Guten Tag from germany.

[Ancient lion]

I have a friend in Ramstein. He is german and just lives there but he has some american friends and so they can bring him into the base. He says it's really weird because the base also has a housing district, shops, a large wal-mart and even it's own high-school. So next to beeing a miilitary base it's more like an american city in the middle of germany.

From a political standpoint I am torn... I am a supporter of Nato with mixed feelings since the Kosovo-war. But I do support the original idea of the North-atlantic defense treaty. However I don't like that we are so dependant on american military.
Pragmatically my answer is that we need the bases right now and it's good they are there.
However in the future I hope we can reduce it and become more independant.
I am supporting the idea of a european army.

What do you think?

I understand your feelings but most Americans are European and they will be glad to join the United European Army too ..

Bleiben bei ihnen

 

[TheThirdView]

Hey everyone,

I'm new to the forum and I thought the best way to start is by using this thread.
I'm a student of political sciences in germany and I am interested in american, european and worldwide politics. I don't affiliate myself with any particular party here, however in the US I would most likely be a democrat.
I try to base my political thoughts on pragmatic solutions and a personal and important concern for me is the support of scientific research.

My hope is to have some discussions and to learn more in depth about certain issues. I realized that throwing myself into a debate with someone challenges me to read up more facts and learn more about topics. And that's my main goal.

I also started doing a youtube channel () where I try my best to explain geopolitical situations. But don't worry, I am not gonna advertise on here. I just mention it so you get to know me.

See you all!

Wie geht's?

You'll find a lot of insults here, don't get involved, just put the insulters on ignore. You'll see German politics is a little different even at the basic levels. I sort of studied politics in Germany, but didn't quite understand anything that was being said, but I've studied the German and US politic systems (the German is far superior).

You'll understand more by just seeing how strangely the though processes of many of the Americans are.

Good luck. You'll need it.

Thanks for welcoming me!

What you said about the different systems. We discussed this a lot the last weeks here.
It's interesting that we in germany, a country that is compared to the USA relatively homogenous, have a consensus system, in which several partys form a coalition to make a government. And the US, which is a country with so many different groups and even different languages, has a two party system.
I guess it can be explained historically but I wonder if it's the best for the country. I also wonder wether a majoritarian system similiar to the US would work here in germany. Maybe it would get people more interested in politics. It's A vs B. Here many people lost interest in all the partys and coalitions and don't even go to vote. Which is sad.

I think the German people's mindset is that govt is there to work for them. The US mindset is that govt is evil. The way govt has worked in the past probably leads to this mindset. But if you then tell them they should change, then they get entrenched and don't want to even consider it.

In the US so many people just feel like politics isn't about them, and it's not. It's not democracy, but they go around the world telling others to be democratic, it's ridiculous.

Yes that's a good point.
I do think that there are good politicians in the US though, on both sides. But the system is bigger than them.
Both the Sanders supporters and the Trump supporters were voting against lobbying and outside interests influencing the government. And apart from everything else you may think of either of them, I do think that corruption and especially lobbying is a huge problem.

But the biggest problem is like Trump supporters. They were voting against something during the election, the election finishes, and all of sudden they're now all in favor of keeping it all. Why? Because they'll say ANYTHING as long as they get to win.

Maybe what you are saying is also because the election has become a thing of emotions. Both democrats and republicans have these heartbreaking ads, they have fancy music and even though the campaigning lasted for what felt like a decade, they still barely discussed issues. The TV Debates had maybe a combined set of 2 Minutes where they talked policy.

I also have a short question. How do I respond to multiple posts? Do I make several replys or do I put them into one?

 

[OldLady]

Hey everyone,

I'm new to the forum and I thought the best way to start is by using this thread.
I'm a student of political sciences in germany and I am interested in american, european and worldwide politics. I don't affiliate myself with any particular party here, however in the US I would most likely be a democrat.
I try to base my political thoughts on pragmatic solutions and a personal and important concern for me is the support of scientific research.

My hope is to have some discussions and to learn more in depth about certain issues. I realized that throwing myself into a debate with someone challenges me to read up more facts and learn more about topics. And that's my main goal.

I also started doing a youtube channel () where I try my best to explain geopolitical situations. But don't worry, I am not gonna advertise on here. I just mention it so you get to know me.

See you all!

Wie geht's?

You'll find a lot of insults here, don't get involved, just put the insulters on ignore. You'll see German politics is a little different even at the basic levels. I sort of studied politics in Germany, but didn't quite understand anything that was being said, but I've studied the German and US politic systems (the German is far superior).

You'll understand more by just seeing how strangely the though processes of many of the Americans are.

