One point I think we should consider in the case of the German welfare state is that unlike the USA, Germany still has factories that are ready to produce goods more efficiently.
Germany is still doing fairly well in the fields of precision and mechanical engineering, but I’m not sure whether that counts as factory work. There’s a lot of subsidies involved in running actual factories, and not too rarely, those factories tend to close as soon as the state money stops flowing.
What really bothers me about the German welfare state is the sanctification of this cruel Ponzi scheme. “We were the first”, I’ve heard countless times in civics and history class. “Germany set an example in social policy for the whole world to follow”. The nature of this beast is never being discussed - the harshest criticism being that Bismarck, the father of it all, “bought the working class” to keep them from implementing socialism. How dare he.
Simple: ask them to prove it. Which countries?
They pointed to Iceland, Sweden, Norway, and even Canada.
Maybe you should check a thread that’s stickied in this very forum:
[url=The Myth of Scandinavian Socialism]The Myth of Scandinavian Socialism]
One thing I admire about German is the engineering and technology that its auto industry produces. However as you in recent years Volkswagen and other companies are looking towards Czech Republic and other “eastern bloc” (Praha is west of Wien lol) in order to seek less regulations and union interference.
In your opinion are unions in Germany less combative than say France? From what I have learned from my history professor is that following WWI German workers rarely walked off the job until the great depression.
Yeah I’ve definitely been using that.
One thing I admire about German is the engineering and technology that its auto industry produces.
Yes, indeed, Germany has a traditionally strong stand in any field related to big machines and engines. However, it took the economy quite a while to adapt to the new digital age, and it’s still a long way to go. There’s no such thing as a Silicon Valley here. A product of too much subsidization I’d say - if you get your money anyway, why bother with novelties?
In your opinion are unions in Germany less combative than say France?
Definitely. Unions are too much in bed with the state and the status quo to cause any trouble. You’ll get your occasional walkout here and there, but even this is so ludicrously overregulated that barely anyone pays attention.