Slashdot Mirror
How American Students Can Get a University Degree For Free In Germany
HughPickens.com writes: BBC reports that Germany has abandoned tuition fees altogether for German and international students alike and more than 4,600 US students are fully enrolled at Germany universities, an increase of 20% over three years. "When I found out that just like Germans I'm studying for free, it was sort of mind blowing," says Katherine Burlingame who decided to get her Master's degree at a university in the East German town of Cottbus. "I realized how easy the admission process was and how there was no tuition fee. This was a wow moment for me." When Katherine came to Germany in 2012 she spoke two words of German: 'hallo' and 'danke'. She arrived in an East German town which had, since the 1950s, taught the majority of its residents Russian rather than English. "At first I was just doing hand gestures and a lot of people had compassion because they saw that I was trying and that I cared." She did not need German, however, in her Master's program, which was filled with students from 50 different countries but taught entirely in English. In fact, German universities have drastically increased all-English classes to more than 1,150 programs across many fields.
So how can Germany afford to educate foreign students for free? Think about it this way: it's a global game of collecting talent. All of these students are the trading cards, and the collectors are countries. If a country collects more talent, they'll have an influx of new ideas, new businesses and a better economy. For a society with a demographic problem — a growing retired population and fewer young people entering college and the workforce — qualified immigration is seen as a resolution to the problem as research shows that 50% of foreign students stay in Germany. "Keeping international students who have studied in the country is the ideal way of immigration," says Sebastian Fohrbeck."They have the needed certificates, they don't have a language problem at the end of their stay and they know the culture."
So how can Germany afford to educate foreign students for free? Think about it this way: it's a global game of collecting talent. All of these students are the trading cards, and the collectors are countries. If a country collects more talent, they'll have an influx of new ideas, new businesses and a better economy. For a society with a demographic problem — a growing retired population and fewer young people entering college and the workforce — qualified immigration is seen as a resolution to the problem as research shows that 50% of foreign students stay in Germany. "Keeping international students who have studied in the country is the ideal way of immigration," says Sebastian Fohrbeck."They have the needed certificates, they don't have a language problem at the end of their stay and they know the culture."
Just what college kids need, access to beer.
The cost of the education pales in comparison to the benefit to society, and the profits isn't always a good metric?
I like your ideas, and I would like to subscribe to your newsletter.
Lost at C:>. Found at C.
Top decile of Americans in language skills, then.
By the time she graduates she might know Bier and Sheisse.
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
If DeVry's Master of Finance program allows resits, you should look into it. Because you appear to have debtors and creditors the wrong way round.
You aren't that fucking 7 digit windbag who goes on about Aristophanes, are you?
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
'Nuff said.
Look man, if the Germans are going to dominate Europe, there's worse ways they could go about it -- right?
They took communism seriously. US education institutions are busy being capitalists.
University is pretty cheap in almost all Europe. Most countries have tuitions of about 1000$ per year, which include administrative costs. More than a few countries offer completely free university to EU citizens and Finland offers free university to non-EU citizens too.
This simply isn't true. People come to the US all of the time, and get their education...then move back to their country of origin and work there. Sure, not Everyone moves out of the US after studying here...but they're not forced to. And the taxes you're paying for all that FWEE education come from the working residents of Germany, from whom you'll have to continue to pilfer to fund this Utopian solution.
Hi,
the drinking age is 18 .. meaning .. Vodka, Barcardi, Tequilla, ..
Our national iconographic singer songwriter and essaist "Otto" described the joys of drinking in his epic song
"Wir haben Grund zum Feiern!" / "We need to party!"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
We count the many ISIS fighters who have studied at universities in the West and turned the knowledge against us.
..reports of cops out of control.
Not anymore in Spain. Tuitions have skyrocket in the last few years from 500 a year to >2000 euros. BLame the economy (sarcasm).
Too soon?
Peter predicted that you would "deliberately forget" creation 2000 years ago...
This might be an example of a larger trend for countries with a downward trend in immigration and unsustainable birth rates (ie. less than replacement rate), country vs country, or society vs society to attract talent, ideas instead of just businesses will be the new future.
The race to the bottom for corporate taxes did not accomplish lasting benefits to the societies, now countries want the people which is always where the lasting benefits were.