Good luck. You'll need it.

Thanks for welcoming me!

What you said about the different systems. We discussed this a lot the last weeks here.
It's interesting that we in germany, a country that is compared to the USA relatively homogenous, have a consensus system, in which several partys form a coalition to make a government. And the US, which is a country with so many different groups and even different languages, has a two party system.
I guess it can be explained historically but I wonder if it's the best for the country. I also wonder wether a majoritarian system similiar to the US would work here in germany. Maybe it would get people more interested in politics. It's A vs B. Here many people lost interest in all the partys and coalitions and don't even go to vote. Which is sad.

Several parties forming coalitions sounds like a good idea--more ideas get incorporated, maybe, and less people feel left out? I can see it being overwhelming to some people, though. With the splits and disagreements within the two parties we have, and a relatively strong third party vote (it remains entirely insignificant, but it is rising all the time) maybe we will get to something similar before very long. I like the idea in theory, anyway.

It works a lot better than the US system, that's for sure.

How do they get a majority to determine the winner? How do they decide who sides with whom to form the coalition? How do they select the "finalists" who run?

 

[TheThirdView]

Hey everyone,

I'm new to the forum and I thought the best way to start is by using this thread.
I'm a student of political sciences in germany and I am interested in american, european and worldwide politics. I don't affiliate myself with any particular party here, however in the US I would most likely be a democrat.
I try to base my political thoughts on pragmatic solutions and a personal and important concern for me is the support of scientific research.

My hope is to have some discussions and to learn more in depth about certain issues. I realized that throwing myself into a debate with someone challenges me to read up more facts and learn more about topics. And that's my main goal.

I also started doing a youtube channel () where I try my best to explain geopolitical situations. But don't worry, I am not gonna advertise on here. I just mention it so you get to know me.

See you all!

Wie geht's?

You'll find a lot of insults here, don't get involved, just put the insulters on ignore. You'll see German politics is a little different even at the basic levels. I sort of studied politics in Germany, but didn't quite understand anything that was being said, but I've studied the German and US politic systems (the German is far superior).

You'll understand more by just seeing how strangely the though processes of many of the Americans are.

Good luck. You'll need it.

Thanks for welcoming me!

What you said about the different systems. We discussed this a lot the last weeks here.
It's interesting that we in germany, a country that is compared to the USA relatively homogenous, have a consensus system, in which several partys form a coalition to make a government. And the US, which is a country with so many different groups and even different languages, has a two party system.
I guess it can be explained historically but I wonder if it's the best for the country. I also wonder wether a majoritarian system similiar to the US would work here in germany. Maybe it would get people more interested in politics. It's A vs B. Here many people lost interest in all the partys and coalitions and don't even go to vote. Which is sad.

Several parties forming coalitions sounds like a good idea--more ideas get incorporated, maybe, and less people feel left out? I can see it being overwhelming to some people, though. With the splits and disagreements within the two parties we have, and a relatively strong third party vote (it remains entirely insignificant, but it is rising all the time) maybe we will get to something similar before very long. I like the idea in theory, anyway.

It works a lot better than the US system, that's for sure.

How do they get a majority to determine the winner? How do they decide who sides with whom to form the coalition? How do they select the "finalists" who run?

So, we don't elect our Chancellor (head of government) directly. Instead we elect the partys and representatives.
just like in the US we have several partys that are on the ballot. It can be more than 10 partys but there are just 6 that actually have a chance and are well-known (CDU, SPD, Grüne, Linke, FDP, AFD).

Now every party that get's more than 5% of the votes will go into the parliament with the amount of seats appropriate to their result. Then all the partys can talk with each other and try to form a coalition. If, for example, the CDU gains 40% of the seats and the Grüne gains 12% they could then make a coalition, since they have the majority. They then govern together. That's it in short form.

 

[Iceweasel]

It's interesting that we in germany, a country that is compared to the USA relatively homogenous, have a consensus system, in which several partys form a coalition to make a government. And the US, which is a country with so many different groups and even different languages, has a two party system.
I guess it can be explained historically but I wonder if it's the best for the country. I also wonder wether a majoritarian system similiar to the US would work here in germany. Maybe it would get people more interested in politics. It's A vs B. Here many people lost interest in all the partys and coalitions and don't even go to vote. Which is sad.

I think you answered your own question. With government power being fragmented into so many factions most people are not going to see their desires realized.

The two party system (we do have more but for all practical purposes only one of the two can win) works because each party is made up of a variety of voices, although the Democrats have been moving to a monochromatic tone, so the party is nudged in a direction rather than swift radical change that can throw things into chaos.

