Thanks so much for watching, guys! If you enjoyed this video, you’ll like these as well! 😃 German Police vs American Police - ua-cam.com/video/g4SS3uUZt6g/v-deo.html My American Family’s First Time In Germany 🇩🇪 - What Shocked Them The Most - ua-cam.com/video/qyMgOOxtDJ8/v-deo.html 5 Genius GERMAN Life Hacks Americans Have Never Seen Before & You NEED To Know! 🇩🇪 - ua-cam.com/video/u3vBMMgZJHs/v-deo.html 100 SHOCKING Differences Between Germany and America! 🇩🇪 - ua-cam.com/video/SV3PNyHDGPY/v-deo.html
RQotW: Chess i'd say. Not that i would watch it, though. 😅 Cool thing that you mentioned the "current illegality" of using mary j for recreational purposes. That shows you being interested in and learning about this country's politics. 👍
hi, east german here: cnn brings up connections where - lol - really aren't some. (let's not debate if the gdr was "communist" or not - by definition it was not. not even reached socialism - ist was a state capitalist country). gdr wasn't full of uniforms, marches etc etc all the time, so you "had to flee" from this. FKK (Freikörperkultur = free body culture) was part of recreation and enjoying the vacation time in the east. and no party or whatsoever could have suppressed it XD btw: yes there was a wall, yes there were uniforms, yes there was a strict traveling restriction (but WAY NOT for everyone), yes there was some ideology, but there was ALWAYS a way around this all - AND having no problems to pay any bills with even the "lowest" of jobs. no homelessness, good healthcare, very good education system (scandinavian countrys even copied some of the gdr system and being happy with it until today). what we have in the US right now? a wall, no fly lists for ex marihuana smokers (aka "terrorists") and ideological noncompliants, corruption, so much homelessness that some states make it illegal to be homeless (= putting people in prison), while still renting and buying houses/flats is expensive, education system for the rich or later debt slaves, healthcare system = same, AND shitty. criminality rates gruesome. is the prison system still a cheap labour selling scheme in the US? what difference is it to labour camps? in comparison to that the gdr had a ridiculously low incarceration rate. there are so many ways you can bring yourself "freely" onto the debt slavery road in the US, there was literally more freedom in the gdr than is in the us right now.
About freedom: when I listen to Americans, I often hear "MY fredom", while my fellow Germans often talk of "OUR freedom": For me, that is an important difference, because for me there is no freedom, when my freedom influences the freedom of another person.
Thats exactly the point. And because of that i'm totally fine giving up on things. I don't want to wonder all the time if people around me are armed - so i'm not. And i'm happy with that (otherwise it would literaly end in an arms race). I don't want to get woken up by a lawnmower - so i make an effort to not bother others as well. I haven't been to the US, so i can't really compare first hand. But since i'm happy here in germany that doesn't really matter. But: It's not perfect here either. Allthough i like the push for collective over individual freedom there are some aspects where we could use a little more individuality. In the labour market for example.
@@linkinparkroxx Wrong audience. Nobody in the comments is from the US. Save your efforts. We dont care about how you call it, we're not competing in your polarizing political nonsense...
I watched your video. I understand you. As an American, ex- military from the cold-war years of 75-85, living in Germany since. Married to a German 2x. Divorced 2x. 6 children, 6,1/2 grand children (!)... I speak, read and write, German. I taught my children english. Read them children books, from the states sent me by my family there. They have dual citizenships. I however have no intent to return to the US. My home is where my family is. You made Freedom the subject here. Freedom is MORE than just what my RIGHTS are. Freedom also has to do with DUTY. The biggest difference I find between the US and Germany lies therein. It is the DUTY of the German government to govern and protect the Citizens and it is the 1st Law in the German Constitution which puts this into focus. The Grundgesetz Article 1, Human DIGNITY -Human Rights- shall be inviolable.. To respect and protect it shall be the duty of all state authority. Articles 2-Personal freedoms Article 3 Equality before the Law Artikel 4 Freedom of Faith and Conscience Artikel 5 Freedom of expression, arts and sciences Artikel 6 Marriage Family Children 7- School system 8- Freedom of assembly 9- Freedom of assembly 10- Privacy,correspondence Post 11- Fredom of movement 12-Occupational Freedom and so forth... Freedom is always an Article. Duty is always the other side of the coin. German Social Rights are embedded in the Grundgesetz. Workers rights and everything else all the way to rights of being health insured . But it also the DUTY of every tax payer to pay their fair share in the collective system which....creates freedom. For ALL. These Duties will not be found in the Americans Constitution. Workers rights (and duties) Health Care. Unemployment. Rehabilitation. Retirement. Always being covered regardless of economic standings. I am Free and secure in Germany. No guns fireing here. No fear. No military like police. No Traffic cops chaseing me. No problem with fences. Etc... 47 years of Germany. America should start to learn from European countries. You can always make things better. When did this stop, in the US.
I'm Danish, I grew up close to Germany, have never visited USA (and never will), but I do find it an interesting country to study, both as it is in the present, and how it has evolved historically. As I understand it, F. D. Roosevelt proposed the "Second Bill of Rights", which would have given Americans many of the rights you mention. I think it would have aligned USA a lot more with western Europe.
Danke. Leider vergessen in Deutschland inzwischen zu viele "Meckerer" diese nicht selbstverständlichen und gelebten Grundrechte eines freiheitlich orientierten Landes.
The more I live without fear, the more I feel free. That is why I prefer Germany over the USA. BTW: The line “the land of the free and the home of the brave” was written in 1814 when slavery in the USA was running. For me that is a paradoxon.
I am pretty sure that they didn't regard the land as being owned by the slaves. It was the land of those who weren't slaves - the slaves were simply commodities.
In fact most of the things americans are "proud" of and believe they are their god given rights came from that time period ... guys, its time to get modern ;) 19th century is over ...
Freedom to raise a family without major worry. Schools that are not prisons with metal detectors and armed intruder drills. Kid's can walk to school and back and take public transit. Kid's in Germany have more freedom to enjoy life.
Hey mom, van I visit my friend (who lives 15 minutes by bike away)? In Germany the kid just rides there, in the US it is by car everywhere. I wonder how the parents are not annoyed or stressed being a constant Taxi for their kids?
I spent a year as an exchange student in 11th grade in the US. I lived in a small town. The school bus was so inconvenient that I walked to school most days (it was a twenty minute walk compared to a forty minute bus ride). The first ten minutes I had to walk on a road that had no sidewalks. I was sixteen, and at that age you don't really consider things like your own mortality, but nowadays, I realise how dangerous that really was. Oh, and I got stopped by cops twice, asking me if something was wrong. After that, everyone at the tiny police department probably knew about the weird german guy walking everywhere.
That’s funny I did an exchange year in a small town too and walked to school. I got so many weird looks because everyone would just drive, doesn’t matter how far.
Its so weird to me.. i am german and it was totaly normal to me to walk to school for over 7 years. Everyday to 30-40 minutes in the morning to school and the same back. It dosnt matter how the weather was. Rain, snow, storm, ice or 36 degrees. I alway walked. I cant imagine living in a land you cant walk (because of missing infrastructure) or drive everytime something is more than five minutes away. I could never do that.
I've never felt free living in America. I've felt like a slave to my employment, forced to drive because everything is so far away, and no voice to change any of it because our so called democracy has been bought and paid for decades ago.
As someone from outside of the USA I think the slave owner mentality from before the civil war has never gone away. Workers are still treated like slaves by whoever is their overseer. If a child in the USA thinks they are free they should try not pledging allegiance to a flag, see what happens. That act alone seems very creepy to most other countries, it looks very similar to what you would have expected in Nazi Germany.
Other than during state ceremonies and sports events displays of patriotism are generally frowned upon in Germany -outside of conservative/right wing people-. It seems weird and outdated to me to expect a pledge of allegiance from someone who does not hold an office in government. Pure cringe. I guess we already tried nationalism in Germany and it didn‘t turn out well…
@@leonperler9619 Yeah exactly, because it IS weird as hell. We've got plenty of nationalism over here and people who blindly follow the flag/country no matter how many wrongs it commits/has committed, no matter how crappy it treats its people, no matter how many things are fundamentally broken here lol. It's insanity to me.
I am Greek. When I went to Germany for studying, I just was told that it is just important to be on time. And then in Germany there were just a few restrictions for me in doing what I wanted to do. This was a very affordable price for having so much better organisation than in Greece. When I visited to USA some years ago, an american friend gave me a whole lecture about so called dont's. And most of them was about how not to speak and what not to say to whom. And by the way, I don't have an "unwashed mouth", I am a mannered guy. Of course I understand, that every society has it's code of speech, but I think in USA there is less tolerance if you are not familiar whith. And you can't just say anything if you are in contact whith the police (for instance when you enter the country), you can be very soon a suspect person. In Germany I spoke as I was thinking and feeling and almost nobody was offended or thought bad of me. So, freedom of speech dosn't seem to be the most characteristic for USA. Oh, by the way, the person who gave me the lecture was a person of color. I think that says a lot about freedom in general in USA.
Let me quote the great Ice-T "Freedom of speech. That's some motherfucking bullshit. You say the wrong thing, they lock your ass up quick". There is another Video on here, where a Brit and US-American explain the differences of "freedom of speech" and "freedom of expression". Tcalss: Your freedom if speech ends, where my freedom starts and your freedom of speech does not give you the right to intimidate or insult other people. I spend half of the year in Los Angeles and usually, I am a more distant guy, but sometimes, things got heated, cause if someone exploits his rights to hurt other people, I can get very, very angry ...
As someone married to an American person of colour, we both feel more free in Germany/Europe than the United States. Not even close. Make of that what you will.
Just to add to children walking to school. Even when less children in Germany walk to school, they are still independent. They take the bus. The public bus, not a school bus. Which means when they want to hang out with their friends after school they can just take a later bus home. Or they go to the city center or swimming pool or wherever they want to go. It's not like they are stranded somewhere and have to wait for mommy or daddy to pick them up.
In rural Germany, you are more or less stranded with often poor public transport (ÖPNV). So the kids have to use their bicycles and later mopeds to get around. On the other hand, which German kid hasn't got a bicycle 😊
Whenever I'm on vacation in the US, I find it really weird that I cannot buy my usual daily contact lenses over there without seeing a doctor and getting a prescription. But I could buy an automatic rifle. Weird concept of freedom. I don't want a rifle. I want to see something 😂 I'm now always making absolutely sure I bring enough of them from Europe.
And at the same time, in Germany you need to go to the pharmacy or even need a prescription in order to be able to buy common drugs which in the USA are sold in drugstores. Or take a look at Italy, where pharmacies are the first form of medical support people seek out, even before seeing a doctor. And each legal system (federal or state) has good reasons why things are as they are.
@@udosteger Absolutely. But it's the US that's constantly claiming to be the land of the free and citing freedom as the main driving force behind many political decisions like e.g. the liberal gun laws. In fact it's just another country that's allowing certain things and disallowing certain things.
Once you have a prescription from an optometrist, you can simply order more contacts from your doctor's office, no appointment needed. As for automatic weapons, you cannot simply walk in and out with one on the same day, you have to be legally eligible to purchase one and there's a lengthy background check to get one. Mind you, there are also 13 states where you cannot legally possess or purchase/sell an automatic weapon, including DC.
@@udosteger Und das ist nun ein Nachteil? Wohl kaum, denn in beiden Staaten ist der Medikamentenmissbrauch bzw. die Abhängigkeit von solchen Substanzen um ein Vielfaches höher.
@@LANCELOT1911 Correct - just imagine NYC and people legally owning weapons .... people in Europe have seen too many bullshit movies, thinking, that things are reall like that. They don't know, that you first have to register to get a general permit for handguns and then have to proove your knowledge about heavy weapons, including said background check, that can take up to several month. Only exception being hunting permits, but for those, you had to to a check-up earlier as well.
A very intelligent person doesn't need to call him/herself smart. A great leader doesn't have to say he is a great leader. If you are really free, you don't have to constantly say you are free. To me America's freedom comes over as the "person" that keeps insisting, because deep down they know they aren't.
This is going to trigger some but here in Germany we have the freedom from every day gun violence, going bankrupt from getting sick/injured, student loans, out of control lobbying destroying democracy etc. In the US, people focus on “freedom to” versus Europe you have “freedom from”. The US is home to me but I’m grateful for the advancements here to protect society.
Only my impression from the USA is that some part of the freedom is when you fail it is and will be only your problem not the problem of other people. Everyone is responsible for themselves (in a more clearly manner) . It is not intended to sound positive 😅
@@lhpl of course, every country will have them. As I said above, the US population tends to focus on what they have the freedom to do. They do so with complete disregard for the negative outcomes of those “freedoms”.
@@Megans358 My point is that Americans may very likely be focused on _some_ freedoms (or rights) "to", like the right to bear arms, while not caring at all about others, like the freedom to drink in public. There are many things the authorities interfere with in the US, which - seen from Europe - would be unacceptable restrictions on our freedom "to something".
Considering the property-law in the US: we had a 15-year-old boy in the neighbourhood in Hamburg, Germany, who went for an exchange year to the US. In the school he befriended some boys and amongst the teens there was a game popular in which they snuck onto the property of other people, trying to steel a beer out of the garage. So he did this as well - unfortunatly the owner of the garage heard him and shot him to death. And because of these property-laws he was not arrested or punished. He killed a stupid boy for a beer. That is why i would not let my teenage boys go to America by themselves.
@@jameswallace3963 well Rod**y Pea**s hasn't, he was found not guilty. He was found liable in civil court, and was to pay some money in damages, probably hasn't been able to pay that. In 1992 he killed Yoshihiro Hattori, a 16 year old Japanese exchange student. In 1992 I decided to never set a foot on US soil, and I have advised my kids to not go there ever. And oh, speaking of freedoms, my first comment disappeared in thin air, I guess I must have used language unfit for sensitive American minds. Freedom of speech up yours! (Of course not you personally, James Wallace, I'm a big fan of your namesake Henry, btw.)
