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This city sucks. But, some of the people on here are not better. You spew hate and judgement at others. You are not better than the berliners maybe you belong here. Learn from MLK and fight against hate and anger within you.
Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.
Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase
He is certainly angry and he lost any credibility he might have accumulated when he stated that he was protesting against the NPD in the 1980's before the millennials, who have been calling AfD supporters nazis, had even been "produced as sperm".
The guy in the video is the result of universal access to budget(!) higher education in Germany: simple minds of maladjusted people who have inflated egos; attempts to compensate for weaknesses with verbosity; fragile appeals to authority (no one cares that he is almost 60). Maybe if his generation had spent a fraction of the effort it put into misogyny, racism and alcoholism into making the world a decent place then he wouldn't be so unhappy now. For the first time in history Germany is actually doing something for the good of people who weren't born here. It's high time.
Sure, Germany is running the biggest and best-funded propaganda machine in the history of the world (Rundfunkbeitrag) but showing off by proudly stating your get your information from Russian websites is playing directly into the hands of a state-run media that desperately needs to exert its relevance in times of criticism for paying ex-soccer losers horrendous sums of tax-payer money for providing "expert" commentary. The media absolutely is not providing the AfD with fair, neutral coverage but German journalism has never been known for neutrality. And I'm not even sure that is desirable in a country that, despite being only 25% the size of the United States and having a smaller foreign-born population (careful, Germans tout that Migrationshintergrund statistic, which includes second gens as well), has --IN ABSOLUTE TERMS-- a much higher occurrence of hate crimes.
freaking 'Gutmenschen' like the third above me make me sick: ,For the first time in history Germany is actually doing something for the good of people who weren't born here. It's high time.'
Are you out of your mind? Where are you originally from?
youtu.be/08FBAumKbOU
I'm not a Hans or Greta.
Venting especially using humor is helpful. Many people on here seem to just let this city and the locals get to close to their heart. Use your anger to make positive changes in your personal life little by little. Don't let the disappointment of this city suck your time and energy. I wasted so much time complaining everyday about Berlin. This city almost literally killed me. I will not give these bastards the pleasure of watching me suffering and conforming to their way of life. Many of them love schadenfreude because they are weak and unenlightened. Read quotes from Marcus Aurelius when you need some stoic boost to deal with harsh environment and people.
The majority of German society are suffering from obsessive compulsive.
They have no logic but rules. Even very minor things could be problem when you do not obey the rules. I have never understood why jaywalking such a problem is. I know the bad example for children argument but come on, when the road is safe, why would i wait for 5 minutes to across the road ?
The learn how to be obsessive compulsive since their childhood.
Frederick, is that you? Are you pretending we're stupid enough to follow your logic, i.e. the person who wrote that is intolerant because he mentions homosexuality? Did you miss the part where he said "their kids will be 14...", i.e. the premature sexualization of youth? And what do you mean by Europe? It's obvious you're grasping at straws to celebrate Europe's acceptance of alternative lifestyles, but do you really mean the European Union? Or do you mean Western Europe? Or do you mean the Left in Europe? Because buddy, Europe is pretty big and I'm pretty sure there are a lot of people in Russia, Poland, Hungary and Bulgaria who don't in the least support your garbage.
And since when is living in Europe a privilege? Drudging through piss-soaked train stations daily, having a 1940's standard of living, not seeing the sun for 9 months out of the year, having to deal with the racist locals, residing in an apartment the size of a shoe box, being 40+ and having roommates, pretending you ride your bike to work because you're hip and urban but really doing it because you can't afford a car. The most widely circulated newspaper here is Bild ffs. Living here is appealing to people from third-world countries, but not to anyone else.
Horrible as it can be here, the news still sucks today.
I've lived in several countries throughout my life, yet I have never encountered people as harsh, cold, rude and tactless as the Germans. If you're a foreigner from Scandinavia or the USA/Canada (the only countries they seem to respect) you will be treated in a fair way. God forbid, however, that your skin has the wrong hue or that your country of origin has an image tarnished by biased media reports. The first thing a German will ask you soon after you disclose your nationality is something related to stereotypes related to your country, and I don't mean the "positive" stereotypes.
