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I'd still like to know what rights Olaf Q. Norwegian has been deprived of?
He's much less likely to be in jail, and the risk of him being shot by law enforcement is certainly way lower than it is in the US. He can say out loud, any day of the week, that the government consists of idiots and that the King should be deposed. He has a multitude of parties competing for his vote. He lives in a country that's remarkably less corrupt than the US. He can start his own business, if that's his hankering. He can hike and camp on any land that isn't cultivated.
I'm not so sure what's so horrible? Granted, it's colder than f.ck and the winters are roughly 17 months long.
If anything, I'd say Norwegians (and most non-Eastern European countries in Europe) enjoy more rights than people in the U.S. do. They have already been allowing same-sex marriage, reproductive rights, and less draconian incarceration for victimless 'crimes' like personal pot use or sex work, relative lack of police brutality (compared to the US)..... all without having to be dragged kicking and screaming into it (at least in recent times). And I won't even get started on the lack of worker protections and rights in the US.
The only 'right' I can think of that the US offers that European countries are less inclined to is the 'right' to have guns.
Woop de doo...what a brilliant tradeoff...sign me up!
I agree. American taxpayers are angry because out tax dollars are sent down a black hole.
If we had the roads and transit , a lower cost health system, less military interventions and half the corruption and lobbying we have now there would be alot less complaining.
ROI.
Yup. I really am beginning to think that low corruption is the one non-negotiable requirement for a country to be well run. If the citizens see the government using their funds wisely - perhaps not even sharing the intention, but at least agreeing that nobody is skimming off the top - there's much less conflict in the citizen/government interaction.
Interestingly, the Scandinavian distaste for bribery goes back to the introduction of absolute monarchy, where the king ruled and anyone disagreeing - including nobility and church - could do nothing about it. The king wasn't idealistically opposed to corruption, but it was the Crown's money being stolen. With absolute monarchy, anyone caught skimming off the top could no longer be protected by a local nobleman. A lot of people leaned that the hard way (very hard, in these days), but eventually a class of civil servants emerged, people who were paid fairly and - this being important - reliably, in return for loyalty to the crown and the system. This attracted people who would rather have less, but be sure of it. And such people are not much given to risky bribe-taking.
Always struck me as somewhat funny that a huge part of the foundation for the well-working Scandinavian democracies was the 17th century right of the King to chop the head of anyone pilfering from his stash of money.
Not Eastern Europe, but the socialist countries like Norway, Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands, Etc. I feel like they are trying to turn us into Europe by taking away freedoms and pushing their liberal/socialist views on us.
Only the social services part. I don't think they know of the high taxes that go with them though so that's why they champion these countries.
They seem to think these countries have free Utopia for everyone.
The US is already socialist, with socialist roads, socialist medicare, socialist social security, socialist public schools, socialist military etc
Countries like Germany, Scandinavia, Switzerland are doing just fine. High standard of living, high employment rates, people dont have the freedom to go bankrupt from cancer treatment, workers are entitled to at least 5 weeks of paid vacation to improve health and family connections, all workers are allowed paid time off to say goodbye to a dying parent, there is no for-profit prison industry and public money is invested in its people instead of corporate welfare, a massive prison system and a military industrial complex.
The American people are social democratic in nature, according to polls. The political views of Americans are much more in line with social democracies in Europe than the policies that are pushed by politicians in DC. A more progressive economic agenda in America is an America more in line with what Americans want according to opinion polls. An America more reflective of public opinion and thus a more democratic America in other words.
I mean - all that sounds pretty good to me. What's the downside?
Not Eastern Europe, but the socialist countries like Norway, Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands, Etc. I feel like they are trying to turn us into Europe by taking away freedoms and pushing their liberal/socialist views on us.
In some ways, hell yes - that would be great.
We don't need to "be Europe", but some qualities of life that they have there are enviable and would be very good to see here. You can actually look out to the world and learn from others, taking the best policies of others and weaving them together with the best domestic policies to create a better society.
But we don't do that, because we're convinced that America is the best and can learn nothing from anyone else. Meanwhile, our measures on things like infant mortality, happiness, access to healthcare, educational performance, public transportation, rights for working families, and people living in poverty are objectively pretty "meh" for a first-world country.
Oh, and by the way, having spent a lot of time in Europe: there is really objectively nothing that you are free to do day to day that they can't do. Other than maybe easily take your high-capacity magazine gun to a movie theater and kill a dozen or so people.
We don't need to "be Europe", but some qualities of life that they have there are enviable and would be very good to see here. You can actually look out to the world and learn from others, taking the best policies of others and weaving them together with the best domestic policies to create a better society.
But we don't do that, because we're convinced that America is the best and can learn nothing from anyone else. Meanwhile, our measures on things like infant mortality, happiness, access to healthcare, educational performance, public transportation, rights for working families, and people living in poverty are objectively pretty "meh" for a first-world country.
Oh, and by the way, having spent a lot of time in Europe: there is really objectively nothing that you are free to do day to day that they can't do. Other than maybe easily take your high-capacity magazine gun to a movie theater and kill a dozen or so people.
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No I lived there and everything is controlled to a point your rights are taken a way. American despite our problems is a much better place to live and raise Families.
Criminals are Criminals and crime can happen anywhere. The man shot people not the gun, besides the weapon can always change if you wish to be technical. what if the same man used chemicals ?
I mean - all that sounds pretty good to me. What's the downside?
There is no downside.
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