Imagine, for those mobile enough, to have the options of what country you would like to live, educate, work, raise a family in laid out in front of you. I imagine many countries in Europe would be up there near the top of the list. A main reason to stay where you are is familiarity, family, friends, existing work history and contacts, but in the future where connections can cross the world, the countries depending on a person's roots to stay in the country and not attracting new talent will eventually fall down the ladder.
(Warning: the subject is ironic)
Germanys economic system is a cross breed between capitalism and socialism. With changing ratios.
It's coined as
"soziale Marktwirtschaft" / "social market economy"
or since the "Energiewende" / "energy transition" / (green energy revolution)
coined as: "Ãkologisch-soziale Marktwirtschaft" / "eco-social market economy"
Compared to USA where they are paying 10k+ (several times more than that in top universities) that's still very cheap.
They can afford it because:
1) They get a third of the number of foreign students that the United States attracts
2) German universities tend to be a "no-frill" affair, with large auditoriums, limited to no athletics programs, and none of the social life seen in American campuses, Most students tend to study locally, so generally there are no dorms. They are more comparable with American state colleges. This isn't a bad thing, in my opinion, but those who go to college hoping for the experience of the "college life" will be disappointed if they go to Germany.
2000 a year is still somewhat cheap, is that price the same for all courses in all colleges? For example in Brazil private medical and dentist schools cost a ton of money.
http://news.slashdot.org/story...
Wow, articles about nonsense, because americans can not believe that "not being 100% capitalistic" is not the same as being socialistic or communistic.
Look at this, an extract from the german constitution:
(1) Alle Menschen sind vor dem Gesetz gleich.
(2) MÃnner und Frauen sind gleichberechtigt. Der Staat fÃrdert die tatsÃchliche Durchsetzung der Gleichberechtigung von Frauen und MÃnnern und wirkt auf die Beseitigung bestehender Nachteile hin.
(3) Niemand darf wegen seines Geschlechtes, seiner Abstammung, seiner Rasse, seiner Sprache, seiner Heimat und Herkunft, seines Glaubens, seiner religiÃsen oder politischen Anschauungen benachteiligt oder bevorzugt werden. Niemand darf wegen seiner Behinderung benachteiligt werden.
Relevant is (3) so I translate:
No one may be disadvantaged or favoured because of his gender, ancestry, race, language, motherland, land of origin, faith/religion, religious or political "ideology". [...]
There is simply no way for a university to charge a foreign student for a service a german student is not charged for. The only way would be to introduce some complex legislation e.g. requiring that a student had done a social service or military service and balancing that for foreign students with payments.
That said, ofc it was possible - and likely still is - to charge everyone after the tenth semester a fee for not finishing his studies in time. Here now you could invent "laws" how to get exempt from that obligation and make the way of getting that exempt so complicated that foreigners have difficulties to get approved.
Anyway. We also have private universities, that charge fees. Regardless if you are german or a foreigner.
We had cost free universities till roughly 2000, then they suddenly changed a lot, now they are changing back.
The treatment for foreigners was always the same as for germans. Not surprising: 90% of the foreigners are foreigners from other EU countries.
Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
No, the schools that are free are compatible to community colleges in the USA so in that realm of classes you can take what they offer. Even then it is not free, Germany charges you around $2000 a year for the "free" colleges.
To get a "free"degree in a German university, a US-educated high school graduate would have to be able to pass a course in a university system that hasn't yet been devalued by a pay-for-degrees mentality. So not likely, really.
There's plenty of social life. The student dorms usually have a bar or two. Oh yes, there is plenty of student housing, like a ton.
If DeVry's Master of Finance program allows resits, you should look into it. Because you appear to have debtors and creditors the wrong way round.
You aren't that fucking 7 digit windbag who goes on about Aristophanes, are you?
It is Antisthenes, not "Aristophanes" - and no, he is not me, i always post with my pseudonymous 7 digit account, plus i made many comments recognizing Greeks as debtors and Germans as creditors!
But since you mentioned Aristophanes: The young and immature will get old and mature, the uneducated can be educated, and a drunk will get sober, but stupidity lasts forever...
Antisthenes: "Wisdom begins by examining the words/names." - excuse my English, i am (slightly...) better with my Greek!
