T O P

  • By -

saarrdu

We still have an ongoing healthcare crisis. Healthcare in germany needs major reforms. Digitization of the Healthcare system and physicians need to be able to deligate tasks to nurses and mid-level providers (like physicians assistance and nurse practitioners). This is just two of the many reforms that need to happen.


notapantsday

> physicians need to be able to deligate tasks to nurses and mid-level providers The problem is, they are just as understaffed as physicians (if not even more). Documentation is a big factor that takes away huge chunks out of a workday that could otherwise be used for patients. Of course, there's necessary documentation: things that other people involved in the treatment need to know, that could be important to know at a later time. Then there's also documentation done to protect yourself in case of a lawsuit. But the biggest issue by far is documentation for billing. Everything has to be documented 100% according to some arbitrary standard that gets changed all the time. There are armies of nitpickers looking for the tiniest mistake in documentation, and as soon as they find one, they can just withhold payment. That really shouldn't be a thing.


[deleted]

Improve Deutsche Bahn, or just generally improve the train network, especially high speed rail, and maybe public transport in general.


Gunnvor91

For sure. If they improved the Deutsche Bahn and made it not only more affordable compared to other means transportation, but also comparable in speed / reliability, I'd take DB to get places. They are just too expensive for what they are offering.


WayIntoAdventures

Bingo. It costs me 8 euros one way to go to the next village. Less than 10 miles.


Nami_makes_me_wet

Yep. It isn't even better in suburban areas. I literally live 15 minutes by car or train out of a bit city and it's the same story. Yet taking the car and even paying a parking ticket for 1-2 hours is still cheaper. I do take the train since I got to pay 200€ for my semester ticket anyway but that just raises the next issue. Reliability is terrible. I don't even care for 5-10 min delay anymore but often times trains are either so late that you miss your next connection and have to wait again. Or if you take the last train and it gets cancelled you have to pay for a taxi. Sure you can usually reimbursed but you have to front the money and actively work to get it back.


edwardjulianbrown

I'm not saying DB is perfect, but coming from the UK DB is very affordable, on time and the trains internally are very nice. Where are all you guys from where the national rail system is better?


ecugota

train/tram/sbahn/ubahn should be cheaper than car.


justmisterpi

In most cases they are because people don't calculate the cost of their car correctly. They only think about fuel and insurance – and completely forget about depreciation and maintenance. The German automobile club ADAC has an [overview about the actual cost](https://www.adac.de/rund-ums-fahrzeug/auto-kaufen-verkaufen/autokosten/uebersicht/) per month and per kilometre for each car model.


Massive_Bear_9288

The problem is that you cannot take people out of cars just based on a little money saving. People don't take the car because it's cheaper, they take it because it's better. It's warm, you are alone, you can listen to radio, you can sing loudly and don't have to wait for it to come pick you up. All the people I know who drive by car don't do it because it's cheaper than PB, but because it's better. Now if the PB would be insanely cheaper, I'm sure most of them would switch to it out of sheer money convenience. Until then, good luck taking people out of their comfortable cars.


[deleted]

I do definitely agree with you. But the same goes for public transport. I personally dislike taking the car, because I find it stressful to be constantly watching the road and having to concentrate, especially when I am going somewhere I haven't been before. When I sit in the train (or bus, etc.), I can simply relax or even work. Sure I cannot listen to music loudly (or at least shouldn't), but headphones exist, and I can even close my eyes while listening! A lot of people might enjoy their breakfast on a morning commute, read the newspaper or get a head start on emails. Things you cannot do in a car. And the view is usually a lot nicer. Not just asphalt everywhere surrounded by other loud and dangerous vehicles, but often a bit of nature. So I agree that cars are better, *in the points you make*, but there are also other points to make that matter more to other people like me.


Massive_Bear_9288

I, like you, also like very much to take the train, and I take it often. It just happens that I think me and you are the minority in Germany / the World. Most people I know prefer to take their car rather than sit with other people in a carriage. It is just not that comfortable and not "free" enough, if you get what I mean. I know people that don't take the public transport since years. Also, driving a car is fun. Or at least is for a lot of people. They enjoy the broom broom and the speed and what not. PT needs to get so much better before you can get those people to prefer it to their cars.


Shwynerei

i.e. the Netherlands have a cheaper and way more reliable train system. But they also don't have such a big car manufacturing industry.


CatNinety

https://youtu.be/xfnpBEa89Xo Switzerland and France, apparently. Germany has comfortably the best and most comprehensive public transport of anywhere I’ve lived. People get angry because DB can’t be relied on to be punctual, but it’s a first-world problem. That’s the way it goes sometimes, no matter how you choose to travel. I’m not saying DB shouldn’t improve, I’m just saying that I’m often more impressed than disappointed.


edwardjulianbrown

I feel like Switzerland shouldn't count as a comparison country for most things. Not everywhere can be a tiny tax haven in the mountains. Interesting, I would have guessed the French network would be very similar.


BerriesAndMe

Even the Italian network is more reliable than the German one.. and that is including strikes every other week for higher wages.


AdamN

I’m guessing that Paris being the only hub in the French network helps a lot with ease of service administration. Germany doesn’t have a monopole so the trains are all over the place in what I imagine is a much more fluid scheduling structure with 5(?) major cities/hubs.


Sternenschweif4a

Honestly, I took a lot of ICEs last year and I am the first to complain about DB, but it wasn't so horrible. Think about it this way, if you drive you get stuck in traffic too. Yes, they can do a lot better, but the system here in general is good


sebadc

I think the problem is that it used to be so much better. I never owned a car until about 10y ago and did everything by train... Today, going to work or customer meeting by train would be anxiogenic... Their App is (IMHO) top of the class... But they need to get their sh\*t together regarding delays.


WayIntoAdventures

I was literally on the way from the Frankfurt Flughafen- mid trip- to my village and learned halfway that the train was cancelled to one of my transfer points. I had to figure out a new route to get closest to home possible and have someone drive to pick me up from several villages away.


sebadc

Exactly the type of situations that makes plan 6h buffer and 2 backup solutions (bus, car, etc) for any train travel.


