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Cultures are different, you are from the Mediterranean environment where family ties are the strongest in the Western world. One logical reason is that when parents take care of their children well, then the children take care of their parents when they are very old and weak and not throw them into retirement homes. And Southern Europeans do take care of their old parents pretty well since they are also the most social people in the West. There's of course negative sides to that kind of relationships too but it's not bad at all compared to some environments where everyone are so cold and distant. And it shouldn't be a surprise how the Japanese act, Asians generally are very tight as a family. It doesn't matter if someone else thinks it's normal or not, he or she doesn't live in your shoes, do what you feel is right.
When it comes to financial independence and responsibility then it has a lot to do with culture as well no matter if it's your pocket money or how the government handles the big bucks.
Firstly the people from south can afford to be more irresponsible. You have a very good climate, a lot grows all year around (except for more mountain areas). Just pick up whatever you can and you'll live. Well not so much these days of course with the overpopulation in Europe overall. But if we overgeneralize then it is pretty comfortable to live in warm climates. You can afford to spend money on more pleasurable things.
I'm from North. Responsibility is a necessity. The winters are long and harsh, if you don't get your shit together, you don't survive. That's why people over here are much cheaper and my country's debt is practically non-existent. Norway and Sweden have biggest reserves per capita in the world just in case something very bad happens. Northern cultures traditionally aren't big spenders.
Southern European cultures have also been more into luxury items, nice clothing, fancy dinners, all kinds of pleasurable activities etc. for a very long time. But I wouldn't say it's a bad thing as it's the reason why Southerners have always been artistically so innovative and it also produces a lot of capital.
Another thing is that the whole Mediterranean area is culturally so old and full of traditions. Many of the old Greco-Roman ways will never die. All the bureaucracy is a part of that culture. Not matter what laws you install, the old ways will remain within the people. The written laws don't count as much as for example The Constitution counts for yanks. Such things are rather irrelevant in Italy for example which is known world wide for corruption and monkey business involving crime organizations. And even though Northern Italy has some of the richest counties in the world, incredibly productive, still there's tons of spending, bureaucracy and corruption. And even though some progress happens all the time and while the so called revolution in the early 90's when a lot of the crooks and dirty Italian politicians were put behind the bars, now all the institutions are being let torn apart by Berlusconi.
All the Southern Europeans countries have a lot of bureaucracy and Italy particularly is extremely chaotic for outsiders but if you look at the people who were born within that system, it's normal for them and they can handle it well and work around it. And cultures with more transparent systems aren't necessarily better for living environment. Nice & transparent systems fade away over the time as history has showed, someone who's on a high horse right now may not realize how deep in shit his culture can be hundred years later. I think Greeks know it better than the rest of us, developing most of the systems and ways in the first place.
When it comes to financial independence and responsibility then it has a lot to do with culture as well no matter if it's your pocket money or how the government handles the big bucks.
Firstly the people from south can afford to be more irresponsible. You have a very good climate, a lot grows all year around (except for more mountain areas). Just pick up whatever you can and you'll live. Well not so much these days of course with the overpopulation in Europe overall. But if we overgeneralize then it is pretty comfortable to live in warm climates. You can afford to spend money on more pleasurable things.
I'm from North. Responsibility is a necessity. The winters are long and harsh, if you don't get your shit together, you don't survive. That's why people over here are much cheaper and my country's debt is practically non-existent. Norway and Sweden have biggest reserves per capita in the world just in case something very bad happens. Northern cultures traditionally aren't big spenders.
Southern European cultures have also been more into luxury items, nice clothing, fancy dinners, all kinds of pleasurable activities etc. for a very long time. But I wouldn't say it's a bad thing as it's the reason why Southerners have always been artistically so innovative and it also produces a lot of capital.
Another thing is that the whole Mediterranean area is culturally so old and full of traditions. Many of the old Greco-Roman ways will never die. All the bureaucracy is a part of that culture. Not matter what laws you install, the old ways will remain within the people. The written laws don't count as much as for example The Constitution counts for yanks. Such things are rather irrelevant in Italy for example which is known world wide for corruption and monkey business involving crime organizations. And even though Northern Italy has some of the richest counties in the world, incredibly productive, still there's tons of spending, bureaucracy and corruption. And even though some progress happens all the time and while the so called revolution in the early 90's when a lot of the crooks and dirty Italian politicians were put behind the bars, now all the institutions are being let torn apart by Berlusconi.
All the Southern Europeans countries have a lot of bureaucracy and Italy particularly is extremely chaotic for outsiders but if you look at the people who were born within that system, it's normal for them and they can handle it well and work around it. And cultures with more transparent systems aren't necessarily better for living environment. Nice & transparent systems fade away over the time as history has showed, someone who's on a high horse right now may not realize how deep in shit his culture can be hundred years later. I think Greeks know it better than the rest of us, developing most of the systems and ways in the first place.
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