Can you imagine meeting a German for the first time at a party or at any social gathering and asking him if he's killed his daily dose of Jews, or has started a war (to lose it afterwards) already? Well, that's what Germans seem to enjoy doing with foreigners. It's like they are so frustrated and miserable inside that the only way they can have is making fun of other people in a cruel way. If you're Syrian you're automatically a refugee and a criminal, if you're Turkish you're automatically a primitive person with no manners or education. The list goes on.
What I dislike the most is the fact that even those who call themselves "links" (leftist/greens) are the most common culprits of such a distasteful behaviour. They probably think that buying fair-trade coffee and donating 10 years every year to some organization in Africa (they think Africa is a country where only poor people live) gives them the right to poke fun at foreigners.
They will truly never get over their Nazi past.
Great longform read right here: www.theguardian.com/world/2016/dec/15/neo-nazi-murders-revealing-germanys-darkest-secrets
In short, it's pretty acceptable to harbor nazi views, especially the one about superiority towards other nations. Doesn't matter if you're just a regular citizen or if you're a decorated police officer. It's just the way it is, no one cares, so if you're a foreigner, be prepared to be looked down upon.
Oh, also, this applies to Americans as well. Germans fear and are jealous of Americans, but there is no respect. As soon as a German figures out you're american, it's all about "trump, why arent you fat, are you gonna shoot me with a gun, your health care system is soooo bad, trump, do you really only eat hamburgers, trump".
It's true. The anti-Americanism here is really obvious everywhere.But I feel like over the past 8 years it has shifted from phony altruistic, pseudo-political cynicism against American foreign policy to superficial and laughably short-sighted insults. I'm really not sensitive about this at all anymore, just bored with listening to criticism of America crafted with the sole purpose of helping the speaker deal with his own insecurities.
I understand the frustration with the US as a whole. They have too much power over the world, both by force and soft power (media, entertainment, multinational chains and products). It's just ignorant as fornicate to treat someone from America like poop just because of where they are from. If they live up to the worst stereotypes, sure, but odds are they won't. The worst type of American likely to move to Berlin are social media addict rich hipsters who just want to score cool points by living there and only want to associate with who they think are the coolest, but there are those types from other countries as well, including Germany (and they also move to cool US cities to do the same). Not just an American thing. The Americans who vote in people like Trump are likely never going to move to Berlin, very few can likely afford to move there. Much of the US also doesn't like the US' foreign policy, but the US isn't a direct democracy. A lot of crap goes on that the population can't control and all sorts of propaganda is used to confuse and divide Americans so they're not able to unite against those things. Also, it's worth noting the US is quite influenced by Germans and German culture. The largest common ethnic background is German in the US and German was once the second most spoken language in the US until WWII, that's also when Americans with German ancestry began to disassociate from it and why you no longer see "German American" used like "Italian American", "Irish American", etc.
Its not easy to be happy here except you are drunk or on drugs, it is just a soulless and pointless city.
Information survey: What's the most surprising place you've seen dudes in Berlin pissing? Here are a few of mine:
- Into the Christmas trees lined up next to the entrance of the Christmas market at the Alexa shopping center
- Into a concrete bench behind the entrance to U-Bahnhof Alexanderplatz in broad daylight
- Into the window of Galeria Kaufhof at Alexanderplatz in the evening while there were hundreds of people all around
- Into the corner next to the stairs leading out of U-Bahnhof Alexanderplatz in the middle of the day
- Right off of the Oberbaumbrücke bridge in broad daylight (this bridge has been completely taken over by homeless 20-somethings who are incapable of growing up)
At the entrance to the goverment building just north of alexander platz. It's like7:30am, people are going in to work and there's a guy standingin the corner of the entrance and pissing. Nobody is reacting. I dont know if he worked there or was just passing by.