In Europe Universities are generally free, doesn't matter if you want to be a m.d., dentist or engineer. Unfortunately, previous swedish rightwing government decided to take out administrative fee from foreign students to imitate "big brother" (i.e. USA), while the rest of the world goes the other way and gives even more for free. The goodwill and pay-back is many-fold and you get educated and intelligent immigration.
What kind of immigration would you want in your country? Young, healthy, people who have the ability to study, and finish their projects and set root in the new host country giving back many times over, especially when the costly upbringing (yeah, the first 18-19 years of a child upbringing is very costly for governments around the world), or some people running away with PTSD from war-torn country that need decades to readjust and return to normalcy of life after all their horrific experiences. Or maybe the poor mexicans without education, and no ability to become more productive because of the environment and tradition of higher education?
It's amazing how short-sighted U.S. population is towards their own and others, no wonder your society is rotting from within.
Not only Germany - other European countries play the same turf. I had a great time in Finland and I can warmly recommend it to anyone not scared of long dark winters and heavy metal music. Both is well set off by generally very nice and hospitable locals. But look at other countries too...
Then again, no campus police either.
"It's such a fine line between stupid and clever" -- David St. Hubbins, Spinal Tap
It is kind of ironic, the best schools in Brazil are free, but they are very hard to get into (medicine in the best schools usually go from 100 to 200 applicants for each vacancy). The private schools are considered inferior because anyone (with money) can get into them, even though some (but very few) of them are actually better staffed than the public ones.
Most students tend to study locally, so generally there are no dorms.
Wrong in both.
Most students used to study where ever the "student distribution system (ZVS)" placed them. Or they study where according to their school grades they believe they get the best education. Perhaps 50%, as far as I have experienced in Karlsruhe, far less, study locally.
Dorms, that is a special US thing. Most Europe has no such thing. However the equivalent of a "Dorm" is a "Studentenwohnheim". Special ways of housing for students only where people have a single room apartment with a central kitchen for like 5 to 10 rooms, a pub in the basement or on top of the house etc.
You don't "know that" because those "Dorms" are not on the campus but distributed all over the city.
Karlsruhe has 6 majour ones, with roughly 1000 places each. However Karlsruhe also has about 10 universities. Students from any university may live in any "Studentenwohnheim".
hoping for the experience of the "college life" will be disappointed if they go to Germany.
Perhaps, but I don't think so. The german student life is partly centered around "Studentenwohnheim" if you live in one or ordinary cheap pubs, so called "Studentenkneipen".
However I grant you that the universities themselves don't offer a big "plan of living and social life", but there are plenty of student organizations you can participate in.
Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
Yes, there are private universities in Germany too, but most are a bit looked down upon as schools for those who need to pay for their degree, if you know what I mean. For the public universities, $2000 a year is on the high side. In most regions it's far less than $1000, and it's not tuition but a contribution to the student body organizations and payment for a (non-optional) public transport pass. A frugal student can get by on less than $10000 per year, all costs considered (fees, accommodation, food, insurance, etc.).
American students may expect far more personal tutelage than German universities provide. There are many more students per adviser or professor. Lectures, especially undergraduate lectures, are cramped. While all students, advisers and professors understand and speak English, quite a lot do so reluctantly and poorly. Knowing some German definitely helps. Administrative staff will give you a hard time if you don't understand German at all. While you can complete your studies with nothing but English, it limits your choice of courses. For students who only understand English, a university in the Netherlands is probably a better choice. The Dutch are fluent in English.
Having experienced both systems, I would say that the academics were comparable. I think the choice of where to study depends on whom you want to meet and what kind of career you would like having afterwards. The U.S. is closer to a lot of the innovation in computer science, so if striking it rich at the next big thing in Silicon Valley is your ambition, you could probably get better contacts at an American University. Germany has a more traditional industrial economy, a lot like the U.S. was before about 1970. Germany designs, develops and makes a lot of their own stuff. Studying in Germany helped me gain a lot of invaluable contacts in the German "Mittelstand" or mid-sized industry. Germany is one of the few places that still combine product development and manufacturing under one roof and there are a lot of advantages to the 'old-school' way of doing business. It might not be as sleek as "designed in California, made in China" but it's the best way to ensure consistant quality, especially in more complex, safety-critical industries.
