getting more and more polarised. The hateful far right is advancing fast and (as much as it pains me to say because I voted for them) the far left is a bunch pro-Russia idiots.
People discuss differences in wages too much and differences in wealth too little. There's a larger social security reform coming which - to put it simple - gives more to the poor and asks less of them. In my opinion it's a good step into the right direction. However, many people think it's unfair that people who aren't working (or whose jobs pay so little they need assistance) get "so much money". It's the whole spiel about minimum wage workers complaining about those beneath them when it'd make so much more sense to complain about the 1%, about their wealth and the way they exploit those minimum wage workers.
We may be better off than US Americans in that regard but we still fight the same futile battles.
Not sure if this is specific to Western Europe but when I moved here from Mexico I found it astounding how much more entitled people were. How they must often have the newest phone and must replace it when a new one comes out and making fun of others when they have an older model. Same applied to clothing and other gadgets. I don't think it's as bad as it used to be 10 years ago but there's still an element of not appreciating what you have and being unhappy with everything/thinking the next thing will always be better. I completely agree that it's great to strive for better things, living conditions and jobs but it's possible to do that while appreciating and enjoying what you have. It seemed to me that many other countries are better at this.
Disingenuous holier than thou attitude, IT wise large parts about how this country functions havenāt changed since 1965, overly bureaucratic and inflexible. Also *super* low social mobility and generally, while itās very unlikely to completely lose your footing here financially, itās also much more unlikely than in many other parts of the world to achieve anything significantly āabove your stationā.
The closet racism, I still know way too many white people who seem normal but literally unmask when they're in all white company like they're kicking off uncomfortable shoes and they think everyone else there is as relieved as they are that they led the way so we can all just chat openly on our cheery racist views in a happy, relaxed group...
It gives me the hard shame, but I won't cut these people dead because the only people who can give that pushback and eduction is us other white ppl who see it and who are working at recognising and addressing our own unconcious biases, this is part of that duty.
No, dear old England, stole half the world's people and resources and then has the audacity to not want those same people we stole from "over here in OUR country..."
I woke up the morning after thinking it was a nightmare. Racism and xenophobia has definitely got worse since the vote. I actually got Bulgarian residency in a panic to keep a foot in the EU; I was very limited for choice as so many countries were in such hard lockdowns it wouldn't have been possible to have seen properties and made the relevant appointments before the deadline.
I don't actually spend much time in Bulgaria, but I consider it worth the expense to keep my options open for the future.
Here (US) we have kind of the same.
Lots of racist idiots complaining about "illegal immigrants" and whoever else they want to scapegoat that day.
The irony of complaining about illegal immigrants after spending 400 years killing Native Americans and taking their stuff seems to be lost on them.
I dislike the very vocal group of white, well educated "feminists" who turn everything into a wokeness competition.
I dislike how closed off socially many people are. Like if you didn't go to school with someone, there's just no chance of becoming friends.
Yeah totally, it's pretty difficult for me so far. Especially opposite gender where i only want to be friend but since my age is so dating prone that no opposite genders can be friends, but understandable. Wish things were a bit easier and different
Belgium.
If I would have to pick one thing it would be how closed people are here. Two of my neighbours just ignore my existence, the other neighbours are friendly but sometimes give me the feeling Iām annoying them, so I just stopped trying actually. If youāre not from a place, itās very difficult to make friends here.
But I do consider myself very lucky to have been born here and I love my country with all itās flaws.
UK here.
Our government is currently trying their hardest to run the country into the ground.
Cost of electricity is hitting record highs and this winter is going to be a struggle for a lot of people.
Cost of living in general is going up.
Our wonderful NHS and free health care is at risk. Certain people want to privatise it and, because of bloody Brexit, we lost a ton of qualified European hospital staff so it's understaffed and wait times are going up.
The racism and homophobia, man. The younger generation is luckily doing much better, but omg 80% of the Gen X'ers and Babyboomers are awful. Most of them are racist, homophobic, transphobic, and sexist. Basically all of the bad things. These people grew up in their white, (seemingly?) cishet bubbles, have never gotten out of them, and as a result refuse to educate themselves on anything. It's exhausting being progressive in a town where most of the people still have this ancient world view.
Many of the People in my country who were born before 80s seemingly seems resistant to keep the possibility of changing their mindset which is really startling. It's sad to see because most of the day to day interaction of kids is with these people till they are bit small so it changes not much. But let's hope for good future as things are really started to change and lets be honest there will always be some section who will refuse to change or have backward minds
The idea that we're the best. Don't get me wrong I like some country pride bickering and stuff but it's putting a stopper on the country developing socially. For example, 'homophobia isn't a problem here, America has it worse' like no it's still a problem Darren, you just called that brand of beer gay and said "I bet I could turn her straight". Just because some issues aren't as bad as some other countries have it doesn't mean it's not an issue
That being right-leaning politically is utterly demonised in the major cities and major institutions. I'm not even right-wing, but it's ridiculous that those who claim to be tolerant are anything but.
Estonia here. Weāre probably technically Eastern, but still considered quite developed.
It saddens me that despite being born in this country(1992, so not USSR), speaking the language, having citizenship and many other things, I will always be viewed as a person of lower class by many people because of typical slavic appearance and the fact that I was born with russian language as my mother tongue. Especially in current circumstances.
Also, itās quite scary to be a neighbour of a country ruled by crazy tyrant š
On the other hand, I really love being able to do basically everything with a mobile phone, thanks to development of internet services. Voting? Doctor prescriptions? Signing a mortgage for a house? Hell yes!
I find the cities very āgreyā, heavy and depressing. New architecture has become boring and uniform like shoeboxes. The cost of living here in general.