Stupid and blatant lie, except for Tennesee, cause in every other state, you WILL get punished for doing so and that's a fact. You are only allowed to DEFEND yourself and property and shooting an UNARMED civilian for "trespassing" is NOT covered by law. I heard that crap over and over again, but in NO case at all, someone was able to produce evidence, name the town, county or court ...
He got arrested for big time... because the turkish community in Turkey and in the turkish colony Germany, from where the turkish brat was, went bat crap crazy and threatened to become very violent. Je suis Markus Kaarma... he did nothing wrong... the criminal turk Diren Dede did! It was a political show process and sentence... like the one concerning Fentanyl-George. Hence... Je suis Derek Chauvin.
What is missing is that in Germany you have legally granted PTO of minimum 20 working days for recreational purposes for all employees. Another aspect of the german healthcare insurance, yes the socialistic forced one, is that in case of a doctor testifys you sick, you are getting your full salary upto six weeks. After the six week period the insurance takes over 67% from your salary.
I think you can be "more free" in the US If you can afford it that is. In Germany it's more about giving freedom not to an individual but to as many people as possible to the highest degree possible. To sum it up: I personally prefer Germany
I felt more free while living in Germany and Malta. The transition back to the US full time has been difficult. I truly miss the freedom of living in Europe.
The "right to protect yourself" is also law in Germany - but the threat must be much more "physical", "real" than by the "Stand your ground" laws in the US. Just "feeling threatened" (by mere physical presence) isn't considered a reason for self-defence. As long as you (and any other person) can flee the scene, you are expected to do that.
And there even is a limit to what you can do to protect yourself in the case of "Bagatellangriffe" (very minor threats/attacks). In Germany, Notwehr does allow you to respond to a significant attack, e.g. robbery or major assault, even with lethal force if this is the "mildest option" (mildestes Mittel). But against a minor threat/attack, e.g. trespassing or - this example is commonly used in law studies - stealing cherries - you are not allowed to defend yourself out of proportion.
The equivalent to "Stand your ground" in german jurisdiction is "Das Recht muss dem Unrecht nicht weichen", what also mans, that you don't need to run away to avoid a confrontation but can stand and defend your ground.
1:33 Well ... yey ... yes indeed ... there are several ... 1. In Germany you got the freedom to not constantly live in fear of getting shot by a stranger 2. In Germany you got the freedom to not be incarcerated for several dozens of years for a misdemeanor just because you're not white 3. In Germany you got the freedom to not get unknowingly used for some unlicensed field study of the next random iteration of any medication to prevent the loss of exclusivty 4. In Germany you got the freedom to get an education without paying more for that education up front then you'll ever be able to make after you got your degrees 5. In Germany you got the freedom to not automatically become homeless because the trip to the ER might have saved your life but cost you several hundred grand 6. In Germany you got the freedom to not be forced to bare the child of your rapist 7. In Germany you got the freedom to not be forced to bare a child while pregnancy might actually kill you and your child 8. In Germany you got the freedom to not depend on a legislation that is set up on a precedent and therefor can overturned at any moment, meaning that you're not actually aever know if you're right or wrong in a legal battle until the verdict, no matter if your action were actually illegal while committing them 8. Shall I go on? There's at least another 50 things
@@KJ-md2wj knife incidents are not happening as often as gun incidents (like school shootings, police killings etc.) in germany your passport is not stained with the mention of your "ethnicity" aka skin colour for over 75 years now. in germany you have the freedom to be homeless without worrying being incarcerated and forced to work (look it up... US states do that stuff) - i won't mention another germany where there was no homelessness at all. yeah you could go on and on why life is better here than in the empire that wants us to prepare to tear it all down and fight a war for it.
I am a German living in the US. I never understand how Americans think they have the most free country. After Roe vs. Wade was overturend, its so free as Germany was in 1935.
well, North Koreans also think they have the freeest country in the world. They can't know any better. Same with americans, just they don't want to know any better. Let them live in their bubble over there.
@@totalwar008removing a cluster of cells is not murder. You are showing your lack of education, another usian freedumb. But killing doctors at abortian clinics is murder. Like when George Tiller was murdered.
. @totalwar008 you have no idea what you are talking about. The most abortions are for medical reasons and even this are banned in some states. They are now trying to ban birth controll also. In some states in some clinics the let women bleed out till they are on the brink of death till they are helping them. But a clumb of cells is more important for you. Sure when live is so importand for you, you vote for gun controll, food assistans, for asyl seekers to come in ... ??? No? than you are not pro live, you are pro controll! Btw. Roe vs Waide is not about abortion, that was only the first thing they did, the next are the trans, and lgbtq than the adhd and authists, depressivs, leftis, immigrants. It will never stop. And in Alabama 3 clinics stop birth controll because the medical stuff for this does not want to participate in torchering women. The new house speeker, said once, every woman owns the country to birth one able body WORKER. Does not sound like freedom to me, sounds more like Handmaidstale.
The difference is in the constitution. US constitution is 200 yrs older than ours and is about personal freedom. But we learned over the centuries, there's more than personal freedom. So the first article in the German constitution is about dignity. That means the personal freedom can not cut others freedom. When you're allowed to kill people just for walking over your property you're hurting the dignity of that person and that's not freedom. It's just selfish. It's "fuck your freedom and die". Unhuman, unfree.
@@charlesunderwood6334 The UK does have a written constitution, but it's distributed over many different documents and legal rulings introduced over a long span of history, rather than being collected and summarised in one.
Whoa!...nowhere in the U.S. is it legal to "kill people just for walking over your property." Do so and you'll be charged with a capital crime, with the possibility of spending life in prison. Willful trespassing is certainly illegal, but the only lawful recourse is to file a complaint with the police against the alleged trespasser. And I doubt that you've "learned over the centuries" as you insist. The years 1933 - 1945 proved that you haven't, and that it took the total devastation of your country to finally bring you people to your senses. And the fact that the U.S. constitution is 200 years old (actually it's 234) is irrelevant. It contains timeless principles to which most civilized nations aspire even today. Have you even read it? I'd bet not. Certainly there is crime in America (some places worse than others), as in most Western nations, but don't blame that on the constitution. Blame it on criminals, and the lack of support for law enforcement in certain areas of the country. The whole purpose of the U.S. constitution is to delineate certain inalienable human rights, and to limit the power of the government to certain specified functions. Just ask anyone still alive in your country that remembers how living without a constitution (during the 1930's & 40's) worked out for you people.
@@fumble_brewski5410 OP stated that the US consitution is "200 years OLDER than ours", not that it's only 200 years old. Although technically it isn't because our constitution was declared 23.05.1949, so do the math yourself. WE learned our lesson from our past. Hence the freedom for oneself ends where it does others harm. Has your country learned it's lessons from the past (Native Americans, Slavery, Apartheid)? Ido hope so because we all can learn from the past to never ever let those thimgs happen again. Sidenote: The idiot who started the whole N*zi Sh*tshow was not even a German himself and looked eeriely similar to the "enemy picture" he created (at least I think so). Sorry for the rant, but your education system should not let the history classes end at the year 1945 😮
@@Alexx120493 Ach Alex, wen möchtest du denn offiziell verfolgt und der Freiheit beraubt haben? Komm, rücks raus 😊 Die Homos? Die Transen? Oder vielleicht die Juden? Mann o mann, immer diese FRIEHEITSBESCHRÄNKUNG durch andere Existenzen!!!1! 😂
As a German I would not feel safe in the USA because of the risk to be arrested and sentenced to death only for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. I know that this depends on the state but I find it really disturbing. In Germany we don't have the death sentence. And I think our legal system is better. Plus the risk that everyone might carry a gun and shoot me. Maybe I just walk across their front yard parallel to the road and I think it is a public space and they threaten me with their gun, I would have a heart attack. No thanks.
There is a saying: your personal freedom stops where it limits other people's freedom, meaning in a society people should be respectful to others, as simple as that. There is sadly a growing tendency of disrespect to other people even in Germany, where sadly there are far too many people who only think about their own needs and wishes. And this growing egoism is causing most of the problems in society. The most boring sport to watch is probably angling, although golf is a close second.
I very much agree with your first sentence, although I might phrase it a bit different: Germans are taught about their obligations towards their peers , Americans are taught about their rights over their peers.
@@wora1111 wow, didn't know it goes that far: are you really telling us that the people in the USA are taught to be egoists without a shred of respect for the other fellow humans? I somehow doubt that. What certainly is there is the glorification of such heartless egoists
@@MyriamSchweingruber You are exaggerating even more than I did. ;-) But there is some truth to it. The picture of the USA we were given in our youth and what we see now has changed a lot. Some changes were minor, but the way media are used to influence people and "make up their mind" really bothers me because the USA are a big (not great) part of the world we live in.
@@MyriamSchweingruber But that is exactly what is going on in the US, they are taught that they have all these RIGHTS without any responsibility whatsoever, literally god-given BS.
I'm married to an American woman. She moved to France in December of 2016. I'll let you do the math about why she decided to move... Her first word once she had spent a couple of days in France were: "I've never felt so much at Home.".
Thats because France is beautiful and the people (outside of paris maybe) are really nice. Visiting Lyon and Strassbourg were one of the best trips of my live.
i think people in the US have more psychological trauma and burdens, that we in germany mostly don't have. i am thinking of struggling with student loans, loans because you needed surgery (i was never in any debt in my life), having a sick family member at home you have to take care of and that maybe dies in front of you because there is no health insurance or insurance does not cover things. people you know in general dying because of health reasons or violence (no one i know died yet except my 90yo grandma). childhood trauma you can't afford therapy for, so you get addicted to medication or alcohol instead. in germany i am struggling with things too, but it is never about survival. even if i don't have a job, i will always have money to buy food and the rent will be paid and my insurance is covered. i never worry about any of those things. that is real freedom! it's just an endless list. every person i meet from the US has some kind of severe struggle i would not have here. i feel so bad for them. ps: tennis.
I remember back in high school a girl hurt her neck during p.e. She was actually picked up by an ambulance helicopter that landed in our rather tiny inner city school yard with tress and buildings all around. Pretty impressive, of course everyone watched and the teachers had a hard time to keep everyone at a safe distance. But turns out is wasn't even bad, she was back the next day. Guess they just wanted to be extra carefull with a possible neck injury and considered air transport to be smoother and thus safer.
Sturz und Nackenverletzungen werden, sofern möglich, zwingend mit dem Hubschrauber erledigt, weil es besonders wichtig ist, daß der Verletzte schnellstmöglich in spezielle Kliniken kommt, wegen eventueller Schäden an der Wirbelsäule (drohende Querschnittslämung).
It occurs to me that one common misunderstanding comes from the question whether you are free TO do something, or the freedom FROM something. For example, I'd rather be free from the dangers of overzealous property owners than be free to lethally respond to a perceived slight or invasion.
That is my impression, too. To use the example from the video: In the US you are free to make noise on sunday, while in Germany you have the freedom from noise on Sunday.
And, I just don't get the fascination with their guns. One only needs to look at the events of the last few days to understand just how warped their sense of freedom is.
@@steemlenn8797 this makes freedom completly meaningless, if you can define hunger is beeing free of food, and not having hunger is free of hunger. That's permanent enduring freedom on everything you have or you miss.
Just the idea that literally anybody at any time can pull out a gun and point it towards me freaks me out already. Out of anxiety you rather ship your kids to school in a car or bus then let 'em hop on a bicycle but you don't do anything robust and preventive about school shootings. I would never ever fit into U.S. society, thank you very much. I am happy to be an European.
The problem, in my understanding, is that americans tend to see "freedom" as as an absolut, e.g. "I have rights and can do whaever I want". GErmas on the other hand tend more to a "Kantian approach": Kant said that “Die Freiheit des Einzelnen endet dort, wo die Freiheit des Anderen beginnt.” (Individual freedom ends, where the freedom of the next individual begins).
Question one: I feel a lot more free in Germany than I would in the USA. I've visited the USA multiple times, once for more than two months in one stretch. While that isn't really 'living' in the USA it does give some better insights into everyday life than just a two week trip or so. The freedoms I would have in the USA that I wouldn't have in Germany and vice versa are definitely only a very personal opinion. However what I have seen back then, and now, I wouldn't trade the many freedoms I have here in Germany for the few other freedoms in the USA. Not on any count. Random question of the week: Ice curling.
German employees enjoy much more freedom in the company they are employed by. Angloamerican stance on this type of treaty seems to be some sort of commercial slavery. The German employer does not get the right to injure the dignity of his employees while his American counterpart does. I have learned that drinking alkohol in public apart of any restaurant or bar is rather bad behaviour. Drinking in public might be allowed only to stay hydrated when visiting famous places, but in this case usually water is consumed.
I've been interacting with Americans on a daily basis for about a decade, and my impression is, that the American view on freedom basically comes down to "might makes right" mocked up with a thin veneer of "we live in a society".
Yes, not that my country the UK is that great (getting worse), but many freedoms in the USA do seem to be in my eyes rather negative - the freedom of low taxes, freedom to treat your workers poorly, freedom to keep your land to yourself. Freedom of the individual rather than the good of the many.
@@mike_maple Yes, there has to be a balance, sure we can have our personal freedoms but they need to be balanced with the needs to the many. Americans, and this is generalising a little, are selfish. I know not all are like that, but they are the ones that stick in your mind and give the stereotype validity.
@@utha2665 I have to admit to being a little selfish in my ways too, but generally I believe in democratic socialism, whereas that idea is getting nowhere fast in the US (or so I believe). Then again, any vestige of that seems to leaching from the UK year by year too.
@@utha2665 The US ranks 15 in the Human Freedom index 2023. 24th on the Personal freedom part. So the idea tha people in the US has more personal freedom than other countries is not true.
"Freedom" is a cultural entity. In the USA, of all places, I am always amazed at the countless "Do not ..." signs and the countless uniformed, mostly incompetent and least qualified people who can be found everywhere: in museums, in front of doors of buildings, in the parks.... And they have nothing to do but post their "Do not ...". For Europeans, this is very strange. Overall, I feel much "freer" in Europe than in other countries, including the USA. For me, this freedom also includes the feeling of general security, which is elementary. In the USA, I turn back at the latest when I come to an area where there are more than three junk cars in the front yards. I find such things to be a very strong restriction. Furthermore, I find the often rigid behavior of police officers, the latent threat of firearms in private hands and, last but not least, the threat of the death penalty alone as a restriction of my freedom, which I find unacceptable. I love my freedom in Europe and would never, ever, ever want to trade.