They can afford it off the backs of the Greeks and the other unfortunates in the Eurozone that they utterly dominate.
Hold that phone.. OFF THE BACKS OF THE GREEKS? Not even close..
The Greeks have made their OWN problems here and it's Germany that keeps propping them up thank you. (And this from a largely disinterested third party over here in the USA). Greece's problem is the government made the mistake of joining the EU yet making promises to their countrymen that the government couldn't afford to fulfill. They piled on national debt providing services and benefits to their citizens with no possible way to repay, and they've been doing it for decades.
Now the debt is due and they cannot even make the INTEREST payments on it to keep kicking the can down the road like they've done so many times in the past. Now the interest on their debt is more than what they can repay and the creditors (like Germany) are going to be left holding the bad debt and paying for what Greece spent on themselves.
This is not a problem with Germany taking advantage of Greece, in fact, quite the opposite is happening. Germany (and the rest of the EU) is going to pay for the excesses of Greece. To be sure, the people Greece will suffer the most, but it was their choice, their votes for the leaders they elected that is the cause. Yet there will be people in Germany and the rest of the EU which will also suffer due to Greece's failures, though they themselves never had the chance to voice their opinions like the people of Greece did.
Try to tell me that's fair, because it's not. Nor is it Germany's fault when Greece fails.
"File to fit, pound to insert, paint to match" - Aircraft Maintenance 101
For instance what does she do when she needs to ask about/buy something in a store or whatever?
For my travels in Europe, including Germany, I made sure to at least know how to say hello, thank you, please, water closet and beer (the essentials) in the local language. I never really needed any more than hello. Whenever I walked into a shop or restaurant and said hello in the local language the other person smiled and started speaking to me in English. Exceptions were rare, although admittedly I was generally in the larger cities. And for the exception, a very small clothing shop near my hotel in Paris where I needed a belt (forgot to pack one) hand gestures worked just fine.
My understanding is that many Europeans speak English to each other when traveling. And that there is a bit of a generational component to it, the "younger" generations being more likely to speak English to some practical degree. I suspect that an American traveling in Europe needs only to show the some courtesy to the locals -- ex saying hello, please and thank you in the local language -- and they will find plenty of English speaking employees willing to offer their products and services.
Personal observation: if a bar is not terribly busy the bartender may be a valuable resource in getting the pronunciation of key words and phrases correct. A bartender in Prague was of great help to me with Czech.
I can't think of any non free German school of higher education that is well known in one of its fields of research.
The administrative fee for half a year at the local university is 290 Euros. This fee includes a pass to ride all busses in the city and all slow trains within state borders.
... and I'm strongly and loudly opposed to this idea.
Let us natives have it for free (paid by taxes our parents pay) but anybody else shall pay handsomely for our Universities.
Why? I'm sick and tired of Germany being the well-fare country for the world.
because the U.S. is very slow to realize that the same types of people who artificially drove up the housing market last decade have also artificially driven up the price of higher education in the U.S. It's a bubble that will burst. There is NO VALID REASON that our tuitions and other costs are so high. We're a bunch of suckers.
It is kind of ironic, the best schools in Brazil are free, but they are very hard to get into (medicine in the best schools usually go from 100 to 200 applicants for each vacancy). The private schools are considered inferior because anyone (with money) can get into them, even though some (but very few) of them are actually better staffed than the public ones.
It is true that public tertiary education is free and generously funded in Brazil, so it is relatively quite well regarded, and private schools do have some stigma associated with `anyone with money can pay in'. But what is actually ironic is the amount of 'paying in' required to attend the free universities - obviously only the most competitive candidates make it (read: those best prepared by the most expensive secondary education, studying full-time, etc...). Further, selective pressures for the good private universities are still very high (100:1 ratios are quite common in many areas), and any kind of tertiary education remains inaccessible for vast amounts of the population, so meritocracy in public/private schooling really is just a matter of perception.