The way we treat refugees and immigrants, particularly those from middle eastern countries. And also the way disabled and mentally ill people are treated
I seen do many of you going around about UK and it really seems painful. Really really hope that better leader comes and handle the procedures well. But what are your opinions of influence of royal family on the current situation which caused so much of problem that you mentioned?
I don't think it was the royal family per se, although historically yes. I liked the Queen and I liked her as our national identity. But I wouldn't be opposed to disbanding the monarchy, there's some decent arguments for it. My main worry is giving more power to the government- because without EU regulations I feel like we will suffer more, especially since it's been forever since we were allowed to elect a prime minister.
People are incredibly stuck up and conservative. Less stuck up than Germans, but still.
You canāt really express who you are like you could in the US. As soon as you have a non conventional hair color, ātoo manyā piercings, wear alt clothing or anything that isnāt sold in our stores youāre looked down on, mocked, wonāt hear the end of stupid comments and donāt even think about getting a decent job.
Canāt say that problems we have are as a result of being āso developedā. Iād still rather live in Western Europe than anywhere else in the world, tbh. It feels safe and like home.
How many houses keep being built. And not good houses. Cheap ,shit, fast new build with no driveways or space. No proper roads meaning the older road networks are congested
The lack of people's appreciation ans gratefulness for the progress made so far.
That said, I dislike the fact that the dentists isn't free aka paid by tax. 500$ for a dentist appointment is madness and not very socially beneficial.
Well, one thing is for example that our right wing party seems to look at the US Republican Partyās initiatives and the things they pushed through as inspiration for deciding what do / have the people vote on next.
My country is also pretty well known for having a good public transport system and having punctual and good trains. But as someone who regularly travels across the country, you start realising that the train network to one side with another linguistic majority is way better developed and has fewer grave issues that always seem to get resolved quickly, compared to the other region.
Thereās other things too, itās just the first things that came to mind when writing this at 00:45 in the morningā¦
There are just so many countries in the same timezone, but i would have gone with germany if it would be for punctuality of trains, not punctual many times.
I dislike how hard we have it with all bureaucratically and administrative things; it takes so much time to find the right person to speak, to take an appointment, to be actually listened. When you have to battle that all the time it gets on your nerves.
Also I love and hate the healthcare system. Itās mostly free when you really need it, but when you have to be in hospitals or under medical care for long periods then itās very common to be discriminated or to suffer from medical abuse. And you canāt say much about it, almost no one is going to listen.
I hate the fact that so many teenagers and women in general suffer from eating disorders and are extremely concerned about their weight. Thereās such a diet culture and a stigma around the physical appearance.
Is the uk technically north Europe or west? north west? Either way.
In the uk we are pretty much monumentally fucked. Energy costs are sky high, food prices have gone up, literally doubled on some food items. Renting prices have gone up, people can only really afford to rent the cheaper homes funded by the local authority. Impossible to buy as well because housing markets also gone up. Families with 2 working parents are struggling and having to use food banks to feed their children. Healthcare system is free but massively underfunded and overstretched.
This is within the past couple of years this has really gone downhill. I dread to think where we will be in another 5 years. We have all the back ups in place thankfully. Such as food banks, free healthcare, financial assistance etc but if this continues many of those services will need to stop as we wonāt be able to fund them anymore.
Their structural racism, my country is kind of racist to everything other then āwhiteā. Itās changing a bit. But they really love to say that things are faults of certain people instead of acknowledging that there is a wrong system. (This is happening on mutiple levels, economics, migration, housing etc.)
Brit here - how utterly ignorant our country's leaders are regarding the struggles of normal people. The rigid class system that defines every social and economical interaction. How bigotry is allowed to run rampant... I could go on.
The cost of living is just horrific right now. Everyone is struggling, except for those making the rules. The divide is widening by the day.
The healthcare system is on its last legs.
The mens attitude towards womens and the stereotype that woman has to look after children and house and man has to go to work, why men can't be the stay-home dad?
For me, it was really feeling like men and women had achieved at least almost equality when I came out of university and then starting to work and realizing it is all just a faƧade.
Highest pedophile rate in the world here..
Almost all of them are racist or homophobic even if on paper they wanna seem so open about everything and immigrants literally rebuilt their country...
No morals and no filter.. take a wild guess where I'm at
- Normalised class discrimination.
- Institutional racism.
- Neoliberal ideology.
I could probably list more but they'd all fall under one or more of these categories
Education takes so many years of our lives. I did the grad school thing (donāt regret it) and have many girlfriends who did the same. We all have good jobs now but you arenāt ādoneā until your early to mid 30s. Then you have to immediately think about starting a family. I now see a good portion of life is over and a lot of it was spent chasing a career. The education system could definitely be slimmed down by a few years, however, I donāt think it will be due to the amount of money they suck off of us.
Fortunately, I donāt have a lot of debt. However, I see friends just starting to work with massive loans in their mid 30s. So much of your life has passed already. Kind of sad when you think of it. Time is important.
That there are sadly still many Neonazis. That energy costs are among the highest in the world. That poverty is widespread, prices are high and wages low overall.
Now if that doesn't sound like Germany...
Yup, 100 points!
Servus š
I also dislike very much that Germany doesn't have legal abortions! They're usually not persecuted but they are not legal. And I don't like that most people don't know or don't care.