I did a high school year in Colorado with the age of 16. My host parents had been very upset, when I have done a walk to the post office all by myself, cause I could have been shot. I had been very suprised by not beeing allowed taking a walk outside by myself, cause that was the most natural thing for me in Germany, where I walked to school and everywhere else all by myself. So I kind of felt imprisoned at home sometimes....
The lacks of freedom in Germany, compared to the US: You don't have the right to force your employees to work, when sick, or not give them the adequate time of free days , meaning holidays., or call them in out of duty time, or mail them something to react to. You don't have the right, to shoot them after firing them, when they after that trespass your business- or private property. You don't have the freedom to bill them with costs as high as several 100s times or even 1000% higher for any kind of medical treatment, examination, care , medication or supplies, than in any other highly civilized country, just four financial benefits. As a doctor, you do not have the freedom to financially benefit from the treatment you prescribe to your patient, or advertise your medical offerings , abilities or treatments, luring patients into your business. You do not have the freedom to roam around armed like a soldier on a battlefield. You do not have the freedom to incarcerate people for minimal suspicions or law violations as a police man. You would not have the freedom to name yourself "police officer", when you have just bare minimum of police education. Officers here are always people with the highest university like educations. You do not have the freedom claim such titles for yourself without any proven and achieved testifying. As a landlord, you are not free to throw your people out of their homes without substantial reasons by law and reasonable times by law for them to find new homes.You don't have the freedom here, to harm or insult people, or publish lies about other people. You do not have the freedom to consume any music, films or other creative contents, that are published in technical ways, that can and do avoid the financial benefits, belonging to the creators. You do not have the freedom to advertise any medical or lawyer business, luring people into your business, as bay law those "business" fields are primarily operating to give people in need the needed help, and only secondary to earn money.
I actually live on both sides of the Atlantic and often have that same question to myself. I would argue that Germany is actually more free, especially those points you mentioned. But there is more. In many states you have to be 21 to buy a lottery ticket. Most bars and clubs in the US have last call for alcohol at 2 AM, you cannot go to a bar when you are under 21 or you are not allowed to play a slot machine under 21. However, I guess because of it's size, the US "feels" more free?!?
Without getting into all the "freedom to do" (US) or "freedom to be"(Europe), one difference is the difference between free speech and free expression. In most of Europe there are laws restricting some speech where it could cause harm to others (such as hate speech and inciting violence), but in most of Europe freedom of expression allows far more use of swearing, sex, blasphemy and other expression not only in speech but also in art, film, theatre and TV. I think most people in Europe would prefer the greater freedom of expression if it means having less freedom to be insulting.
Absolutely! We (in the EU) have to get "creative" on some issues. Like back then in the GDR. You have to rewrite things, use synonyms or package the whole thing as "satire.
Definitely american football. It takes way too much time. And about freedom. We in Europe know that our rights ends when we breach other people rights. In USA it looks like its MY rights first who cares about yours.
The question of where one has more freedom depends to a large extent on personal needs. And also on cultural differences. In Germany, the concept of freedom is more oriented toward the general public, in the U.S. more toward the individual. Everyone has to decide for themselves what they think is better.
I'd also argue that the individual freedom that people in the U.S. value comes from two things: The first settlers in those territories ever, were mostly people that were non-conformists in some way shape or form. Some wanted to live out their fringe group form of protestantism, others simply didn't feel like adapting. That kind of mindset is met with vast spaces where you can settle without ever being bothered by anyone. Their own little kingdoms. And they inherited that kind of mindset to their children and drew others who thought the same way to "go west". You see this also in the lack of freedom to roam in the U.S. Private property means: No access to the public at all if the owner doesn't want it. Again: Vast spaces inhabited by people who never wanted to make an effort to get along with others. That is the root of the american freedom. Is that better? Depends. For densily populated places, probably not at all.
Honestly I (German) don't feel like my freedom is about the general public, but about the individual too. It's all about me: almost free education for me, freedom to receive medical treatment as much as I need it, freedom of noise at sundays ... me, me, me :D
@@PassportTwoI disagree. Where is the individual freedom in not being able to take time off to recover when you're sick? Or to nurse your newborn baby and raise them until they can walk? Or to disagree with your boss without fear of being fired? Or to send your child to college? Or to walk through the countryside? These are all individual freedoms Americans don't have.
Would be interesting to know why the number of children walking/cycling to school has dropped so much in Germany. My guess is that one of the main contributing factors to this is school closures. Back in the day, basically every small village had its own school. These small schools have almost all been closed down now, so students have to travel greater distances to get to and from school in bigger towns, which is not always possible by bike or on foot, especially in very rural areas.
On the one hand, this certainly contributes, but also the fact that mom/dad then have to get to work "very quickly" and it's much easier and quicker if you take the child/children with you in the car. While a friend years ago only took her children* to the last intersection and they then had a 15-minute walk to school, some parents actually bring the children directly to the "door", even though the parents a) take a detour , b) endanger other children. * Resulting from a move and the request to still be able to spend the last school year at this primary school. The school in the area of the new apartment would have had a major intersection and would have been less than 10 minutes away. And for some children, an application is made to attend another primary school for various reasons. For example: childminder; Grandma/Grandpa look after the child after school and live in the catchment area of the other school.
No, it’s helicopter parents. The same parents who had all freedoms as children and freely roamed in the forests or fields mowed cannot bear to let their children walk to school. One friend didn’t even let her 12 year old daughter ride a bike farther than she could see her (in a very, very quiet and safe area with a speed limit of 30 km/m everywhere).
I have a direct comparison from my sons. They are 17 and 7 now. Same School, same way. But I found the traffic on roads is way more dangwrous today than 10 years ago. We live in a big town (Frankfurt am Main). The distance my son had/have to walk is about 25 Minuten and they have to cross 5 Streits and a really big one with a U-Bahn in the middle of a Street with 4 car lanes around. In the Streit where the School is are three more Schools (Realschüler, Gymnasium und Schule für Körperbehinderte). There is so much traffic around this are that it is really dangerous for my little son now. My weder son had a "walking bus". So an friend came to our door, picks my son up, they walk to the next corner where another friend was waiting. There where always 5 or 6 boys walking together. In the first years one of US mother walked with them and praciticed crossing the streezs safely. 10 years later There is only one boy who could walk with my son. But they don't like each other. So I am walking about one hour every morning to bring my son to School, walk back and take the public transportation or my car to go to work. This is only possible because I can choose my working Tones relatively free. Every morning I see very dangerous situations: Teens using electro scooters to drive very fast to their School. Car divers that don't respect the red traffic lights. Mother with huge Cargo biker riding against one way Streets (biker are allowed to use them against directions But it really dangerous with such big bikes), Teens, children who are running across the Streits without looking, many younger children riding a bike to school on the way for pedestrians. It is simple chaotic. And my little son is overwhelmed. I totally understand that!
The freedom of not having to take the car (or even own one) The freedom to feel save in public places and schools. (Not to have to worry about mass shootings) The freedom to have a proportional vote. (And not be limited to be forced into a two party system) The freedom from religion (not just "of religion")
A lot of things you call 'freedom' is actually more 'right'. A right to grow up, get education, start a family, live a healthy life, and in general lead a humane enough standard of life under a relatively safe and supportive environment regardless of your background, condition and level of wealth. That's basically what a welfare society is. Just as any freedom, those rights were fought for and won over a long period of time and struggle, and so just as valuable.
I think that you must have lived in a country to know how free living feels there for you. Since I have never lived in the USA, I can‘t compare. On my trips to the USA, however, I did not feel as free as in Germany - simply because a) I did not feel as safe as in Germany, especially at night, and b) it was often almost impossible to get from A to B without a car (or Uber, taxi,…). When in New York City, I walk and use public transport a lot at daytime, but as a single woman, I don‘t really like to do these things at night - whereas in Germany I walk, bike and use public transport (almost) everywhere at any given time. I also did not allow my kids to take little walks without me anywhere in the US, simply because I never saw other kids walking around alone there. I‘m sure kids do walk around alone in the suburbs, but we usually stay in the cities. They did (little!) walks (with me always being in the near and available on the phone) alone in big European cities like Paris, Barcelona, Berlin of course,… from a quite young age, because they just love to do it and I wanted to give them this… well, freedom. They did not have this freedom in the USA. That being said, I did not let them walk alone in Cape Town, too, so I‘m not saying that only in the USA my kids were not free 😁 Either way, compared to Germany and many other European countries, I feel that not only my own kids, but kids in general are less free in the USA. Above that, I don‘t quite understand which freedoms Americans have that I don‘t have (and would want to have) in Germany. Guns? Freedom of speech? Freedom of having no health insurance or being underensured? No, thank you. If I had a fancy business idea, I‘d probably feel more free to risk it in the USA. But this greater freedom would go hand in hand with higher risks. Generally, I am not a big fan of freedom at all costs. I would have loved to hear your reasons for feeling more free in the USA, Donnie!
There are so many boring sports - but one of the most boring is definitely American football. Little actual playing time and a lot of waiting for the next short move. It's more exciting to watch chess than American football.
Funnily, the average cost of a rescue helicopter in Germany is 1.500 € (60 € per minute). Most people could afford that even if they weren't insured. In fact, Berlin makes use of rescue helicopters as land-based vehicles would require more vehicles and more doctors ... and would thus me more expensive!
As a small addition and from my own experience: I paid €100 per semester when I was studying in northern Germany (this varies from state to state - we have 16 federal states after all). However, this payment also gives you a semester ticket and you can use the bus and train for free. If you don't have enough money, the state also gives you a student grant of around €600 a month. Half of this is an interest-free loan, the other half is a gift. Our rent as a student (if you don't want to stay with your parents) cost about €300 - divided by 3, as we lived in a shared flat (which is common here), not in a student hall of residence, and we lived within 7 minutes walking distance of the university.
Nice video and always refreshing to listen to a perspective on Germany from someone that has not been grown-up here! For the most boring spectator sport I nominate Angling or Fishing tournaments.
Though I left the house alone, I've never been alone alone on the way to my german school. There was always dozens of kids taking the same route (even though I did not actually know or talk with them). There were even police officers occasionally walking the same path to ensure our safety from time to time. In 7th grade politics decided to move our school to another city and we were forced to take the bus. Everyone was so upset!
"Freedom" cannot be a policy. Freedom for whom? To do what? "Tolerance" is a close relative of freedom, and it is also not possible to tolerate everything - or everyone - at all times. Re: the cost of US health care, imo if the cost of health care gets to a certain point the health care system is telling people they can just go die. Examples of this would be $125,000 for an apendectomy or $86,000 for a couple doses of anascorp. ($125.000,00 or $86.000,00 in Germany.) The most boring sport to watch is NASCAR or formula one racing on an oval track.
Which is why the German constitution specifies that all rights are limited to where they don't needlessly infringe on the rights of others. Unlimited freedom cannot work.
For me personally, it's less about my sense of freedom for me but instead how much my children are restricted (or not) while growing up. Can i show them a life full of "yes, you can" or do i need to say "no, you can't" more often. And i mean that not for special things but for day to day life and their way of handling themself in it.
Nunja, ich war vor ca. 15 Jahren in den USA. Mit dem Flieger nach New Arc, mit Taxi zum Cental Park in New York (Cats am Broadway). Dann mit einem Mietwagen nach Tijuana Mexiko (Corona ist da billig.). Weiter über SF, wo ich die Lombard runtergefahren bin. Ausserdem wars da sau kalt, naja wenn man direkt von Mexiko kommt... Mit der Kabelbahn bin ich auch gefahren, Fishermans Wharf.... Weiter zur Kanadischen Grenze, rein nach Kanada. Da hab ich eine echte italienische Pizza gegessen, mit einem echten chinesischen Bier.. Es war ein chinesisches Restaurant, OH? Zwischendurch Grand Canjon, Brice Canjon, Death Valley etc. Mein Resumee dazu: USA - Tolles Land, freundliche Einwohner - aber irgendwie dachte ich danach an Sitting Bull (Wars der?): Gegrabt mein Herz an der Biegung des Flusses! Aber nicht in den USA! Das war ein Kulturschock, den ich fast niemand klar machen konnte. So, nun gut, andere Länder andere Sitten aber wenn ichs mal so formulieren will: Die Welt dreht sich nicht um Amerika, leider haben viele Amis das noch nicht gemerkt. (PS: I could have written this in english, but why should i do so?)
The decline of the number of children and youngsters who walk or cycle to school is partly due to the fact that many smaller local schools have been closed and greater school-centers have replaced them. In former times more youngsters left school after grade nine or ten and then took up an apprenticeship, especially in villages and smaller communities.. Nowadays more take secondary education and have to go to the next town for another three years.
8:19 also walkable distance is considered way higher in germany than in the US. In germany if its less than 1km you normally always walk and up to 4km most people walk or take their bike. In the US I have seen people driving the 200m distance to visit their friends/neighbours cause "Its too far away to walk"
As an older retired guy, for me, the freedom to exist without the expense of car payments, insurance and maintenance costs, and fuel costs, not to mention the freedom to drive on quality roads without dealing with hyper-agressive and poorly trained self-centered "'drivers" in the USA is a huge plus. Most boring sport is a toss up between golf, bowling, poker, or corn hole.