I mean i recall paying like something 500 DM for a year ? And that was in the end of the 90ies. Same in France a bit earlier, mod 90ies. Tuition fee /admin fee have always been very very low in west Europe, so we never really can grasp how you, living on the other side of the pond, can be buried in student loan. I had more cost staying in a low rent flat (25 m^2 on my own for 200 DM, later in a university communal apartment for student 12 m^2 - 150 DM about 75$ + 5 or 10 DM per month for university high speed internet) than in tuition. Heck food was higher cost than tuition.
C. Sagan : A demon haunted world:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0345409469/
visit randi.org
"Most students tend to study locally, so generally there are no dorms. "
Bull. There are tons of them, also fraternities, some of them even still wear swords and hit each other in the face with them.
I hears something similar about the science community in the 1920s and 1930s. Germany had a lot of brilliant scientists at that time, and supposedly a lot of people in science were learning German, since it was the center of the community at the time.
People will stop learning English and start learning Chinese if they become the most powerful and influential country, its how things work. I'll bet that two thousand years ago everybody was learning Latin.
HA! I just wasted some of your bandwidth with a frivolous sig!
They can afford it because:
1) They get a third of the number of foreign students that the United States attracts
2) German universities tend to be a "no-frill" affair, with large auditoriums, limited to no athletics programs, and none of the social life seen in American campuses, Most students tend to study locally, so generally there are no dorms. They are more comparable with American state colleges. This isn't a bad thing, in my opinion, but those who go to college hoping for the experience of the "college life" will be disappointed if they go to Germany.
Stephan
When this catches on and the United States starts losing enough college age students to Germany, what to you think the American reaction will be ?
A) Match what Germany is doing with education in an effort to get folks to stay local
B) Make it illegal or somehow f!ck it up for everyone trying to take part in the offer
My money is on the latter over the former :|
I would think that while the student is in Germany getting said education, they may find that, contrary to US Media points of view, there really are decent places to live outside of the United States. Odds are pretty high they will be fluent in German upon graduation, so I don't foresee a lot of incentive to return to the US at all for many of them. Especially if German companies start poaching potential talent. ( I certainly would )
It may also be an interesting means to solve a localized aging population problem.
Germany runs a trade surplus, so that's not exactly right. They can afford it because they are best in the Euro zone at extracting capital from the capitalists. They are winning the race to the bottom, the destination is not so good but as long as the race is on winning the race is still better than not winning.
Frats are as big a thing for most of the established universities as they are in the US ... if you're a badass frat you can even still do mensur fencing in Germany.
Most foreign students just have a bit more of a nose to the grindstone attitude than the domestic ones.
Joining the EU wasn't the problem ... joining the Euro was.
Joining the EU wasn't the problem ... joining the Euro was.
Sorry for confusing the two. In my mind they are the same event when talking about Greece, however they where two distinctly different events.
However, the Euro isn't the source of Greece's problems right now, it's actually what's holding the country together right now. If they withdraw or get ejected from the Euro, really bad things will happen. At this point, I don't see how they stay in unless countries like Germany agree to forgive their debt, but without some kind of iron clad assurance they won't do it again, I don't see Germans wanting to do that. So we kick the can down the road, forgive a little, turn the thumb screws a little, and hope Greece elects reasonable leadership, full knowing we just bought ourselves another quarter at the most.
This unpleasant cycle will continue until somebody gets tired and lances the boil ejecting them from the Euro, the whole thing blows up in violence, or both....
"File to fit, pound to insert, paint to match" - Aircraft Maintenance 101
Germany charges you around $2000 a year for the "free" colleges
No, it does not, it is less than 400 (200 per semester) and that often includes a free ticket for local public transport.
Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
The problem of greece is that the whole country is corrupt and everyone is trying t cheat everyone.
You work for a phone company: you have a free phone connection. In any sane country that "free benefit" is taxed. In germany no one who is working for a phone company has a free phone at home. It simply makes no sense.
You work for an electricity company ... guess what? You have free electricity. Again, in Germany that would be considered a 200 Euro "cash benefit" and taxed. Not so in Greece.
As you have a free electricity connection, you connect your neighbours and charge them.
In Germany that would be fraud: towards your employer. It would be "illegal business" and "tax fraud" regarding the money you "earn". Not so in Greece: it is considered "clever"!!!
Greece joined the Euro and with the absurd amount of money that suddenly poured into the country they only crafted bullshit. And now the bullshit costs them.
