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Does Norway pi$$ away untold billions on useless invasions?
Or untold trillions on paranoid delusional military contracts that deliver big brother and not actual security? Roads to nowhere? The 'investments' of K street have enormous dividends if they can afford to park themselves there permanently. Easy enough playing both sides from the middle passing inflated costs onto consumers and taxpayers, double taxation and stolen representation. What a lush life it is.
Get these money changers out of my fathers house!
OHH and sickofny-- don't be mad at the uniform of politicians. Be mad at the rules forced on them to wear that uniform and enforce those laws they'd rather not be writing if not for special interests forcing them off point.
Norway is 5th in the world in current account balance. They are a creditor country. In other words they make money and loan money to debtor nations
The United Staes is 190th in current account balance or dead last of all country listed. In other words we are the biggest debtoor nation on the planet. If coiuntries like Norway stop buying U.S Treasury Bills the United States govermment goes BROKE!
In the 21st century power isn't about military force.
It's about economic power and foreign policy that does not anger or attempt to impose a particular point of view on other people or governments.
The United States invaded Iraq and deposed Saddam Hussein. Yet they could never fully defeat the insurgency. The basically stabilized the place and allowed the Iraqi military to gain some semblance of security. But it is far from a safe secure democracy that George W. Bush Jr. and the neo-cons envisioned. And in the process as a nation we spent $1 trillion dollars and counting.
The United States invaded Afghanistan in 2001 and close to 10 years later we still don't fully control the territory.
In the 21st century conventional military power has only limited effect in terms of advancing foreign policy or advancing national interest.
China is the most economically powerful country on the planet without firing one shot in a foreign country.
Wouldn't you agree that our current military power is way above and beyond anything needed to protect us from invasion? Which country currently on the map, I might add, do you think would attempt to invade us?
Its a critical difference and one that many of us Americans might never understand. The idea of it runs completely against the individualistic American "ethos and spirit" of work hard, earn hard for your own self.
I understand reaping the reward of your work, but if given the opportunity to be a rich person in a country with increasing poverty, or a rich person in a country where, due to high taxes, there is low poverty and high quality of life, its a no brainer for me.
Truth be told we may have reached the limit of where the "American Ethos" can take this country in terms of global competitiveness. The reality is a group of people working collectively for a goal will in most cases beat a group of people where the focus on individual achievement even if it’s at the expense of the group.
The United States is like a basketball team with every player wants to score 30 points but the team has a losing record. We are like the Golden State Warriors. We are flashy and fun to watch but we don't win often, at least not much these days in terms of global economic competitiveness. The best players on the team score and have big contracts and that's all they really care about.
Countries like Norway, Sweden and Germany, are like a well disciplined team where people realize if the country wins they ALL WIN and they are willing to sacrifice individual financial accomplishment for the good of the team.
The problem with the economics of the US is simple: if everyone plays for the good of the team all the credit goes to the grandstander playing for his own score or the manager directing the play. After a few seasons of this the rest of the team is playing the same way and the team is losing. A group of self aggrandizing individuals are a mob and can always be beaten by a disciplined team.
As far a Norway is concerned I think they maintain enough of an army to defend their own country from and invasion. They do not waste money trying to defend the international petroleum industry from local insurgents. IMHO the war in Afghanistan would end if the owners of the proposed Trans Afghan Pipeline simply paid the tribes a passage fee for using their land. However ending the War would be devastating to the concept of the US being the policeman (corporate thugs) of the world and our military contractors’ endless profits.
The German thought for a couple of seconds and replied. "Because I don't want to be a rich man living in a poor country".
Well I think the real question has always been what is the best way to accomplish this? You'd have to accomplish this is such a way that it doesn't end up hurting the economy as a whole.
If you look now Germany is starting to cut taxes and cut back on goverenment provided services and jobs because they need to adjust to their new economic realities.
Example:
Quote:
Germany will cut welfare benefits, introduce new taxes and shed government jobs to save as much as 80 billion euro through 2014 and set an example for the rest of Europe, Chancellor Angela Merkel said Monday.
I guess Germany has capitulated to the dictates of the financial elite in the World Bank and joined the mob heading off the financial cliff. In hard times a sensible country spends more on jobs and welfare so the cash flow and the team spirit is maintained. Germany is now headed in the direction of becoming, as are we, a country of the very wealthy and the very poor.
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