Germany gets contracts for american highspeed train system

[RETS]

we currently have the lowest unemployment rate in the last 20 years. We have problems to fill free jobs with workers. Thats our problem at the moment, that we need workers, but can´t find them anymore. They even plan a law that you must work 40h per week (with more money of course)

You have over 9 million unemployed. How is it hard to find workers?

 

[ErikSteiner]

You have over 9 million unemployed. How is it hard to find workers?

check your numbers, our current unemploment is 4,58 Million. And those are mostly people who are unable to work.

 

[RETS]

check your numbers, our current unemploment is 4,58 Million. And those are mostly people who are unable to work.

All right- Double checked and you're right. I apologize. Regardless, the question is how long will this last? Let me show you what I mean.

My point was not so much about unemployment, or the strength of your economy, but the fact that you (Germany) are not invulnerable to failure.

EDIT: You can find that graph here.

 

[RETS]

Since those graphs were so much fun, and because I forgot to contrast Germany with the US...

The US is here:

(For you Americans, note that unemployment went up around the same time that Obama was elected and all of those "helpful" bills were passed through.)

So basically, Erik, you're getting excited that Germany's current unemployment rate has finally hit the US average?




And now for a bit of humor- The unemployment rate in DC spiked about the time November elections rolled around... I am not kidding!

 

[ErikSteiner]

Did you have to absorb a bancrupt part of your land from the communist power area? Did you have to transform that entire region from communism to capitalism within 10 years?

No?
Fine. Any other questions?

 

[Veritas]

Did you have to absorb a bancrupt part of your land from the communist power area? Did you have to transform that entire region from communism to capitalism within 10 years?

No?
Fine. Any other questions?

Boy that Unification Tax really helped ddn't it? My friend in Kissing (near Augsburg) absolutely hates it. It's like the US taxpayer trying to support a large 3rd World population like Mexico. Oh wait.....we already do.

 

[ErikSteiner]

Boy that Unification Tax really helped ddn't it? My friend in Kissing (near Augsburg) absolutely hates it. It's like the US taxpayer trying to support a large 3rd World population like Mexico. Oh wait.....we already do.

ehem...east germany was in no way 3rd world. The average east german city was like the american standard in Texas or arizona.

By the way, the unification tax was not only for east germany. It was also to finance your gulf war,.

Beside that i´m happy about the reunion. I would pay evrything to support that process.

 

[Veritas]

ehem...east germany was in no way 3rd world. The average east german city was like the american standard in Texas or arizona.

By the way, the unification tax was not only for east germany. It was also to finance your gulf war,.

Beside that i´m happy about the reunion. I would pay evrything to support that process.

 

[ErikSteiner]

i´m glad you understand your failures alone.

 

[ki4jgt]

Look, I know I'm late to the convo so if this has already been covered, I'm sorry!

Why does it pay for itself evrywhere else? In germany its very profitable.

Everywhere else forces their citizens to adapt to what they believe is good for the nation. In the USA, the nation is forced to adapt to what the people believe is good for themselves. This has positives and negatives.

Honestly, no. I've been here for about a decade, and what I have noticed is that most Americans are grossly undereducated on issues like this, but refuse to admit the deficit. High Speed rail is cheaper, cleaner, and generally more comfortable, but they will never understand because they will never try to understand.

Here is what you are going to hear...

"It won't work here"

...this is the mantra by which America exists now. Everywhere else in the modern, industrialized world some form on national health care exists. THe people are healthier, live longer, etc... but when it comes to America?

"It won't work here"

Everywhere else in the modern industrialized world national educational systems exist with union involvement and government standards. In America?

"It won't work here"

Nothing works in America.

High Speed rail will not work either, not because it cannot, but because Americans will not permit it to.

American's along with every other republic, are allowed to have their say in democracy! If they choose to be dumb, that's their right. Personally, Why not introduce the Air car from india. That was done three or four years ago and can run completely on air for 30 miles (haven't looked at it in a while) It can get up to 60 mph and will get 90 mpg highway with gas.

I think it would work here. However, there's more to it than slapping some rails down and chugging away. America really embraces the automobile and the highway as its primary method of transportation. That would, in large part, have to be replaced. It would mean a lot of growing pains for a lot of people and companies.

That said, I think it's a good idea. But it wouldn't be a smooth transition. Short term loss for long term gain, and that's a hard sell.

And no matter what some may say, change is hard. For anybody.