 

[Iceweasel]

I have a friend in Ramstein. He is german and just lives there but he has some american friends and so they can bring him into the base. He says it's really weird because the base also has a housing district, shops, a large wal-mart and even it's own high-school. So next to beeing a miilitary base it's more like an american city in the middle of germany.

Yep. I lived that way for 7 years there. Mainz, Bad Tolz, Wiesbaden, Auschanfenberg and a few others.

All education was done on base, not just high school. We seldom ventured off post but in Mainz my housing unit was near the edge and we became very acquainted with the local bakery, made many a run for Gummi Bears and brotchens.

 

[TheThirdView]

I have a friend in Ramstein. He is german and just lives there but he has some american friends and so they can bring him into the base. He says it's really weird because the base also has a housing district, shops, a large wal-mart and even it's own high-school. So next to beeing a miilitary base it's more like an american city in the middle of germany.

Yep. I lived that way for 7 years there. Mainz, Bad Tolz, Wiesbaden, Auschanfenberg and a few others.

All education was done on base, not just high school. We seldom ventured off post but in Mainz my housing unit was near the edge and we became very acquainted with the local bakery, made many a run for Gummi Bears and brotchens.

Did you choose that place, can you influence where they station you?
I hope you liked it, if you saw things outside the base..

 

[Iceweasel]

I have a friend in Ramstein. He is german and just lives there but he has some american friends and so they can bring him into the base. He says it's really weird because the base also has a housing district, shops, a large wal-mart and even it's own high-school. So next to beeing a miilitary base it's more like an american city in the middle of germany.

Yep. I lived that way for 7 years there. Mainz, Bad Tolz, Wiesbaden, Auschanfenberg and a few others.

All education was done on base, not just high school. We seldom ventured off post but in Mainz my housing unit was near the edge and we became very acquainted with the local bakery, made many a run for Gummi Bears and brotchens.

Did you choose that place, can you influence where they station you?
I hope you liked it, if you saw things outside the base..

You can make requests then the military laughs and stations you where they want. My mother is German and we did go visit her family many times in Bavaria.

 

[frigidweirdo]

Wie geht's?

You'll find a lot of insults here, don't get involved, just put the insulters on ignore. You'll see German politics is a little different even at the basic levels. I sort of studied politics in Germany, but didn't quite understand anything that was being said, but I've studied the German and US politic systems (the German is far superior).

You'll understand more by just seeing how strangely the though processes of many of the Americans are.

Good luck. You'll need it.

Thanks for welcoming me!

What you said about the different systems. We discussed this a lot the last weeks here.
It's interesting that we in germany, a country that is compared to the USA relatively homogenous, have a consensus system, in which several partys form a coalition to make a government. And the US, which is a country with so many different groups and even different languages, has a two party system.
I guess it can be explained historically but I wonder if it's the best for the country. I also wonder wether a majoritarian system similiar to the US would work here in germany. Maybe it would get people more interested in politics. It's A vs B. Here many people lost interest in all the partys and coalitions and don't even go to vote. Which is sad.

I think the German people's mindset is that govt is there to work for them. The US mindset is that govt is evil. The way govt has worked in the past probably leads to this mindset. But if you then tell them they should change, then they get entrenched and don't want to even consider it.

In the US so many people just feel like politics isn't about them, and it's not. It's not democracy, but they go around the world telling others to be democratic, it's ridiculous.

Yes that's a good point.
I do think that there are good politicians in the US though, on both sides. But the system is bigger than them.
Both the Sanders supporters and the Trump supporters were voting against lobbying and outside interests influencing the government. And apart from everything else you may think of either of them, I do think that corruption and especially lobbying is a huge problem.

But the biggest problem is like Trump supporters. They were voting against something during the election, the election finishes, and all of sudden they're now all in favor of keeping it all. Why? Because they'll say ANYTHING as long as they get to win.

Maybe what you are saying is also because the election has become a thing of emotions. Both democrats and republicans have these heartbreaking ads, they have fancy music and even though the campaigning lasted for what felt like a decade, they still barely discussed issues. The TV Debates had maybe a combined set of 2 Minutes where they talked policy.

I also have a short question. How do I respond to multiple posts? Do I make several replys or do I put them into one?

Yeah, emotion over reality seems to be the US way now.

I would reply to each person individually. It's easier. You can mix up the different quotes, but maybe better to tell people to read a previous post if you don't want to repeat, or copy and paste. It's not the easiest of formats here.

 

[frigidweirdo]

Hey everyone,

I'm new to the forum and I thought the best way to start is by using this thread.
I'm a student of political sciences in germany and I am interested in american, european and worldwide politics. I don't affiliate myself with any particular party here, however in the US I would most likely be a democrat.
I try to base my political thoughts on pragmatic solutions and a personal and important concern for me is the support of scientific research.