Whoops, somebody misunderstood the points made in the video even though it was clearly stated multiple times in the video. 😅 Maybe this will help (although I did clearly say this multiple times in the video)? I mention how the U.S. is often portrayed as "the most free nation in the world" and how "one has the most freedoms possible in the U.S. compared to any other country." So, I wanted to show a few freedoms that Germans have that Americans don't have. Not stating that Germany is "more free" as you seem to have misunderstood 😂 Simply, that. Germany does have some freedoms that the U.S. doesn't have (I also stated this goes the other way as well. The U.S. definitely has freedoms that Germans don't have as well, but that wasn't the point of the video so I didn't address those directly). Then at the end I said, that although Germany has these few freedoms that should put the U.S. a little in check that they don't simply have more freedom than any other country in the world, that I do, yes, generally still feel a little more free in the U.S. I also explained that not everybody would feel that way in both countries. Maybe it was a language issue that you didn't pick up on the point of the video. Nonetheless, I appreciate the view 👍🏻😃
People always talk about freedom as if it’s an absolute: as if every public policy has the “free” option and the “autocratic” option or something. But actually almost every public policy in the West is about balancing two people’s freedom, especially the “freedom to” with the “freedom from”. This is equally true in the US and Germany. Is my freedom to be nude more important than your freedom from seeing nude people? Is my freedom to drive at whatever speed I want more important than your freedom from encountering dangerous drivers? Is my freedom to say whatever I want more important than your freedom from demagoguery and malicious lies? Is my freedom to roam the countryside more important than your freedom to enjoy exclusive use of your property? Is my freedom to spend my money however I choose more important than your freedom to obtain an education or healthcare? And of course: is my freedom to carry around a gun more important than your freedom from gun violence?
It's hard to compare the different kinds of freedom. I personally prefer the german and european way. For your question: Golf was the first sports I had in my mind even if there could be others.
Golf and tennis. 😴 Something I would be really interested in is: What freedom from the US you no longer have do you miss most? And why is it still worth the trade in your opinion? Also: hugs to Aubrey and the little one.
So it boils down to two american freedoms which are not existing in Germanny: carrying guns and consuming marihuana (will be allowed starting in 2024). Otherwise the USA is the most restrictive, puritanical and prudish country in the western world. And regarding alcohol, there are even some islamic states with more freedom. In Turkey one can drink alcohol in outdoor restaurants and street cafes while in the states so called "beer gardens" are always indoor and one has to prove to be older than 21 when buying alcohol. Even if its obvious that you are a pensioner. I never understood why Americans brag about their freedom. As if all others live in slavery.
There is a feel of freedom and a feel of security. And some limitations on freedom in Europa increase the feel of security. And ofcourse as you mentioned. Europe is more community based helping others to achieve their goals.
my freedom ends where i infringe upon other ppls freedom. that makes me free to not be confronted with toxic egofreedom as i think of it. freedom to feel safe without being armed. freedom to not be imprisond for something minor, and then kept there because a whole economy is built around imprisoned ppl. freedom to get medical help, doctor, surgery without being in debt forever. and not least, the freedom to not worry about all of that in the first place. you may be the land of endless possibilities. but what they dont tell you is, simmilar to sports, for every one that makes it, lots will fail. so i give up the chance of being super successful, for the better chance of living a decent to good life, with less opportunities to hit a hole in the road.
On the children walking and biking to school: I live in a big city and we have a one way street to get to two schools (each about 200 to 300 students). One day, about a week ago, I counted people driving children (age 6-16) to school. There were 32 cars in about 30 minutes before school started. BUT as I said, it’s a city. The statistics you showed were from Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein. I would assume, that quite a few children in Hamburg will walk or bike to school, while children living outside of cities and towns (like many in Schleswig-Holstein) will be driven to school or take the bus. Which freedom do you and Aubrey miss in Germany that you had in the USA? Having grown up in Germany, I learned to value „freedom from“ over „freedom to“. And that’s a good question, probably chess or golf (and pretty much any sport I don’t understand like tennis).
The US has certainly started adding more rules than they ought to, but I don't personally see allowing drinking, nudity, and trespassing in such areas as freedoms that don't come at the cost of others' discomfort. I do however think we need to use the autobahn system considering our size. Since a lot of our roads are just open expanses of nothingness for stretches that could span germany several times over. Ups and downs, as all things tend to have.
Actually I would like to learn about the US-american 'freedom' that everyone is talking about and that you didn't really give a lot of examples in this video. What is this freedom? Making noise at sundays, and what else? Noone is really specifying that and I would like to know. I wouldn't even necessarily let 'less bureaucracy' count to that, because that is just the level of how complicated paper work is and doesn't really have too much do with freedom. Freedom is what you are allowed to do, bureaucracy is just one aspect of the way how to do what you are allowed to do. Also if we talk about freedom we should talk about safety and quality of life, too. If everyone has the freedom (=is allowed to) to kill everyone whenever they want, that is the maximal freedom and you can say 'wow, so much more freedom here than in other countries with all their rules'. This would be a correct statement at first (even though, of course, everyone's freedom to roam and to be alive would be very inflicted) but it doesn't put the level of freedom into perspective and can lead people to false conclusions. Especially in a less extreme case as in this video.
I think it is mainly about the difference in the concepts of what freedom means. Is it freedom for an individual or freedom for the whole Society. One is the concept of freedom in the US and the other one the concept of freedom in Europe.
Mhm I think the right to walk on other prople's land is misconstrued. The German law does *not* know a right to move on someone's private property unless you have a proprietary or other legal title to it. Only that is called "Betretungsrecht". The general public does not enjoy such a right (unlike in England or Scotland, where the law still knows "commoners' land"). However, the criminal offence of tresspass (Hausfriedensbruch) requires *fenced* land, and most land just isn't fenced. So it's not a crime to walk over that property. That said, the key difference is culture, not law. German farmers just don't care if you walk over their land as long as you stick to th walkways.
From what I've experienced and seen over the years the US secretly locks lot's of freedoms behind money or better big amounts of money. In Germany this is most definitely less so. Living in Germany you most often wouldn't need a car as most places are walkable or have decent public transportation. To feel safe living in Germany you don't need to live in an expensive neighborhood or gated community. To protect yourself you don't need a gun and others don't really have the option to easily threaten you with one by just buying one at the next store. Eating healthy is normal and healthy food is everywhere and relatively cheap in Germany too. Same with education which you already mentioned (fundraisers are very uncommon here in Germany because people don't need them. Schools are decently funded, healthcare is "free" etc etc etc). Those are freedoms that many Americans aren't used to or aware of that exist in most other western countries. Freedoms that actually affect the average joe on a day to day basis unlike what americans would hail like the right to bear arms. Sure if you are making good money in the Us you'll be less affected directly BUT indirectly lots of people around you are still suffering and the country is poorer for it all together.
Am I wrong when I say that the freedom mentioned in the national anthem of the USA has nothing to do with the freedom of life in the country? [The Star-Spangled Banner has been the official national anthem of the United States of America (USA) since March 3, 1931. The text was written by Francis Scott Key in 1814. He wanted to express his joy at America's victory over the British, who had heavily bombarded Fort McHenry near Baltimore with their warships that night during the War of 1812. The reason for his reverence for the United States flag (the “Star-Spangled Banner”) was his relief that it was still flying over the fort the day after the British attacks.]wikipedia So please stop being confused by the Anthem`s line "Land of the free" .
Germany: you pay your taxes, you‘re good. Those taxes get spent in a way you directly benefit from. You get to enjoy those benefits on your mandatory off time, at least 20 days a year. You can’t pay taxes or need social assistance: way less freedom, but still more in comparison to USA: you guess the taxes you have to pay, those taxes get invested mainly in things you don’t benefit from in your everyday life. You can’t pay taxes or need social assistance? That’s un-american, pull yourself up by the boot straps! We are free of the fear of getting shot stepping on the wrong doorway. We are free of the fear of dying from a minor condition because we can’t afford the medication. We are free of the fear that our children are in constant danger and can let them go to school on their own. We are free to enter any public school most of the times, no metal detectors, no hall passes, just kids learning. We are free of the palpable racial divide. We are xenophobic as hell, but racism as in ‚believing in human races and that one is superior to others inherently‘ nah - only lunatics. We are free of private prisons and accumulated prison time. 25 years is the maximum (plus Sicherheitsverwahrung - worth a whole discussion in itself) We are free to badmouth our country constantly and therefore hold our politicians accountable more easily.
I just saw a video where a woman got arrested for wearing a thong and exposing her buttocks. The police was called on her and she got arrested and handcuffed wtf
Hey have you ever played with the idea of making a vacation somewhere in Europe (or anywhere else) and share your thougts and differences your experienced? I love your videos, but it gets kind of repetitive after a while only to see the US and Germany compared. Thank you for the videos you make! :)
If you look deeper on our channel you'll see videos and playlists from roughly 27 different countries actually 😃 However, I will admit that we go on vacation and travel around Europe frequently, but don't make videos about them like we used to because to be honest, "nobody" watches those videos. We only get views on videos about Germany so I stick to those 😊 Thanks for your comment and for watching!
Some views on political and economic freedoms were needed. I feel like voting rights are more respected in Germany and other European countries while they are subjected to partisan politics in the USA; and that representation is also more fairly proportioned, and that the extreme gerrymandering of some US states is avoided.
I think the comparison of freedom between both countries is silly because rights aren't really that different. All it is is a dick measuring contest to make nationalists on both sides feel better about themselves. This video has shown how subjective freedom is and what people need to do is live in a country that aligns with their values instead of posing them onto other people.
In the perception of a German, freedom is self-limiting. If every person shall be free, individual freedom is limited at the point where the exercise of individual freedom infringes upon the freedom of others. An example would be the midday rest: You are not allowed to exercise your individual "freedom" (right would be the better word here) of using loud machinery outside during certain hours of the day as this would infringe upon the right of others to maybe take a nap. So German freedom is largely based on a weighing of intersts: The noise of a machine might disturb the rest of many. The question is: Is it necessary to use the machine during lunchtime? Or is it reasonable to ask the individual to be considerate and use the machine either in the morning or the afternoon? We largely accept the Kantian concept of freedom, thus, the German concept of freedom is universal.
A really nice video - I liked it - and it made me think: The word freedom is a very positive word and it sounds like it would be a good thing to strive for a maximum amount of freedom. However - after thinking about it - something like 100% freedom would be devastating for a country, for we are all egoistic human beings and we all need restrictions so that our egoism doesn't harm us / our neighbor. My conclusion: It is not the freedom, but the restrictions / regulations that protect our health, wealth and freedom 😉
Everyone discussing "freedom" should be familiar the "Two Concepts of LIberty" by Isaiah Berlin. He distinguishes them as positive and negative liberty. The American concept is closer to negative liberty, "freedom from", being liberty defined as a lack of coercion. Nothing forces you to do or be anything. Positive liberty is "Freedom to". This one is rooted on what you are actually able to do and be. West European freedoms incorporate a lot more of this second concept than the US, while the US is dominated by the first one. Just to illustrate., a man in a desert island is absolutely free from any coercion by others, so one might say he is the most free based on the concept of negative liberty. He is however seriously limited on the things he can actually do. Not really free, by the concept of positive liberty. I'll leave the argument of which one produces the better society for other instances.
The older I get the fewer sports are worth watching. Probably because I can actively participate or am interested in participating in fewer sports myself. In the meantime, watching sports has the same status as watching an office worker work.
Excellent video. As a German I fully agree that there is no simple answer. The good thing is that the US and Germany are very free countries despite the differences we have. We are lucky to live in free countries and we must stay together to fight for a free world.
I mean, my experience with baseball games is that if something ever happens, it's when you go to the restroom or the food stalls....Though at least there's more show and spectacle around it than in its parent, cricket
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![How I See the US After Living Abroad for 15 Years [CULTURE SHOCK]](/img/tr.png)
Thanks so much for watching, guys! If you enjoyed this video, you’ll like these as well! 😃
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5 Genius GERMAN Life Hacks Americans Have Never Seen Before & You NEED To Know! 🇩🇪 - ua-cam.com/video/u3vBMMgZJHs/v-deo.html
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RQotW: Chess i'd say. Not that i would watch it, though. 😅
Cool thing that you mentioned the "current illegality" of using mary j for recreational purposes.
That shows you being interested in and learning about this country's politics. 👍
hi, east german here: cnn brings up connections where - lol - really aren't some. (let's not debate if the gdr was "communist" or not - by definition it was not. not even reached socialism - ist was a state capitalist country). gdr wasn't full of uniforms, marches etc etc all the time, so you "had to flee" from this. FKK (Freikörperkultur = free body culture) was part of recreation and enjoying the vacation time in the east. and no party or whatsoever could have suppressed it XD
btw: yes there was a wall, yes there were uniforms, yes there was a strict traveling restriction (but WAY NOT for everyone), yes there was some ideology, but there was ALWAYS a way around this all - AND having no problems to pay any bills with even the "lowest" of jobs. no homelessness, good healthcare, very good education system (scandinavian countrys even copied some of the gdr system and being happy with it until today).
what we have in the US right now? a wall, no fly lists for ex marihuana smokers (aka "terrorists") and ideological noncompliants, corruption, so much homelessness that some states make it illegal to be homeless (= putting people in prison), while still renting and buying houses/flats is expensive, education system for the rich or later debt slaves, healthcare system = same, AND shitty. criminality rates gruesome. is the prison system still a cheap labour selling scheme in the US? what difference is it to labour camps?
in comparison to that the gdr had a ridiculously low incarceration rate.
there are so many ways you can bring yourself "freely" onto the debt slavery road in the US,
there was literally more freedom in the gdr than is in the us right now.
About freedom: when I listen to Americans, I often hear "MY fredom", while my fellow Germans often talk of "OUR freedom":
For me, that is an important difference, because for me there is no freedom, when my freedom influences the freedom of another person.
Thats exactly the point. And because of that i'm totally fine giving up on things. I don't want to wonder all the time if people around me are armed - so i'm not. And i'm happy with that (otherwise it would literaly end in an arms race). I don't want to get woken up by a lawnmower - so i make an effort to not bother others as well.
I haven't been to the US, so i can't really compare first hand. But since i'm happy here in germany that doesn't really matter.
But: It's not perfect here either. Allthough i like the push for collective over individual freedom there are some aspects where we could use a little more individuality. In the labour market for example.
Well said.
Die Freiheit des Einzelnen endet dort, wo die Freiheit des Anderen beginnt.
The freedom of the individual ends where the freedom of others begins.
So real freedom vs communist freedom. Got it.
@@linkinparkroxx Wrong audience. Nobody in the comments is from the US. Save your efforts. We dont care about how you call it, we're not competing in your polarizing political nonsense...
I watched your video.
I understand you.
As an American, ex- military from the cold-war years of 75-85, living in Germany since. Married to a German 2x.