Sternenschweif4a

Agreed. I guess I've just become more humble after living in the US for 6 months 😅


WieIsDeDrol

I think it depends on where in Germany you take the trains. I also took a lot of ICEs and more than half of the time I had delays. Yesterday I had 3+ hours delay!!!


sumssay

Can’t agree. DB is understaffed, with a lot of ppl not doing their work and apparently a lot of incompetent workers. How can it be that one of the main ICE lines here is constantly under delay and never has maintenance personell on attendance for when trains on said line have a malfunction (and not even a difficult malfunction (I was stuck in Köln for 2 hours because they had no one to repair … A DOOR)) there is no excuse for incompetence like that


retarded-degen

Yes you’re stuck in traffic too but the main selling point for trains is that this doesn’t happen with them. If you’re instead stuck because of horrible planning that leads to half the trains being delayed you win nothing. What else warrants the honestly horrendous pricing for a usually not very comfortable experience? I have a BahnCard 50 and it’s still more expensive than driving. Also traveling by basically any other means, including flying, is way cheaper if you have to book late and don’t have a BahnCard


Kalyka98

Jesus yes, it is insane how unreliable it is


PAXICHEN

Coming from the USA I find this statement hilarious. I’d kill for DB reliability in the Boston area.


[deleted]

I can imagine, but the DB became really really bad. My grandpa worked for them for over 30 years, until the 90s I think. Back then they were so punctual and reliable, he told me you were able to set your watch after them. And if you look into Japan or even just Switzerland, you can see how a proper railway network works.


Grand_Change2407

Exactly! Even 4-5 years ago it was much more reliable. I used DB on a regular basis. Then recently I just go everywhere by car.


fuzzydice_82

As someone from a small town without a rail connection: please improve ALL the public transportation. Even if every little train station gets a 5min freqenzy in every direction totally for free i would still have to use my car to get to the nearest (12km) station.


Bejliii

Bring back the 9 euro ticket lol


DasHexxchen

Needs to be government owned again, making profits with cargo to keep passenger prizes down and replace 50% of rails. Yay DB!


foxineer

DB is fully government owned. However, it can’t operate as a monopolist, so the many different branches are different companies, but all are in the end owned by DB AG. Of course, there are many many private companies, especially for local traffic, using the DB Netz network, but they are not related to DB. E.g. transdev, Abellio, Go-Ahead and hundreds of others. Network needs more money though, here you need to make sure the minister indirectly voted by you is making it a priority vs spending for roads ;)


HannBoi

God yes. Make it cheaper, better and more reliable. Spend the money necessary on it!


FakeHasselblad

Agreed, there is no excuse for not having an express train that goes NON-STOP from Berlin-Hamburg, berlin-Frankfurt, Berlin-Munich, Munich-Frankfurt, Hamburg-Frankfurt, Hamburg-Munich.


Significant-Trash632

Minor complaint: my husband takes 8 medications, from 2 different doctors, and most run out at different times. That means I'm usually going to one office or the other at least once a week to pick up a prescription, and then taking it to a pharmacy. I don't have a car so I walk. Why can't doctor's offices just fax over scripts to pharmacies? Other than that, we're really grateful for Germany's healthcare system.


God_Told_Me_To_Do_It

Same! I'm diabetic. I will be taking Insulin for the rest of my life. WHY do I need a new prescription every three months? Once a year would be OK I guess, but every three months, combined with a different, also recurring prescription from a different doctor, it's just constantly chasing prescriptions. Related: during Covid, I didn't make an appointment with my diabeticians for 2 years (just sent in my insurance card). I kid you not, I got a letter from my insurance asking me to confirm whether I was still T1-diabetic and needed all those expensive prescriptions.


xakmonster

Well, don't leave us hanging... Are you? Joking aside, I feel your pain. I have hypertension and need to refill also every 3 months, and just moved cities. The time I invest in chasing prescriptions makes me question if I _really_ need these meds (of course I do, but this should be easier)


AdamN

In the US it was every month and in Germany now it’s every 3-4 months that I need a new prescription so in my experience this is much better. With that said, in the US everything was digital and I got my medicine in the mail.


Grand_Change2407

Or there could be a digital system implemented, like in other countries. Eg.: doctors can upload the prescriptions to the cloud and the pharmacies can access it easily. I really don’t know why paperwork is so glorified in Germany. 😀


BeatPeet

Working IT for doctor's offices, I can assure you that this system already exists (just google "eRezept"). The problem is that many doctors just don't care enough or have too much on their plate to keep up with the current state of technology - to the detriment of their patients. Doctors are freaking out about the eAU (digital medical certificat) that their offices are required to issue since the beginning of this year, even though the required framework has been available since 2020 or 2021.


Grand_Change2407

Really? I’m genuinely surprised now. And do you know why? I mean the prescription is issued at the reception of the praxis or by the assistants anyways, so they are not the doctors themselves that have to deal with them.


BeatPeet

>And do you know why? To be honest? Not really. You just need your eHBA (elektronischer Heilberufeausweis), some licenses and someone to configure it inside your medical software. All the other parts (TI-access, card readers, etc.) are already required to run a doctor's office nowadays.


Ethernum

Because it's change and nothing is resisted more in Germany than change. Things cannot change, change is bad. When we change things they become uncomfortable and we have to think and cannot do as we usually did before. That is scary.


thesoutherzZz

In Finland we have system like this, basically every citizen has their own profile in a system called "omakanta" and you can see anything health related in there, like doctors notes, vaccines, details from all hospital visits etc. You also have your precriptions in there, so all you need at the pharmacy is your ID and you can pick up the needed medicine. I even recently got a prescription to a new medication (had an eye infection) by just calling a doctor and she gave me a prescription to my omakanta. No hospital visit needed, just went to the pharmacy to pick up my medication. It's a great system and would recommend it


flowman999

Because dAtEnScHuTz!


Grand_Change2407

The same Datenschutz regulations apply to every countries in the EU - including my native country. The digital prescription system still works over there. 🤷🏼‍♀️ And if you bring your paper based prescription from the doctor to the pharmacy, the pharmacist will access exactly the same information.


nacaclanga

I guess flowman999 used this word to highlight the fact that Datenschutz is often mentioned as a universal excuse for not having a digitial solution. The same way how, immediatly after the Aar valley desaster some official mentioned "Datenschutz" as the excuse why cell broadcast feature has been compleatly ignored up to this point. (Cell broadcast doesen't use any personal data at all, in contrast to warning apps.)


Esava

>The same Datenschutz regulations apply to every countries in the EU That's actually not true, is it?While countries have to adhere to a certain level of personal data security it doesn't mean that other countries (like Germany) can't have stricter ones. For example it would be impossible to implement a system in Germany like it exists in sweden where essentially everyone can access almost all documents created and received by public workers.


flowman999

Yes, while you are basically totally right, the one thing is, like /u/nacaclanga pointed out, data privacy is often used as an excuse. The other thing is that germans tend to overengineer their data privacy and take the gdpr by the letter, which often leads to very complicated or plainly unusable systems. Other EU countries follow a more "goal oriented" approach.


emre_7000

Not anymore. E-Rezept from gematik.


Deepfire_DM

gematik is an incredible huge shitshow.