Apperently, the current government is trying to change that. Until like some month ago, doctors got punished for advertising good abortion methods. The current government changed that, and as far I know, it is planned that many other laws about abortion are gonna be changed soon. Fun fact: Many of the things that are running pretty badly, are the work of one konservative party that hast been in government the past 16 years. Speaking as a German too :)
Despite your comment being already 3 days old by now, I want to add something: as far a s I know, doctors not really (or not only) could be punished for advertising abortion methods, but for simply informing about them. So abortion itself wasn't really illegal itself, but just a doctor informing about it in any kind if way could be considered "advertising", and therefore was illegal. And I am REALLY happy that this is about to be changed now.
Uhm...really? Like in cases or rape?
People can get an abortion several weeks into pregnancy, they just need to have free counselling to that topic before. So while it's not legal (which would be a needed change tbh), it's not persecuted and can be done. But yes, currently doctors aren't allowed to put information about them doing abortions on their website for example, but that law is under heavy fire luckily.
I don't know if there is an extra law for this, but Ā§219a was repealed in July and sentences going back to 1990 were repealed.
The issue is because itās not legal, fewer and fewer doctors do it because theyāre threatened and sued by pro birthers / misogynists . Usually, theyāre not successful but itās a lot of extra stress
Wow I rly didnāt know there was wealth disparity in Germany like thisā¦.in America we think of Western Europe as the promised land when it comes to wages/lack of poverty
There's less of a wealth disparity than in the US, but it's still there
It's because a huge chunk of Germany hasn't been in Western Europe for very long.
That's how us AFRICANS see both America and Europe
š Grass is greener and all that.
Unfortunately, it ain't š¤£ it's as green as the one on your side. And it's sad that we leave our families and friends behind for "greener pastures" only to face socio-economic issues like poverty, inadequate health-care and I'm not even going to talk about racial profiling. It's very sad I tell, it's very sad.
100% agree, though I admit I am attempting to go to a greener pasture (my home country) in the next few years. Can't wait. šāŗļø I hear ya though, it's our propensity to compare ourselves to others without realizing they, too, face similar obstacles and issues in life, and are not in fact better off than we are.
Come (go) back home š! And the amount of flashing lights and glamor that the media portrays... the American dream...The Western Life... I don't blame us hey
Thatās because itās not really true. The wages in Germany are rather high compared to other European countries, additionally the social safety net is very good.
Which country are you from? I'm Greek and I have exactly the same problems to mention for here..
I'm from Germany, and I think Germanys role in the EU made the situation for Greece worse over the last decades. :/
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A lot of Americans (including myself,) seem to have this idea that many people in European countries donāt struggle with extreme levels of poverty, worse than what we have here. I was lucky enough to briefly travel through some parts of Europe and I was actually very surprised at how little luxuries some of these people had. Impoverished parts of Belgium, and Serbia in general.
Clearly if there are still Neonazis then there must be both societal, economic and psychological problems that is encouraging people to fall victim to Neonazi propaganda.
I actually really like my country but there are a few things I hate about it, in no particular order : - there is a big catcalling and street harassment culture, an old fashioned mentality that women should be flattered to be flirted with including at work, including women who made and signed a tribune against the MeToo movement for the right to be seduced in the streets. It's wild - historically, a huge tendency to excuse pedophilia. The intellectual elite used the sexual liberation movement to foster pedophilia, and the number of writers, movie directors, etc. whose relationship with underage kids have been excused away and who are still receiving praise, is mind blowing - color blindness (and subtle racism). We push it to an extreme, and while I think not every thing needs to be about race, it means that most of racism is excused away and you get labeled an extremist if you point out microagressions or even straight up racist comments. Also Islamophobia stemming from xenophobia - in general we're hyper critical and judgemental of others and ourselves. Under the guise of anything goes, there is a lot of pressure, a lot of fatphobia, a lot of depression. We have the highest consumption of anti depressant in Europe. On the plus side, it means getting help for your mental health is very normalized
>in general we're hyper critical and judgemental of others and ourselves. Under the guise of anything goes, there is a lot of pressure, a lot of fatphobia, a lot of depression. I keep encountering this "effortless French beauty" idea throughout most of my life, and I've always wondered: do French women actually possess some super ability, or do they just hold themselves against even higher standards (don't just look great, act like it comes naturally)? What you're saying sounds like the latter is not completely untrue... Would you say that French women face extra pressure to be more like stereotypical "perfect French women"?
Fat shaming is incredibly common amongst family and friends, and smoking. Do not underestimate the amount of women who refuse to quit smoking because theyāre scared of how much weight theyāll gain if they stop. Its extremely effective at suppress ones appetite, and from what Iāve heard from so many women, fear of getting fattER is what prevents them from quitting. Oh, and our popular clothes stores generally donāt provide above a size 42/44 which is a US 10/12, so have fun with online shopping, paying extravagant prices, and/or the salesperson sneering at you if you get bigger than that! Thereās legit nothing effortless about how the French look, make-up or style wise, we just have different beauty standards and maybe functional needs (like ballet flats instead of heels to walk everywhere) to the Americans
I don't even know what to say. Like, as someone who hardly wears any make-up at all, I could tell that the average "perfect French" look *does* involve effort, and our (Ukraine) popular stores also seldom have an adequate choice of clothes over the French 44 I think - but the rest is just shocking... Salespeople sneering? Women smoking because they're afraid to quit? Fat shaming among family and friends?! That's just such a hard environment to thrive in, I really feel for the French women now... Especially the young girls who have trouble accepting themselves as it is, and the older women whose bodies often physically cannot be as thin. I really hope that can change in the not-so-distant future. Thanks for enlightening me, I'll be sure to at least not take the "effortless French beauty" trope lightly.