+1

It definitely could work, but Americans will not let it. Lots of things could work, but will not. Health care, educations, business regulation, etc... all of it fails when crossing into American territory. It is like some sort of weird Twilight Zone where the laws of normal society cease to exist.

Sorry to burst your bubble, but it's always been that way and an America which isn't that way, isn't America!

First of all, if you want to understand why I think it wont work, you are best not trying to follow the non argument of people who dont know what they are talking about. But your point about raising taxes on fuel proves my point--that would amount to taxpayers subsidizing a mode of transportation that no on wants. The success or failure of high speed rail would largely depend upon cost and convenience. If your goal is to make high speed rail more attractive by making everything else more costly, you have not put forth a good product. You are just engaging in a tyrannical control of the public.

Lastly, I know the rest of my comments have been kind of pointless, but I want to say this loud and clear! not to lordbt, but who cares if we don't like it? I mean just b/c our people decide they don't want something, it doesn't make yours any more stupid. You guys are doing a great job at that yourselves. I understand that it's a great move, but you have to understand too, that we are in so much debt right now that pulling a move like this would be irresponsible, both as a nation and a people. As you mentioned above, the train is in a different climate with you guys. General American thinking is, If we're in so much debt, what if the train fails. Then we owe Germany all that money and are stuck fixing it ourselves. Most Americans are asking Why can't we spend the money somewhere where it's needed like for homeless shelters or schools or even tax breaks? I agree, most Americans are short sighted and can't even see the inevitable doom that's right before them, but you guys don't get that Americans have just been betrayed by two presidents recently and to some people three. If you think they have one inkling of a care about what the government is enacting, you're sadly mistaken. They want to shut the government up right now and can not see that the only way to make things better is to get involved in it.

 

[IbrahimFahim]

You sure do spend a lot of time on an American politics forum for someone who hates America so much. Maybe you should look in your own back garden and solve some of your own problems before you decided to tell America what it should do. Considering she is the most prosperous and free nation the world has known, she must have done something right.

None of what you say is true. In accordance with board rules, please support your claim with evidence.

 

[MorkandMindy]

But the US at least at this point, is not a socialist country like Germany. Your cradle-to-grave system is bankrupt forcing massive austerity measures to try and salvage your economies.

...

 

[IbrahimFahim]

Actually, I do have one that would require minimal funding and maximum output: Thorium.

I hope you are joking. What possibly makes you think building breeder reactors would be preferable to fuel reprocessing?

 

[WalksWithChrist]

America can change. I'll take littering as one example. Before the anti-littering campaign started there was trash everywhere. I remember. Now, with some exceptions certainly, America is virtually trash free. You can easily walk/drive from point A to B without seeing any.

We can change.

And we are changing. Slowly and *very* painfully...but we are changing.

I'd hop my [bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse] in a high speed rail car in a hot second.


I've ridden on an Amtrak train a few times in recent years. It is nice but feels like I'm taking a trip in time back about 100 years.

 

[IbrahimFahim]

America can change. I'll take littering as one example. Before the anti-littering campaign started there was trash everywhere. I remember. Now, with some exceptions certainly, America is virtually trash free. You can easily walk/drive from point A to B without seeing any.

America will change, it will have to, but the question is will it change fast enough to survive. I will admit I did not think the school lunch bill Obama was proposing would pass, but it did, but consider the statistics. Diabetes is going to be a problem for 33% of the US population by 2050. Slow incremental change is going to kill your country, literally. People need to put down the Twinkies, start jogging, and do it now. not wait 40 years (the anti-trash efforts were started in the 70's, weren't they?), but too many people want to take the response that being fat and stupid (and dead) is preferable to the government taking away pizza from school lunch and substituting broccoli.

 

[WalksWithChrist]

America will change, it will have to, but the question is will it change fast enough to survive. I will admit I did not think the school lunch bill Obama was proposing would pass, but it did, but consider the statistics. Diabetes is going to be a problem for 33% of the US population by 2050. Slow incremental change is going to kill your country, literally. People need to put down the Twinkies, start jogging, and do it now. not wait 40 years (the anti-trash efforts were started in the 70's, weren't they?), but too many people want to take the response that being fat and stupid (and dead) is preferable to the government taking away pizza from school lunch and substituting broccoli.

That is indeed the question. And I do worry that we will put ourselves into a truly untenable position if we don't change fast enough.