I think I win this one, I've got two. 1) At the s-bahn while it was approaching and stopping. Then he got on the same train he pissed on. 2)At a random street in Charlottenburg. But the guy just unzipped his pants pull his weiner out, pointed up and started pissing on himself. The guy wasn't crazy, just very high. Such is life in Berlin.
To be fair, this isn't limited only to German men. I have also seen women do this, just not as common. Once at the Tierpark station I saw a ~50 year old woman pulling up her pants after pissing next to the bikes there (basically directly in front of the entrance to the station, not in any way covered). Another time I saw some ~20 year old girl just pull down her pants and start pissing at a busy intersection (but of course it's okay, there was grass and probably some trees and bushes within 20 feet of her).
I hate the Airports, they suck!
The one in Gatow is pretty cool
www.aviationmuseum.eu/World/Europe/Germany/Berlin-Gatow/Luftwaffe_Museum.htm
I arrived in Berlin with the spirit of Peter Pan. And I left Berlin with the soul of Captain Hook.
Berlin is inhabited by people who think they're the teenage version of Peter Pan. Sadly, this version is far inferior to the child version. Instead of cuteness we get 'individuals' totally lacking in any skills who believe they're the shit. Tonnes of defeatist art and general fridge syndrome work.
Avoid like the plague.
You only need one scent to capture the fragrance of Berlin.
www.atlasobscura.com/articles/this-artist-used-over-6500-scents-to-recreate-the-smell-of-35-world-cities
Pretentiousness upon pretentiousness.
"Tolaas’ SmellScape of Berlin was created between 2002 and 2004, and she mourns the smell of that city: “Back in 2002 Berlin smelled more interesting than today. It was more diverse then.”"
Ah, yes, I've seen graffiti that says the same thing, except more directly: "fuck yuppies", "tourists go home", "fuck tourists".
Ah, the warm welcome!
Berlin in abstract German
www.berlin.de/polizei/polizeimeldungen/pressemitteilung.540146.php
Basically some shitlord teens molested a young girl, her father noticed and prevented them from getting away until the police arrived. They attacked the father, he defended himself. The girl insulted the attackers.
Good ole' men in green arrive and arrest everyone. Father facing charges for defending himself. Girl facing charges for insulting them (yes, Germans have laws written by three-year-olds) and the molester, well, also. But he'll probably have his case dismissed because he's a minor.
I figured it out.. IT'S THE WATER
I was always told by native Berliners that they had the best water in the world.. straight oout of the tap but my experience was always negative due to the horrible Calcium levels. Shower valves caked with it, scrubbing the tea water heater, ruined coffee makers, stains on all sinks and tubs... and the hardness of the water for washing hair and body parts... horrible dryness and knotting.
NOW high levels of calcium are being linked to depression and moodiness...
"Stability, hardness and physicality are qualities of calcium. When deficient, one becomes weak and fragile. When calcium is in excess one becomes rigid and immobile. "
All this time I thought it was the culture and weather but NO, IT'S THE WATER
They are victims of a lax water supply company... not their fault at all.
Sorry, but I am not buying this theory. I've been living in Berlin for a long while, taking showers everyday (yes, Germans, a normal human being should shower everyday), drinking tap water all the time and I haven't felt moody nor been "depressed" (I can't afford to be depressed, I must work to survive).
Maybe that's the difference: Your subconscious loves you and has ways of dealing with stress. Depression is a luxury and, in terms of structural security, Germans are probably the most privileged people on earth. When they know they can stay up until 3am drinking case after case of Oettinger, paid for by the average taxpayer, and yelling at each other (e.g. my old neighbor) and sleep until 1pm then they have no problems falling into this kind of stupor.
That said, I think the mental illness in this city is caused by a lot more than just the water.
Is this guy a pretentious clown or am I just 'jealous and negative'?
Berlin in a nutshell
teamcoco.com/video/conan-rejected-from-berghain
OH no! How dare you go with cameras to a club door, we're sooooo cool, too cool to be captured by cameras, we might throw you in jail for even thinking about it!.You might even get to capture the horrible place Berhgain actually is! Imo Berghain is the most successful social engeneering experiment I've ever seen. Nothing more.