Divorced 2x. 6 children, 6,1/2 grand children (!)...
I speak, read and write, German.
I taught my children english.
Read them children books, from the states sent me by my family there.
They have dual citizenships.
I however have no intent to return to the US.
My home is where my family is.
You made Freedom the subject here.
Freedom is MORE than just what my RIGHTS are.
Freedom also has to do with DUTY.
The biggest difference I find between the US and Germany lies therein. It is the DUTY of the German government to govern and protect the Citizens and it is the 1st Law in the German Constitution which puts this into focus.
The Grundgesetz Article 1,
Human DIGNITY -Human Rights- shall be inviolable..
To respect and protect it shall be the duty of all state authority.
Articles 2-Personal freedoms Article 3 Equality before the Law Artikel 4 Freedom of Faith and Conscience Artikel 5 Freedom of expression, arts and sciences Artikel 6 Marriage Family Children 7- School system 8- Freedom of assembly 9- Freedom of assembly 10- Privacy,correspondence Post 11- Fredom of movement 12-Occupational Freedom and so forth...
Freedom is always an Article.
Duty is always the other side of the coin.
German Social Rights are embedded in the Grundgesetz.
Workers rights and everything else all the way to rights of being health insured .
But it also the DUTY of every tax payer to pay their fair share in the collective system which....creates freedom. For ALL.
These Duties will not be found in the Americans Constitution. Workers rights (and duties)
Health Care. Unemployment. Rehabilitation. Retirement.
Always being covered regardless of economic
standings.
I am Free and secure in Germany.
No guns fireing here.
No fear.
No military like police.
No Traffic cops chaseing me.
No problem with fences.
Etc...
47 years of Germany.
America should start to learn from European countries.
You can always make things better.
When did this stop, in the US.
I'm Danish, I grew up close to Germany, have never visited USA (and never will), but I do find it an interesting country to study, both as it is in the present, and how it has evolved historically.
As I understand it, F. D. Roosevelt proposed the "Second Bill of Rights", which would have given Americans many of the rights you mention. I think it would have aligned USA a lot more with western Europe.
Oh, btw I just noted your name - do you have any relation to Henry Wallace?
Danke. Leider vergessen in Deutschland inzwischen zu viele "Meckerer" diese nicht selbstverständlichen und gelebten Grundrechte eines freiheitlich orientierten Landes.
Well said!
Thank you for appreciating our Grundgesetzt.❤
The more I live without fear, the more I feel free. That is why I prefer Germany over the USA. BTW: The line “the land of the free and the home of the brave” was written in 1814 when slavery in the USA was running. For me that is a paradoxon.
Ancient Athens -cradle of Western democracy- was in fact a slave society
I am pretty sure that they didn't regard the land as being owned by the slaves. It was the land of those who weren't slaves - the slaves were simply commodities.
I see it more as an oxymoron. Emphesis on moron.
Nah bruh, that's not a paradoxon, that's just pure american hybris and bigottery and it's just as much alive in the US today as it was 190 years ago
In fact most of the things americans are "proud" of and believe they are their god given rights came from that time period ...
guys, its time to get modern ;) 19th century is over ...
Freedom to raise a family without major worry. Schools that are not prisons with metal detectors and armed intruder drills. Kid's can walk to school and back and take public transit. Kid's in Germany have more freedom to enjoy life.
Kids
@@arno_nuehm_1
Adults, too.
Hey mom, van I visit my friend (who lives 15 minutes by bike away)?
In Germany the kid just rides there, in the US it is by car everywhere.
I wonder how the parents are not annoyed or stressed being a constant Taxi for their kids?
you only see the one side^^ propably actually now the stats about kids killing kids rise like a skyrocket.
+ free universities 🎉
I spent a year as an exchange student in 11th grade in the US. I lived in a small town. The school bus was so inconvenient that I walked to school most days (it was a twenty minute walk compared to a forty minute bus ride).
The first ten minutes I had to walk on a road that had no sidewalks. I was sixteen, and at that age you don't really consider things like your own mortality, but nowadays, I realise how dangerous that really was.
Oh, and I got stopped by cops twice, asking me if something was wrong. After that, everyone at the tiny police department probably knew about the weird german guy walking everywhere.
Sorry to hear about your experience. Not everyone is that bad in America. It sounds like you were in a small town.
@@brucebanner3566 lol dude literally said he lived in a small town.
That’s funny I did an exchange year in a small town too and walked to school. I got so many weird looks because everyone would just drive, doesn’t matter how far.
Its so weird to me.. i am german and it was totaly normal to me to walk to school for over 7 years. Everyday to 30-40 minutes in the morning to school and the same back. It dosnt matter how the weather was. Rain, snow, storm, ice or 36 degrees. I alway walked.
I cant imagine living in a land you cant walk (because of missing infrastructure) or drive everytime something is more than five minutes away. I could never do that.
I had a GF here in Germany. She wanted to be driven to the store only abt. 200 m away.
I've never felt free living in America.
I've felt like a slave to my employment, forced to drive because everything is so far away, and no voice to change any of it because our so called democracy has been bought and paid for decades ago.
THIS
As someone from outside of the USA I think the slave owner mentality from before the civil war has never gone away. Workers are still treated like slaves by whoever is their overseer.
If a child in the USA thinks they are free they should try not pledging allegiance to a flag, see what happens. That act alone seems very creepy to most other countries, it looks very similar to what you would have expected in Nazi Germany.
@@martinconnelly1473 I don't pledge allegiance and I refuse to stand during the national anthem. People give me looks but I don't care.
Other than during state ceremonies and sports events displays of patriotism are generally frowned upon in Germany -outside of conservative/right wing people-. It seems weird and outdated to me to expect a pledge of allegiance from someone who does not hold an office in government. Pure cringe. I guess we already tried nationalism in Germany and it didn‘t turn out well…
@@leonperler9619 Yeah exactly, because it IS weird as hell. We've got plenty of nationalism over here and people who blindly follow the flag/country no matter how many wrongs it commits/has committed, no matter how crappy it treats its people, no matter how many things are fundamentally broken here lol. It's insanity to me.
For me it is simple and very clear. In Germany cities and villages are communities, in US the freedom only means EGOISM. Greetings from California..
I am Greek. When I went to Germany for studying, I just was told that it is just important to be on time. And then in Germany there were just a few restrictions for me in doing what I wanted to do. This was a very affordable price for having so much better organisation than in Greece. When I visited to USA some years ago, an american friend gave me a whole lecture about so called dont's. And most of them was about how not to speak and what not to say to whom. And by the way, I don't have an "unwashed mouth", I am a mannered guy. Of course I understand, that every society has it's code of speech, but I think in USA there is less tolerance if you are not familiar whith. And you can't just say anything if you are in contact whith the police (for instance when you enter the country), you can be very soon a suspect person. In Germany I spoke as I was thinking and feeling and almost nobody was offended or thought bad of me. So, freedom of speech dosn't seem to be the most characteristic for USA. Oh, by the way, the person who gave me the lecture was a person of color. I think that says a lot about freedom in general in USA.
Let me quote the great Ice-T "Freedom of speech. That's some motherfucking bullshit. You say the wrong thing, they lock your ass up quick".
There is another Video on here, where a Brit and US-American explain the differences of "freedom of speech" and "freedom of expression".
Tcalss: Your freedom if speech ends, where my freedom starts and your freedom of speech does not give you the right to intimidate or insult other people.
I spend half of the year in Los Angeles and usually, I am a more distant guy, but sometimes, things got heated, cause if someone exploits his rights to hurt other people, I can get very, very angry ...
As someone married to an American person of colour, we both feel more free in Germany/Europe than the United States. Not even close. Make of that what you will.
Appreciate your take and comment 😊
@@PassportTwo And I appreciate your understanding ☺
Fascinating! Thank you! I rarely thought about this (as a German).
@HayleyAlexis Has an incredibly good dive into a big reason for why this is in one of her videos.
Yep, in the same boat here.
Just to add to children walking to school. Even when less children in Germany walk to school, they are still independent. They take the bus. The public bus, not a school bus. Which means when they want to hang out with their friends after school they can just take a later bus home. Or they go to the city center or swimming pool or wherever they want to go. It's not like they are stranded somewhere and have to wait for mommy or daddy to pick them up.
In rural Germany, you are more or less stranded with often poor public transport (ÖPNV). So the kids have to use their bicycles and later mopeds to get around. On the other hand, which German kid hasn't got a bicycle 😊
Whenever I'm on vacation in the US, I find it really weird that I cannot buy my usual daily contact lenses over there without seeing a doctor and getting a prescription. But I could buy an automatic rifle. Weird concept of freedom. I don't want a rifle. I want to see something 😂 I'm now always making absolutely sure I bring enough of them from Europe.
And at the same time, in Germany you need to go to the pharmacy or even need a prescription in order to be able to buy common drugs which in the USA are sold in drugstores. Or take a look at Italy, where pharmacies are the first form of medical support people seek out, even before seeing a doctor. And each legal system (federal or state) has good reasons why things are as they are.
@@udosteger Absolutely. But it's the US that's constantly claiming to be the land of the free and citing freedom as the main driving force behind many political decisions like e.g. the liberal gun laws. In fact it's just another country that's allowing certain things and disallowing certain things.
Once you have a prescription from an optometrist, you can simply order more contacts from your doctor's office, no appointment needed.
As for automatic weapons, you cannot simply walk in and out with one on the same day, you have to be legally eligible to purchase one and there's a lengthy background check to get one.
Mind you, there are also 13 states where you cannot legally possess or purchase/sell an automatic weapon, including DC.
@@udosteger Und das ist nun ein Nachteil? Wohl kaum, denn in beiden Staaten ist der Medikamentenmissbrauch bzw. die Abhängigkeit von solchen Substanzen um ein Vielfaches höher.
@@LANCELOT1911 Correct - just imagine NYC and people legally owning weapons .... people in Europe have seen too many bullshit movies, thinking, that things are reall like that.
They don't know, that you first have to register to get a general permit for handguns and then have to proove your knowledge about heavy weapons, including said background check, that can take up to several month. Only exception being hunting permits, but for those, you had to to a check-up earlier as well.
A very intelligent person doesn't need to call him/herself smart.
A great leader doesn't have to say he is a great leader.
If you are really free, you don't have to constantly say you are free.
To me America's freedom comes over as the "person" that keeps insisting, because deep down they know they aren't.
Well said. A good worker doesn't need to tell everytime what a good worker he is.
On point! That's exactly how I feel about it.
This is going to trigger some but here in Germany we have the freedom from every day gun violence, going bankrupt from getting sick/injured, student loans, out of control lobbying destroying democracy etc.
In the US, people focus on “freedom to” versus Europe you have “freedom from”. The US is home to me but I’m grateful for the advancements here to protect society.
Only my impression from the USA is that some part of the freedom is when you fail it is and will be only your problem not the problem of other people. Everyone is responsible for themselves (in a more clearly manner) . It is not intended to sound positive 😅
???
Except, as the video shows, there are many "freedoms _to_ something" that are not found in the US.
@@lhpl of course, every country will have them. As I said above, the US population tends to focus on what they have the freedom to do. They do so with complete disregard for the negative outcomes of those “freedoms”.
@@Megans358 My point is that Americans may very likely be focused on _some_ freedoms (or rights) "to", like the right to bear arms, while not caring at all about others, like the freedom to drink in public. There are many things the authorities interfere with in the US, which - seen from Europe - would be unacceptable restrictions on our freedom "to something".
That's why it's called "The American dream" and not "The American reality"
*hallucination
The american dream - you have to be asleep to belive in it! :D
@@charlesshelton7989 LMFAOOOO
Considering the property-law in the US: we had a 15-year-old boy in the neighbourhood in Hamburg, Germany, who went for an exchange year to the US. In the school he befriended some boys and amongst the teens there was a game popular in which they snuck onto the property of other people, trying to steel a beer out of the garage. So he did this as well - unfortunatly the owner of the garage heard him and shot him to death. And because of these property-laws he was not arrested or punished. He killed a stupid boy for a beer. That is why i would not let my teenage boys go to America by themselves.
😮
He HAS been punished now.
@@jameswallace3963 well Rod**y Pea**s hasn't, he was found not guilty. He was found liable in civil court, and was to pay some money in damages, probably hasn't been able to pay that.
In 1992 he killed Yoshihiro Hattori, a 16 year old Japanese exchange student. In 1992 I decided to never set a foot on US soil, and I have advised my kids to not go there ever.
And oh, speaking of freedoms, my first comment disappeared in thin air, I guess I must have used language unfit for sensitive American minds. Freedom of speech up yours! (Of course not you personally, James Wallace, I'm a big fan of your namesake Henry, btw.)
Stupid and blatant lie, except for Tennesee, cause in every other state, you WILL get punished for doing so and that's a fact.
You are only allowed to DEFEND yourself and property and shooting an UNARMED civilian for "trespassing" is NOT covered by law.
I heard that crap over and over again, but in NO case at all, someone was able to produce evidence, name the town, county or court ...
He got arrested for big time... because the turkish community in Turkey and in the turkish colony Germany, from where the turkish brat was, went bat crap crazy and threatened to become very violent.
Je suis Markus Kaarma... he did nothing wrong... the criminal turk Diren Dede did!
It was a political show process and sentence... like the one concerning Fentanyl-George.
Hence... Je suis Derek Chauvin.
What is missing is that in Germany you have legally granted PTO of minimum 20 working days for recreational purposes for all employees. Another aspect of the german healthcare insurance, yes the socialistic forced one, is that in case of a doctor testifys you sick, you are getting your full salary upto
six weeks. After the six week period the insurance takes over 67% from your salary.
I think you can be "more free" in the US If you can afford it that is. In Germany it's more about giving freedom not to an individual but to as many people as possible to the highest degree possible. To sum it up: I personally prefer Germany
I felt more free while living in Germany and Malta. The transition back to the US full time has been difficult. I truly miss the freedom of living in Europe.
The "right to protect yourself" is also law in Germany - but the threat must be much more "physical", "real" than by the "Stand your ground" laws in the US. Just "feeling threatened" (by mere physical presence) isn't considered a reason for self-defence. As long as you (and any other person) can flee the scene, you are expected to do that.
