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pizzao | on: Germany set to restrict its Freedom of Information Act
A country in decay..
denvrede | parent | next
I'd generally agree, but my follow up question would be: which western country isn't?
arjie | root | parent | next
Poland is now in the Western sphere of influence and it is not in decay. A weak case can be made for Ireland but it’s harder to extract effects of tax haven status. But Poland certainly. Going to be a higher income populace than the UK soon at this rate.

The US is unusual as a federation. Some parts decline, others rise. I think it’s resilient. And every time something goes wrong, America pulls out a magic new technology. We will see if R&D will carry the day again.

snowpid | root | parent
The US is more in decay than Germany. Currently it becomes more and more a broken democracy. Cope is strong here.
flossly | root | parent | next
Denmark?

The Swiss?

Norway?

And I was in Serbia lately, and while it was not as developed as NW-EU, nobody there described it as decaying (and many said they experiences decay when living in western nations over the past 2 decades).

petcat | root | parent | next
Denmark is the architect of Chat Control. Even the extreme version that requires all E2E communications be accessible to the government.

Denmark is not just decayed, it is completely rotten.

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fransje26 | root | parent | next
> And I was in Serbia lately [..]

With OP postulating that it is to enable corruption, and a sub-reply affirming that it is therefore the trait of a country in decay, bringing in Serbia as a counter-example is hilarious.

Serbia ranks 116th in the corruption perception index, Germany 10th. (Lower is better)

master-lincoln | root | parent
yeah, but decaying means something gets worse. Maybe corruption is getting less in Serbia despite still being bad?
cucumber3732842 | root | parent
>And I was in Serbia lately, and while it was not as developed as NW-EU, nobody there described it as decaying (and many said they experiences decay when living in western nations over the past 2 decades)

Yeah, a lot of the western countries that aren't wealthy enough to afford the luxury of indulging in absurd farcical politics and policies over the past 40yr are doing pretty decent.

tremon | root | parent | next
Why limit yourself to western countries? In fact, why limit it to countries at all? Isn't it the most popular trope of all time to decry the state of today and romanticise yesterday? People have "not been wanting to work anymore" for at least 150 years, things were always better in the olden days, people don't make 'em like they used to, etm.

There's very little value in a statement like yours. It's a truism that has never been correct.

xienze | root | parent
> things were always better in the olden days, people don't make 'em like they used to.

Just because successive generations make the same observations about <X> doesn't mean that <X> hasn't actually been steadily declining, you know.

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skinfaxi | root | parent | next
That it sucks elsewhere means we can't decry this instance?
greenavocado | root | parent | next
Poland, but its on borrowed time due to the extreme fertility crisis.
flossly | root | parent | next
Is fertility so important?

Maybe the other western countries are equally infertile, but just allowed many immigrants in (which counts are population expansion) that also have more children on average.

How are Japan and Korea holing out? They are further down the infertility down-spiral.

snovymgodym | root | parent | next
Yeah, it's pretty important if you are interested in the continued existence of your society
greenavocado | root | parent
> Is fertility so important?

Westerners have been the biggest victims of propaganda in the history of the world.

eigenspace | root | parent | next
Lol, what on earth makes you single out Poland as the single western country not in decay right now?
sam_lowry_ | root | parent | next
Its economy has been growing for 30 years non-stop, to the point that it is now compared to Singapore.
jijijijij | root | parent | next
In context of the article, the economic performance is hardly relevant. The authoritarian forces are still strong in Poland, their institutional damage persistent.
snowpid | root | parent
Im really happy for Poland for its growing economy. (though it has the same challenges as Germany roughly speaking)

But You can't just deny the political problems. Propably some Americans do it - to cope with Trump who is worser than any PiS president. Poland has the EU as democratic layer but US with Trump doesnt have it.

jijijijij | root | parent
Yeah, I am rooting for Poland, but it's simply not a shining example of democratic integrity.

> Poland has the EU as democratic layer but US with Trump doesnt have it.

I mean, let's see. The US thought checks and balances would hold, but they didn't, and the EU didn't prevent Hungary and Poland to slip into authoritarian dynamics to begin with. It's not exactly the legal body drawing the latter two back to change, but economic benefits. And Germany also suffers the same untested myth of "checks and balances", which really assumes some political decency. And no legal construct considered bazillionaire tech bros playing god with our dopamine receptors.

We all shouldn't take democracy for granted. I hope we all start to see the real enemy of the people and find agreement on what's actually important right now. Luckily, causal relations are becoming evident for everyone to see in this critical time. Now people need to start seeing.

I really hope Europe's citizens find unity, a shared identity and a renewed lust for democracy. Quite frankly, here in this libertarian club the EU regulations are not particularly popular, but for me the EU laws are mostly positive and I am a huge fan of the whole thing.

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inigyou | root | parent
Economic growth is not the kind that's being referred to. I think Germany is also economically growing? It doesn't matter, they are still decaying in most ways.
sva_ | root | parent | next
> I think Germany is also economically growing?

Barely, and it was in a recession 2023-2024.

dyauspitr | root | parent
It doesn’t have immigrants so the right wing tries extra hard to paint it as rosy.
maratc | root | parent | next
There are about 1.5 million immigrants from Ukraine alone.
eigenspace | root | parent | next
The Americans who fetishize Poland do it because of their concept of it being 'racially pure' while having a growing economy. They don't particularly care about Ukrainians because Americans don't recognize any racial or ethnic difference between Ukrainians and Poles.
greenavocado | root | parent
Look up a map of the Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth
eigenspace | root | parent
So you are confirming that I'm right in my assertion that the reason you aren't bothered by the Ukrainian refugees in Poland is that you don't see them diluting the racial purity of Poland?
dyauspitr | root | parent
White immigrants. Don’t act naive.
greenavocado | root | parent
Where is the lie?
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dgellow | root | parent | next
That impacts the whole developed world, it’s not a polish issue
lo_zamoyski | root | parent
The very consumerism that has made it materially wealthy has fucked up its citizens' priorities. Indeed, because the wealth differential over the last 30 years is as steep as it is - and because people are generally petty - it actually creates a perverse incentive to prioritize wealth accumulation over family life just to "keep up". You don't want the Joneses to outdo you. You don't want to seem shabbier.

So, maybe rapid growth combined with consumerist impulses is a deadly combination for a society. If only rapid growth were combined with healthy and wise priorities...

inigyou | root | parent
Who said there was one?
master-lincoln | parent | next
yep, it's the populists communication strategies winning over the voters so people in power can screw the populace as they like and the spin doctors (not the band) will make people think it's in their interest.
throw1234567891 | parent
AfD will come and rescue everyone. /s
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