Hey everyone, Dana here!
I have absolutely no idea what in the world I’m going to title this video.
But basically there are some thoughts that have been swishing around in my brain about
a difference that I’ve noticed between Germans and Americans regarding kindness
and healthcare & taxes.
Now, I definitely do not presume to have it all figured out or think that my way of interpreting
what I’ve noticed is the end-all, be-all way to interpret it, but this is something
I’ve been thinking about and I’m really looking forward to hearing your take on it
down in the comments.
But now, how I have interpreted the things I've noticed thus far in 5 acts.
Make sure to stick around to the end or you won’t get the full picture of what I’m talking about.
But now for this, let's head into the living room.
Okay, let's go.
A difference I’ve noticed is that in the U.S. when two people are walking along and
they accidentally bump into each other, it’s pretty common practice for both people to
apologize to each other.
Even the person who is not at fault or it’s an accident so nobody is at fault.
It's quite common for both people to say, like, oops sorry and maybe even laugh about
the whole thing, didn’t see you there.
In Germany I say excuse me and sorry I think more than almost anyone else that I come
into contact with in supermarkets and other places around town.
When I first moved to Germany I think I said sorry way more often.
I think I say it a little less often now, but I have definitely been on the receiving end
sometimes of bumping into someone in Germany and them just kind of turning and scowling
at me as I apologize, even if it was really totally nobody’s fault.
And I have witnessed this kind of exchange between other people sometimes.
For example, I once saw two people accidentally bump into each other at a beer garden, and
both people turned and gave each other such an annoyed, pissed off look that could pierce
through your soul.
The healthcare story, saga in America is a long and, like many things, complicated one,
but I am going to super duper compress and summarize and generalize things here by saying,
yes there are a lot of Americans who would love to have a healthcare system in the U.S.
like in Germany.
And, yes, there are a lot of Americans who would like to have some higher taxes like
in Germany.
Generally the same Americans who want to have a healthcare system like the one in Germany
are also interested in having some higher taxes like in Germany.
But seeing as America still has much lower taxes in general than in Germany and seeing
as America still does not have the same kind of healthcare system as in Germany, clearly
there’s a huge portion of Americans that don’t want that.
Which just before we move on, no the healthcare and tax system in Germany is not without its flaws.
It’s not perfect, it has flaws.
And I’ve come up against some of them and experienced some of the flaws first hand.
But still, in my opinion, it’s a healthier and better system than the one in the U.S.
In general in Germany going to the doctor is not something you have to save up for.
You don’t have to think, "hmmm, well
I have bills to pay so I can’t afford to go to the doctor this month."
I have heard about people in the U.S. not calling ambulances because they were afraid
of the huge fee.
I have heard and known people in the U.S. who have been really, really sick and have
avoided going to the hospital for way too long because they couldn’t afford it and
then they were in debt from the hospital visit.
I have heard people in the U.S. saying how they can’t go to therapy because they can’t
afford it and their insurance either doesn’t cover therapy or only covers a couple sessions.
And so on and so on and so on. Which is just absolutely awful.
This should not be the case.
And while Germany is not perfect,
for the most part, in Germany, those who need medical help can
get it without worrying about it putting them into debt.
Okay, so in Germany when people bump into each other on the street sometimes I have
seen and experienced them glaring at each other totally annoyed or pissed off.
Grantig is the word that I have heard used here in Bavaria.
And yeah, I would say it’s kind of common to see people
in the bus in Germany, for example, if someone tries
to get on the bus before they’ve gotten out, or the other day I guess I was in the
way on the sidewalk and I got a pretty angry grumpy remark from a couple of people who
were walking by.
Obviously this is not always the case in Germany.
There are also so, so many people who aren't doing this. Of course.
But I'm just trying to get across that this is...these are kind of common reactions
that I didn’t really experience as often in the U.S. as I do here in Germany.
But if you talk to many Germans about healthcare and taxes, I’m guessing also those same
people who give you a totally annoyed look if you bump into them...I don’t know for
sure because I haven’t tried stopping and asking them after I bumped into them and they
kind of barked at me, but anyway from my experience if you ask Germans about healthcare and taxes
a lot of them will complain about the taxes being too high and wishing the taxes would
be put to better use or used somehow more economically.
But at the same time, if I ask: well do you think it should be every person for themselves?
Should Sally and Ben have to fend for themselves if they get sick?
Should people get to individually decide what they want to pay taxes for and what not?
The Germans I’ve talked to will usually look at me like I’m being ridiculous and
say an incredulous
no. That doesn’t make any sense. This is a society, the Germans have told me.
