I live in Germany and I can assure you that this is simply not true. I can safely walk at night in any larger city here without the fear of being mugged or something similar, without having to carry a weapon. Violent crimes per capita are far less here then in the US, we have universal healthcare and education is available to everyone. Of course this results in higher taxes, but nothing as high as 80% income tax. In my job I have to pay about 28% of my income for taxes, healthcare and unemployment insurance altogether, and as a single without kids I am in the highest tax category. VAT is 7% for food and other essential stuff and 19% for other articles, I can live with that.

Hi Tobi, how are you going?

In Belgium, Netherlands and Germany you can definitely (almost) safely walk at night. In France, for instance, you may get serious troubles. Try Marseilles at night. In Bruxelles (Belgium) it is not that safe at night, as you may know.

In US, it is the same story. In US it depends mostly what is the concerned city. There are many cities in US which are completely safe.

Anyhow big cities are less safe. I don't know the origin or what could be a solution to improve this. What can a city mayor actually do?

Greetings
Pat

Living on the Mexican Border. I can understand Jefro even though other members don't.

But I am more of a outdoors-man also instead of a desk jockey.
What jefro said is a fact of life. No matter where, what, ethnics, are involved.

I am not going to take sides one way or the other as my gypsy lifestyle allows me to do what I want, where I want, when I want.
Being a little Bi-Lingual and large and scary looking.

Education, and other factors. Don't change peoples attitudes. Small mildnesses is not cured by a PHD.
There are good and bad in all social strata. Everywhere on this planet.

And Germany is not exempt either. Or do I need to post links to European Anti Immigrant Party sites and attacks on Immigrant refugee centers to make my point?

Yeah, it sucks being discriminated against because of "fear of the stranger dna cells". Everyone has this.

So Jefro spoke what was on his mind. I commend him for this. I do not judge or call him mistaken. Because there is a grain of truth
in his post. If you are honest and lived like I do. One of the few white dudes in a area of indian/spanish settlements.
You'd realize this.

I agree

Solution: dismantle the welfare state. Problem solved. The solution is not to disallow immigration. That's niggardly and just plain wrong.


but remember

I'm American and I live in Europe. I like both places just fine though when I retire it'll be here in Europe. My work apartment is in a suburb of Stuttgart I don't feel unsafe here or in the city itself. As far as upward mobility is concerned the US isn't as high as some European nations so I'll call that a toss and wash.

"Have you stopped beating your wife?"

This sort of logical-fallacy is called begging the question. The question is framed in such a way that it "assumes the antecedent," e.g. that "living in North America is better than living in Europe," such that it opens with: "Why...?"

In other words, troll-bait.

We live on a very big orbiting-rock, with lots of nations in it, all created by people with different cultures, histories, backgrounds, prejudices, and points-of-view. Thus, every nation is, in its own way, just as diverse, varied, and interesting as the place-on-Earth that they occupy. Vive la difference!

So which of the two are you posting from, Xeratul?

Being a redhead lover, I agree.

Never even visited Europe. But been around the US in various places. I think negativity is where you look for it. I try to be a positive person, but do realize it's tough if the entire local society around you is negative.

For me, when I've been stuck with a negative crowd, mainly work. I find a new job. Bad neighbors, move. Yes, these are not always possible, but one can change things slowly if they have some tolerance.

As far as the police. I've not been involved with bad situations. Anytime I've done something wrong, such as speeding, well ... it's been my fault and I can hardly fault an officer for giving me a citation if that were to be the case. I do know police officers, they're not jerks, they're not stupid, they just work a job like many of us do. At least those that I know are trying to do what they're supposed to do, which is keep the public safe.

I understand it too.
I don't want to be drawn into a discussion about immigration and the like but I think we can all agree that immigration is complex and there are good and bad consequences? If somebody wants to create an immigration mega-thread I may post but I think it would side-track the already premise of this thread to talk about it here.
I am interested in where Xeratul posts from though I do understand that people like online privacy. So, I suppose, I would like to hear about any experience of Europe or the US.

I ought also to point out that I do, sometimes, type things like "Stupid 'mirkins'" and other anti-USian things. I do so knowing that we're all "big boys" and with the implication I know that nobody is a stereotype.

What do you say about these news sources? Are they false???

"Germany struggles to adapt to immigrant influx"

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-29686248

"Illegal immigration to Germany at record high - increase of 75 per cent in one year"

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worl...-one-year.html

On the one hand, maybe it's a flattering thing if lots of other people want to be in your country. But then again, (almost) every country has some kind of "immigration problem."

"The grass is always greener on the other side of the border."

Anyhow: "See the planet." Just as much of it as you get the opportunity to see.

Not they are not false. As in every other country we also have those people that are opposed to everything foreign, but those people are a minority. The large majority of Germans do not have any problems with immigrants and the protests of loud minority are every time outnumbered (sometimes by more than the order of two magnitudes) by counter-protests. Slashing the welfare state will not help with reducing numbers of illegal immigrants, people fleeing a civil war won't care about that, it is making the living conditions better at the places where those people come from that will help.

It's a pity that we're all still stuck on this planet - Kubrick estimated in the 60' that we would have reached Jupiter ~15 years ago.

[Offtopic]

I think that what's really a shame is that we (or rather, the unsustainable economic system societies across the world have adopted and/or have been imposed) are destroying this planet -- the only planet we have so far. Why looking for water in Mars or in planets thousands light-years away from here if we cannot even assure having clean water and food for everybody on this planet? It's crazy.

I'm not against space exploration if it can ever become a reality (in fact, space and space exploration are subjects that have always excited me), but our civilization seriously needs to find a way to solve the problems that we are currently facing on this planet due to the way we relate to it. Otherwise we can destroy every type of life here, including ourselves.

[/Offtopic]