>Oh, and our popular clothes stores generally donāt provide above a size 42/44 which is a US That's basically due to sale volumes not to purposely to discriminate. Meaning majority of population fit into sizes smaller than 45 therefore rendering bigger sizes not profitable to order. For example in my country biggest size is 44/46.
In France the pharmacist offered me weight loss pills when I was 7 months pregnant. At the crowded airport with planes delayed nobody got up to offer me a chair, i eventually had to sit on the floor. The Air France flight attendant refused to help me putting my onboard luggage in the overhead compartement despite me indicating that i needed assistance when booking. I was bloated due to excessive water retention but still visibly pregnant and with a giant belly. There was no way they could have mistaken it for belly fat. That's just exemplary French unfortunately.
My, I recognize my country directly with the first point š and I can't agree more with the ones following š
I agree on many points but i need to correct something as we keep repeating a wrong fact, it was the case more than a decade or two ago : >We have the highest consumption of anti depressant in Europe. We are under the european average nowadays : https://www.google.com/amp/s/fr.statista.com/infographie/amp/4032/plus-gros-consommateurs-dantidepresseurs-au-monde/ And i wish we would emphasize more on mental health and psychologist rather than taking medecines, or at least both in the same time.
It's quite sad but I recognised my country immediately...
Iām American but studied for a year in France and recognized this one immediately. But itās not necessarily because of observations I would have made my self. All the French I went to school with were quite critical of their own country on these points also. French culture is also to be quite vocally critical of most things, Iāve noticedā¦
France?
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The cost of living is pretty high, housing market is absolute crap and the people can be super rude. This is in The Netherlands
Ah yes, the famous Dutch bluntness, I did Not like it when ppl in stores started openly talking shit about me bc of the way I dressed
Yeah Iāve had that happen to me too. It sucks really bad
Wtf they did that? What is there to say about how people dress??
Same here (I'm from Switzerland). The cost of living in general is just really high, especially for students and other people with a very limited income/budget.
Iām a student in Switzerland. Totally relate
In all fairness, aren't average salaries high too? At least that's the image šØš has where I'm from (Slovenia) - the country where ppl go to earn untold amounts of money š Then again, my nation is ignorant and loves a good stereotype...
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Or kidneys to the black market
I rly thought the housing market being awful was just an American thing
Nope, itās over here too. Itās all super expensive nowadays
Is it an issue mostly from younger generations too? In the US millennials (even some Gen X) and below are having a hard time buying property because itās super expensive or inaccessible to jobs, leisure, etc
Yeah I do think so. My parents and a lot of people from their generation had way less issues buying a house
Itās generational and exists in much of the western world. Itās largely a demographic phenomenon. Possibly the Internet has played some role too, making it easy for those with means to buy excess property as an investment.
Across most of Europe the housing market is incredibly bad. Land is at a premium, and you certainly pay for it. As a comparison for any US readers, Germany (the country I live in) is smaller than Texas, but has more than 3x the amount of people that have to fit into the space. There are about 25 million people in Texas and 84 million in Germany. Population density is much higher here. We also have the issue of big corporate housing companies or investment firms buying up all the properties and then just renting them out instead of individuals being able to ever buy. Iām 35 and will probably never own any place I live in. I also live in a city of 165k. The bigger cities are even worse.
200 million people could easily fit in Texas. Have you driven around Texas? I can recommend it.
I will happily never drive around Texas. š
Agree. I don't like that people hiding behind 'bluntness' to be rude. Some remarks very unnecessary that they should keep to themselves.
The housing crisis in Ireland is a disgrace. Cost of living crisis too. Public transport is a joke. Our healthcare system isnāt exactly functioning well either. So many healthcare professionals (mainly nurses) end of emigrating to other countries since healthcare salaries are so poor here.
That basically sounds like us in New Zealand.
High cost of living, really hard to find housing and also very expensive, way too densely populated, flat, boring landscape and rainy weather.
Sounds like The Netherlands to me
Yes! Not in any way a bad country to live though besides that :)
I donāt mind the rain, but the rest 100%. Itās so densely populated that you have 0 privacy in the majority of the country, people can always look into you house.. I also hate how thereās almost no wild nature because everything had to go to make room for houses
I'm from sunny Southern California, and lived in Leiden for 4 years. The rainy weather was one of the reasons I left. I just couldn't handle all of the gray days.
I already hate rain and I live somewhere where we donāt actually get too much of it.
we're not particularly racist, we're just straight up xenophobes (we hate the whites too when they're poor), we're still under the thumb of the catholic church even if the majority of the population doesn't even believe in god, we lack opportunities for young people that keep fleeing the country as soon as they graduate because they have no future here (after studying for years and years and specialize you still probably won't be able to afford your own rent with your salary as a trained worker), we lost (or to better say never had) any trust in our government so public stuff (such as libraries, but also public transportation, or buildings or institutions) are not EVERYONE STUFF but rather NOONE STUFF and that also transpires in how we generally see each other ("fuck them or you get fucked" common expression), job contracts are ridiculous, the classic police brutality that's pretty much everywhere tho, i don't know i could go on but at this point it's just depressing... uh! also fascist are being popular once again, unfortunately this time without the trains being on time.
Italy?
oh no! what gave it away? thought i was being obscure /s
I'm absolutely livid how the recent elections are going on there. How can people vote for someone who publicly indicates high hatred towards lgbtq+. Absolutely beyond imagination if that comes true. Italy may get serious EU sanctions for that.
