Comment by ChuckNorris89 | Hacker News Reader

Comment by ChuckNorris89 | Hacker News Reader

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>spending a very small amount of time in Germany, is that in Germany the rules are the rules, whereas in America it is not quite like that

That's the impression you'll get as a foreigner who spent a little time in Germany, but if you're long timer deep in the system you'll realize that "rules are rules" is only true for the little guy whereas the wealthy elite and old-money individuals and companies can and do bend and break the rules with the help of regulators, politicians and courts all the time who kindly look the other way because they are directly or indirectly invested in those companies or tied to the individuals who run the companies.

High level corruption in Germany is rampant and the scandals are numerous. VW, Wirecard, Deutche, Axel Springer, real estate giants, basically pick any rich big German company, chances are they have powerful friends in politics greasing the gears for them making sure the regulatory authorities are always looking the other way.

Fairly long-term .de resident. Just try crossing the road against the red man......"rules are rules", to the nth degree.

And, I agree of course, the rich have a better system.

>Just try crossing the road against the red man......"rules are rules", to the nth degree

Meh, that's just a rule OCD public façade since people are watching and so kids don't learn bad habits and get killed by cars, but privately many Germans are more than willing to break rules if it benefits them and nobody is looking and won't find out about it, just that they don't openly talk about such things since the Germans are super private about their personal affairs and finances, and you also won't hear about such things if you only hang abound in bubbles of SW devs and other repeople with corporate jobs in big cities.

My favorite is them not paying taxes on cash earnings. Cash is king for a reason in Germany: many small businesses, self employed or side hustles love doing business in cash since they can dodge the tax man and pad their incomes with untaxed earnings.

Please tell them that "rules are rules" when it comes to paying their taxes on cash earnings and they'll tell you to shut up and piss off because "everyone is doing it" and "it's always been like that".

It's so true. When I'm in Germany with my wife, I like to take her to restaurants and ask for a real bill at the end (not hand-scribbled on a piece of paper) because I want to pay by card. My wife gets annoyed because this pretty much guarantees we'll stay there another 20 minutes while the staff pretends to mishear, then the internet is down, then the terminal doesnt work, "but are you sure you dont have cash", etc etc. It's hilarious and never gets old, still happens in 2023 right in the center of Munich.

Yes as someone from the Netherlands (which is quickly becoming a "cashless society) it's like going back in time 20 years.

Which ... why do you think we have GDPR? Data privacy to Germans is what the second amendment is to Americans, a defence against tyranny

You can have data privacy without normalizing tax fraud, except in Germany one is used as an excuse for the other which is unfair to those who can't dodge taxes and have to carry the burden of financing the government costs for everyone else.

Financial transparency is a big thing in Scandinavian countries where cash is basically non existent and you can view the tax returns of others, and they still have GDPR and no tyranny while having low corruption and high government transparency. It's the sign of a fair and high trust society.

So I'm not baying it.

> but if you're long timer deep in the system you'll realize that "rules are rules" is only true for the little guy

Is there anywhere this isn’t true? The later bit (which I haven’t quoted) about corruption of politicians and courts might be less true in other locations, but it’s certainly a lot easier being wealthy.

I think there’s a difference of degree. There’s definitely some small level of corruption going on in UK politics for example, and some questions to be asked about contract awards during Covid, but the amount would seem absolutely laughable and parochial by the standards of most countries.

Bojo was brought down by (amongst other things) having had some colleagues drinking at his official residence during Covid (and lying about it) and questions over who had paid for the wallpaper at his official residence (and lying about it).

The press in the UK usually does what it’s meant to, and sniffs out corruption and unfairness and then makes a huge deal out of them if it was someone from the other side.

EDIT: that said, the UK desperately needs to revise non-dom rules and libel laws, which are waaay too favourable to those with power money as compared to your regular joe.

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