We’re one society and we have to care for everyone.
Everyone deserves healthcare, of course.
And taxes go to make sure that things are running correctly in the country.
It’s not perfect, but caring for others is part of being in a healthy society.
That means taxes for the country and healthcare.
So in the U.S. where people consider it so important to be polite and kind to other people,
you know if you bump into someone everyone apologizes, and you say hello to people that you
don’t know when walking down the street, and in several towns in the U.S. I’ve experienced
it that people often say bye and thank you to the bus driver when getting off the bus.
In a place where people are apparently so concerned with being friendly and kind to
others, why do so many people in the U.S. not want higher taxes and a healthcare system
like in Germany, for the good of everyone?
Is it because they don’t care about other people?
That’s not my take on it.
Americans are often really, really caring.
There are so many amazing, super kind, super caring stories coming out of the U.S.
People in the U.S. donating money to charities, and donating their time and energy to charities.
Volunteering on the weekends.
Going way out of their way to put on these huge, elaborate, special events and special
moments for children who are sick.
Americans can really be some of the most giving, most selfless people.
There are just so many really amazing stories of Americans going above and beyond to help
their neighbors or help someone else out.
I would guess that most of the people that I know in the U.S. have at some point volunteered
to help other people.
It was just totally, totally normal for me to go volunteer on the weekend when I was in high school.
I helped to build houses and I helped collect food for food drives, and I volunteered sorting
hair for wigs for children.
And, yeah, there are just so many Americans who volunteer after storms to help re-build,
and on and on, so much more.
And I’m not saying these things to be like I’m such a good person, I volunteered.
No. I’m just trying to say that volunteering and doing things for other people and donating
money and time and kindness is a pretty common thing in the U.S.
The thing and in this case I would say the problem is in the U.S. we seem to often have
this thing about not being told what to do.
In general people in America seem to have a higher I would say maybe resentment or grudge
perhaps against rules telling them that they have to do something.
So while I think a lot of Americans who don’t want higher taxes or who don’t want to pay
for a healthcare system like in Germany would say they definitely think that schools should
get money and that that sweet kid down the street should absolutely get the money they
need for their surgery, and they will even go to extreme lengths to do money raising
events for specific people and specific causes, I think many Americans get quite upset at
the notion of the government or someone trying to tell them that they have to help someone else.
Or telling them they have to put more money into a collective pot to be used as needed,
you know aka taxes.
Or telling them that they have to pay money so that if their neighbor gets sick, yes even
the neighbor that they don’t really like that much, that person can go and get the
help that they need.
Yeah, I would say that’s the problem.
In the U.S. I think people really do want to help and people do want to do good for
others and people are very kind and caring and thoughtful.
But I think there’s often this tendency in America for people to want to be able to
decide for themselves for whom they are caring, to which causes their money is going.
They don’t want to be told who they have to help.
They want the freedom to make that decision themselves.
But unfortunately that’s not how a society really works and runs smoothly.
You have to give to everyone, not just picking and choosing to give to the people and the
causes that you want to.
When I first moved to Germany and I had a little extra time on my hands I asked around
to try to find places that I could volunteer, and I just found that it wasn’t as easy
to find volunteer opportunities as it had been in the U.S.
Why? Because Germans don’t care about others?
No. Because the taxes that everyone is paying in Germany often pays for that thing to be
taken care of.
You know, in the U.S. if you drive around the country you’ll often see signs along
the road saying who has donated their time and/or money to keep that stretch of road clean.
Sometimes it’s dedicated, for example, to a company or an organization.
In Germany that doesn’t have to be volunteer work, you know, donations.
Because as far as I know taxes go to that.
People donating money to causes isn’t as big of a thing here because we are “donating
to the cause” every month by the higher taxes coming out of our paychecks.
So donating is a thing here. It's called taxes.
And then that goes to the things that people volunteer to do in the U.S.
So my question for you is: why do you think the U.S. doesn’t have a healthcare and tax
system like in Germany?
Do you like the healthcare and tax system where you live?
What would you pick to have done differently if you could pick something?
Please let me know in the comments below.
Thanks so much for watching.
If you enjoy my videos please don't forget to subscribe for more videos and hit that
like button if you enjoyed this video.
And a really, really, really big thank you so much to our patrons on Patreon, who help
make these videos possible.
Thank you so much for your support.
If you would like to check out our Patreon page, you can find a link to that down in
the description box below.
Until next time, auf Wiedersehen!