And there even is a limit to what you can do to protect yourself in the case of "Bagatellangriffe" (very minor threats/attacks). In Germany, Notwehr does allow you to respond to a significant attack, e.g. robbery or major assault, even with lethal force if this is the "mildest option" (mildestes Mittel). But against a minor threat/attack, e.g. trespassing or - this example is commonly used in law studies - stealing cherries - you are not allowed to defend yourself out of proportion.
The equivalent to "Stand your ground" in german jurisdiction is "Das Recht muss dem Unrecht nicht weichen", what also mans, that you don't need to run away to avoid a confrontation but can stand and defend your ground.
@@horstomat Es hebt aber die Pflicht zur Angemessenheit nicht auf.
... und "Rache" wird ebenfalls nicht darunter verstanden.
1:33
Well ... yey ... yes indeed ... there are several ...
1. In Germany you got the freedom to not constantly live in fear of getting shot by a stranger
2. In Germany you got the freedom to not be incarcerated for several dozens of years for a misdemeanor just because you're not white
3. In Germany you got the freedom to not get unknowingly used for some unlicensed field study of the next random iteration of any medication to prevent the loss of exclusivty
4. In Germany you got the freedom to get an education without paying more for that education up front then you'll ever be able to make after you got your degrees
5. In Germany you got the freedom to not automatically become homeless because the trip to the ER might have saved your life but cost you several hundred grand
6. In Germany you got the freedom to not be forced to bare the child of your rapist
7. In Germany you got the freedom to not be forced to bare a child while pregnancy might actually kill you and your child
8. In Germany you got the freedom to not depend on a legislation that is set up on a precedent and therefor can overturned at any moment, meaning that you're not actually aever know if you're right or wrong in a legal battle until the verdict, no matter if your action were actually illegal while committing them
8. Shall I go on? There's at least another 50 things
In Germany you now have to expect getting knifed at a public event.
@@KJ-md2wj Oh yay I found a far-right-russia-troll ...
No, no you don't
@@KJ-md2wj knife incidents are not happening as often as gun incidents (like school shootings, police killings etc.)
in germany your passport is not stained with the mention of your "ethnicity" aka skin colour for over 75 years now.
in germany you have the freedom to be homeless without worrying being incarcerated and forced to work (look it up... US states do that stuff) - i won't mention another germany where there was no homelessness at all.
yeah you could go on and on why life is better here than in the empire that wants us to prepare to tear it all down and fight a war for it.
I am a German living in the US. I never understand how Americans think they have the most free country. After Roe vs. Wade was overturend, its so free as Germany was in 1935.
That is dangerous to every woman and girl, basically to any one with functioning ovaries and uterus.
Yeah, freedom to murder is really important to you, it seems.
well, North Koreans also think they have the freeest country in the world. They can't know any better. Same with americans, just they don't want to know any better. Let them live in their bubble over there.
@@totalwar008removing a cluster of cells is not murder. You are showing your lack of education, another usian freedumb. But killing doctors at abortian clinics is murder. Like when George Tiller was murdered.
. @totalwar008 you have no idea what you are talking about. The most abortions are for medical reasons and even this are banned in some states. They are now trying to ban birth controll also. In some states in some clinics the let women bleed out till they are on the brink of death till they are helping them. But a clumb of cells is more important for you. Sure when live is so importand for you, you vote for gun controll, food assistans, for asyl seekers to come in ... ??? No? than you are not pro live, you are pro controll! Btw. Roe vs Waide is not about abortion, that was only the first thing they did, the next are the trans, and lgbtq than the adhd and authists, depressivs, leftis, immigrants. It will never stop. And in Alabama 3 clinics stop birth controll because the medical stuff for this does not want to participate in torchering women. The new house speeker, said once, every woman owns the country to birth one able body WORKER. Does not sound like freedom to me, sounds more like Handmaidstale.
The difference is in the constitution. US constitution is 200 yrs older than ours and is about personal freedom. But we learned over the centuries, there's more than personal freedom. So the first article in the German constitution is about dignity. That means the personal freedom can not cut others freedom. When you're allowed to kill people just for walking over your property you're hurting the dignity of that person and that's not freedom. It's just selfish. It's "fuck your freedom and die". Unhuman, unfree.
The UK does not have (or need) a written constitution, but the core of it is at least 900 years old, and it seems to work.
@@charlesunderwood6334 She didn‘t talk about the UK. But your system semms to work fine.
@@charlesunderwood6334 The UK does have a written constitution, but it's distributed over many different documents and legal rulings introduced over a long span of history, rather than being collected and summarised in one.
Whoa!...nowhere in the U.S. is it legal to "kill people just for walking over your property." Do so and you'll be charged with a capital crime, with the possibility of spending life in prison. Willful trespassing is certainly illegal, but the only lawful recourse is to file a complaint with the police against the alleged trespasser. And I doubt that you've "learned over the centuries" as you insist. The years 1933 - 1945 proved that you haven't, and that it took the total devastation of your country to finally bring you people to your senses. And the fact that the U.S. constitution is 200 years old (actually it's 234) is irrelevant. It contains timeless principles to which most civilized nations aspire even today. Have you even read it? I'd bet not. Certainly there is crime in America (some places worse than others), as in most Western nations, but don't blame that on the constitution. Blame it on criminals, and the lack of support for law enforcement in certain areas of the country. The whole purpose of the U.S. constitution is to delineate certain inalienable human rights, and to limit the power of the government to certain specified functions. Just ask anyone still alive in your country that remembers how living without a constitution (during the 1930's & 40's) worked out for you people.
@@fumble_brewski5410 OP stated that the US consitution is "200 years OLDER than ours", not that it's only 200 years old. Although technically it isn't because our constitution was declared 23.05.1949, so do the math yourself.
WE learned our lesson from our past. Hence the freedom for oneself ends where it does others harm. Has your country learned it's lessons from the past (Native Americans, Slavery, Apartheid)? Ido hope so because we all can learn from the past to never ever let those thimgs happen again.
Sidenote: The idiot who started the whole N*zi Sh*tshow was not even a German himself and looked eeriely similar to the "enemy picture" he created (at least I think so).
Sorry for the rant, but your education system should not let the history classes end at the year 1945 😮
Die Freiheit des Einzelnen hat seine Grenze an den Freiheitsrechten von anderen.
That!
Yup, und damit hat jeder so wenig Freiheit wie nur irgendwie möglich.
@@Alexx120493 Alle haben so viel Freiheit wie möglich. Klar, einige egoistische Idioten maulen, wenn sie ihre Ideen nicht anderen aufzwingen dürfen.
@@Alexx120493 it's the other way around. the maximum possible, with a red line where your personal freedom harms others.
@@Alexx120493 Ach Alex, wen möchtest du denn offiziell verfolgt und der Freiheit beraubt haben?
Komm, rücks raus 😊
Die Homos? Die Transen? Oder vielleicht die Juden?
Mann o mann, immer diese FRIEHEITSBESCHRÄNKUNG durch andere Existenzen!!!1! 😂
As a German I would not feel safe in the USA because of the risk to be arrested and sentenced to death only for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. I know that this depends on the state but I find it really disturbing. In Germany we don't have the death sentence. And I think our legal system is better.
Plus the risk that everyone might carry a gun and shoot me. Maybe I just walk across their front yard parallel to the road and I think it is a public space and they threaten me with their gun, I would have a heart attack. No thanks.
There is a saying: your personal freedom stops where it limits other people's freedom, meaning in a society people should be respectful to others, as simple as that. There is sadly a growing tendency of disrespect to other people even in Germany, where sadly there are far too many people who only think about their own needs and wishes. And this growing egoism is causing most of the problems in society.
The most boring sport to watch is probably angling, although golf is a close second.
I very much agree with your first sentence, although I might phrase it a bit different: Germans are taught about their obligations towards their peers , Americans are taught about their rights over their peers.
Immanuel Kant
@@wora1111 wow, didn't know it goes that far: are you really telling us that the people in the USA are taught to be egoists without a shred of respect for the other fellow humans? I somehow doubt that. What certainly is there is the glorification of such heartless egoists
@@MyriamSchweingruber You are exaggerating even more than I did. ;-)
But there is some truth to it. The picture of the USA we were given in our youth and what we see now has changed a lot. Some changes were minor, but the way media are used to influence people and "make up their mind" really bothers me because the USA are a big (not great) part of the world we live in.
@@MyriamSchweingruber But that is exactly what is going on in the US, they are taught that they have all these RIGHTS without any responsibility whatsoever, literally god-given BS.
I'm married to an American woman. She moved to France in December of 2016.
I'll let you do the math about why she decided to move...
Her first word once she had spent a couple of days in France were: "I've never felt so much at Home.".
Thats because France is beautiful and the people (outside of paris maybe) are really nice. Visiting Lyon and Strassbourg were one of the best trips of my live.
i think people in the US have more psychological trauma and burdens, that we in germany mostly don't have. i am thinking of struggling with student loans, loans because you needed surgery (i was never in any debt in my life), having a sick family member at home you have to take care of and that maybe dies in front of you because there is no health insurance or insurance does not cover things. people you know in general dying because of health reasons or violence (no one i know died yet except my 90yo grandma). childhood trauma you can't afford therapy for, so you get addicted to medication or alcohol instead. in germany i am struggling with things too, but it is never about survival. even if i don't have a job, i will always have money to buy food and the rent will be paid and my insurance is covered. i never worry about any of those things. that is real freedom! it's just an endless list. every person i meet from the US has some kind of severe struggle i would not have here. i feel so bad for them.
ps: tennis.
Where does the personal freedom depend on the thickness of your wallet or color of your credit card? I think we all know.......
I remember back in high school a girl hurt her neck during p.e.
She was actually picked up by an ambulance helicopter that landed in our rather tiny inner city school yard with tress and buildings all around. Pretty impressive, of course everyone watched and the teachers had a hard time to keep everyone at a safe distance.
But turns out is wasn't even bad, she was back the next day. Guess they just wanted to be extra carefull with a possible neck injury and considered air transport to be smoother and thus safer.
Sturz und Nackenverletzungen werden, sofern möglich, zwingend mit dem Hubschrauber erledigt, weil es besonders wichtig ist, daß der Verletzte schnellstmöglich in spezielle Kliniken kommt, wegen eventueller Schäden an der Wirbelsäule (drohende Querschnittslämung).
It occurs to me that one common misunderstanding comes from the question whether you are free TO do something, or the freedom FROM something. For example, I'd rather be free from the dangers of overzealous property owners than be free to lethally respond to a perceived slight or invasion.
That is my impression, too.
To use the example from the video: In the US you are free to make noise on sunday, while in Germany you have the freedom from noise on Sunday.
And, I just don't get the fascination with their guns. One only needs to look at the events of the last few days to understand just how warped their sense of freedom is.
That's called security, not freedom
@@holger_p No. The concept is positive and negative freedom is not the concept of freedom and security.
@@steemlenn8797 this makes freedom completly meaningless, if you can define hunger is beeing free of food, and not having hunger is free of hunger. That's permanent enduring freedom on everything you have or you miss.
Just the idea that literally anybody at any time can pull out a gun and point it towards me freaks me out already. Out of anxiety you rather ship your kids to school in a car or bus then let 'em hop on a bicycle but you don't do anything robust and preventive about school shootings. I would never ever fit into U.S. society, thank you very much. I am happy to be an European.
Why do ppl in Germany give such high regards to public school brainwashing? Oh, because home education is illegal there.
The problem, in my understanding, is that americans tend to see "freedom" as as an absolut, e.g. "I have rights and can do whaever I want". GErmas on the other hand tend more to a "Kantian approach": Kant said that “Die Freiheit des Einzelnen endet dort, wo die Freiheit des Anderen beginnt.” (Individual freedom ends, where the freedom of the next individual begins).
Question one: I feel a lot more free in Germany than I would in the USA. I've visited the USA multiple times, once for more than two months in one stretch. While that isn't really 'living' in the USA it does give some better insights into everyday life than just a two week trip or so. The freedoms I would have in the USA that I wouldn't have in Germany and vice versa are definitely only a very personal opinion. However what I have seen back then, and now, I wouldn't trade the many freedoms I have here in Germany for the few other freedoms in the USA. Not on any count.
Random question of the week:
Ice curling.
German employees enjoy much more freedom in the company they are employed by. Angloamerican stance on this type of treaty seems to be some sort of commercial slavery. The German employer does not get the right to injure the dignity of his employees while his American counterpart does.
I have learned that drinking alkohol in public apart of any restaurant or bar is rather bad behaviour. Drinking in public might be allowed only to stay hydrated when visiting famous places, but in this case usually water is consumed.
I've been interacting with Americans on a daily basis for about a decade, and my impression is, that the American view on freedom basically comes down to "might makes right" mocked up with a thin veneer of "we live in a society".
Yes, not that my country the UK is that great (getting worse), but many freedoms in the USA do seem to be in my eyes rather negative - the freedom of low taxes, freedom to treat your workers poorly, freedom to keep your land to yourself. Freedom of the individual rather than the good of the many.
@@mike_maple Yes, there has to be a balance, sure we can have our personal freedoms but they need to be balanced with the needs to the many. Americans, and this is generalising a little, are selfish. I know not all are like that, but they are the ones that stick in your mind and give the stereotype validity.
@@mike_maple the US does have more guns, if it keeps going the way it is, i believe the good of the many will find a way
@@utha2665 I have to admit to being a little selfish in my ways too, but generally I believe in democratic socialism, whereas that idea is getting nowhere fast in the US (or so I believe). Then again, any vestige of that seems to leaching from the UK year by year too.
@@utha2665 The US ranks 15 in the Human Freedom index 2023.
24th on the Personal freedom part.
So the idea tha people in the US has more personal freedom than other countries is not true.
"Freedom" is a cultural entity. In the USA, of all places, I am always amazed at the countless "Do not ..." signs and the countless uniformed, mostly incompetent and least qualified people who can be found everywhere: in museums, in front of doors of buildings, in the parks.... And they have nothing to do but post their "Do not ...". For Europeans, this is very strange.
