Thank you for that thoughtful insightful reply. Tschuss!
You are welcome, and I hope I did not come across as offensive to you or to your German friend. It is just your friend’s acquaintances whom I wanted to criticize for their self-righteousness🙂
Thinking themselves better than anyone else? Do they really know „anyone else“?
OTOH, Red6 really has a point: in German society, conformism, finding a consensus and adhering to it, is much appreciated in many regards. It reminds me of the social mores called „law of Jante“ in the Scandinavian countries.
The Anglo-Saxon world (as we non Anglo-Saxons call it, without it being in any way derogatory, just descriptive) is clearly more individualistic in many regards, and, as anyone can tell, both world-views sometimes clash.
Still, the „Scando-German way“ has its merits in trying to create a harmonious whole - the Scandinavians, it is said, emphasize this trait even more.
Yes, and going the grain of a society in which one lives is generally going to cause some friction. - no matter where you are and who you are. That is regrettable, but unavoidable ☹️