Hi, I’m 21/male from Germany and to me it seems like people here are constantly negative and complaining compared to people from other/non-Western countries who seem way more chill.
I assume this is probably the worst here in Germany since this is also a stereotype about Germans that they constantly complain about things and in my opinion this is very true from experiencing real life here every day. But I would say I’ve also noticed this from other western countries, maybe not as extreme but for example in America people also seem to be pretty hateful and seem to make a drama out of everything (at least from what I can tell on the internet).
I just wonder why these people unnecessarily spread this negativity because in my opinion here in these western 1st world countries we have so much luxury compared to other places. For example other countries have wars, people live in terror and extreme injustice/corruption, people starve to death, get abused, raped and tortured and need to seek refuge in other countries. But we complain that eggs are too expensive and that we have too many migrants, which goes so far that America is deporting all illegal migrants including those who might’ve fled from the things mentioned earlier such as violence and rape.
Why do people waste all this time with complaining and being negative if they could use this time to be grateful, enjoy life and make the world a better place? To me this seems like people are destroying their own life and make it unnecessarily harder/unhappy with that behavior. I think I’m noticing this particularly in older people including my parents. It almost feels like they’re unable to be positive and only know how to complain.
For the majority of the last century, life has been pretty great for Americans, essentially putting them on top of the world. Generations have seen nothing but life improving for their children and grandchildren, with no indication of it slowing down. For most of this time, many people haven’t even needed to really sacrifice much for it the way that previous generations have.
This is finally starting to change.
Decades ago, we were told we’d finally have to start sacrificing to make a better life for our children. That didn’t sit well with some people.
Millions of people are coming to the West (not just the US) for a better life, and have been for generations. While we’re getting more tax dollars, resources are being spread more thin.
As well, it’s been harder for people to earn a living. Before some time in the 1970s, company earnings were tightly coupled with employee earnings. Since then, company productivity and earnings have skyrocketed, while inflation-adjusted employee earnings have stagnated. Of course, employee productivity continues to skyrocket with advances in technology.
Nowadays, the “current” generation is feeling the pain.
Before, a person could graduate high school and find a good job to be able to afford a house, a car, and a family. Sometimes their spouse needed to work, too.
Nowadays, two people working in a household often can’t afford to own a home. Yet the companies they’re working for are making more money than ever.
Long story short, the US has been on top of the world for decades, and for the last half a century, they’ve been funneling their wealth upwards while taking away from the working class. There was so much money to go around that it wasn’t enough to notice for generations. But now, people aren’t just noticing – they’re feeling it.
And there doesn’t seem to be any agreement on what needs to be done to make it better. (Partially because it’s cheaper to fund media-based distractions than to fund social programs that would help people, or to tax corporations and the rich!)