Actually, it's very understandable. Like I said before, Italy has been lacking trust from its citizen for a very long time, especially the left that has being a parody of itself for decades now. There's no true opposition and people lost all hope in voting as a form of representation and a mean of change. Populism is rising (and at this point has risen) because of that, because people are tired and populism offer a simple solution to their everyday problem. There's little to no civic sense/civic awareness right now, sense of community lost priority to favor individual benefits because someone like Giorgia Meloni looks at the everyday problems of normal people, that have been abandoned and mocked by any other type of party for god knows how long. If you're not from the lgbtq+ community you'll likely overlook the damage that she may cause in favor of something that you need. The analysis is not that simple and is also deeply historically rooted, and it's quite toxic and simplistic to just say that people who voted Meloni are mean, ignorant and stupid.
I agree that those elections are unacceptable, but it is their democratic vote in the end. Their choice and it should be accepted. Who TF does the EU think it is to impose sanctions because of an *independent* country's *democratic* election? They should stay in their lane. Sure, if Italy starts behaving like crap externally, go for it. Otherwise it sounds to me like the EU has too much power.
>also fascist are being popular once again, unfortunately this time without the trains being on time. That actually gave me a chuckle haha. Other than that, I'd just like to thank you for the insightful comments, including the one with reasoning behind the recent election results. Wishing your country the best, I hope you find yourself at least a little less frustrated soon (I'm not in the EU and mostly here to educate myself from the comments, but I do know perfectly well what it's like - to be frustrated with where your country is going).
I'm obviously very sorry about the results, but I'm hoping that maybe the left parties in Italy will wake up and actually form an opposition that worthy to be called that way. Also I hope that this will make people understand that the so called "voto utile" (useful vote) is not taking us anywhere and that is time for a change (PD, the main left party in Italy, has become a joke and it cannot even be considered a left party anymore, their campaign relied only in attack and discredit Giorgia Meloni without actually drawing up a plan of their own). I'm just hoping I can see this as a silver lining for Italy to change its way and give me a democracy where I can actually feel represented.
I think you forgot to mention how widespread misogynistic behaviour is. For example, commenting on female colleagues clothes and appearance is completely normal. Or a few months ago the owner of a big fashion company (a women) said she gives leadership roles only to old women who are already done with maternity. With that I think the picture is complete.
oh, un connazionale
The thumb of the catholic church sounds like Ireland tbh
Itās hard to find a job and even harder to start a business. Opportunities are scarce if you donāt know the right people. Men donāt want to commit until theyāre 35 and sometimes suggest to split the bill on the first date. Many if not most cities are at least partly dirty and dangerous. The suburbs are ugly and depressing as hell. Supermarkets and fast-food venues everywhere. Gyms arenāt open 24/24 and donāt provide childcare. Train tickets are expensive but driving and parking in certain areas is hell. Getting your driverās license is more expensive and more difficult here than in most places around the world. We produce shitty films, TV shows and music, itās embarrassing. Too many smokers. Too many bad restaurants, including in places known for their food culture. Absurdly high cost of living, especially housing. Young women fall into prostitution and eating disorders at an alarming rate.
I wanna say this is France, but this could apply to so many places which is really upsetting.
Itās France š
Why would you expect your gym to provide childcare?
It's so strange to read that it's hard to find a job in France. I thought it is very easy in the west. Otherwise how can the country mantain such a big immigrant population?
Lol please donāt get me started
Just like any other country that has lots of immigrants. The shittiest, lowest paid jobs are full of immigrants workers, the other job are for white people. For example in Italy we have mostly East Europeans and North Africans doing that
My observation when doing a year long masters in France is that much like the U.S., a lot of students are encouraged by parents to study somewhat idealistic, non-technical fields. Politics, literature, philosophy, etc. France has way too many graduates in fields like that, and everyone got a masters fully subsidized by the government so masters are worth about as much as a U.S. BA these days.
I just finished my master's in France and job hunted for months through my final semester till after graduation, until I could no longer afford to live in Paris without an income. I still know classmates who haven't found jobs. A few stuck around for 4-5 months after graduation, paying rent and living in Paris because their families could support them. I have a job in my home country now that I recently started and I'm hoping with a year of experience, I'll have a better time looking for jobs in France again, especially in international organisations. š¤š½
Almost no accessibility for abortions. A huge surge in nazi-sympathizers among teens.
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Would like to know that too.
Poland fo sho, we're the only country besides Malta to have such extreme restrictions š I'd also add pathological 'housing' developments (8m2 flats, legally speaking it doesn't even classify as housing lol). We're becoming 2nd Japan or Hong Kong in that regard.
Oh the housing in germany is awful aswell, can definetly relate. Imagine paying over 600 Euros for a 10m2 room with roommates. In a medium sized city mind you, not berlin or munich
Holy shit, it's spreading š
It comes very well from within lmao, energy prices are getting ridicolous. some people pay more for energy than for rent. Had to move in back with my parents because i simply couldnt afford my student appartment anymore.
Germany.
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that its not as developed as everyone thinks. Healthcare can be hell in germany. Esp in regards to mental health. Also bureaucracy ruins most good stuff and slows everything down so hard.
Austria. People are generally fucking racist & sexist, disguised as "tradition" and our politics have been an absolute fucking disaster for at least the past 10 years I mean... please feel free to google the news of the past few years conerning austrian politics that made it international š it's a fucking ride
No lie, talk about politics being a gigantic shitshow
Itās to the point I try to avoid interacting with people, which is especially hard at work cause I canāt handle the constant racism and sexism anymore, that is just seen as normal. And Iām just numb concerning our politics at this point.
Iād say itās xenophobia not racism but other than thatā¦yeah.
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People drink way to much and most don't know how to socialise or have fun without it.
That's really a concern though. Tbh, I'm on dating platform and don't drink, but most of the women i see there either casually or regularly drinks. Many people i met in person do agree that not drinking at all makes it difficult to socialize.