The misery in Greece is completely home made by Greek people ripping off other Greeks or the rest of Europe.
Living in a family, where a few family members work for "public transport", a phone company, an electric power company, the police etc. so that the "whole house" has free phones, free electricity, free bus tickets and never gets a parking or speeding ticket: thats the greek way.
However, society, all the rest not working in such a "privileged" job, is paying the bill for that.
On top of that they are the biggest racists I ever have encountered. Worse than Israelis.
Try to run a business in Greece as a foreigner. You can simply forget it. Every bureaucrat will jump on you with fake complains and fines unless you bribe them to stop. And if you do that "wrong" you end up in court for bribery.
Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
And guess what? I didn't take any loan
I simply had enough of the whiners who can't do anything but whine and whine and whine all day long
Yes, all my uni schooling I did in the United States of America - and I paid all of it by working multiple jobs, on evenings, weekends and on summer 'holidays'
I was a refugee. I was all alone in America. Every single penny that I spent I had to earn it by working
I never applied for any welfare nor loan nor any kind of 'assistance' - I made do with whatever I had, that was all to it
While I was slaving away day and night working and studying my classmates were having a lot of really fun time of their lives. They partied hard and fucked furiously --- I didn't have any of that
Do I regret missing out of all those 'fun'? Nope. Why should I?
And you guys who signed up with the student loans --- hey, you guys gotta own up to whatever you've signed up for
Bitching and whining all day long ain't gonna earn you any extra 'bonus point', you know?
Muchas Gracias, Señor Edward Snowden !
I was there in 2005-2008 and I'm pretty sure it is the same now as it was then. You have to pass an entrance exam, which includes a Deutsch (German) fluency test
Basically if you can speak Deutsch you're one of them.
Joining the EU wasn't the problem ... joining the Euro was.
Not really. They relinquished control of the money printing presses that they used in lieu of a general silent and inescapable taxation on funds and thus on non-reinvested profits. Tax evasion was rampant all the time but you cannot evade inflation in large scale while keeping under the radar: you need to convert monetary gains into other currencies or assets. So Greece stopped printing money as a significant general taxation measure and omitted to replace it by anything remotely in scale. And that was the problem. If they had changed their economic parameters to match the switch to Euro, they'd have done fine. Of course that would have been unpopular. Instead they behaved as if they were still in control of the money printing presses.
Please - someone - post a Downfall parody on this?
Actually a few top US schools (Harvard, Stanford) are now free if you can't afford them.
I doubt it. As far as I can see, in my country (not Germany) international students live in an English-only expat bubble, don't learn a word of the language of their host country, and they usually leave after finishing their studies.
When they joined the EU, they took on the requirement of joining the Euro, so yes, joining the EU was the problem.
Various German universities also offer study programs in English with the possibility of learning German on the side. Arguably the most systematic and broadest choice of options is at Jacobs University (http://m.jacobs-university.de/). (Disclaimer: I teach there.) These programs are typically not free (ours are not), but they still provide very good value as compared to out-of-state tuition or tuition at private universities in the US.
It should be mentioned that American students tend to struggle more than others, especially in the theoretical science and engineering disciplines, even though enthusiasm and motivation is high. Still, for students prepared to work hard, a very good alternative to some of the top-ranked US universities. And studying in Europe will provide a perspective on the world unlike any one would get at home...
Which do you prefer? Freedom, Higher risks and higher reward? No risk, less freedom, but a lower standard of living?
Socialism has made many promises it cannot keep. Capitalism promises nothing, but can generate much more wealth.
Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety. And to in my experience end up giving up liberty AND security.
What a load of bullshit. See, here in the US, sadly we have waaaaay too many freedom-fries folks who think they are Daniel Boom or some shit, but in reality they are just some variant of Beavis and Butthead.
Any argument they make, they drop the word "freedom" and voila, in their minds, that makes it valid. They don't even know what the fuck freedom is, or whether they truly have it. What comes out of their mouth are not reasons, but fucking slogans.
They go about their lives building these black-n-white, freedom-or-else as if the world operated in that way, because, according to their experience that's how it is (and one has to wonder what type of first-hand experience they have on the subject.)
Socialism has made many promises it cannot keep. Capitalism promises nothing, but can generate much more wealth.
