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.
Wow the propaganda you’re consuming must be really, really effective. I can’t imagine believing that looking for ways to improve society is a “western” thing. Perhaps you need to look more closely at the news and media you are consuming and start asking yourself where potential biases or gaps in perspective could be.
Do you not think the people if Gaza are complaining right now? Or the Hong Kongers fighting for their autonomy and what’s left of their democracy? Or for that matter pretty much every country to the south east of China who is having their sovereignty infringed upon? Or within China, the Uyghurs and Tibetans and other ethnicities are being brutally repressed. Does Argentina count as western? Bcause they are talking about impeaching their recently elected Libertarian president already. What about the migrants to Qatar that are effectively indentured servants? For that matter, is Ukraine far enough east to count? Or the various other countries where Russia has been infringing upon borders, like Georgia and Kazakhstan and Moldova. I haven’t even touched upon Africa yet, but there’s another genocide happening in Sudan. India is still trying to modernize itself and get rid of the caste system.
I think this is a you problem.
What I mean is complaining about banal/small things. It’s obvious to complain if actual bad things happen such as war. Idk where you are from but here in northern Germany people constantly complain about every little thing such as the weather, grocery prices, migrants and the list goes on and on and we don’t have things like wars going on.
It’s the types of things people complain about that I don’t understand. Imo other people who have serious issues are definitely entitled to complain. But if someone has a high quality life and constantly complains about small things and thereby constantly spreads negativity it seems unnecessary to me.
I think it doesn’t cost anything if I approach a place or person and point out something positive instead of complaining that they didn’t build the building properly or whatever…
Do you honestly believe people from non-“Western” countries don’t complain about the weather?
If they did, how would you know that they do?
You also don’t know all of the battles that others are fighting. Just because you were born and live in a country that is relatively wealthy compared to other countries does not mean each individual is well-off. What might be “slightly cold” weather to you could cause debilitating joint pain for someone else. For people who live paycheck-to-paycheck, grocery prices are a huge deal. The fact that you consider them trivial speaks loudly to your privilege.
The weather thing was probably a bad example. I just mean that people are generally complaining in public and stuff about small things
And to add to it: There are always two ways of looking at things. There is the optimistic and pessimistic view. I think the Western world had an opportunity for a more positive attitude by making Kamala Harris president. But as we know that didn’t happen and at this point I think the hate has already normalized. In a way I think Trump embodies hate. Just look at his Truth Social posts and compare them to Harris’ X posts.