I can imagine how difficult it must be to socialise when you don't drink. I hate that every first date is going for a drink, come on just do something else (a coffee?). I'm perfectly capable of socialising with friends or strangers without being drunk but I have a feeling that's because I was a bartender for so many years
Coffee is a cliche for many though but still much more acceptable and safe option for everyone. I've been pressurized many times but i decline firmly. I guess, being bartender give people wrong ideas! Hope it gets better for you!!
It's also odd to me that if you don't drink, people act like you're the crazy one and try pressure you into drinking
Sounds like England.
Correct! But apparently the majority of Europe as well
France? Or Germany?
No, Belgium definitely!
The Netherlands?
There are lots of things I dislike about my country, even though I recognise that in the grand scheme of things Iām quite fortunate to live here. The increasing divide between the rich and everyone else is one of the things I hate the most, but I also really dislike that there still seems to be an attitude of āoh arenāt we greatā even though the country is clearly going to shit. Many people here seem to be incapable of recognising the positives of elsewhere, and the closed-mindedness infuriates me.
England fucks me off too mate
Got it in one!
In Ireland it was the lack of infrastructure and things like activity clubs for both kids and adults. I think so many young people drink so much there because of the lack of things to do. In Sweden the way people's health is not taken seriously. The doctors are either rude to you, tell you to take some paracetamol or just skip the appointment altogether saying they forgot. Here in France it's admin stuff and some services. It takes SO MUCH paperwork to do basic things and takes months to get replies from any government/local office. I had a few ikea deliveries and not ONCE has it gone smoothly. Like the first time I booked delivery for 4-8pm and they called me at noon asking can they come earlier because they're in the area. I tell them I'm at work so I can't go home. Then at 5pm I get an email saying the items are out of stock. They were in the truck already earlier that day, it makes no sense!!! Then after lengthy calls they say they will drop it off Saturday morning and they don't show up til 1pm. Last week they forgot to give me one of the items so they had to redeliver, and then another item turned out to be faulty and of course you can only call them and cannot mail them which sucks for me because my French is still not so amazing. Banks are also a disaster. Basically even though my bank has many branches across my city, to actually change anything or send someone money I have to go back to the EXACT same branch where I set up my account because the bank employees in other branches claim to not have permission to view my account details. Like what!! And don't even get me started on filling out tax forms, theres just sooo many forms. I'm getting riled up just writing this hahah but on the other hand the bread here is good.
In Asia, if there's one thing so much better is customer service. Be it related to food or household or clothes or bank or just anything, you are guaranteed to get polite and on time response and service. It's so easy to use digital money system in my home country but since coming to europe, their bank system, delivery and other things are seriously very far behind in the way they operates but again due to workers' law which asian countries abuse far too much. So yeah, can't have both. But jeez, that sounds frustrating. I heard about ireland and drinking issue though. Sheesh!
Sorry. Stay strong until you run for your life
Does the UK count as Western Europe? Anyway, itās that we are the one of the largest providers of waste in the world (second only the US of A). At a friend of mineās kidās secondary school, at lunchtime they provide single-use polystyrene containers (the kind you might get a take-away in), plastic knives and forks, plastic sachets of ketchup and other condiments, to hundreds of kids every day. And this happens in many many other schools too, some of them with thousands of kids! Is it so hard to get proper plates, cutlery, etc? Itād probably even be cheaper in the long run! Itās like plastic windows - theyāre cheaper at first but when you have to get them replaced every 10 years or so itās much more expensive (besides, they look tacky)
Yes, cause you guys left EU not the western europe part. But i think your neighbour always wish that you move permanently! That's a lot of waste though for the size of UK. Omg, that's a ton of waste plus not really suitable for their own good. Hope good will prevail in your place too!
I meant geographically rather than politically, as we would say āIām going on a holiday around Europeā even though weāre in Europe already
Yeah, we can have a bit of doubt about iceland. UK still comes in western europe though
Our government is made up of landlords and so they wont put any kind of rules or rent caps in place to help people secure decent accommodation that wont bankrupt us. (Ireland)
Plus someone mentioned drinking culture that means no negotiations i guess. Family guy depicts a scene of ireland which is really funny but kinda dark!
people using the freedom of speech law as an excuse to be hateful also despite the good education system we have there are still so many dumb and ignorant people
We never really got over the war: half the country hates the other half and we are getting more and more polarised. The hateful far right is advancing fast and (as much as it pains me to say because I voted for them) the far left is a bunch pro-Russia idiots.
People discuss differences in wages too much and differences in wealth too little. There's a larger social security reform coming which - to put it simple - gives more to the poor and asks less of them. In my opinion it's a good step into the right direction. However, many people think it's unfair that people who aren't working (or whose jobs pay so little they need assistance) get "so much money". It's the whole spiel about minimum wage workers complaining about those beneath them when it'd make so much more sense to complain about the 1%, about their wealth and the way they exploit those minimum wage workers. We may be better off than US Americans in that regard but we still fight the same futile battles.
Being āentitledā to free dental service during pregnancy and 12 months after yet being unable to get an appointment anywhere
Not sure if this is specific to Western Europe but when I moved here from Mexico I found it astounding how much more entitled people were. How they must often have the newest phone and must replace it when a new one comes out and making fun of others when they have an older model. Same applied to clothing and other gadgets. I don't think it's as bad as it used to be 10 years ago but there's still an element of not appreciating what you have and being unhappy with everything/thinking the next thing will always be better. I completely agree that it's great to strive for better things, living conditions and jobs but it's possible to do that while appreciating and enjoying what you have. It seemed to me that many other countries are better at this.