Overall, I feel much "freer" in Europe than in other countries, including the USA. For me, this freedom also includes the feeling of general security, which is elementary. In the USA, I turn back at the latest when I come to an area where there are more than three junk cars in the front yards. I find such things to be a very strong restriction.
Furthermore, I find the often rigid behavior of police officers, the latent threat of firearms in private hands and, last but not least, the threat of the death penalty alone as a restriction of my freedom, which I find unacceptable.
I love my freedom in Europe and would never, ever, ever want to trade.
I did a high school year in Colorado with the age of 16. My host parents had been very upset, when I have done a walk to the post office all by myself, cause I could have been shot. I had been very suprised by not beeing allowed taking a walk outside by myself, cause that was the most natural thing for me in Germany, where I walked to school and everywhere else all by myself. So I kind of felt imprisoned at home sometimes....
The massive car dependency in the US alone. Dependency is pretty much the opposite of freedom.
The lacks of freedom in Germany, compared to the US:
You don't have the right to force your employees to work, when sick, or not give them the adequate time of free days , meaning holidays., or call them in out of duty time, or mail them something to react to. You don't have the right, to shoot them after firing them, when they after that trespass your business- or private property. You don't have the freedom to bill them with costs as high as several 100s times or even 1000% higher for any kind of medical treatment, examination, care , medication or supplies, than in any other highly civilized country, just four financial benefits. As a doctor, you do not have the freedom to financially benefit from the treatment you prescribe to your patient, or advertise your medical offerings , abilities or treatments, luring patients into your business. You do not have the freedom to roam around armed like a soldier on a battlefield. You do not have the freedom to incarcerate people for minimal suspicions or law violations as a police man. You would not have the freedom to name yourself "police officer", when you have just bare minimum of police education. Officers here are always people with the highest university like educations. You do not have the freedom claim such titles for yourself without any proven and achieved testifying. As a landlord, you are not free to throw your people out of their homes without substantial reasons by law and reasonable times by law for them to find new homes.You don't have the freedom here, to harm or insult people, or publish lies about other people. You do not have the freedom to consume any music, films or other creative contents, that are published in technical ways, that can and do avoid the financial benefits, belonging to the creators. You do not have the freedom to advertise any medical or lawyer business, luring people into your business, as bay law those "business" fields are primarily operating to give people in need the needed help, and only secondary to earn money.
I actually live on both sides of the Atlantic and often have that same question to myself. I would argue that Germany is actually more free, especially those points you mentioned. But there is more. In many states you have to be 21 to buy a lottery ticket. Most bars and clubs in the US have last call for alcohol at 2 AM, you cannot go to a bar when you are under 21 or you are not allowed to play a slot machine under 21. However, I guess because of it's size, the US "feels" more free?!?
Without getting into all the "freedom to do" (US) or "freedom to be"(Europe), one difference is the difference between free speech and free expression. In most of Europe there are laws restricting some speech where it could cause harm to others (such as hate speech and inciting violence), but in most of Europe freedom of expression allows far more use of swearing, sex, blasphemy and other expression not only in speech but also in art, film, theatre and TV. I think most people in Europe would prefer the greater freedom of expression if it means having less freedom to be insulting.
Absolutely!
We (in the EU) have to get "creative" on some issues. Like back then in the GDR.
You have to rewrite things, use synonyms or package the whole thing as "satire.
👍🏼
Definitely american football. It takes way too much time.
And about freedom. We in Europe know that our rights ends when we breach other people rights. In USA it looks like its MY rights first who cares about yours.
The question of where one has more freedom depends to a large extent on personal needs. And also on cultural differences. In Germany, the concept of freedom is more oriented toward the general public, in the U.S. more toward the individual. Everyone has to decide for themselves what they think is better.
Totally agree!
I'd also argue that the individual freedom that people in the U.S. value comes from two things: The first settlers in those territories ever, were mostly people that were non-conformists in some way shape or form. Some wanted to live out their fringe group form of protestantism, others simply didn't feel like adapting.
That kind of mindset is met with vast spaces where you can settle without ever being bothered by anyone. Their own little kingdoms. And they inherited that kind of mindset to their children and drew others who thought the same way to "go west".
You see this also in the lack of freedom to roam in the U.S.
Private property means: No access to the public at all if the owner doesn't want it.
Again: Vast spaces inhabited by people who never wanted to make an effort to get along with others.
That is the root of the american freedom.
Is that better? Depends.
For densily populated places, probably not at all.
Honestly I (German) don't feel like my freedom is about the general public, but about the individual too. It's all about me: almost free education for me, freedom to receive medical treatment as much as I need it, freedom of noise at sundays ... me, me, me :D
@@PassportTwoI disagree. Where is the individual freedom in not being able to take time off to recover when you're sick? Or to nurse your newborn baby and raise them until they can walk? Or to disagree with your boss without fear of being fired? Or to send your child to college? Or to walk through the countryside? These are all individual freedoms Americans don't have.
Would be interesting to know why the number of children walking/cycling to school has dropped so much in Germany. My guess is that one of the main contributing factors to this is school closures. Back in the day, basically every small village had its own school. These small schools have almost all been closed down now, so students have to travel greater distances to get to and from school in bigger towns, which is not always possible by bike or on foot, especially in very rural areas.
On the one hand, this certainly contributes, but also the fact that mom/dad then have to get to work "very quickly" and it's much easier and quicker if you take the child/children with you in the car.
While a friend years ago only took her children* to the last intersection and they then had a 15-minute walk to school, some parents actually bring the children directly to the "door", even though the parents a) take a detour , b) endanger other children.
* Resulting from a move and the request to still be able to spend the last school year at this primary school. The school in the area of the new apartment would have had a major intersection and would have been less than 10 minutes away.
And for some children, an application is made to attend another primary school for various reasons. For example: childminder; Grandma/Grandpa look after the child after school and live in the catchment area of the other school.
No, it’s helicopter parents. The same parents who had all freedoms as children and freely roamed in the forests or fields mowed cannot bear to let their children walk to school.
One friend didn’t even let her 12 year old daughter ride a bike farther than she could see her (in a very, very quiet and safe area with a speed limit of 30 km/m everywhere).
I have a direct comparison from my sons. They are 17 and 7 now. Same School, same way. But I found the traffic on roads is way more dangwrous today than 10 years ago. We live in a big town (Frankfurt am Main). The distance my son had/have to walk is about 25 Minuten and they have to cross 5 Streits and a really big one with a U-Bahn in the middle of a Street with 4 car lanes around. In the Streit where the School is are three more Schools (Realschüler, Gymnasium und Schule für Körperbehinderte). There is so much traffic around this are that it is really dangerous for my little son now. My weder son had a "walking bus". So an friend came to our door, picks my son up, they walk to the next corner where another friend was waiting. There where always 5 or 6 boys walking together. In the first years one of US mother walked with them and praciticed crossing the streezs safely.
10 years later There is only one boy who could walk with my son. But they don't like each other. So I am walking about one hour every morning to bring my son to School, walk back and take the public transportation or my car to go to work. This is only possible because I can choose my working Tones relatively free. Every morning I see very dangerous situations: Teens using electro scooters to drive very fast to their School. Car divers that don't respect the red traffic lights. Mother with huge Cargo biker riding against one way Streets (biker are allowed to use them against directions But it really dangerous with such big bikes), Teens, children who are running across the Streits without looking, many younger children riding a bike to school on the way for pedestrians. It is simple chaotic. And my little son is overwhelmed. I totally understand that!
The freedom of not having to take the car (or even own one)
The freedom to feel save in public places and schools. (Not to have to worry about mass shootings)
The freedom to have a proportional vote. (And not be limited to be forced into a two party system)
The freedom from religion (not just "of religion")
A lot of things you call 'freedom' is actually more 'right'. A right to grow up, get education, start a family, live a healthy life, and in general lead a humane enough standard of life under a relatively safe and supportive environment regardless of your background, condition and level of wealth. That's basically what a welfare society is. Just as any freedom, those rights were fought for and won over a long period of time and struggle, and so just as valuable.
Agree!
I think that you must have lived in a country to know how free living feels there for you.
Since I have never lived in the USA, I can‘t compare.
On my trips to the USA, however, I did not feel as free as in Germany - simply because a) I did not feel as safe as in Germany, especially at night, and b) it was often almost impossible to get from A to B without a car (or Uber, taxi,…).
When in New York City, I walk and use public transport a lot at daytime, but as a single woman, I don‘t really like to do these things at night - whereas in Germany I walk, bike and use public transport (almost) everywhere at any given time.
I also did not allow my kids to take little walks without me anywhere in the US, simply because I never saw other kids walking around alone there. I‘m sure kids do walk around alone in the suburbs, but we usually stay in the cities. They did (little!) walks (with me always being in the near and available on the phone) alone in big European cities like Paris, Barcelona, Berlin of course,… from a quite young age, because they just love to do it and I wanted to give them this… well, freedom. They did not have this freedom in the USA.
That being said, I did not let them walk alone in Cape Town, too, so I‘m not saying that only in the USA my kids were not free 😁
Either way, compared to Germany and many other European countries, I feel that not only my own kids, but kids in general are less free in the USA.
Above that, I don‘t quite understand which freedoms Americans have that I don‘t have (and would want to have) in Germany.
Guns? Freedom of speech? Freedom of having no health insurance or being underensured?
No, thank you.
If I had a fancy business idea, I‘d probably feel more free to risk it in the USA. But this greater freedom would go hand in hand with higher risks.
Generally, I am not a big fan of freedom at all costs.
I would have loved to hear your reasons for feeling more free in the USA, Donnie!
Freedom of hate speech, l might add. Because apart of hate speech and slander, there is no other freedom of speech that would be lacking in EU.
There are so many boring sports - but one of the most boring is definitely American football. Little actual playing time and a lot of waiting for the next short move.
It's more exciting to watch chess than American football.
Funnily, the average cost of a rescue helicopter in Germany is 1.500 € (60 € per minute). Most people could afford that even if they weren't insured. In fact, Berlin makes use of rescue helicopters as land-based vehicles would require more vehicles and more doctors ... and would thus me more expensive!
These are all the freedoms you have in Germany that you don't have in the US.
I still feel more free in the US, but I won't tell you why.
For me that is a simple to answer question: The most boring sports to watch is...every single one. ^^
Basically that. I might be ready to give an exception to trick shot snooker and tree throwing (Highland games).
As a small addition and from my own experience: I paid €100 per semester when I was studying in northern Germany (this varies from state to state - we have 16 federal states after all). However, this payment also gives you a semester ticket and you can use the bus and train for free. If you don't have enough money, the state also gives you a student grant of around €600 a month. Half of this is an interest-free loan, the other half is a gift. Our rent as a student (if you don't want to stay with your parents) cost about €300 - divided by 3, as we lived in a shared flat (which is common here), not in a student hall of residence, and we lived within 7 minutes walking distance of the university.
Nice video and always refreshing to listen to a perspective on Germany from someone that has not been grown-up here!
For the most boring spectator sport I nominate Angling or Fishing tournaments.
Glad you enjoyed 😊
Though I left the house alone, I've never been alone alone on the way to my german school. There was always dozens of kids taking the same route (even though I did not actually know or talk with them). There were even police officers occasionally walking the same path to ensure our safety from time to time. In 7th grade politics decided to move our school to another city and we were forced to take the bus. Everyone was so upset!
Germans can currently travel visa-free to 191 countries - this is only exceeded by Japan and Singapore. (as of 2022)
"Freedom" cannot be a policy. Freedom for whom? To do what? "Tolerance" is a close relative of freedom, and it is also not possible to tolerate everything - or everyone - at all times.
Re: the cost of US health care, imo if the cost of health care gets to a certain point the health care system is telling people they can just go die. Examples of this would be $125,000 for an apendectomy or $86,000 for a couple doses of anascorp. ($125.000,00 or $86.000,00 in Germany.)
The most boring sport to watch is NASCAR or formula one racing on an oval track.
Which is why the German constitution specifies that all rights are limited to where they don't needlessly infringe on the rights of others. Unlimited freedom cannot work.
For me personally, it's less about my sense of freedom for me but instead how much my children are restricted (or not) while growing up.
Can i show them a life full of "yes, you can" or do i need to say "no, you can't" more often.
And i mean that not for special things but for day to day life and their way of handling themself in it.
Nunja, ich war vor ca. 15 Jahren in den USA. Mit dem Flieger nach New Arc, mit Taxi zum Cental Park in New York (Cats am Broadway). Dann mit einem Mietwagen nach Tijuana Mexiko (Corona ist da billig.). Weiter über SF, wo ich die Lombard runtergefahren bin. Ausserdem wars da sau kalt, naja wenn man direkt von Mexiko kommt... Mit der Kabelbahn bin ich auch gefahren, Fishermans Wharf.... Weiter zur Kanadischen Grenze, rein nach Kanada. Da hab ich eine echte italienische Pizza gegessen, mit einem echten chinesischen Bier.. Es war ein chinesisches Restaurant, OH? Zwischendurch Grand Canjon, Brice Canjon, Death Valley etc. Mein Resumee dazu: USA - Tolles Land, freundliche Einwohner - aber irgendwie dachte ich danach an Sitting Bull (Wars der?): Gegrabt mein Herz an der Biegung des Flusses! Aber nicht in den USA! Das war ein Kulturschock, den ich fast niemand klar machen konnte. So, nun gut, andere Länder andere Sitten aber wenn ichs mal so formulieren will: Die Welt dreht sich nicht um Amerika, leider haben viele Amis das noch nicht gemerkt. (PS: I could have written this in english, but why should i do so?)
The decline of the number of children and youngsters who walk or cycle to school is partly due to the fact that many smaller local schools have been closed and greater school-centers have replaced them. In former times more youngsters left school after grade nine or ten and then took up an apprenticeship, especially in villages and smaller communities.. Nowadays more take secondary education and have to go to the next town for another three years.
Don't forget in the TV you can curse mostly without beeping, but nobody ever does.
8:19 also walkable distance is considered way higher in germany than in the US. In germany if its less than 1km you normally always walk and up to 4km most people walk or take their bike. In the US I have seen people driving the 200m distance to visit their friends/neighbours cause "Its too far away to walk"
As an older retired guy, for me, the freedom to exist without the expense of car payments, insurance and maintenance costs, and fuel costs, not to mention the freedom to drive on quality roads without dealing with hyper-agressive and poorly trained self-centered "'drivers" in the USA is a huge plus.
