Comment by eesmith | Hacker News Reader

Comment by eesmith | Hacker News Reader

Of those three? Germany, hands down.

I've visited Germany and the UK a dozen or so times each, back in my international traveling consulting days. (Though only three times to Switzerland, for short visits - not enough to say much.)

German is not so difficult and many Germans speak English. I've had several English/non-German-speaking friends move there. And if your wife is working with a large company, they'll be able to help with the transition and government bureaucracy. Plus, she'll have plenty of co-workers who have done the same thing.

Germany also has good public services. There's more support for walkable/bikeable living than the UK.

Beyond that though really requires knowing more of your preferences. Friends of mine living in the UK didn't like sending their kids to gender-separated schools. I don't like the UK's privatization policies, nor its class system.

While my political and other persona views seem more aligned with German ones.

I can't help but wonder if, during those "international traveling consulting days", had a long-term contract in Germany, I might be living there now.

> Germany also has good public services. There's more support for walkable/bikeable living than the UK.

Are you joking? Surely he speaks of London when he speaks of FAANG jobs in the UK. This is a far more walkable/bikeable city than most German cities.

> Friends of mine living in the UK didn't like sending their kids to gender-separated schools

There are a plenty of co-ed schools.

My experience is over 10 years old, and mostly concerning Cambridge and Oxford, plus visits to London. Things may have changed.

I found Berlin to be an excellent biking city.

At one event I went to in Oxford, one of the locals had recently been killed while biking by a driver.

> There are a plenty of co-ed schools.

I may have misremembered the story. They were Finns, describing unexpected parts of their life in Cambridge. It might have been that they were surprised there were so many gender segregated schools.

Gender-separated schools are only a thing for private schools, and some grammar schools (which are selective state schools). The main aspect here is that the best schools tend to be private and many people do send their children to private schools when their income allows it or they invest in private tuition and hope to get into a grammar school. That is indeed something to keep in mind, especially for secondary school (from year 7).

The class system is overblown. Vastly different 'classes' don't mix much in any country.

> The class system is overblown. Vastly different 'classes' don't mix much in any country.

Also it’s an exclusively British thing. As a foreigner you can safely ignore all that nonsense, especially in the London bubble.

> The class system is overblown

How do you judge that? Germany doesn't have an official nobility class. The UK ... does.

I don't like that.

Perhaps you're referring to economic classes? I believe Germany has lower economic disparity than the UK (eg, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_income_eq... says Germany's after taxes Gini coefficient after taxes is 0.295 vs UK's 0.345), so again, I prefer Germany.

Sure, a monarchy has a nobility class... but that's irrelevant for 99% of the population and in a republic this is usually replaced by an equivalent dominating upper class but without hereditary titles (which are pretty much all that 'nobles' have over us commoners).

The class system means social classes in society as a whole: Working class, middle class, upper class, mostly, with people staying within their class. In real life nowadays that translates pretty much in what happens in all countries: If you're rich and educated you tend to live in an area where people are also rich and educated and you interact socially with similar people most.

Despite being a monarchy with a nobility class the UK have actually historically been front runners in Europe when it comes to the rule of law and protection of individual rights, which is what matters above ideology. For example, is there still a "church tax" in Germany? Well even if the Queen is head of the Church of England that would be perceived as an unacceptable breach of individual freedom this side of the Channel.

Bottom line regarding the discussion at hands: none of this makes any practical difference to individuals and people thinking of moving to the UK.

church tax only for those who declare they are part of religion, this is voluntary and you get some benefits, as additional holidays I believe. I always left the religion option empty and never had to pay church tax.

If it's irrelevant to the 99%, why haven't they voted it out? How much could they save by getting rid of an irrelevant House of Lords, for example?

> equivalent dominating upper class

Which is why I pointed to the Gini coefficient as a hand-waving argument that it isn't equivalent.

Perhaps I should have used the term "aristocracy"?

> unacceptable breach of individual freedom

When will they get rid of the law which requires the monarch to Anglican? (Or at the very least, not Catholic?)

How come school uniforms, so common in the UK but almost non-existent where I grew up in the US, aren't seen as a breach of individual freedom?

In England, "schools are also required by law to provide a daily act of collective worship, of which at least 51% must be Christian in basis over the course of an academic year." - https://religionmediacentre.org.uk/factsheets/religious-educ... . How is that acceptable?

If you grow up with it, you're used to it, and it's acceptable. If it's different, it's often not.

> none of this makes any practical difference to individuals and people thinking of moving to the UK.

It's important enough to me, which I added after writing "requires knowing more of your preferences" and "I don't like".

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