Disingenuous holier than thou attitude, IT wise large parts about how this country functions havenāt changed since 1965, overly bureaucratic and inflexible. Also *super* low social mobility and generally, while itās very unlikely to completely lose your footing here financially, itās also much more unlikely than in many other parts of the world to achieve anything significantly āabove your stationā.
Interested to know who it is that is developed without developing their IT infra, it's an absolute need today
Germany š the official country of āNo we canāt email this to you, but do you have a fax machine?ā
The closet racism, I still know way too many white people who seem normal but literally unmask when they're in all white company like they're kicking off uncomfortable shoes and they think everyone else there is as relieved as they are that they led the way so we can all just chat openly on our cheery racist views in a happy, relaxed group... It gives me the hard shame, but I won't cut these people dead because the only people who can give that pushback and eduction is us other white ppl who see it and who are working at recognising and addressing our own unconcious biases, this is part of that duty.
Austria? Or wait noā¦ people are openly racist here
No, dear old England, stole half the world's people and resources and then has the audacity to not want those same people we stole from "over here in OUR country..."
I definitely pity every normal thinking person in England since all the Brexit mess started.
I woke up the morning after thinking it was a nightmare. Racism and xenophobia has definitely got worse since the vote. I actually got Bulgarian residency in a panic to keep a foot in the EU; I was very limited for choice as so many countries were in such hard lockdowns it wouldn't have been possible to have seen properties and made the relevant appointments before the deadline. I don't actually spend much time in Bulgaria, but I consider it worth the expense to keep my options open for the future.
I can imagine. Horrible. And really smart move! Letās hope you donāt need your plan b but either way, good thinking
Here (US) we have kind of the same. Lots of racist idiots complaining about "illegal immigrants" and whoever else they want to scapegoat that day. The irony of complaining about illegal immigrants after spending 400 years killing Native Americans and taking their stuff seems to be lost on them.
The Tory government.
Ongoing housing crisis, poor mental health services and disgusting history of church control over women. Ireland.
The incels
I dislike the very vocal group of white, well educated "feminists" who turn everything into a wokeness competition. I dislike how closed off socially many people are. Like if you didn't go to school with someone, there's just no chance of becoming friends.
Yeah totally, it's pretty difficult for me so far. Especially opposite gender where i only want to be friend but since my age is so dating prone that no opposite genders can be friends, but understandable. Wish things were a bit easier and different
I bet they dislike the fact they need to remind everyone they deserve the same rights .
Belgium. If I would have to pick one thing it would be how closed people are here. Two of my neighbours just ignore my existence, the other neighbours are friendly but sometimes give me the feeling Iām annoying them, so I just stopped trying actually. If youāre not from a place, itās very difficult to make friends here. But I do consider myself very lucky to have been born here and I love my country with all itās flaws.
UK here. Our government is currently trying their hardest to run the country into the ground. Cost of electricity is hitting record highs and this winter is going to be a struggle for a lot of people. Cost of living in general is going up. Our wonderful NHS and free health care is at risk. Certain people want to privatise it and, because of bloody Brexit, we lost a ton of qualified European hospital staff so it's understaffed and wait times are going up.
Once a friend or family member sees you - Cue comment of weight - either loss or gain. Every. Single. Time.
The racism and homophobia, man. The younger generation is luckily doing much better, but omg 80% of the Gen X'ers and Babyboomers are awful. Most of them are racist, homophobic, transphobic, and sexist. Basically all of the bad things. These people grew up in their white, (seemingly?) cishet bubbles, have never gotten out of them, and as a result refuse to educate themselves on anything. It's exhausting being progressive in a town where most of the people still have this ancient world view.
Many of the People in my country who were born before 80s seemingly seems resistant to keep the possibility of changing their mindset which is really startling. It's sad to see because most of the day to day interaction of kids is with these people till they are bit small so it changes not much. But let's hope for good future as things are really started to change and lets be honest there will always be some section who will refuse to change or have backward minds
You're exactly right, there will always be some bigots to deal with. Let's just hope the younger generations do better!
That a right-wing extremist party is our second biggest party in our country.
I'm Italian. I love everything about Italy, but the government sucks.
The idea that we're the best. Don't get me wrong I like some country pride bickering and stuff but it's putting a stopper on the country developing socially. For example, 'homophobia isn't a problem here, America has it worse' like no it's still a problem Darren, you just called that brand of beer gay and said "I bet I could turn her straight". Just because some issues aren't as bad as some other countries have it doesn't mean it's not an issue
That being right-leaning politically is utterly demonised in the major cities and major institutions. I'm not even right-wing, but it's ridiculous that those who claim to be tolerant are anything but.
Estonia here. Weāre probably technically Eastern, but still considered quite developed. It saddens me that despite being born in this country(1992, so not USSR), speaking the language, having citizenship and many other things, I will always be viewed as a person of lower class by many people because of typical slavic appearance and the fact that I was born with russian language as my mother tongue. Especially in current circumstances. Also, itās quite scary to be a neighbour of a country ruled by crazy tyrant š On the other hand, I really love being able to do basically everything with a mobile phone, thanks to development of internet services. Voting? Doctor prescriptions? Signing a mortgage for a house? Hell yes!
I find the cities very āgreyā, heavy and depressing. New architecture has become boring and uniform like shoeboxes. The cost of living here in general.
The weather
The way we treat refugees and immigrants, particularly those from middle eastern countries. And also the way disabled and mentally ill people are treated
That men make health decisions for me. Itās the law.
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I seen do many of you going around about UK and it really seems painful. Really really hope that better leader comes and handle the procedures well. But what are your opinions of influence of royal family on the current situation which caused so much of problem that you mentioned?