1. Germany is not socialist. If you bring socialism in the context of comparing Germany with the US, you are an ignorant ass.
2. Socialism, capitalism, blah blah. You don't know what the hell you are talking about.
Seriously, get the hell out of whatever hole you live in, travel the US, and then travel the world. Then talk.
Wha? You get completely-different ideas confused in your head? Now waaay! How can anyone trust anything you say if you confuse the EU with a currency?
On the other hand, you'll have to deal with German, Germans, Germany and their respective quirks.
Actually, drinking is legal in Germany regardless of age. The youth protection law in Germany just regulates sale of alcohol, or serving alcohol in public, or letting underage people consume alcohol in a public bar/restaurant.
Now, at some point, the German version of CPS might raise an eyebrow if a childs health is in danger, but that's another issue.
Actually there is meritocracy in the system (unlike in the US where your parents might be friends with the dean), the vestibular (test that gets you into the university) is mostly a fair in respect to the students capacity. The realm problem is that to stand a chance you pretty much need to go to private schools because the public ones suck.
So the system has a degree of meritrocracy, but the poor students are not given enough chances.
When they joined the EU, they took on the requirement of joining the Euro, so yes, joining the EU was the problem.
Greece joined the EU in 1981. The Euro didn't exist then, so how could adopting the Euro be a condition of membership?
Watch this Heartland Institute video
I suggest you go and read the treaties and agreements that were signed at that point by Greece - the European Monetary Union had been a long standing goal of EU founder member states since before Greece joined the EU, and provisions were included in member state agreements and treaties requiring all states without a viable opt out clause (only a couple of states had this, including Denmark and the UK) to join the EMU in due course.
The EMU became the Euro currency and the European Central Bank banking system during 1992 with the signing of the Maastrict Treaty, and member states from that point onward were bound by the agreements they had already signed when joining.
"You can pay $10,000 in taxes or $20,000 in the marketplace for a year of school"
Because out of 3 taxpayers, 1 goes to college, 2 don't. The 2 pay for college but don't get it.
You'll say but that makes 30,000 - well, 10,000 must be funneled to cronies, because this is how governments work.
Goose-stepping is purely optional. And they still have academic fencing! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A... Joy!
One can never have enough scars, ne?
So how can Germany afford to educate foreign students for free? The submitter didn't even answer the question he posed to himself...
I took German in High School and College and I was told back then you had to pass a national board test on German fluency. Of course that was when Germany was called West Germany and not the East has been incorporated and more people not as fluent in German as they are in Russian. So maybe Germany is looking to align their process and business more and more in English. I don't know but I wish I could have gone to Germany to go to school and not have to pass that pesky National German Proficiency test.
Paul E. Bahre
The Euro is indeed a problem for the Greek economy. Suppose Greece were to have its own currency, the drachma. At that point, the value of the drachma relative to other currencies would drop. This would make Greek exports cheap and imports expensive, and attract tourists. It would be something like an automatic national austerity program that would more or less work, rather than the artificial ones imposed from without that hurt the economy.
"When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
Your timeline is rubbish.
The Werner plan for EMU was abandoned in the early '70s, (before Greece joined) and EMU was only re-introduced in 1988 (after Greece had joined).
Greece wasn't obliged to join the Euro, in fact they had to lie (with the help of those nice people from Goldman Sachs) to be let in.
Watch this Heartland Institute video
No, the schools that are free are compatible to community colleges in the USA so in that realm of classes you can take what they offer. Even then it is not free, Germany charges you around $2000 a year for the "free" colleges.
I'm not sure if you're referring to the ones in Germany or Europe in general. But at least in Finland, you only have a fee of some €80 / year, and I don't really think the community colleges compare to that. All of the courses are included. Although the new government is likely to add a fee for non-EU students in the coming years - it would likely be somewhere in the ballpark of €500 / year. The fee includes also health care in the YTHS (or FSHS in English; basic health services are free of charge; dental check-ups are free of charge and filling a cavity, for example, is typically some €20).
How can the state afford this and public health care? We have higher tax rates. How can we afford the taxes? We don't pay crazy amounts for private schools and private health care.
Bearing in mind that Germany settled up for the devestation they caused with a "soz" and a bag of apples, they have a point.