The reality is that it's the actions of a relative few that have put us where we are. The automotive lobby being part of that few. They have really screwed us over. They apparently crippled our rail system (someone posted about this earlier in the thread I believe) and some time back (I don't have a source for this...something I heard on NPR a while back) made a push to have our cities expand and "sprawl" in such a way that everyone would need a car to survive and get around. That push worked I can tell you. I live on the very outer edge of an entire region dominated by far-flung strip malls. You can't walk anywhere literally unless you have the entire day to get back and forth.
It's ridiculous. And bike paths/lanes? Forget about it.
We are an auto-centric (did I just coin that? lol) nation and not by accident. Ok, I feel a real ramble coming on here...lots more to say. But I better button it before I get carpal tunnel.

What we have to do is take back our country from those that have damaged it. And you're right, we have to do it soon.

Yes the anti-littering campaign was in the 70s. But it took hold fairly quickly. That was my point that we *can* get in gear if we are motivated.

 

[brindisi]

That is indeed the question. And I do worry that we will put ourselves into a truly untenable position if we don't change fast enough.

Much has been made of overweight Americans, and I admit we can see that everyday of the week just by walking through a grocery parking lot and checking out the folks pushing their carts. Not a pretty sight. We need a lot more people walking, rather than driving, whenever possible. But America is not the only country facing this problem.

In the list below, the only country that surprises me is Israel. Having visited Israel many times, I haven't seen all that many overweight folks.


The World’s Top 10 Fattest Countries | Expatify

The World Health Organization has recently released the results of health surveys taken between 2000 and 2008 on world obesity, and the news isn’t pretty.

Since obesity rates can be an indicator of a nation’s nutritional trends, health and culture, we thought it might be useful information for the expat to know. Here are the 10 fattest countries of the last decade:

(1) American Samoa, 93.5% (of the population that is overweight)

(2) Kiribati, 81.5%

(3) U.S.A., 66.7%

(4) Germany, 66.5%

(5) Egypt, 66%

(6) Bosnia-Herzegovina, 62.9%

(7) New Zealand, 62.7%

(8) Israel, 61.9%

(9) Croatia, 61.4%

(10) United Kingdom, 61%

 

[WalksWithChrist]

Much has been made of overweight Americans, and I admit we can see that everyday of the week just by walking through a grocery parking lot and checking out the folks pushing their carts. Not a pretty sight. We need a lot more people walking, rather than driving, whenever possible. But America is not the only country facing this problem.

In the list below, the only country that surprises me is Israel. Having visited Israel many times, I haven't seen all that many overweight folks.


The World’s Top 10 Fattest Countries | Expatify

The World Health Organization has recently released the results of health surveys taken between 2000 and 2008 on world obesity, and the news isn’t pretty.

Since obesity rates can be an indicator of a nation’s nutritional trends, health and culture, we thought it might be useful information for the expat to know. Here are the 10 fattest countries of the last decade:

(1) American Samoa, 93.5% (of the population that is overweight)

(2) Kiribati, 81.5%

(3) U.S.A., 66.7%

(4) Germany, 66.5%

(5) Egypt, 66%

(6) Bosnia-Herzegovina, 62.9%

(7) New Zealand, 62.7%

(8) Israel, 61.9%

(9) Croatia, 61.4%

(10) United Kingdom, 61%

I fall neatly into this trap myself. I'm not overweight but have fat when I shouldn't. I'm a naturally thin person with a gut. I almost never walk anywhere unless I'm on vacation somewhere.

 

[Satt]

Separatism FTW!!!

 

[Gawron]

Posted by Ar Cosc:

"And your refusal to tax the rich an appropriate amount has left your country in not much better of a state."

According to the IRS:

1. The top 1% of America’s income-earners, those making over $380 K a year, generate 20% of all personal income and pay 38% of all federal income taxes.

2. Those making over $113 K a year earn 46% of total personal income and pay 70% of all taxes.

3. The remaining tax paying public make 54% of total personal income and pay only 30% of all federal taxes.

In addition, the Tax Foundation has recently calculated that the portion of US Federal tax returns submitted by those who have NO tax liabiilty is now more than 35% of returns filed.

The rich deserve to be able to keep the wealth they have worked for and accumlated just as everyone else. Unless one is of the mindset that "the Rich" are all evil and appropriated all of their wealth on the backs of and at the expense of "the poor", which apparently you do.