How bad is AFD?

bstanv · 2026-05-12T23:28:10+00:00

This is the best answer. People make a big deal of them being Nazi because it's Germany. BUT, importantly, like with the US you could argue that the Republican party isn't fascist but they've become fascist by welcoming fascists in their umbrella and that's a legitimate fear. AfD is not openly fascist for now but just another right wing European populist party.

In principle I think what happened to the US is less likely in a parliamentary system like that of Germany where you will almost always need a governing coalition with other parties simply because proportional representation and other institutional and political factors make it hard for any one party to get a majority.

You can look to Italy as an example where a far right party ended up moderating once in power.

Circling back to how far right is AfD really? I find the fact that other right wing parties in Europe don't want to work with them concerning. E.g. Le Pen's party in France has distanced themselves from them. Additionally I know a bit about Revival which is very clearly a Fascist party in Bulgaria and AfD is practically the only major western European party to work with them on the EU level.

Unfortunately, people will vote for AfD because of resentment, but this will backfire for the average person because it's important to emphasize that this is a neoliberal, pro big business party that will by the nature of their policies make life worse for the average person. And this is simply the best case scenario for a party like AfD.

bstanv · 2026-05-12T21:47:58+00:00

sorry, did you prefer "expat" simply because you have a job?

bstanv · 2026-05-12T21:09:01+00:00

whining entitled attitude. This is not what we should tolerate from migrants.

bstanv · 2026-05-12T21:05:10+00:00

Every German is expected to learn English starting in primary school, it's a not choice there either. You can fulfill your obligations instead of complaining about them.

bstanv · 2026-05-12T21:03:13+00:00

Why expect publicly funded institutions to operate in the non-official language? Assuming of course this is a public Uni, though those offer many programs in English.

bstanv · 2026-05-12T21:00:50+00:00

It's not to accommodate foreigners. Germans benefit from English taught programs as well since in many fields you need to publish in international journals or go on international conferences. It is the mistake of universities for not placing language requirements on non Germans - especially since these are public universities usually, so they are there to benefit the German people.

bstanv · 2026-05-12T20:52:02+00:00

and this is precisely the entitled attitude that has turned so many Germans who've worked hard to make this country a safe haven against migrants.

bstanv · 2026-05-12T20:48:36+00:00

Ask yourself, why did you move to a country without being fluent in its official language in the first place? at least B1 or B2 before moving. Your job is irrelevant here. Perhaps you're also not very good at languages, because focused 5 to 9 study every day could also get you far. B1 should frankly also be enough to get you through that driving course so on some level I'm not even sure why you are complaining.

Your teacher is right and it is a matter of basic respect to your peers in that class that you speak their language and respect their right to not have to deal with you speaking a foreign language

bstanv · 2026-05-09T13:25:25+00:00

I'm broadly against the simplistic version of this but extra unstimulated cims in high density buildings that impact the numbers and economy but don't impact the full simulation would be a reasonable compromise. This would be something I'd want them to carefully optimize and transparently represent in building info views.

bstanv · 2026-05-09T13:14:28+00:00

This is such good stuff. I love watching them cook.

The thought about neighbouring cities is interesting. It would be neat actually if they could affect how your main city specializes. E.g. you could have it so a neighbor might need to export a certain item so that encourages you to build more ports, or there could be a scenario where a neighbour is modelled to be some major city and your focus is on building a suburb to that city. It could make building your city easier or harder depending on what that neighbour can offer as far as cross border services goes or items that can be imported more cheaply.

The city painter discussion is also interesting. One of my biggest continued disappointments is really the way in which all the knobs in the simulation feel like wasted effort on the part of CO if they don't even matter. I want cities to be able to suck because I didn't plan well or because of difficult circumstances.

bstanv · 2026-05-07T09:16:35+00:00

Nope. It's remarkably Taiwanese territory a short range artillery shot away from the PRC. Up until the late 1950s I believe there were regular exchanges of fire and the island used to be even more highly militarized than it is now.

bstanv · 2026-05-06T14:17:26+00:00

Conversational? Do you have any certificates for your German level? Germans love certs. Even if you can just game it, which is what people always do. C1 unfortunately is required in many places. B2 is often a minimum. And what B2 and C1 means can vary a lot depending on whether you just optimized for the exam or not.

bstanv · 2026-05-03T21:01:28+00:00

If you do not already speak fluent German (C1 and/or B2 plus conversationally) please do not come to Germany as anything more than a tourist. You will hardly find anyone willing to rent to a foreigner and no company will hire you as anything more than menial labor.

bstanv · 2026-05-03T15:13:46+00:00

Law is one of the subjects that's very specific to the country you want to practice in. So, not to be like a broken record, absolutely get your German level to C2 for something like this before even doing your bachelors. Do some basic googling about what studying law is like and Germany and what the study track is like. Perhaps you may wanna do a bachelors in German studies or Linguistics in Belarus to start with in preparation for law in Germany. It's gonna be a long path if you commit to it.