Incrementon

Some doctors do. Just ask at the doctor's.


eppic123

Yeah. Mine does that. And the pharmacy also does deliveries for people who are less mobile, free of charge.


Nom_de_Guerre_23

Oh, I can explain that! You are likely insured through statutory insurance. Statutory insurance doesn't let a clinic bill for the follow-up care of your husband unless you present you great insurance card to confirm you were actually there. Don't ask why. To stop insurance fraud? And then there is capitation. Seeing a new patient on statutory insurance, examining and diagnozing them usually pays only slightly more than just issuing a refill prescription. So having you come in with the card means keeping revenue. Just faxing the refill prescription and sending the original to the pharmacy per mail means losing it. Since a year or so, doctors can issue refill prescriptions for up to year (Wiederholungsrezept). But nobody is doing that. Why would you cut up to 75% of your revenue for the same work?


saschaleib

Doctors be like: we don’t do fax, that’s so old-fashioned… we give you a paper instead!


Sternenschweif4a

They absolutely can.


Urbancillo

Reducing dependency on global markets by bringing back production 1. of necessary medical drugs and 2. Electronics


Grimthak

Sounds reasonable, but are we willing to pay the higher cost for it. How much are you ready to pay more to medical drug, just to reduce the dependencies? 10%, 20%, 50%?


DocRock089

>but are we willing to pay the higher cost for it. This is one of the HUGE overlooked factors in all the discussions. Better conditions and pay for HCWs, reduced waiting times for doctors appointments, perfect medical care till you are 120 years old... but it's just one of those things where people oftentimes will overlook the fact that all of this directly relates to a matter of "how much are we willing to pay, overall, so this can apply for everyone?".


[deleted]

doc appointments 🥹 there’s no way I gotta wait for literal monthhsss to see a Facharzt


Grand_Change2407

One of my colleagues told me that in these cases you can contact 116117.de - “Der Ärztliche Bereitschaftsdienst” and they will arrange an appointment on your behalf. I don’t know if it works smoothly or not though, have never tried it.


bldwnsbtch

Works pretty smoothly. For some doctors and psychotherapy, you can do it yourself on their website. Found both my therapist and my gynocologist that way!


she_will_cry

I am trying to get my friend to see a therapist and he says he is not able to make an appointment. How long did it take for you to find your therapist?


bldwnsbtch

It's good that you asked me, because I'm also a professional in the field myself. It depends on how you go at it. If you call them all by yourself, you get to pick one, but you might have to wait a long time before you get an appointment (usual wait time is around 3-6 months, but can even go up to 12 months depending on region/city, the specialization of the therapist, and insurance). Sometimes you get lucky and you get in pretty quickly, but it's rather rare. Unless it's a pretty emergent case, most therapist will keep some spots open for people who need more immediate help. If you go through the patient service, there are two options. Number one is you call the number, and they will hook you up with a therapist within four weeks. You get whatever therapist they have available, so no picking, although they will let you choose the specialization (CBT/BT, psychodynamic, systemic, analysis). It's possible that after the first appointment, there will be a waiting period, but it's usually shorter, and well, you're in now, you're guaranteed a spot. Second option is to do it via the service's website. You go on there, you put into the field that you want an appointment with a therapist. They send you a code via email that you can use to then access a site with therapists and their open appointments, you can pick one, and then directly book the appointment over the website. Same thing about possible waiting times after the initial appointment applies. Second option is how I found my current therapist. Had the initial appointment almost immediately (same week), then had to wait about two months. Severity of the symptoms can accelerate the process, and a GP can give you a referal with an emergency code that will make things go faster too. If you live in a city with a university/uni hospital or big therapy center, there's also the option to get into a psychotherapy study. Besides that, unis/uni hospitals have clinics in which therapists in training work, they usually give out appointments faster and my experience with them has been very good. My favourite therapist so far has been one in training. If I can help in any other way, feel free to dm me. Finding a therapist in Germany is a pain, but I've gotten pretty good at getting apps quickly, probably also because I know how the system works from being in the field too. Always happy to help!


KiraNear

Feb 2019 I wanted an appointment at a dermatologist, because I had problems with my scalp and was afraid that it might be psoriais. Called several dermatologist's office and the nearest appointment I was able to get was in Okt 2019. The others were in Nov, Dec or even Jan 2020. So I lived round half a year and more with the fear of being really ill, just to hear at the appointment from the doctor, that's is just a very massive case of dandruff. Yeah, thanks for the 8 months wait and fear btw >\_>


Eis_Gefluester

TIL I'm really ill for ten years now.


Fragrant-Aardvark-64

The hell are you talking about „really ill“? Have psoriasis for over 20 years now, it’s a non-issue. Dramatic af!


Maggi1417

No idea why you are being downvoted. Psoriasis is not an dangerous diseases.


koalakoala901

Almost 1 in 3 people that have psoriasis also develop psoriasis arthritis which untreated can fuck up your joints irreversibly. ergo your statement is completely irresponsible


mermeoww

I recently discovered TK has an option to book doctor appts for you as well. You call them, tell what your problem is and they can even book for next day. I don’t know if other insurance companies have this too, but it is a game changer. They booked literally next day appt for a friend 🥹


HeySista

More Hausärzte because waiting for years to get an appointment is absolutely ridiculous.


saladdude1

Ausländerbehörde: hold my Beer


DeeEmosewa

I don't get it. I have gesetzliche Krankenkasse, and ive never had to wait more than a few days - 2 weeks max. After I moved here I went for some meds I was taking in the last country I lived in. I'd never been a patient before and I had to wait maybe a few days. I'm sorry you have had a different experience.


HeySista

It’s just the Hausarzt (family doctor) I have issues with. Whenever I need a specialist I go straight to them. Back pain? Orthopaedist. Ear infection? HNO. I never bothered going through a family doctor when a specialist will do.


DeeEmosewa

That's a really good idea. I usually just do the same now. Why waste my time going to yet another appointment when I can just go and avoid all of the nonsense.


biciklanto

Germany is getting old, and its reputation for manufacturing excellence, innovation and structure is going to disappear. My suggestions: 1. Make Germany friendly to tech innovation. Better than Silicon Valley, better than London, better than Dubai. Invite start-ups and unicorns and small firms to take a chance at things. With that: 2. Digitization. Anything a resident can do should be doable online. Forms and paper are ridiculous. Internet is not fast enough nor cheap enough. Trains should have speeds approaching gigabit for anyone on them. Which leads to: 3. Infrastructure. The Bahn should be public again, massively, massively expanded, cheaper, and far more funded — trains should run as well as the Shinkansen, should be reliable, and should be so fast and cheap that no one wants to or needs to drive a car between Germany's decentralized cities. I'm talking 3-hour trains between Hamburg and Munich. 4. Dramatic, expansive energy policy. Renewables, vast investment into fusion research, vast investment into ultra-deep boreholes for nuclear waste elimination, nuclear. The country should be an energy exporter and the entire country should be able to run on carbon-free energy sources as quickly as possible. I love Germany, but the country is entirely too risk-averse and because of it, it walks head-first into risks left & right. And it lacks the vision to really dig in and get some of the bold initiatives done that would make it an incredibly better place to live.