To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
And we were all doing so well not mentioning the war. I mentioned it once, but I think I got away with it.
To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
God, it sounds almost as bad as Italy.
To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
Maybe the hidden truth is that in a society like the US, which relies so heavily on the Immigration Pipeline, the smart people know EDUCATION isn't so important for the economy. That's just a lie they tell us to keep us focused on the wrong things.
"Besides, uBlock is using 33MB of RAM" - by andymadigan (792996) on Friday June 12, 2015 @10:31PM (#49902053)
Inefficient: Hosts @ 6mb here only w/ CURRENT data vs. threats + ads (& things a bloated browser addon can't do by a longshot & you RAN FROM IT http://apple.slashdot.org/comm... )
---
"1) Will it run on my iPad (and no, I'm not jailbreaking)?" - by andymadigan (792996) on Friday June 12, 2015 @10:31PM (#49902053)
Sure hosts can: jailbreak it (like on ANDROID via ADB use).
---
"2) Can I use it to block annoying "toolbars" that sites cover 20% of their content with (e.g. Wikia)?" - by andymadigan (792996) on Friday June 12, 2015 @10:31PM (#49902053)
Sure - don't load toolbars dumbass (or use hosts or firewalls to block their content they pull in) OR DON'T USE SHITHOLES LIKE 'EM (I don't - they're blocked due to what you said).
---
"3) Can it be used to defeat modal boxes" - by andymadigan (792996) on Friday June 12, 2015 @10:31PM (#49902053)
Stopping javascript does it - using what you already HAVE natively (for more speed too) - only FOOLS run that crapscript indiscriminately everywhere! Opera allows it via "by site" preferences in 12.17 64-bit for instance.
---
"4) How about the auto-playing video" - by andymadigan (792996) on Friday June 12, 2015 @10:31PM (#49902053)
Easy - block a source if not the same site (ads served on the same site don't pay, admen don't trust webmasters "alleged" hitcounts & I don't blame 'em) or use better sites.
---
"I can even use it to block the stupid "videos" feature on the Slashdot" - by andymadigan (792996) on Friday June 12, 2015 @10:31PM (#49902053)
Again - Stall javascript (or cut video sources via hosts).
APK
P.S.=> You fail - You do STUPID THINGS "bolting on 'MOAR'" increasing overheads & doing LESS off a slower mode of ops vs. using what you NATIVELY HAVE THAT'S MORE EFFICIENT & DOES MORE TOO...apk
"uBlock is using 33MB of RAM" - by andymadigan (792996) on Friday June 12, 2015 @10:31PM (#49902053)
Inefficient: Hosts @ 6mb only w/ CURRENT data vs. threats + ads (& things a bloated browser addon can't do by a longshot & you RAN FROM IT http://apple.slashdot.org/comm... )
---
"my question is, which blocks more ads? Answer: uBlock/Adblock" by andymadigan (792996) on Sunday June 14, 2015 @12:04AM (#49907001)
WRONG - "Almost ALL Ads Blocked" is PAID OFF to NOT block all ads by default, dumbo -> http://techcrunch.com/2013/07/...
&
ABP too http://finance.yahoo.com/news/...
---
"your system blocks fewer ads" by andymadigan (792996) on Sunday June 14, 2015 @12:04AM (#49907001)
See above & a 'shitty idea' does MORE BY FAR with less & you RAN from it bitch - see 1st link above!
---
"I'm more than happy to spend an extra 1% of my computer's power to block far more ads than your shitty idea does." by andymadigan (792996) on Sunday June 14, 2015 @12:04AM (#49907001)
Ah, so you're 'happy' being illogical & stupid? LOL, ok!
AdBlock's 4++gb & 100% CPU usage flooring inefficiency -> https://blog.mozilla.org/nneth...
+
ClarityRay defeats it - it can't do that to hosts (since clarityray dumps what browser addons you use so addons are EASILY DETECTED via native browser methods & YOU'RE BLOCKED STUPID).
AdBlock adds complexity/room for breakdown/exploit + from a slower mode of operations (usermode = more messagepassing overheads vs. hosts in kernelmode).
APK
P.S.=> You've GOT to be the MOST STUPIDLY illogical moron I've *ever* met on /. ...
... apk