Women of this subreddit who are from western europe, what do you dislike about your country despite being so developed?

15 comments

1. That there are sadly still many Neonazis.
   That energy costs are among the highest in the world.
   That poverty is widespread, prices are high and wages low overall.

2. Honestly the people

3. People discuss differences in wages too much and differences in wealth too little. There’s a larger social security reform coming which – to put it simple – gives more to the poor and asks less of them. In my opinion it’s a good step into the right direction. However, many people think it’s unfair that people who aren’t working (or whose jobs pay so little they need assistance) get “so much money”. It’s the whole spiel about minimum wage workers complaining about those beneath them when it’d make so much more sense to complain about the 1%, about their wealth and the way they exploit those minimum wage workers.

   We may be better off than US Americans in that regard but we still fight the same futile battles.

4. The cost of living is pretty high, housing market is absolute crap and the people can be super rude. This is in The Netherlands

5. [removed]

6. I actually really like my country but there are a few things I hate about it, in no particular order :

   – there is a big catcalling and street harassment culture, an old fashioned mentality that women should be flattered to be flirted with including at work, including women who made and signed a tribune against the MeToo movement for the right to be seduced in the streets. It’s wild

   – historically, a huge tendency to excuse pedophilia. The intellectual elite used the sexual liberation movement to foster pedophilia, and the number of writers, movie directors, etc. whose relationship with underage kids have been excused away and who are still receiving praise, is mind blowing

   – color blindness (and subtle racism). We push it to an extreme, and while I think not every thing needs to be about race, it means that most of racism is excused away and you get labeled an extremist if you point out microagressions or even straight up racist comments. Also Islamophobia stemming from xenophobia

   – in general we’re hyper critical and judgemental of others and ourselves. Under the guise of anything goes, there is a lot of pressure, a lot of fatphobia, a lot of depression. We have the highest consumption of anti depressant in Europe. On the plus side, it means getting help for your mental health is very normalized

7. Almost no accessibility for abortions. A huge surge in nazi-sympathizers among teens.

8. people using the freedom of speech law as an excuse to be hateful

   also despite the good education system we have there are still so many dumb and ignorant people

9. High cost of living, really hard to find housing and also very expensive, way too densely populated, flat, boring landscape and rainy weather.

10. we’re not particularly racist, we’re just straight up xenophobes (we hate the whites too when they’re poor), we’re still under the thumb of the catholic church even if the majority of the population doesn’t even believe in god, we lack opportunities for young people that keep fleeing the country as soon as they graduate because they have no future here (after studying for years and years and specialize you still probably won’t be able to afford your own rent with your salary as a trained worker), we lost (or to better say never had) any trust in our government so public stuff (such as libraries, but also public transportation, or buildings or institutions) are not EVERYONE STUFF but rather NOONE STUFF and that also transpires in how we generally see each other (“fuck them or you get fucked” common expression), job contracts are ridiculous, the classic police brutality that’s pretty much everywhere tho, i don’t know i could go on but at this point it’s just depressing… uh! also fascist are being popular once again, unfortunately this time without the trains being on time.

11. There are lots of things I dislike about my country, even though I recognise that in the grand scheme of things I’m quite fortunate to live here. The increasing divide between the rich and everyone else is one of the things I hate the most, but I also really dislike that there still seems to be an attitude of ‘oh aren’t we great’ even though the country is clearly going to shit. Many people here seem to be incapable of recognising the positives of elsewhere, and the closed-mindedness infuriates me.

12. The housing crisis in Ireland is a disgrace. Cost of living crisis too. Public transport is a joke. Our healthcare system isn’t exactly functioning well either. So many healthcare professionals (mainly nurses) end of emigrating to other countries since healthcare salaries are so poor here.

13. that its not as developed as everyone thinks. Healthcare can be hell in germany. Esp in regards to mental health.
    Also bureaucracy ruins most good stuff and slows everything down so hard.

14. It’s hard to find a job and even harder to start a business. Opportunities are scarce if you don’t know the right people.

    Men don’t want to commit until they’re 35 and sometimes suggest to split the bill on the first date.

    Many if not most cities are at least partly dirty and dangerous.

    The suburbs are ugly and depressing as hell. Supermarkets and fast-food venues everywhere.

    Gyms aren’t open 24/24 and don’t provide childcare.

    Train tickets are expensive but driving and parking in certain areas is hell. Getting your driver’s license is more expensive and more difficult here than in most places around the world.

    We produce shitty films, TV shows and music, it’s embarrassing.

    Too many smokers.

    Too many bad restaurants, including in places known for their food culture.

    Absurdly high cost of living, especially housing.

    Young women fall into prostitution and eating disorders at an alarming rate.

15. Does the UK count as Western Europe?

    Anyway, it’s that we are the one of the largest providers of waste in the world (second only the US of A).

    At a friend of mine’s kid’s secondary school, at lunchtime they provide single-use polystyrene containers (the kind you might get a take-away in), plastic knives and forks, plastic sachets of ketchup and other condiments, to hundreds of kids every day.

    And this happens in many many other schools too, some of them with thousands of kids!

    Is it so hard to get proper plates, cutlery, etc? It’d probably even be cheaper in the long run!

    It’s like plastic windows – they’re cheaper at first but when you have to get them replaced every 10 years or so it’s much more expensive (besides, they look tacky)