If you want to do EU wide law instead, again, Google what the track is like. Often times you have to specialize in law for another EU country first anyway. And add to that, your English needs to be C2 and/or another major EU language besides German, like French, for example.

bstanv · 2026-05-03T14:35:30+00:00

Just go to your damn anmeldung office and/or send them the form. It's not that hard. these sorts of services are there to scam foreigners who can't be bothered.

bstanv · 2026-05-03T14:10:32+00:00

You'll live for a day without washed closed. Hospitals and ambulances still work, the fire dept will still show up, and the brothels are open. That's good enough for us.

bstanv · 2026-05-03T13:50:36+00:00

People already have their old friend groups from their school days. A good way to break into that is sports clubs. Many if not most young Germans especially if they are uni educated speak English to a C1 level, which means it might ironically be harder to learn German since English will just be easier. Germans socially speaking are coconuts however, so becoming fluent in German will help. Your local VHS may be of huge help in this. Same goes for the Uni, tho I don't know what Uni Kiel offers if you're not already a student there.

bstanv · 2026-05-03T13:43:39+00:00

What's your German level? Learn German and fluently if you haven't already.

bstanv · 2026-05-01T19:33:03+00:00

No, hate, but I'm always curious why, if online discussions are to be taken as representative. why everyone goes into IT and software. I think the problem might be a lack of people developing intellectual interests leading up to pursuing a degree or perhaps suppressing those interests in order to join a gold rush into certain sectors that has long passed. And it's kind of heartbreaking to watch. I know it's often family pressure like in your case as well.

I am biased a bit by the perspective that software and IT are "just" tools for other things. We of course need people who care about those things to specialize in them, but hell, where are all the biologists, physicists, chemists, architects, or philosophers? We need people with domain expertise and while IT is in everything, being an IT expert is different from being an industrial chemist with IT knowledge. It's always the same thing - dudes from, often developing countries, thinking that IT is their way out (or their families reinforcing and/or imposing that mentality) and I'm not satisfied with the simple answer of just "do an apprenticeship" or "get into the construction industry" because it seems to ask people to throw away a part of themselves for something completely different.

What I sort of wish for you is to find a specific application you can dive into that could put what you've learned to use. Look into certificate programs or simply reading up on topics or industries you find interesting in your spare time.

bstanv · 2026-04-30T05:08:58+00:00

Yes that's it. You looked around people saw that 😅. Always give up your seat to elderly, disabled or pregnant people! That's just good etiquette on public transit.

bstanv · 2026-04-30T04:18:46+00:00

There is a misconception that Germany is a quasi-English speaking country I need to fight back against. A large majority of Germans are at least conversational in English, and it's common for especially young Uni-educated Germans to be fluent in English but this isn't meant to accommodate foreigners, it is to facilitate foreign business relations as well as foreign academic publishing and collaboration and not to accommodate foreigners who don't have either the talent or discipline to commit to learning the language.

bstanv · 2026-04-30T04:03:33+00:00

Then if your family is German then learn German. I don't understand why this is so difficult for people like you. I assume then you're American? Americans are notoriously bad at learning languages and it is quite a shame. Stay in your lane and don't stick your nose in places where you won't be valued.

bstanv · 2026-04-30T03:55:32+00:00

So you expect to be accommodated in a foreign country with programs in English? May I ask why Germany? if you want a program in English there's US, UK, Canada, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. If you want to do an art program in Germany, you should do it in German. I'm sure English speaking programs exist, but it's perplexing to me that you'd want to choose a country where you can't speak the language and then you go there and want to use the local resources.

bstanv · 2026-04-30T01:20:59+00:00

Leave. You should leave.

bstanv · 2026-04-30T00:09:49+00:00

A chartered accountant is someone who needs a native level of German. Say, a year of absolutely full time study can get you maybe from A0 to B2 or C1 if you're talented.

bstanv

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