Comment by sony22 | Hacker News Reader

Comment by sony22 | Hacker News Reader

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I am not a german but from India. while there is lack of digitialisation but most things work fine

> So then moving to Germany from India is like stepping back into 1996.

Seriously then leave the country.

> Germany will stay as it is for ever - there is no need to change in their view.

You are attacking Germans.

- Million rules exist and if followed then it works smoothly.

- I know vast majority of Indians think bureaucracy works like India

- Assuming you are from wealthy background or software or doctor etc. They expect minimal paperwork and want the German bureaucrats to skip things. Why? because they are entitled.

- The rules are very clearly laid out. Too often people from India fill up forms like <I dont give a shit. I am invited to work in your country. So give me visa attitude>

- If you complain so much about German bureaucrats try to get your passport or any documents (like attestation) from Indian Consulate/Embassy. Unless you have power/connections etc. they delay it EVEN when you give all papers. Look all the ridiculous docx or PDF with one small line for complete address in embassy website. More over if you dont speak Hindi it is PITA.

> he vast majority of Germans think this is all acceptable

They don't. But remember many things in Germany are designed for EVERYONE. Incl. non smartphone users.

- Look at Indian railway system: If you have coding skill all tickets are booked by these people. And people that wait for booking in counters are left NO with no seats on the first day of booking availablity. Is this happening?

- Data protection. Sure in India: you dont care and upload any document by whatsapp etc. We dont.

- Language: it is painful. But why not learn? (Given the fact Govt of India wants Southern people to learn Hindi - why dont you learn German)

> health insurance, but

I call BS. How many helicopters are available for you in India for the €100 - €200 you pay in Germany. Do you know the number of celebrities from Bollywood that came to Germany to get COVID vaccine (Yes, I am in this field).

>> Germany will stay as it is for ever - there is no need to change in their view.

> You are attacking Germans.

I don't think so and I don't feel attacked.

The problem is that German politics has been VERY conservative for the last decades and also in general, the population seems very much averse to change. The younger people (younger than 50, lol) are not usually in a position of power, and maybe even in the majority not open to tech. (Look at the pixelated houses discussions with street view)

I'm still amazed sometimes that we can even have things like online banking or that SOME chores at government offices work digitally, it's just not happening and everything they try to do sucks anyway.

Anything digital Germany absolutely feels like a weird place fixated on the good old days and another problem is that every time some progress is on the horizon someone misinterprets data protection and privacy laws again and manages to sabotage progress. Or it's people who want to go the extra mile and instead of fighting so that we are allowed to bay with a card everywhere want to completely abolish coins and paper money...

So in that regard I absolutely agree with the post you replied to. The majority or the people in power don't want this to change it seems, or are too incompetent.

> - Million rules exist and if followed then it works smoothly.

They don't cover all possible scenarios. Unless you are stuck in the no mans land things seem to work well for you. If instead Beamten were given the autonomy to make certain decisions not strictly by the rule book then this wouldn't be a problem.

> - I know vast majority of Indians think bureaucracy works like India

I don't expect it to work like in India. I just expect it to work in a reasonable amount of time.

> - Assuming you are from wealthy background or software or doctor etc. They expect minimal paperwork and want the German bureaucrats to skip things. Why? because they are entitled.

Where have I ever mentioned that I want things to be skipped? And minimal paperwork is not just expected by wealthy people - it's expected by everyone. Compare Germany's bureacracy with Netherlands or Swedens and there is a giant difference, primarily because most of the paperwork is minimized to bare necessities. Just because something worked when it was invented, doesn't mean it has to be stuck to when it's now causing a lot of pain needlessly.

> - The rules are very clearly laid out. Too often people from India fill up forms like <I dont give a shit. I am invited to work in your country. So give me visa attitude>

Again not sure where you got this from anything I said. I was only complaining about time taken and inflexibility of bureaucracy.

> - If you complain so much about German bureaucrats try to get your passport or any documents (like attestation) from Indian Consulate/Embassy. Unless you have power/connections etc. they delay it EVEN when you give all papers. Look all the ridiculous docx or PDF with one small line for complete address in embassy website. More over if you dont speak Hindi it is PITA.

Whataboutism.

> - Language: it is painful. But why not learn? (Given the fact Govt of India wants Southern people to learn Hindi - why dont you learn German)

I'm beginning to think you intended to reply to someone else. I never mentioned not speaking German as a problem. If you move to a country and live there, you should learn the local language.

> I call BS. How many helicopters are available for you in India for the €100 - €200 you pay in Germany.

Okay that was exaggerating for effect. But the point stands - If I paid 300Eur a month for health insurance in India I would be given the VIP treatment if I ever had to step into a hospital.

> the VIP treatment if I ever had to step into a hospital.

This is the problem for you. You got VIP treatment in India as you say you get better than FAANG salaries. No. Whether you are a plumber or $M you wait in the same queue.

For you that is painful.

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