Should the United States become a social democracy like Denmark or Norway? (salaries, Mexican)

[BigCityDreamer]

Denmark and Norway appear to have less income inequality and poverty than the United States. Denmark and Norway also have what we would call universal healthcare and free higher education.

However, a lot of consumer goods such as cars, gasoline, food and clothes cost 50%-100% more in these countries than in the United States. These countries have 25% sales tax and 55% income tax. Median salaries are also lower, especially for people in the upper-income brackets.

Also notable is that these countries are more than 90% white, similar to U.S. states like New Hampshire or Maine. The United States as a whole is much more racially diverse than Denmark or Norway.

So, which system do you think is preferable - a more capitalist system like the United States, or a social democracy like Denmark and Norway? Should the United States copy these countries?

[craigiri]

Bad options - because I know many Millionaires from Denmark and Norway who would certainly say that the are involved in "capitalism".......

The real question involves one of inequality.

An accurate poll, which will likely never happen, would be:

1. I believe that the United States was created for the purpose of shared prosperity and that "this land belongs to you and me.

2. I believe that whoever has the most money, whether from China, Mexico or Europe or the USA, should be able to buy both our country and our politicians.

#1 is Social democracy
#2 is Capitalism in the most pure form

The strange thing here is either the hypocrisy...or the splitting up...of the Right. On one hand we hear them complaining about Globalism and Free Trade and the like. The next moment they write up polls like this!

So which is it? Rule by the Waltons? Or Rule By The People and shared prosperity?

[No_Recess]

Good afternoon, how would you like to be enslaved today?

A. How the U.S. currently does it
B. How Denmark/Norway currently do it










C. End statism now

[Ghengis]

go for it, we could then rule in the Social Democratic Olympics, summer games at any rate

[Three Wolves In Snow]

Originally Posted by BigCityDreamer

Denmark and Norway appear to have less income inequality and poverty than the United States. Denmark and Norway also have what we would call universal healthcare and free higher education.

However, a lot of consumer goods such as cars, gasoline, food and clothes cost 50%-100% more in these countries than in the United States. These countries have 25% sales tax and 55% income tax. Median salaries are also lower, especially for people in the upper-income brackets.

Also notable is that these countries are more than 90% white, similar to U.S. states like New Hampshire or Maine. The United States as a whole is much more racially diverse than Denmark or Norway.

So, which system do you think is preferable - a more capitalist system like the United States, or a social democracy like Denmark and Norway? Should the United States copy these countries?

Population of Denmark: 5.7 million people

Denmark Population (2019) - Worldometers

Population of Norway: 5.3 million people

Norway Population (2019) - Worldometers

Population of the United States of America: 325.1 million people

U.S. Population (2019) - Worldometers

Just the population difference alone is a reason why this can work in a country that has the population of one our cities. In this country, we have many different economies. The economy of NY state is not the same as the economy of Montana. The economy of CA is not the same as the economy of Maine. Yet the left refuses to acknowledge this. Denmark and Norway do not have this problem in their countries of only 5 + million people.

Denmark Demographics: "9 out of 10 residents of Denmark identify as ethnic Danes"

https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/...n-denmark.html

Norway Demographics: "Norwegian 83.2% (includes about 60,000 Sami), other European 8.3%, other 8.5% (2017 est.)"

https://www.indexmundi.com/norway/de...s_profile.html

United States Demographics:

"White alone, percent 76.6% (not European white - that's all "white", including Hispanic)
Black or African American alone, percent(a) 13.4%
American Indian and Alaska Native alone, percent(a) 1.3%
Asian alone, percent(a) 5.8%
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone, percent(a) 0.2%
Two or More Races, percent 2.7%
Hispanic or Latino, percent(b) 18.1%
White alone, not Hispanic or Latino, percent 60.7%"

https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fa...e/US/PST045217

Whether people want to admit it or not, when you have a country with a small population, and almost everyone around you is just like you, programs like what the left wants will succeed far better than when you have 65 times the amount of people, and your population is far more diverse. People don't like to talk about "tribalism" or instantly equate that to "racism", but the reality is, it does make a difference in programs like these succeeding or failing. That's fact no matter how much it hurts peoples feelings.

We are all Americans, yes, but for some reason we have chosen to separate ourselves. We are "Hispanic Americans" or "Mexican Americans" or "black Americans" or "white Americans" or "Asian Americans" or "Native Americans", etc.

Because we have chosen to focus on identity so much, it does bring about the idea of "us" vs "them" even if we are all Americans. Because of this hyper focus by some on identity, which is used to play politics - pitting one group against another - it spills over into other aspects, including "why is it that Denmark and Norway can do this but we can't?" Because they don't have this bs going on in their countries. They don't have people separating themselves - they don't have much diversity to begin with, as it is, so there's no "us" vs "them" in the way that we have it here.

Until this country can stop playing identity politics and pitting people against each other, this type of policy will never work. Ever. People don't want to pay for other people they don't identify with. They care about their own. They work hard for their own. They don't want to work hard for another group.

So, if the left wants something like this to work, the first step is stop with the identity politics and trying to stir up problems between groups of people.

After that, they need to figure out how to make this work with so many different economies in the country. We also need to be a country with less takers and a whole lot more givers, but we make it very easy to be takers.

The left wants all of these things, but doesn't have even a basic understanding of human behavior, and why everything they do backfires on them.

The left made that bed, now they can lie in it until they figure that out.

[TwoByFour]

Let's drop the labels like socialism and talk about specifics.

I believe the US should have Medicare-for-all.

I believe the US should increase the tax on people making over $10 million per year.

I believe in capitalism and think it should be encouraged through infrastructure, education, and free trade.

Is that socialism? Is that what Denmark is doing? I have no idea, but the above is what I want.

[Luciano700]

Originally Posted by PierceMarx

Embrace it, folks. Democratic socialism is our future.

No it's not.

[TwoByFour]

And one other thing I believe:

I would rather have a hard working, tax paying immigrant, illegal or not, than a lazy American who won't relocate when his coal or steel job goes away. The immigrant is willing to relocate, why isn't the American? And why should the government fix his situation rather than him fixing it himself? The latter sounds like the kind of nanny-state government that the right wingers complain about.

[trobesmom]

With all these socialism questions, I have to ask, what does that mean exactly?

[TwoByFour]

Originally Posted by trobesmom

With all these socialism questions, I have to ask, what does that mean exactly?

It's identity politics. Don't fall into the trap. Just talk about specific issues.