[Lenora]

Are Germans more militaristic and more obsessed with neatness and cleanliness than other people?

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Name : Lenora, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Christian, Age : 44, City : Albany, State : OR, Country : United States, Social class : Upper class, 

[Amy]

When I was a child, I lived in Germany for eight years among other American military families. I noticed that the American children did not want to associate with the German children because they thought they were ‘dirty’ and that they ‘stunk.’ Talking to my mother I found that the same was true among the adults. I thought it was wrong to have such stereotypical views of people. Therefore, I think Americans are a lot more obsessed with cleanliness than a lot of other cultures. As for being militaristic and neat, I don’t know.

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Name : Amy, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Christian, Age : 17, City : Hinesville, State : GA, Country : United States, Occupation : Student, 

[Mikko]

I honestly don’t believe that Germans would be more militaristic or violent than the other nations. I think it all comes from the history of WWII. As you all know, Americans were fighting together with the other allies against the German Nazis (National Socialists or Fascists). The war propaganda in your home front naturally wanted to label the enemies (Germans) as militarists. This kind of labels are hard to break and will remain to brand the whole nation still after 50 years of peace. In Germany the gun laws are very strict (as all around Europe) and people have to have strict permission to carry or own a gun. All the gun owners are listed by the authorities. Germans are very aware of their far-right background and normally tend to avoid the entire issue. Many Germans still face offensive comments of their history. From European point of view, we see Americans more gun-crazy and militaristic than us Europeans. Maybe because in the USA in many states there is a freedom to carry and buy a gun without a specific permission. The number of gun-related crimes is also bigger in the USA than in European countries. We see the stereotypical Yankee from the Southern states carrying a gun and acting offensively and violently. It’s not close to the reality at all, but all nations have their stereotypes. Better education of different nations and cultures breaks this kind of untrue beliefs.

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Name : Mikko, Gender : M, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 21, City : Helsinki, State : NA, Country : Finland, Occupation : Journalist, Education level : 2 Years of College, 

[Janne Kainu]

I have spent only two months in Germany so I not any great specialist on Germans. In any case I don’t think that Germans are obsessed with neatness and cleanliness. But they often seem to like good order. When it comes to militarism I think that most Germans are very far from being militaristic I guess that sort of behaviour is politically pretty incorrect Germany due the country’s recent history.

User Detail :  

Name : Janne Kainu, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Lutheran, Age : 31, City : Helsinki, State : NA, Country : Finland, Occupation : economist, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[Befuddled23320]

What Germans are really obsessed with is punctuality. However, if you look at German history and the history of German society, you will notice that for many centuries, it was messy, dangerous, confusing, and whatnot. Many German cities were filthy, polluted, overcrowded cesspools with little sanitation and security. Many wars were fought on German territory by others. The area of what is now Germany was divided into many small fiefdoms in which local potentates reigned supreme and exploited the populace. If you ventured outside the city, highway robbery was common, or some marauding army summarily conscripted or raped you. The German nation state did not appear until 1871, and my contention is that because Germans could never have clarity and stability in the political realm, they created it in the personal realm by keeping their stoops clean and their neighbors in line. You control what you can. At the same time, a German today would ask: Why do Americans litter so much?

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Name : Befuddled23320, Gender : M, Religion : Unitarian, City : Tulsa, State : OK, Country : United States, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

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