[_abox]

> France and the netherlands have good roads and yet they dont constantly have to maintain them.

Yes they do. In the Netherlands there's a lot of maintenance going on. Once on a trip to my workplace at the time (75km away) I counted 12 individual speed restrictions due to roadwork. I constantly had to switch between 120, 100 and 70kph. Most of it happens during the night though. I guess Germany doesn't always do this.

> Also renting and the government stepping in to keep rents at a low price sounds like poverty and socialism to me. Not a good sign.

I personally like socialism and many in Europe do. The richest countries have the best welfare systems in general (like Scandinavia). Holland itself is an unfortunate exception with its Anglo-Saxon liberal model.

It's becoming more important as the housing market is out of control and buying a house is near impossible now on a modal salary. Regulation keeps pricing fair to those who need it. It's not a sign of poverty but of the systemic choices we make.

> But speaking of driving in germany i found the constant tailgating and the general aggressiveness and flashing similar to east europe 10 years ago. Horrible driving culture.

This is something we do agree on :) I try to avoid driving in Germany.