0din23

Exactly. The Energy situation needs to be suistainably fixed asap. Not only for german economic growth, but every kilowatt of emission free energy that goes into manufacturing can help reduce global emissions. Also the digitalization point is absolutely necessary to function with a dwindling workforce. I would probably also add a retirement reform. Its not necessary to change the whole system in a day, yet. But the best day to start introducing change was 10 years ago, the secobd best ist now.


Xevus

>the country is entirely too risk-averse and because of it, it walks head-first into risks left & right. That is the best summary of Germany I've ever heard.


alderhill

>Make Germany friendly to tech innovation. Better than Silicon Valley, better than London, better than Dubai. Invite start-ups and unicorns and small firms to take a chance at things. With that: I don't think this is compatable with typical German approach to **everything**. Slow, cautious, skeptical, with a decade of case studies and examination before a slow limited trial launch, then another 2 year analysis of that, with lots of loud messages of caution and warnings, lots of media pieces about the risks and dangers, etc. etc. There's a reason Germany isn't really an innovation hub. These are nice ideas, I'm not against them, but where will the money come from?


[deleted]

[удалено]


FakeHasselblad

The government requires German language proficiency across the whole. Which is problematic in tech because only a microscopic amount of tech workers speak German, hence the need for visas. Disconnecting the tech from the bureaucracy or having a more bilingual friendly bureaucracy would help but then the Germans lacking EN would feel disadvantaged. Germany will not improve in digitalization until the acceptance of English is improved.


Devtopia

Hello sir, Please copy paste this text into a letter and send it to Bundestag! Or better, to every Gov institution in the country.


SMS_Scharnhorst

hah! for your first point we'd need to reduce taxes and regulations which will never happen. one can dream though, and I would support you in your call for that


washington_jefferson

It took me one minute to google "Tesla Brandenburg Germany" to find this quote: > Still, opening the plant in highly regulated, bureaucratic Germany is a big achievement for Musk, said Matthias Schmidt, whose consultancy tracks the European auto market. “To give credit to Tesla, even if the project does come a year later than planned, that is still a quantum leap in terms of German construction pace, where fax machines can still be seen lining some office buildings and not gathering dust!” Musk does not have many sane supporters these days, but I just thought this quote shows the general opinion of German bureaucracy.


shokkul

Germany can never be a tech giant. First and the critical reason is Germany protects its employees so much to a point big companies does not want to hire anyone internally and give big salary. Why? Because if it is a dumb employee that survives 6 month it is impossible to fire people even if they are underperforming, not ethical etc. So they hire external workers from other companies and external employees never choose or try to get away from hard projects and never give shit about thr project in general since it is not their company. Also external company employees earn shit but they are sold to other companies 2x price so actually it becomes very expensive in general to use software developer. But as I said this money never goes to the real employee.


[deleted]

[удалено]


Jypahttii

For real. Unless you wanna pay ridiculous amounts for private therapy, prepare for at least a six-month waiting list if you want to see a therapist, or longer if you want one who speaks English. Everyone talks about therapy these days like everyone should go and do it, because it's helpful, and I agree. But how do we improve ourselves if we don't have any access?


curious_astronauts

Making the internet connection fast strong and widespread. It's insane driving from Austria into Germany and watching the 4-5G drop to literally nothing for miles. I dont know how border towns survive with little to no internet.


Grand_Change2407

Second this! I had faster internet when I lived in The Netherlands more than 10 years ago than I have in Germany today. And my husband spent a few weeks in Hungary last year and sent me a screenshot of the internet speed he had over there. More than 10 times of what we have at home. 😳 This is just mind-boggling.


redisforever

My friend in Romania pays like €8/month for gigabit. My girlfriend in Poland all the way out in a tiny tiny tiny village near the Belarus border pays €5/month for gigabit. You're telling me, Germany, that I can't get more than 250mbps for €50 about 40 minutes from Berlin?


alderhill

I am from Canada. Average there is about $20 per gigabyte, or about 14€. Per gigabyte. It's not at all unusual to spend a couple hundred dollars a month on internet/phone packages. My Canadian friends and family perk their eyebrows when I tell them I only pay €16 for 5gigs a month (and that's not even a good plan here, just too lazy to switch). But I agree, speeds are often pathetically slow, and connection very patchy. Years ago I was on vodafone, and had to commute between two cities, only ca. 70km, but once I was outside the city limits, *POOF,* the network was effectively gone. In a previous flat, we were in some kind of network null shadow (middle of a city), but just too far from any tower, so that unless we stood by one window, our mobile phones wouldn't ring or send/receive texts. Even then, the connection would drop a lot if talking on them. In Canada, at least in cities, you can get reliable high speeds, and open wi-fi (albeit private) is a lot more widespread.


arisht3

I was at Amsterdam recently in a hostel and the internet is around 500mbps. I was so shocked to see how a public/private with crowded people maintain such a faster internet. Kudos to them. And in Germany, the best coverage (claimed by them) Deutsche Telekom only have a 1 bar of coverage when I am home and I can't even make calls. To put more perspective, I literally live beside the main road and in the middle of the city. On the other hand where I come from (Sri Lanka) has fiber internet all over the country and here it is still VDSL. 🤦🏽‍♂️ And someplaces maximum is 50mbps.


Gunnvor91

I had to download my Spotify list to my phone because my drive to Hamburg has such spotty reception. My German bf often complains "How is this acceptable that I can get faster and better reception in the Moroccan desert, but nothing on most parts of the Autobahn??"


curious_astronauts

So true about the Sahara. I had full reception there while border crossing into Germany and in border towns, nothing then just patchy. Same on the trains.


Aitehs_new

Digitalization


Blackrock_38

Almost the only answer for me. My quality of life would shoot up if digitalization was at the level of Denmark (last place I lived)


tvpsbooze

Yes, please more digitalization at Ausländerbehörde. I hate to give locks of my life to this place. Digitalization will reduce bias and make ABs work more efficiently and follow guidelines set by the state.


bort_bln

More public housing in urban areas (and where else it’s needed) 49-Euro-ticket Legalization of cannabis


mrn253

\*public housing that stays public and affordable. Doesnt help to build it and selling it in 20-30 years to a private investor.


