Germany isn't that much different, the federal government has a bit more power but generally people from one state differ much from another. Compare Berlin and Bavaria, if you want an example. Bavaria is one of the more expensive states to live in and Berlin is somewhat cheap (other former ostblock states are even cheaper) and on the other hand we have the highest average income and pay into the other federal states the most.
Cost of water, electricity and food differ between states. A Döner Kebab in Berlin costs around 3.50€ by my experience, in Bavaria a comparable one costs around 5-7€.
You can't easily say "Germans are like ___", most of the international stereotypes are born out of the WW2 occupation of bavaria, not much else.
Re:Millions of Americans Can't Afford Water
by this15testing on Tuesday June 23, 2020 @10:15AM
(#23614152)
Germany is smaller than Montana. The sheer size of the US means that people live in wildly different environments and climates, and operate very different local governments/civic infrastructure state by state. Like the parent says, if you make a generic statement it's very likely that there is a place where that applies, but it certainly cannot cover the entire continent.
Due to it's structure, Europe experiences wildly different weather, climate and culture. Every german state has slightly different average weather. The north is more often exposed to rain and extreme temperatures, the south has a more temperate climate, etc. Just because it's smaller than some arbitrarily sized state in the US doesn't mean a place can't be diverse.
As for costs, the US has wildly variable costs on most things, depending on where you live. For example, I pay $1.50 per gallon for gas, but one state up, it's above $2.00. I live in a comfortable house, and pay less for my mortgage + taxes than folks in New Jersey pay just in taxes on a smaller house. This variance is a side-effect of a more decentralized governmental system where states have a lot of power, combined with a wide variation in environments / scarcity across the country.