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.

  • Libb@jlai.luEnglish
    5·
    2 days ago

    Hi, I’m 21/male from Germany and to me it seems like people here are constantly negative

    Depends where you look, imho. (50+ male, from France ;))

    I mean, if you mostly read negative topics, well, you will read more negative content. I don’t read those (no politics, no drama, no call to hate, no nothing like that) and I don’t have to read that much negativity.

    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?

    Let me ask you this: weren’t you just negative by asking that instead of, say, showing us by example how to share/read positive content and… make the world a better place? See, negativity is very easy to fall into ;)

    I think I’m noticing this particularly in older people including my parents.

    I think you may be noticing wrong but who knows? Once again, I’m well into my 50s and I try to see things in a positive way, no matter what’s going on. I don’t think it’s age (or sex/gender, or politics, or culinary taste)-related. It’s a personal thing.

    • open_mind@lemmy.worldOP
      13·
      2 days ago

      I probably should’ve specified Germany in particular since I can relate from local experience. I have never been to France so far unfortunately. So maybe it’s mainly just Germany.

  • MagicShel@lemmy.zipEnglish
    5·
    2 days ago

    Everyone can relate to complaining. Don’t know what to talk about with a stranger or family member? Bitch about work. The train. That driver that cut you off. Everyone relates and can gripe about their own stuff and baby, you got a stew conversation going.

    IMO

  • JackGreenEarth@lemm.eeEnglish
    4·
    2 days ago

    Ironic that you’re complaining about people complaining. For an answer to your question, people complain because they have things to complain about, particularly as the world moves more right wing, and just because others have it much worse doesn’t mean you don’t have it bad.

  • open_mind@lemmy.worldOP
    24·
    2 days ago

    I’m wondering why my post gets such negative reception here in “Ask Lemmy” but has the exact opposite perception that’s way more positive in other communities such as over at “No Stupid Question”. I wonder if there’s something about this community?

    • MagicShel@lemmy.zipEnglish
      4·
      2 days ago

      Maybe you’re not conscious of it but there is an element of:

      <identifies problem> -> <adds to the problem>

      It also feels like you are passive-aggressively telling everyone to just stop bitching about things you think they have no right to bitch about. You’re gate-keeping complaining, basically.

      “grocery prices” … fuck, my friend, not long ago I used to be able to feed my family on $600/mo and now I’m hovering around $1k. That’s a car payment. I get it, my son, who is 26 and lives by himself, can feed himself for $100/week because he can choose the stuff that is important to him and if he chooses to eat beans and rice for a week to save money he can. Meanwhile there are 4 of us living in this home, and my autistic daughter has food issues, which means I can’t just say, “Oh the good spaghetti sauce has gone up to $8 per jar, time to buy Prego which tastes like ass but sauces your pasta.”

      You can’t know the pain points in other peoples’ lives. I shouldn’t have to go around explaining to everyone about my autistic daughter to justify why I might complain about grocery prices, you know?

      Before you get defensive about it, as is some folks’ ways, please understand I know you probably aren’t aware you are doing it. You’re young and you have experienced just a small slice of life. Hell, youth be damned, some folks go through their whole lives that way.

      The way to deal with it isn’t to complain about it. It isn’t to judge it. It’s just to accept it, don’t engage, and move on. Maybe redirect the conversation if that’s appropriate. You aren’t asking a stupid question, you are asking a judgmental question, and you should look inward and try to stop that.

      Good luck, mate. Hope this helps in some way.

    • HikingVet@lemmy.ca
      2·
      2 days ago

      Maybe it’s because your question about complaining isna complaint, and you do nothing but bitch.

      Hell, I deleted a comment and you bitch about what was removed.

    • open_mind@lemmy.worldOP
      22·
      2 days ago

      Like I said: complaining about grocery prices, complaining about migrants, complaining about the weather and basically complaining about every little thing and the list goes on and on