Just a heads up. I was in a minor accident and took an arrow to the...well, a hard object to the groin. This has led to what I can easily describe as the most amazing pain and swelling I have felt in 45 years. The urologist said it was Epididymitis caused by blunt trauma. I have an ultrasound on monday. Needless to say, this is why I haven't been posting for a few days and won't be until the pain goes away long enough for me to sit at a computer.

and the same to you!

thanks!

thanks!

Yeah, I've never understood churches being exempt from taxation. I know the argument is that the government could use taxation as a method to infringe upon which churches it doesn't approve of, but if all churches were forced to pay exactly the same rate it would be impossible to discriminate against a specific one.

Of course, churches and religions get away with a lot of crimes that anyone else would get destroyed for. Looking at you, Catholic Church!

I know the original concept was fictional, but the general ideal does exist in theory. I can find numerous articles that discuss it and even Scandinavian politicians refer to it as being somewhat entrenched in the society.

Perhaps a better way to look at it would be the secondary summary given by Kim Orlin Kantardjiev. The law might be summarised as "You shouldn't think you're better than everyone else."

Of course it isn't a 'law' in the rulebooks, but when you have a mostly homogeneous society that believes in a certain cultural norm, then it might as well be.

I suspect we will disagree on whether it is truly a factor, I can only offer my opinion based on what I have read and studied. One of the nasty side effect of my crippling fear of flight is the likelihood that I will never visit a country I can't drive to or take a short sea voyage to.

I would love it if we all paid a proportionate amount of tax regardless of wealth. I would also love it if they would remove all of the various loopholes that let people like our President scam their way out of paying hardly any taxes.

One of the things people always forget about the 50's is that one of the reasons why 'everyone' (white people for the most part, ethnicities need not apply) had good jobs, etc. is because a good chunk of people died in WW2/Korea. We lost over half a million people during the years from 1942 to 1953. Additionally there was a dramatic shift in female employment, meaning that for the first time many households were not wholly dependent on one salary.

I can't speak for Deathcow, but in my own opinion if you have a significantly smaller population, it is far more likely that people will share a similar outlook on life and how people should live it. In a larger nation with a massive population you begin to notice regional and economical differences (unless the nation is an island, that has a dramatic effect of it's own).

It's obviously not a slam dunk, but it does present a likely reason as to why a nation with a smaller population that has cultural and social ideals shared by most will be able to adhere to standards others would find difficult.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_of_Jante

This attitude is prevalent in Nordic countries. As the article states, there has been some slight movement away from Janteloven, but not very much. It is precisely this attitude that allows for people to accept drastically higher taxes, not just for the 1%, but across the board. The social culture is dramatically different in the USA, possibly to our detriment.

Per capita means nothing. All NATO states are supposed to be spending at least 2% of their GDP towards defense. As I said, Norway spends around 1.2% of their GDP, if the USA did the same, we would have a massive amount of money for social programs. Again, I must stress that I am not slamming Norway or other Nordic countries for not reaching the 2%, I am simply pointing out additional reasons why they have more money available for social programs than we do.

I don't see what developmental aid has to do with anything. I am sure Norway spends money in other places as well. I am pointing out why socialism works in Nordic countries and why it would be a hard sell in the USA.

I understand that you are happy with your situation. In a perfect world, we could all follow a similar rule. Unfortunately to fit into that type of situation you need a population that is of relatively the same mind. In most larger nations that is impossible, there are too many different groups that have competing ideals.

It doesn't work because there is an intrinsic group think personality in the Nordic region. Most people in that region that were born and raised there are very sensitive to profit making and ostentatious displays.

Which means that people are glad to simply 'get by'. There is not a mass drive to be better than your neighbor or own more toys than them. Of course there are outliers, but the bulk of Scandinavians are very used to the accepted norm. They are more willing to accept massive tax rates because they know they will be taken care of by the government. They aren't necessarily concerned about 'getting rich'.

Contrast that to other areas, especially the USA, and you will find out that it would never work here because we are an individualistic nation. Even the bluest liberal wants to be rich here. It's more cutthroat, more selfish, than you will find in a Scandi nation.

Another huge reason it would never work is that they do not spend anywhere near the percentage of their budget on defense that we do. Denmark spends about 20 billion per year on defense. Norway, an oil rich Scandi nation that is considered one of our most important NATO allies, spends about 6 billion. Less than 1.2% of their GDP. This is one thing that Trump was actually right about. We spend around 700 Billion, roughly 3.5% of our current GDP.

"Half the alliance — 16 of the 29 countries — don’t even spend 1.5 percent (of gross domestic product) let alone 2 percent that we all agreed on four years ago (at a NATO summit) in Wales,” Michael Fallon, who served as secretary of state for defense from 2014 to 2017, said. In 2017, only the U.K., Greece, Poland and Estonia reached the 2 percent target.

Whether that level of spending is needed is another argument altogether. I personally think we overspend way too much on defense, but regardless it is a huge factor as to why we can't offer the same level of 'socialism' that the Nordic nations do. If we spent the same percentage as Norway, we would be saving close to 460 billion dollars a year that could be applied to other programs. Such as paying for college for qualified students or trade school for ones that are not college minded. Or providing benefits to new mothers that we currently don't.

Taking a short beak, fibromyalgia acting up badly

thanks!

From almost everything I've seen, most average Russians have a similar sense of crazy humor. Unfortunately they keep ending up with nutjob leaders, kind of like us.

thanks!

thanks!