Nobody said that Germany's economy is collapsing, but it's certainly underperforming. It had a recession in 2023 (-0.3% GDP growth), stagnated with 0.1% in 2024, and is expected to grow by just 1.0% in 2025. https://economy-finance.ec.europa.eu/economic-surveillance-e...
> The trains, despite all the ineptness of Deutsche Bahn, are generally pretty good!.
They're awful. "In 2023, just 64% of long-distance trains reached their destination on time" "Germany accounted for six out of the 10 worst stations for passenger convenience in Europe" https://www.dw.com/en/how-does-deutsche-bahn-compare-with-eu...
> Promoting Nazism is banned. It’s not a slippery slope, and the country hasn’t devolved into authoritarian groupthink. You just can’t publicly support Nazism.
"No national figures exist on the total number of people charged with online speech-related crimes. But in a review of German state records, The New York Times found more than 8,500 cases."
"After Mr. Grote later made remarks admonishing others for hosting parties during the pandemic, a Twitter user wrote: “Du bist so 1 Pimmel” (“You are such a penis”). Three months later, six police officers raided the house of the man who had posted the insult, looking for his electronic devices." https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/23/technology/germany-intern...