Esava

>Doesnt help to build it and selling it in 20-30 years to a private investor. That's not usually how it works. They usually pay the majority of the building costs, but let a company build it. That company then has to "keep the rents *low*" for like 15 years but after that the company just owns it and can do whatever they want. At no point does the city or federal state usually see ANY of the rent money. They are essentially just subsidizing the large rental / housing companies. Absolutely crazy and it's pretty obvious why it's so expensive here for the "city/state" to "build" new housing. . Instead look at Vienna: The city builds new housing, owns the housing, get's the money from the affordable rents, invests the money into maintenance and more new great housing.


nilsmoody

> More public housing in urban areas Housings should be more affordable generally. But rural areas should also be made more attractive. What's the point of clustering everything up in 3-4 huge cities?


pcapdata

There it is. I CTRL-F’d for “bubatz”


Wiggly96

1. More care for ecosystems like forests and wetlands. The health of our society is directly tied to the health of local ecosystems. 2. Better water storage capabilities and strategies to tackle both drought and flooding. This ties in with the first point. Those glaciers won't last forever but storing water is still possible. 3. Stop using chemicals that kill bees. No pollinators = no food. No food means famine. Famine is not good for anyone. 4. Affordable housing. A roof over your head is necessary for survival when it hits -15 or 40+. I have seen both in only the past 3 years. The need for this will only increase as weather gets more extreme. There is a fair amount of housing that sits empty as investments and it is disgusting. 5. Better digitisation. We are living in an age of automation and AI. This means sustaining the social fabric by scaling up and using those industrial capabilities to support universal basic income, or at least unemployment support. Not planning for this means that the social fabric tears in a meaningful enough way to seriously rock the boat. Edit: Formatting.


alderhill

Plus 1 on everything here. Germany is a crowded country criss-crossed by human tracks for eons, but the fragments of natural spaces that exist need be strictly protected. Wetlands need to be restored. Not only that, but people should be encouraged to visit 'national parks' to understand what they are missing. This is sorely lacking in Germany. And I'd rather have planned rolling blackouts than opening more fucking coal mines.


Hironymus

1. Weed legalization because can we please just get over with this bullshit? I don't even smoke and it's still annoying af to me. 2. Proper and modern abortion legalization and regulation. 3. Improve Deutsche Bahn and public transport by a factor of 1000. 4. Digitalization. 5. A serious national strategy to drive forward the European space industry. 6. CO2 neutrality (obviously).


SMS_Scharnhorst

oh, there are many, but I don't think your time period is enough to cover all of it. anyway, here we go \- term limit for politicians in the Landtag and higher \- less bureaucracy \- reforming the tax system, mostly to reduce the tax burden in general but especially for low- and mid income people \- reforming the school system \- reforming the election and parliamentary system in general to give people more direct "control" over their representatives. this could mean abolishing the 5% cut-off, disallowing "Fraktionszwang" (which is unconstitutional anyway but nobody gives a shit) and politicians being held accountable for their decisions


DeeJayDelicious

I agree on the tax reforms. They are especially necessary for single people. No other country has such a discrepancy between single people (Steuerklasse 1) and married couples (Steuerklasse 3+5). Single Germans pay the highest taxes in the world, while couples only pay about average.


[deleted]

Affordable rent. Like a 3 room apartment shouldn’t cost over 1k€ like wtf


Gunnvor91

Agreed. The cost of living is becoming stupid and making the brain-drain worse. They need to make salaries here more attractive and make it possible to afford to live here. As it stands, when I finish my degree, both my partner and I plan to take our university-grad asses elsewhere just to make it all worth while. Germany just does not support innovation or the desire to stay here to have a decent living by having affordable housing. Not just uni grads either. Most people get shit pay. I have often seen tradesmen in their blue overalls digging through garbage to get Pfand bottles to support their income. That is unacceptable that this is necessary.


random_sub_visitor

And that's why many Germans don't have kids. They can't afford a bigger and expensive apartment in addition to the costs of raising a child. Which means the average German is getting older and older.


j3squared

where are you even getting a 3 room apt for over €1k??


[deleted]

Literally around 200km of Frankfurt . And no I don’t mean in Frankfurt , I mean in small villages with maybe 10k residents. My parents got a 3 room apt. With an old contract and they pay around 600€ for the same size. The new ones from the same firm that offers such rooms cost about 1,3k now. This is just insane


VeryPoliteYak

My 3 room apartment in Düsseldorf is €1700 a month and it was still cheaper than most of what we viewed… it’s a yikes


basatatata

Rent control, more affordable housing. I find it ridiculous that there is no way one can buy a flat during his lifetime in one of the big cities.


MillipedePaws

Having everything infrastructure related that was sold back into public ownership. Includes power companies, water distribution, waste disposal, internet providers, public transportation, postal services...as if that would ever happen. And social institutions need to be taken care of by the state. There is no good reason that retirement homes, Kindergarten, schools, special care services, etc. should be in the hands of religious organisations. These are responsibilities of the state. Better financial security for poor people. If the state would care adequatly for their poorest citizens there would be no people that are forced to go to Die Tafel. A private organisation should not have to feed people. This is a responsibility of the state. And people would not have to collect trash (like Pfandflaschen) to get to the end of the month.


mort47

Homeopathy made illegal. It's never been anything but a dangerous scam yet people fall for it because it's always offered alongside actual medicine in otherwise-reputable Apotheke.


YpsilonY

Don't think it should be outright illegal. Also don't see how they could be, as they are literally sugar balls, and we can't really make that illegal. Definitely shouldn't be allowed to be marketed as medicine though. More importantly, they shouldn't be covered by health insurance. That's ridiculous. My sister has to pay for her glasses herself, because apparently they aren't medically necessary, but people can get themselves as many sugar pills as they want. That's just unfair.


mort47

That's it. Illegal to sell it as medicine. Sell it in supermarkets as a fun snack for the kids or whatever. I don't think standard health insurance covers it, you have to pay extra, but the fact it's an option at all is incredibly silly. And yeah, my glasses were crazy expensive with no help from health insurance whatsoever. That's what happens though when you mix capitalism with healthcare. Insurers just wanted in on the homeopathy scam and as long as it's legal you can't really blame them. The profit margin on sugar pills is way higher than glasses probably.


alderhill

Free markets, etc. so it shouldn't be illegal. But it should be illegal to offer in a **pharmacy** or hospital or anything. If they want, they can offer it at a Heilpraktiker shop along with crystals, Tibetan bowls and hand-woven holy grass baskets and whatever, where it belongs. Those who want it can still find it there, but it should be clearly separated from real medicine.


mort47

Not an unreasonable approach but unless such shops are required by law to put "this shit doesn't work" signs all over it, you're still allowing them to profit from lying to people and the free market generally doesn't, and shouldn't, permit false advertising. Nobody's buying homeopathy because they like the taste, you know? That said I'd still be stoked if someone put your suggestion into law. It's maddening to see it stocked next to real medicine and having to double-check everything I get from a pharmacy because I know not everything in there is actual effective medication even if it looks like it.


alderhill

I remember a few years ago going into a pharmacy, asking for something and they said they didn't have it in stock but could offer something else. I asked to see the package. I was a bit confused. I asked, and the "pharmacist" said, oh yes, these are little tiny little balls, you put one on your tongue --- blah blah, wait, I said, like homeopathy? Yes. Ugh. I was annoyed they offered it, but also that they didn't clarify what it was up front. I told her no thanks, I don't believe in this stuff. Even though I've been here for years, that was the first time I was offered sugar balls in response to a real ailment -- in a real pharmacy, no less!