My hope is to have some discussions and to learn more in depth about certain issues. I realized that throwing myself into a debate with someone challenges me to read up more facts and learn more about topics. And that's my main goal.

I also started doing a youtube channel () where I try my best to explain geopolitical situations. But don't worry, I am not gonna advertise on here. I just mention it so you get to know me.

See you all!

Wie geht's?

You'll find a lot of insults here, don't get involved, just put the insulters on ignore. You'll see German politics is a little different even at the basic levels. I sort of studied politics in Germany, but didn't quite understand anything that was being said, but I've studied the German and US politic systems (the German is far superior).

You'll understand more by just seeing how strangely the though processes of many of the Americans are.

Good luck. You'll need it.

Thanks for welcoming me!

What you said about the different systems. We discussed this a lot the last weeks here.
It's interesting that we in germany, a country that is compared to the USA relatively homogenous, have a consensus system, in which several partys form a coalition to make a government. And the US, which is a country with so many different groups and even different languages, has a two party system.
I guess it can be explained historically but I wonder if it's the best for the country. I also wonder wether a majoritarian system similiar to the US would work here in germany. Maybe it would get people more interested in politics. It's A vs B. Here many people lost interest in all the partys and coalitions and don't even go to vote. Which is sad.

Several parties forming coalitions sounds like a good idea--more ideas get incorporated, maybe, and less people feel left out? I can see it being overwhelming to some people, though. With the splits and disagreements within the two parties we have, and a relatively strong third party vote (it remains entirely insignificant, but it is rising all the time) maybe we will get to something similar before very long. I like the idea in theory, anyway.

It works a lot better than the US system, that's for sure.

How do they get a majority to determine the winner? How do they decide who sides with whom to form the coalition? How do they select the "finalists" who run?

The winner is whoever can make a coalition, basically. It forces cooperation between parties. Germany has had SPD+Greens, CDU/CSU+FPD and CDU/CSU+SPD in the past 20 years of coalitions.

For the president, in the French elections, they have one vote and anyone can run, then a second vote for the two who got the highest votes.

 

[TheThirdView]

Wie geht's?

You'll find a lot of insults here, don't get involved, just put the insulters on ignore. You'll see German politics is a little different even at the basic levels. I sort of studied politics in Germany, but didn't quite understand anything that was being said, but I've studied the German and US politic systems (the German is far superior).

You'll understand more by just seeing how strangely the though processes of many of the Americans are.

Good luck. You'll need it.

Thanks for welcoming me!

What you said about the different systems. We discussed this a lot the last weeks here.
It's interesting that we in germany, a country that is compared to the USA relatively homogenous, have a consensus system, in which several partys form a coalition to make a government. And the US, which is a country with so many different groups and even different languages, has a two party system.
I guess it can be explained historically but I wonder if it's the best for the country. I also wonder wether a majoritarian system similiar to the US would work here in germany. Maybe it would get people more interested in politics. It's A vs B. Here many people lost interest in all the partys and coalitions and don't even go to vote. Which is sad.

Several parties forming coalitions sounds like a good idea--more ideas get incorporated, maybe, and less people feel left out? I can see it being overwhelming to some people, though. With the splits and disagreements within the two parties we have, and a relatively strong third party vote (it remains entirely insignificant, but it is rising all the time) maybe we will get to something similar before very long. I like the idea in theory, anyway.

It works a lot better than the US system, that's for sure.

How do they get a majority to determine the winner? How do they decide who sides with whom to form the coalition? How do they select the "finalists" who run?

The winner is whoever can make a coalition, basically. It forces cooperation between parties. Germany has had SPD+Greens, CDU/CSU+FPD and CDU/CSU+SPD in the past 20 years of coalitions.

For the president, in the French elections, they have one vote and anyone can run, then a second vote for the two who got the highest votes.

It's interesting though how big of a difference a system can make.
In french for example, with their current system it makes it hard for LePen to become president. Because even if she wins the first round, in the second round conservatives and socialists will join to elect her opponent.
Which is fine for me because I don't like LePen at all, but it's still interesting how important the system is.
Another example is the United States, Clinton won the popular vote so in a non majoritarian system she would be president.

 

[MrMike]

Welcome.

Do you like/support Angela Merkel?

 

[Eloy]

Welcome, TheThirdView. May I call you "The" for short?
You will find lots of topics here about european and worldwide politics. It is not only American stuff.
Glück Auf!