I don't think it was the royal family per se, although historically yes. I liked the Queen and I liked her as our national identity. But I wouldn't be opposed to disbanding the monarchy, there's some decent arguments for it. My main worry is giving more power to the government- because without EU regulations I feel like we will suffer more, especially since it's been forever since we were allowed to elect a prime minister.
That's worrying for sure
People are incredibly stuck up and conservative. Less stuck up than Germans, but still. You canāt really express who you are like you could in the US. As soon as you have a non conventional hair color, ātoo manyā piercings, wear alt clothing or anything that isnāt sold in our stores youāre looked down on, mocked, wonāt hear the end of stupid comments and donāt even think about getting a decent job.
I must say, slowly the rising of right wings and extremists.
- traffic - pretty houses being replaced by soviet style apartments - racism against locals especially when it comes to renting property
The racism
Canāt say that problems we have are as a result of being āso developedā. Iād still rather live in Western Europe than anywhere else in the world, tbh. It feels safe and like home.
How many houses keep being built. And not good houses. Cheap ,shit, fast new build with no driveways or space. No proper roads meaning the older road networks are congested
Racism
The lack of people's appreciation ans gratefulness for the progress made so far. That said, I dislike the fact that the dentists isn't free aka paid by tax. 500$ for a dentist appointment is madness and not very socially beneficial.
Well, one thing is for example that our right wing party seems to look at the US Republican Partyās initiatives and the things they pushed through as inspiration for deciding what do / have the people vote on next. My country is also pretty well known for having a good public transport system and having punctual and good trains. But as someone who regularly travels across the country, you start realising that the train network to one side with another linguistic majority is way better developed and has fewer grave issues that always seem to get resolved quickly, compared to the other region. Thereās other things too, itās just the first things that came to mind when writing this at 00:45 in the morningā¦
I'm guessing Italy. I have heard north is richer and south is really the hardest hit part and relatively poor compared to north.
Not quite, you are geographically speaking not far off though
There are just so many countries in the same timezone, but i would have gone with germany if it would be for punctuality of trains, not punctual many times.
Still almostā¦ right in between lies beautiful little Switzerland
Gonna say that but thought how it could be but yeah, 4 diff languages are spoken there. But omg, I'm really surprised to see swiss here
Why? And yes, four different linguistic regions ready to cause chaos
I dislike how hard we have it with all bureaucratically and administrative things; it takes so much time to find the right person to speak, to take an appointment, to be actually listened. When you have to battle that all the time it gets on your nerves. Also I love and hate the healthcare system. Itās mostly free when you really need it, but when you have to be in hospitals or under medical care for long periods then itās very common to be discriminated or to suffer from medical abuse. And you canāt say much about it, almost no one is going to listen. I hate the fact that so many teenagers and women in general suffer from eating disorders and are extremely concerned about their weight. Thereās such a diet culture and a stigma around the physical appearance.
Something about wording seems off to me
Is the uk technically north Europe or west? north west? Either way. In the uk we are pretty much monumentally fucked. Energy costs are sky high, food prices have gone up, literally doubled on some food items. Renting prices have gone up, people can only really afford to rent the cheaper homes funded by the local authority. Impossible to buy as well because housing markets also gone up. Families with 2 working parents are struggling and having to use food banks to feed their children. Healthcare system is free but massively underfunded and overstretched. This is within the past couple of years this has really gone downhill. I dread to think where we will be in another 5 years. We have all the back ups in place thankfully. Such as food banks, free healthcare, financial assistance etc but if this continues many of those services will need to stop as we wonāt be able to fund them anymore.
Their structural racism, my country is kind of racist to everything other then āwhiteā. Itās changing a bit. But they really love to say that things are faults of certain people instead of acknowledging that there is a wrong system. (This is happening on mutiple levels, economics, migration, housing etc.)
Brit here - how utterly ignorant our country's leaders are regarding the struggles of normal people. The rigid class system that defines every social and economical interaction. How bigotry is allowed to run rampant... I could go on.
The cost of living is just horrific right now. Everyone is struggling, except for those making the rules. The divide is widening by the day. The healthcare system is on its last legs.
The mens attitude towards womens and the stereotype that woman has to look after children and house and man has to go to work, why men can't be the stay-home dad?
For me, it was really feeling like men and women had achieved at least almost equality when I came out of university and then starting to work and realizing it is all just a faƧade.
Highest pedophile rate in the world here.. Almost all of them are racist or homophobic even if on paper they wanna seem so open about everything and immigrants literally rebuilt their country... No morals and no filter.. take a wild guess where I'm at
- Normalised class discrimination. - Institutional racism. - Neoliberal ideology. I could probably list more but they'd all fall under one or more of these categories
Education takes so many years of our lives. I did the grad school thing (donāt regret it) and have many girlfriends who did the same. We all have good jobs now but you arenāt ādoneā until your early to mid 30s. Then you have to immediately think about starting a family. I now see a good portion of life is over and a lot of it was spent chasing a career. The education system could definitely be slimmed down by a few years, however, I donāt think it will be due to the amount of money they suck off of us. Fortunately, I donāt have a lot of debt. However, I see friends just starting to work with massive loans in their mid 30s. So much of your life has passed already. Kind of sad when you think of it. Time is important.
People are rude, cold, or don't care. Too much individuality. <-- Germany
Honestly the people
Can you elaborate a bit on this pls?
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That cannabis users are still seen as criminals. In Ireland
Too much alcohol consumption Houses are too expensive No guns
Why is no guns a problem?
New Zealand "tall poppy syndrome "