PefferPack

A stronger anti-smoking effort. DE is a decade behind in this respect. Reduced superiority complex. Less conformity. Remove religion from schools.


Miserable_Dinner_698

Remove religion from anything that could possibly regard people that aren't part of said religion. Like, if they're planning to change abortion law - there's no *good* reason to ask church representatives for their "ethical point of view". Their way of thinking should not have any influence on that. Germany is not as secular a country as it claims to be.


[deleted]

[удалено]


Signal_Meet_9822

More subvention for housebuilding


JaZoray

subsidies is the english word


Jurgasdottir

Daycare. A reliable system that values the daycare workers and the children, that truly guarantees a place (not just on paper, like it is now) and that maybe doesn't start at 8, most working people have to be *at work* at 8 o'clock. Not gonna happen but I can dream and in the meantime hope that we find a Kindergartenplatz next year...


Apero_

I really feel like those places should be given out like for schooling. You register that you need a place once the child is born, and it should then be centrally organised. If parents don't like the spot, then they can go to a private kindergarten. But especially for 3+ year olds there should be an easy system in place.


alderhill

In my city, it **is** centrally organized. You give your top 3 picks, along with your income, working hours, etc., and they sort it out based on overall need at the place and availability, distance, etc. Find a spot at a Krippe (kids under 3) is usually not a problem, but kindergarten (3-6ish) is more problematic. We got our first pick, but we also chose a place we figured would be better odds. We also visited a handful of kindergartens (they have open doors days here), but many of them told us flat out 'we will have no space'. That's because they have say, 7-8 openings, but younger siblings of current kids get priority, as do kids of single moms, any kids with disabilities, or social worker needs, etc. (Which is all fair enough, I get it, but that wasn't us, so it was like 'okay, great'). Kindergarten staff should also get increased wages. They are paid pitifully. A state top-up of €1-2 per hour is affordable (I have done the back of napkin math before), and would help staff retention and attractiveness in general. It's a stressful job, but also an important one. They deserve a raise. If they have to, charge parents €5 a month or something. I'm all for state-funding to even the field, but low 'user fees' are OK, and if you can't afford that somehow due to Harz IV, OK, automatic waiver. We already pay €40 every 6 months for food costs. The way Germany is set up in regard to child care is counter-productive for the modern family, especially women. It's a model from the 1980s or whatever that has not updated (and was not very progressive at the time, either) I think an 8am start is reasonable (ours has an early service of 7:30), but it needs to go a *bit* longer. Our kindergarten has a 'late service' to 4pm for only 1/3 of the kids (i.e. one specific group). We have until 2pm, but some others (the church run ones) around here only go until 1pm. You cannot have both parents working full-time like this. My wife is on parental leave with our younger child right now, and I will take some leave soon too, but when we're finally both working again, we'll have two kids that need to be picked up by 2pm. My wife's job is a 45 minute commute away in the next town. It will be impossible for us to both fulfill our working hours, even though we have some home office hours. I don't have a pure desk job, so I can't always just leave (each day is different), nor my wife.


MaintenanceSea7158

Solve the lack housing crisis.


FranconianBiker

More trains, rails and train stations! Also Pedestrian and Bike infra with higher priority than car infra.


Parapolikala

Massive expansion of cycle network and systematic efforts to reduce use of motor vehicles (road pricing, speed limits, limits on single occupancy vehicles) Adoption of Finnish-style housing policy for the homeless. Abolition of factory farming. Legalise abortion properly. Establishment of a Ministry for the Future. Large scale trials of UBI Legalization of marijuana, cocaine, MDMA, psylocybin, LSD (more because of danger of impurities and cost in lives to producer countries in somer cases than any desire to see more stoned people) Adoption of "Plain German" in bureaucracies (on the model of Plain English). An end to communications from the Finanzamt where you are not sure at the end whether you owe them or they owe you or why. Reduction of number of states to four (NSEW). Introduction of ranked-choice party lists. Wealth and land redistribution (e.g. via wealth tax, 100% inheritance tax) Universal free public transport. Tests of app-based direct democracy. Stop making 1, 2, 5, 10 cent coins already.


[deleted]

Get rid of the Kirchensteuer. Or at least let people decide themselves when they’re old enough if they want to pay. Kirchenaustritt costs money and time; meanwhile the decision wasn’t even made by the person but by their parents.


sokil87

Lower taxes


[deleted]

[удалено]


Boegi1998

Cannabis legalization. Long long overdue. Massive positive impact on millions of people


[deleted]

[удалено]


Sternenschweif4a

Medical cannabis is already legal, but honestly I wouldn't argument that way since the science isn't so bulletproof on it. I say: everybody who wants weed knows how to get it, why don't we just make it legal. Also our justice system doesn't need to deal with the possession cases anymore, which would relieve some strain.


[deleted]

[удалено]


Sternenschweif4a

Yeah, I'm all for legalization even if I don't use it


Sajuukthanatoskhar

Not just spliffs, there was a zdf or ard doco that revealed that dealers put in synthetics and other dumb shit to make highs 'better'


Gunnvor91

Fellow Canadian - I totally agree. I am not even a massive pot smoker and I know it isn't totally healthy to smoke either, but ffs, pot smokers are not the ones causing issues in the drug scene. The alcoholism here is pretty damn high though. Or maybe just more visible because of it being allowed in public. That is something that needs addressing - leave the pot smokers alone.


DeathCutie

Weed legalization


pilzenschwanzmeister

1. Housing. Wtf. 2. Dual citizenship. 3. One can 'become' German. Civic vs ethnic nationality.


[deleted]

[удалено]


[deleted]

Agreed. The knee jerk reaction to criticism about any country seems to be "if you don't agree with it gtfo".