 

[TheThirdView]

Welcome, TheThirdView. May I call you "The" for short?
You will find lots of topics here about european and worldwide politics. It is not only American stuff.
Glück Auf!

Thanks for that warm welcome. And sure, you can call me "The" or "TTT" or "Tripple T", whatever you like

 

[Ringel05]

Gluten bag to you too.

 

[anotherlife]

HI TheThirdReich, I totally agree with you, I think Germany is a much more civilized country than France.

I am a maths student but I am also interested in geopolitical games.

And on your map, you talk about the Ukraine, but I thought that it was Kazakhstan of the former USSR that had the genuine German connection, not the Ukraine.

The Ukraine is an artificial creation of Stalin, by stealing lands from Poland, Hungary, Romania, and Russia, isn't it?

 

[The Great Goose]

Hey everyone,

I'm new to the forum and I thought the best way to start is by using this thread.
I'm a student of political sciences in germany and I am interested in american, european and worldwide politics. I don't affiliate myself with any particular party here, however in the US I would most likely be a democrat.
I try to base my political thoughts on pragmatic solutions and a personal and important concern for me is the support of scientific research.

My hope is to have some discussions and to learn more in depth about certain issues. I realized that throwing myself into a debate with someone challenges me to read up more facts and learn more about topics. And that's my main goal.

I also started doing a youtube channel () where I try my best to explain geopolitical situations. But don't worry, I am not gonna advertise on here. I just mention it so you get to know me.

See you all!

Clear off, square head!

No just kidding, welcome aboard!

 

[The Great Goose]

HI TheThirdReich, I totally agree with you, I think Germany is a much more civilized country than France.

I am a maths student but I am also interested in geopolitical games.

And on your map, you talk about the Ukraine, but I thought that it was Kazakhstan of the former USSR that had the genuine German connection, not the Ukraine.

The Ukraine is an artificial creation of Stalin, by stealing lands from Poland, Hungary, Romania, and Russia, isn't it?

 

[frigidweirdo]

Thanks for welcoming me!

What you said about the different systems. We discussed this a lot the last weeks here.
It's interesting that we in germany, a country that is compared to the USA relatively homogenous, have a consensus system, in which several partys form a coalition to make a government. And the US, which is a country with so many different groups and even different languages, has a two party system.
I guess it can be explained historically but I wonder if it's the best for the country. I also wonder wether a majoritarian system similiar to the US would work here in germany. Maybe it would get people more interested in politics. It's A vs B. Here many people lost interest in all the partys and coalitions and don't even go to vote. Which is sad.

Several parties forming coalitions sounds like a good idea--more ideas get incorporated, maybe, and less people feel left out? I can see it being overwhelming to some people, though. With the splits and disagreements within the two parties we have, and a relatively strong third party vote (it remains entirely insignificant, but it is rising all the time) maybe we will get to something similar before very long. I like the idea in theory, anyway.

It works a lot better than the US system, that's for sure.

How do they get a majority to determine the winner? How do they decide who sides with whom to form the coalition? How do they select the "finalists" who run?

The winner is whoever can make a coalition, basically. It forces cooperation between parties. Germany has had SPD+Greens, CDU/CSU+FPD and CDU/CSU+SPD in the past 20 years of coalitions.

For the president, in the French elections, they have one vote and anyone can run, then a second vote for the two who got the highest votes.

It's interesting though how big of a difference a system can make.
In french for example, with their current system it makes it hard for LePen to become president. Because even if she wins the first round, in the second round conservatives and socialists will join to elect her opponent.
Which is fine for me because I don't like LePen at all, but it's still interesting how important the system is.
Another example is the United States, Clinton won the popular vote so in a non majoritarian system she would be president.

It makes a massive difference. Look at Germany and the results of the constituency vote and the Proportional Representation vote. It shows that millions of people will change their vote depending on how the vote is structured. In the US because it's structured in the FPTP manner, the people are often voting AGAINST someone and not for someone.

 

[Coyote]

Hey everyone,

I'm new to the forum and I thought the best way to start is by using this thread.
I'm a student of political sciences in germany and I am interested in american, european and worldwide politics. I don't affiliate myself with any particular party here, however in the US I would most likely be a democrat.
I try to base my political thoughts on pragmatic solutions and a personal and important concern for me is the support of scientific research.

My hope is to have some discussions and to learn more in depth about certain issues. I realized that throwing myself into a debate with someone challenges me to read up more facts and learn more about topics. And that's my main goal.

I also started doing a youtube channel () where I try my best to explain geopolitical situations. But don't worry, I am not gonna advertise on here. I just mention it so you get to know me.

See you all!

Welcome to USMB Thirdview