Most boring sport is a toss up between golf, bowling, poker, or corn hole.
Now imagien the Freedom in the Netherlands, where you have the freedom to choose even your mode of transportation! Freedom from cars!!
I find all sports boring.
-Makes a video, explaining, how Germany is more free than the US
-Proceeds to say he feels more free in the US anyway
Thats America for y'all
Whoops, somebody misunderstood the points made in the video even though it was clearly stated multiple times in the video. 😅 Maybe this will help (although I did clearly say this multiple times in the video)? I mention how the U.S. is often portrayed as "the most free nation in the world" and how "one has the most freedoms possible in the U.S. compared to any other country." So, I wanted to show a few freedoms that Germans have that Americans don't have. Not stating that Germany is "more free" as you seem to have misunderstood 😂 Simply, that. Germany does have some freedoms that the U.S. doesn't have (I also stated this goes the other way as well. The U.S. definitely has freedoms that Germans don't have as well, but that wasn't the point of the video so I didn't address those directly). Then at the end I said, that although Germany has these few freedoms that should put the U.S. a little in check that they don't simply have more freedom than any other country in the world, that I do, yes, generally still feel a little more free in the U.S. I also explained that not everybody would feel that way in both countries. Maybe it was a language issue that you didn't pick up on the point of the video. Nonetheless, I appreciate the view 👍🏻😃
People always talk about freedom as if it’s an absolute: as if every public policy has the “free” option and the “autocratic” option or something. But actually almost every public policy in the West is about balancing two people’s freedom, especially the “freedom to” with the “freedom from”. This is equally true in the US and Germany.
Is my freedom to be nude more important than your freedom from seeing nude people?
Is my freedom to drive at whatever speed I want more important than your freedom from encountering dangerous drivers?
Is my freedom to say whatever I want more important than your freedom from demagoguery and malicious lies?
Is my freedom to roam the countryside more important than your freedom to enjoy exclusive use of your property?
Is my freedom to spend my money however I choose more important than your freedom to obtain an education or healthcare?
And of course: is my freedom to carry around a gun more important than your freedom from gun violence?
It's hard to compare the different kinds of freedom. I personally prefer the german and european way.
For your question: Golf was the first sports I had in my mind even if there could be others.
Golf. I dunno why anyone watches rich guys on ridiculously expensive grass.
Golf and tennis. 😴 Something I would be really interested in is:
What freedom from the US you no longer have do you miss most? And why is it still worth the trade in your opinion? Also: hugs to Aubrey and the little one.
I came here to ask the same!
Please have a look at a Mansour Bahrami best of..Even if you're not into Tennis you'll have at least a laugh..
So it boils down to two american freedoms which are not existing in Germanny: carrying guns and consuming marihuana (will be allowed starting in 2024). Otherwise the USA is the most restrictive, puritanical and prudish country in the western world. And regarding alcohol, there are even some islamic states with more freedom. In Turkey one can drink alcohol in outdoor restaurants and street cafes while in the states so called "beer gardens" are always indoor and one has to prove to be older than 21 when buying alcohol. Even if its obvious that you are a pensioner.
I never understood why Americans brag about their freedom. As if all others live in slavery.
There is a feel of freedom and a feel of security. And some limitations on freedom in Europa increase the feel of security. And ofcourse as you mentioned. Europe is more community based helping others to achieve their goals.
my freedom ends where i infringe upon other ppls freedom. that makes me free to not be confronted with toxic egofreedom as i think of it.
freedom to feel safe without being armed. freedom to not be imprisond for something minor, and then kept there because a whole economy is built around imprisoned ppl.
freedom to get medical help, doctor, surgery without being in debt forever. and not least, the freedom to not worry about all of that in the first place.
you may be the land of endless possibilities. but what they dont tell you is, simmilar to sports, for every one that makes it, lots will fail. so i give up the chance of being super successful, for the better chance of living a decent to good life, with less opportunities to hit a hole in the road.
On the children walking and biking to school:
I live in a big city and we have a one way street to get to two schools (each about 200 to 300 students). One day, about a week ago, I counted people driving children (age 6-16) to school. There were 32 cars in about 30 minutes before school started. BUT as I said, it’s a city.
The statistics you showed were from Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein. I would assume, that quite a few children in Hamburg will walk or bike to school, while children living outside of cities and towns (like many in Schleswig-Holstein) will be driven to school or take the bus.
Which freedom do you and Aubrey miss in Germany that you had in the USA?
Having grown up in Germany, I learned to value „freedom from“ over „freedom to“.
And that’s a good question, probably chess or golf (and pretty much any sport I don’t understand like tennis).
By the way, as someone who also wears glasses: Great idea of picking a completly white frame as a ravenhaired person. Looks awesome!
The US has certainly started adding more rules than they ought to, but I don't personally see allowing drinking, nudity, and trespassing in such areas as freedoms that don't come at the cost of others' discomfort. I do however think we need to use the autobahn system considering our size. Since a lot of our roads are just open expanses of nothingness for stretches that could span germany several times over.
Ups and downs, as all things tend to have.
How could you miss annual leave? You know, being free from work for a month, every year.
Actually I would like to learn about the US-american 'freedom' that everyone is talking about and that you didn't really give a lot of examples in this video. What is this freedom? Making noise at sundays, and what else? Noone is really specifying that and I would like to know.
I wouldn't even necessarily let 'less bureaucracy' count to that, because that is just the level of how complicated paper work is and doesn't really have too much do with freedom. Freedom is what you are allowed to do, bureaucracy is just one aspect of the way how to do what you are allowed to do.
Also if we talk about freedom we should talk about safety and quality of life, too. If everyone has the freedom (=is allowed to) to kill everyone whenever they want, that is the maximal freedom and you can say 'wow, so much more freedom here than in other countries with all their rules'. This would be a correct statement at first (even though, of course, everyone's freedom to roam and to be alive would be very inflicted) but it doesn't put the level of freedom into perspective and can lead people to false conclusions. Especially in a less extreme case as in this video.
I think it is mainly about the difference in the concepts of what freedom means. Is it freedom for an individual or freedom for the whole Society. One is the concept of freedom in the US and the other one the concept of freedom in Europe.
Golf
Have to agree with you 😅
I was a teenager in Germany in the 70's. If we acted responsibly, our freedoms were off the charts. I will always remember that fondly.
Still the same basically
@@baronsengir187 Das freut mich :)
Great sentence, I will pass it on to my granddaughter! 🤩
Mhm I think the right to walk on other prople's land is misconstrued. The German law does *not* know a right to move on someone's private property unless you have a proprietary or other legal title to it. Only that is called "Betretungsrecht". The general public does not enjoy such a right (unlike in England or Scotland, where the law still knows "commoners' land"). However, the criminal offence of tresspass (Hausfriedensbruch) requires *fenced* land, and most land just isn't fenced. So it's not a crime to walk over that property. That said, the key difference is culture, not law. German farmers just don't care if you walk over their land as long as you stick to th walkways.
From what I've experienced and seen over the years the US secretly locks lot's of freedoms behind money or better big amounts of money. In Germany this is most definitely less so. Living in Germany you most often wouldn't need a car as most places are walkable or have decent public transportation. To feel safe living in Germany you don't need to live in an expensive neighborhood or gated community. To protect yourself you don't need a gun and others don't really have the option to easily threaten you with one by just buying one at the next store. Eating healthy is normal and healthy food is everywhere and relatively cheap in Germany too. Same with education which you already mentioned (fundraisers are very uncommon here in Germany because people don't need them. Schools are decently funded, healthcare is "free" etc etc etc).
Those are freedoms that many Americans aren't used to or aware of that exist in most other western countries. Freedoms that actually affect the average joe on a day to day basis unlike what americans would hail like the right to bear arms.
Sure if you are making good money in the Us you'll be less affected directly BUT indirectly lots of people around you are still suffering and the country is poorer for it all together.
Baseballl by far. There is a reason why we don't play "Brennball" after we have left pimary school 😊
Am I wrong when I say that the freedom mentioned in the national anthem of the USA has nothing to do with the freedom of life in the country?
[The Star-Spangled Banner has been the official national anthem of the United States of America (USA) since March 3, 1931. The text was written by Francis Scott Key in 1814. He wanted to express his joy at America's victory over the British, who had heavily bombarded Fort McHenry near Baltimore with their warships that night during the War of 1812. The reason for his reverence for the United States flag (the “Star-Spangled Banner”) was his relief that it was still flying over the fort the day after the British attacks.]wikipedia
So please stop being confused by the Anthem`s line "Land of the free" .
Germany: you pay your taxes, you‘re good. Those taxes get spent in a way you directly benefit from. You get to enjoy those benefits on your mandatory off time, at least 20 days a year. You can’t pay taxes or need social assistance: way less freedom, but still more in comparison to
USA: you guess the taxes you have to pay, those taxes get invested mainly in things you don’t benefit from in your everyday life. You can’t pay taxes or need social assistance? That’s un-american, pull yourself up by the boot straps!
We are free of the fear of getting shot stepping on the wrong doorway.
We are free of the fear of dying from a minor condition because we can’t afford the medication.
We are free of the fear that our children are in constant danger and can let them go to school on their own.
We are free to enter any public school most of the times, no metal detectors, no hall passes, just kids learning.
We are free of the palpable racial divide. We are xenophobic as hell, but racism as in ‚believing in human races and that one is superior to others inherently‘ nah - only lunatics.
We are free of private prisons and accumulated prison time. 25 years is the maximum (plus Sicherheitsverwahrung - worth a whole discussion in itself)
We are free to badmouth our country constantly and therefore hold our politicians accountable more easily.
I just saw a video where a woman got arrested for wearing a thong and exposing her buttocks. The police was called on her and she got arrested and handcuffed wtf
Random question: To me, ALL sports are boring to watch. No exception.
Now I feel oddly challenged to find ONE sport, no matter how obscure, that you might enjoy watching 😂
Hey have you ever played with the idea of making a vacation somewhere in Europe (or anywhere else) and share your thougts and differences your experienced?
I love your videos, but it gets kind of repetitive after a while only to see the US and Germany compared.
Thank you for the videos you make! :)
If you look deeper on our channel you'll see videos and playlists from roughly 27 different countries actually 😃 However, I will admit that we go on vacation and travel around Europe frequently, but don't make videos about them like we used to because to be honest, "nobody" watches those videos. We only get views on videos about Germany so I stick to those 😊 Thanks for your comment and for watching!
Some views on political and economic freedoms were needed. I feel like voting rights are more respected in Germany and other European countries while they are subjected to partisan politics in the USA; and that representation is also more fairly proportioned, and that the extreme gerrymandering of some US states is avoided.
I think the comparison of freedom between both countries is silly because rights aren't really that different. All it is is a dick measuring contest to make nationalists on both sides feel better about themselves. This video has shown how subjective freedom is and what people need to do is live in a country that aligns with their values instead of posing them onto other people.
Freedom in germany?
u can do a prison break without any trouble (as long u didn't do other crimes). .. bnecause freedom is a human right.
Had a road trip from Houston to Wichita, I never saw that many fences in my life.
In the perception of a German, freedom is self-limiting. If every person shall be free, individual freedom is limited at the point where the exercise of individual freedom infringes upon the freedom of others. An example would be the midday rest: You are not allowed to exercise your individual "freedom" (right would be the better word here) of using loud machinery outside during certain hours of the day as this would infringe upon the right of others to maybe take a nap. So German freedom is largely based on a weighing of intersts: The noise of a machine might disturb the rest of many. The question is: Is it necessary to use the machine during lunchtime? Or is it reasonable to ask the individual to be considerate and use the machine either in the morning or the afternoon? We largely accept the Kantian concept of freedom, thus, the German concept of freedom is universal.
A really nice video - I liked it - and it made me think: The word freedom is a very positive word and it sounds like it would be a good thing to strive for a maximum amount of freedom.
However - after thinking about it - something like 100% freedom would be devastating for a country, for we are all egoistic human beings and we all need restrictions so that our egoism doesn't harm us / our neighbor.
My conclusion: It is not the freedom, but the restrictions / regulations that protect our health, wealth and freedom 😉
Everyone discussing "freedom" should be familiar the "Two Concepts of LIberty" by Isaiah Berlin. He distinguishes them as positive and negative liberty. The American concept is closer to negative liberty, "freedom from", being liberty defined as a lack of coercion. Nothing forces you to do or be anything. Positive liberty is "Freedom to". This one is rooted on what you are actually able to do and be. West European freedoms incorporate a lot more of this second concept than the US, while the US is dominated by the first one.
Just to illustrate., a man in a desert island is absolutely free from any coercion by others, so one might say he is the most free based on the concept of negative liberty. He is however seriously limited on the things he can actually do. Not really free, by the concept of positive liberty.
I'll leave the argument of which one produces the better society for other instances.
Human Freedom Index 2023
1. Switzerland 🇨🇭
2. New Zealand 🇳🇿
3. Denmark 🇩🇰
4. Estonia 🇪🇪
5. Ireland 🇮🇸
6. Canada 🇨🇦
7. Finland 🇫🇮
8. Australia 🇦🇺
9. Sweden 🇸🇪
10. Luxembourg 🇱🇺
11. Netherlands 🇳🇱
12. Iceland 🇮🇸
13. Norway 🇳🇴
14. UK 🇬🇧
15. Germany 🇩🇪
16. Japan 🇯🇵
17. US 🇺🇸
The older I get the fewer sports are worth watching. Probably because I can actively participate or am interested in participating in fewer sports myself. In the meantime, watching sports has the same status as watching an office worker work.
Excellent video. As a German I fully agree that there is no simple answer. The good thing is that the US and Germany are very free countries despite the differences we have. We are lucky to live in free countries and we must stay together to fight for a free world.
I mean, my experience with baseball games is that if something ever happens, it's when you go to the restroom or the food stalls....Though at least there's more show and spectacle around it than in its parent, cricket
That's been my experience with soccer 😂
I felt free in both germany and US