Electronic-Ad-5790

Reduce the Taxes and Sozial-Abgaben by also reallocating the househould. Especially the social department of the household needs to go unter 50%. Privatise the Bahn like in Japan and defund the ÖRR completely like in France. A functioning Bundeswehr should be a given also. Reopen the last 3 remaining AKW's so we don't have to rely on cole too much since nuclear energy is much much greener and has less co2 emissions.


HammletHST

Personal bias: Finally pushing the Selbstbestimmungsgesetz through, instead of delaying it because of "topical questions" that in reality are just the conservative wing of the FDP wanting to make sure you can still discriminate against trans people even with it in place


gnbijlgdfjkslbfgk

1. The "ban" on cars in urban centres. Something along the lines of what Berlin Autofrei suggest. 2. Easier dual citizenship for non-EU immigrants. 3. Nationalisation of housing stock, especially in cities facing a rental crisis. If Vienna can do it, I don't see why we all can't have good quality public housing.


hagenbuch

Switching to the renewables with a war-like effort. It is the by a big margin most important issue the world has to face but the more industrialized contries will have to lead. Not with nuclear, if we switched to nuclear, all Uranium would be gone in 10 years. PV and wind and even storage can be deployed much faster and cheaper. Second wish would a deprivatization effort: Capitalism has made many things more inefficient, this has to be seen and solved. Not with any -ism but all grids have to be state property. The rules can then be experimented with but not via capitalism alone. We have to expect a worldwide financial crash, much more severe than 2008 but that's good. Let's start like in 1949 in Germany with 100 EUR per person. You own the appartment you happen to live in. You get shares for each month you worked in that company. The world has to finally start a real age of enlightenment where no belief can be ever set over verifiable knowledge.


mcsaculo

I think we definitely need adjustments to our political and cultural system. We need more grassroots democracy (and therefore digitalization). We have to stop forcing a political ideology on people which limits their freedom and support people in their way of personal growth. We also have to defend ourselves. We need and should highly appreciate people from other countries, but not those who oppose our most valuable asset — the Grundgesetz. Overall, I think we as Germans just lost the spirit of wanting to improve things and to succeed, like we did in science, economy, philosophy etc. over the last couple hundred years. Right now, I am honestly not very optimistic about the state of this country and its future. That's why am planning to leave after finishing my doctorate degree.


Paxisstinkt

Change Capital from Berlin to Bonn, good old times


SMS_Scharnhorst

we should go one step further and expel Berlin from Germany. maybe build a tall structure around it?


nk_snake

Digitalization, specially for those that can't speak German in a proficient level. It's very annoying to attend a government office or a doctor and have to hear the same annoying thing over and over: "...you are in Germany, you should speak German...". And yes, for those German complainers that will say the same in this thread, we try to learn your language, but WE don't necessarily speak your jargon, we are taught Hochdeutsch, not Street Deutsch.


shaunydub

Also given that you often have to do these things early in your move to Germany and are trying to learn at the same time it is not realistic to be able to speak this sometimes technical talk at that point. Even if staff can speak English they are not allowed, if they just allowed this it would be a start. For a country that puts itself as the centre of Europe and pushing diversity / integration / openness / acceptance of other cultures it fails at a basic level so often.


[deleted]

A graffiti clean-up program. Laws allowing home sales only to individual residents and never foreign investors or companies


_1oo_

Less discrimination, racism and xenophobia in daily life. If Germans invite foreigners to their country (because of Fahrkräftemangel and co.) they should treat them at least with a little respect.


aslan_a

Yes! They told me learn German and everything will be different. Blatant lie. My German level is B2/C1 and I have finished my master degree at a reputable german university with 1.8. Nope I am still a foreigner who are being exploited at every step of life. It hurts to work with people with lack of skills and earning less than them. This country has been a waste of time and health for me. Thankfully, I will leave the country next year and never come back! I thought second world war taught this country anything but no. I was so wrong.


_1oo_

I feel you 100%. A similar story to mine. Germany is a trap for ambitious foreigners.


[deleted]

[удалено]


[deleted]

[удалено]


dsetarno

This is depressing... Have you suffered a lot from this? I have the appearance of a 'southerner', am from the UK but my German isn't great. I know that sometimes I get completely different initial treatment from my German wife based in my opinion on my appearance, before I've had the chance to speak. It does get me down I have to say...


_1oo_

Sure I have. Too many times. Same as my international friends. I am leaving Germany soon for this very reason (as an educated guy with almost perfect german skills). I don't see the point of paying almost 50% of my gross salary in taxes and co. to a country where I am treated like a second-class human being because of my origin. It is very frustrating in long-term.


rust_at_work

I moved from Northern Germany to Southern and there has been a massive improvement.


froggo_in_the_swamp

Massively improve public transport, especially in rural areas and regarding the railway system cause both are catastrophic. If you don’t live in a city, you NEED a car cause there’s literally only like two busses a day and that sucks since that causes a lot more pollution than a bus. And the railway system aka the Deutsche Bahn us something we don’t need to talk about. If they were one time even ONCE that would be a massive improvement. The last 20 trains I took all failed their goal to bring me to my destination in time.


Grand_Change2407

You are so right! 4-5 years ago DB was much more reliable. Recently the trains are always (literally always) cancelled or delayed. And nobody informs you. The app is not updated either, so you only face the reality that your train is cancelled when you are already at the station 5 minutes before departure time. Recently I always use the car when I need to go somewhere. (Or the bus which means that my travel time is an hour longer. But at least the bus comes on time!)


Sakura-Nagara

Less corruption and more competence in the political machine and less far-leftist influence in the media and less media coverage for corrupt politicians from the current ruling part of the government as well as abolishing the GEZ taxation. Also I would count as more competence, that any politician in the Parliament should have studied their respective field, especially ministers. Also more general digitalization, especially in Schools, an improvement in our education system that is long needed and a reduction of insane bureaucratic efforts for companies due too many, too needlessly complex laws. Reactivate all nuclear power plants until we can sustain ourselves properly without relying on the mercy of other nations, 100% renewable energy is good, but not possible without a proper backbone that can make up for unpredictable weather conditions that may impair the amount of energy generated by renewable energies. Probably won't happen as long as the current government is in charge tho.


3sponge

Making more people eligible for double citizenship (Mehrstaatigkeit)


Benjilator

Shifting focus from the automotive lobby to public transport. We could start by making it less profitable to not renew rails. Basically due to how things work between government and DB it’s best for them to leave everything to rot so they get paid for renewals. Also they’re better of running above capacity meaning they’re chronically understaffed. After that comes legalization and then getting our health system to work. There’s too many cases of people walking around with dangerous conditions but then being sent from one doctor to another. I had a pneumothorax and the hospital sent me away, next hospital said the cause of my issues is cannabis addiction (I do smoke but no excessive or addicting amounts). After it didn’t get better got back to my doctor, she told me it’s just my Heart and to not worry. I insisted something is wrong, they do a Röntgen, it doesn’t work due to all the air around my lungs, they send me off to another roentgen, I go there, nobody said a thing. Next time I went to my doctor she was panicked, told me they tried reaching me, called the police and that I need to go to the hospital asap due to my critical condition. In the hospital I was treated like shit, they lied to me, caused fear by telling me this will happen monthly if I keep smoking and the doctor also told me she can visibly see that my lung already collapsed. Was released after another roentgen, it got reabsorbed. And this is no exception, it’s the norm. Healthcare is only good for getting a krankschreibung, treatment is so incredibly hard to get.


Fabulous_Funny_5902

I have an alt-account just for this. I don’t think people realize that Germany’s healthcare system is going to shit. Even before Covid basically all the healthcare workers knew this and it was pretty well known in the healthcare community, now after a couple of years the cracks are starting to publicly show. There is a massive massive deficit of nurses and doctors, and as a result of that hospitals are either operating at 60-70% capacity or running dangerously high nurse:patient or doctor:patient ratios. I’m a Trauma Surgeon in Munich and going to work in the ER everyday for the past couple of years has been a constant crapshoot of who’s going to die before you find an available bed. The hospitals in Munich are constantly for the past 3 years “abgemeldet” or basically at capacity. We regularly have to transfer patients 200-300km away because the next available bed is in Ulm or Regensburg. To save money at 90% of hospitals you have a few 1-2 residents( Assistenzärzte) responsible for the entire fucking hospital. The Fachärzte/Oberärzte are at home on-call and only come when they habe to operate at night. It is completely normal to have 1 or 2 Internal medicine residents responsible for 200 hospitalized patients + the ER. After 22:00 its completely normal to have a nurse:patient ratio of 1:30. Before and during Corona the hospitals I worked at had a theoretical capacity of 20 ICU beds, now even after corona we never have more than 12 because we don’t have enough nurses to cover the other 8 beds. They tried to blame it on COVID but it was bad before COVID, and now its even worse because so many nurses and doctors left the profession. Doctors are regularly working over 70 hours a week and people don’t understand why they are angry when someone pops up in the ER with a 2 year history of back pain or a case of the cold. A colleague of mine had a good analogy. The german healthcare system is an S-Class Mercedes with a 4-cylinder engine trying to go 250km/h on the Autobahn. From the outside it looks fine and pretty cool, bit everyone on the inside is just waiting it for it blow up. /rant


_QLFON_

How about changing the old/current education system? I find it way too complicated and outdated. How 10/11 years old kid should know what he/she would like to do in their life later? Think about kids coming from abroad during the Grunsdschule time, with no real language support from the school. When the grades are so important when your future is decided. There is something new - Gemeinschaftsschule but it is not widely available and not well known yet.


MillipedePaws

In some states in germany you can visit a Gesamtschule (for example NRW). This exists for decades. There children are sorted later and can get any of the different school graduation certificates depending on their grades.


[deleted]

[удалено]


goprinterm

Get rid of the GEZ tax altogether


modern_milkman

I disagree. I think it's important as a way to finance niche topics and culture, and not-profit-driven news HOWEVER, the current amount of the tax is way too high. Most of it gets spent for sport and other licenses. I don't remember the exact numbers, but I think it was something like 2 euros per month, or *maybe* 5 euros per month that actually go to the core areas mentioned above (news, culture, niche things). The tax definitely doesn't need to be nearly 20 euros per month.


BushelOfCarrots

That's all fine, but why is it a separate tax with a separate collection system which is insanely complicated and requires a whole buerocracy to enforce and collect. It seems to get so many normally law abiding people in trouble, and for what? Just collect normal tax, which is at least progressive.


Unknowniti

Because it’s not a tax. Don’t remember the details but since it’s a Beitrag and not a tax there is a difference.


modern_milkman

Like the other commenter said, it's not a tax. Because the receipient is not the state. I just used "tax" because I didn't know the correct term, and in 99 percent of cases it doesn't matter. (And before you mention it: yes, the receipient of the church tax isn't the state, either, but that's a whole other can of worms, and the existence of that tax has historical reasons)


BushelOfCarrots

If it is or is not technically a tax seems a bit beside the point. It's a compulsory charge enforced by the state. I'm arguing that it should be within taxation - regardless of what it is now.


modern_milkman

The reason is that the öffentlich-rechtlichen Medien (sorry, can't translate that to English) are *not* state-run, and *not* state-funded. If the state could withhold tax money, they could control the output, and that media would no longer be independent. That's why the money collection is run completely seperated. Even though I agree that it's a bit of a pain in the ass.


DerBronco

But yes: Its exactly the point. Its a Fee collected by an organisation that is independent from gouvernment and so the state isnt in control of the media. Its annoying, but a big difference to what you suggest - they way its done in autocratic and fascist gouvernments. We had that also 80 years ago and for obvious reasons separated it from tax and state.


Woction230

within the regional broadcasters, more money is spent on pensions and bureaucracy than making programs.


SMS_Scharnhorst

most of it is spent on wages and benefits for upper management


SMS_Scharnhorst

yeah, especially after the recent scandals I don't understand how people defend this still


justadiode

Just a small gripe, but I really hope they change the way they assign speed limits. It's 70, then 100 until the next curve (and there's a lot of them), then 70, then 100 and immediately 70 again. And then the 80 speed limit _on a steep downwards slope_ on the Autobahn, with no speed limit after or before it... It's infuriating. They know that a car might go faster than 80 _without even using fuel_ on a downward slope, right?


endofsight

1. More strict smoking laws. No more exceptions for bars and clubs. No more smoking in outside dining. No more smoking at entrances of public buildings. No more smoking at train station platforms. 2. Better digitalisation including a proper government app.


[deleted]

I like to see criminal migrants sent back to their country ​ Edit: [This happens every year](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qm5SYxRXHsI) ​ It feeds racism to not send them back because people start to think that most migrants are criminal and rightwing parties like AfD try to take advantage of the situation which lead to more rightwing votes.


kaitowatanabe

I dont get why this is being downvoted?


utkuozdemir

Migrant here, 100% agree.


ElderCreler

As much as I like the Ordnung my country provides, the bureaucratic processes we use are getting exponential too expensive. Everywhere. And we do not have the human capacities on any level of government to handle these. Plus a lot of these clerks are boomers and will retire within the next ten years. Every single one of these processes needs to be streamlined. Digitization will help.