Trump is a Winning Machine

Not the way I would have put it, but there is a lot of truth in that ...

More like living your life simply in community where you have lifelong friends and family around - where someone will help you if things go wrong and you can have some confidence in the law and government ... Andy Griffith show stuff ... that is where you find the most "happy" people.

But we have moved on from small town America and are seeking fulfillment and meaning on a whole other level.

 

Another factor is population, what’s Norway 5 million? U.S.A. 350 million. Hard to say what works in one will work in the other

 

Did Norway go from capitalism or monarchy to socialism? Satisfaction with your current situation sometimes depends on how you got there.

 

You guys just don't get it. Socialism is always better!








Until it's not.

 

I don't think its the population size so much as mindset of the population. Socialized medicine, free college tuition, etc. sorta works so long as the majority of the population is productive (and paying taxes, lots of), college students are majoring in subjects that will benefit the GDP etc. (It doesn't hurt either when Unka Sam has your back, so your defense spending can be limited.) When that's not the case, things start downhill rapidly.

 

Stop saying Norway is a socialist state. IT'S NOT! It's economy is highly based on capitalism. They do have more social policies in place that are socialist, but the country is NOT socialist.

 

Have we? Or are we just having that shoved fine our throat by a media and political establishment that feeds on negativity?

 

They are oil rich.

 

reminds me of a Pig w/ lipstick?

 

This. A small population with a large natural resource revenue stream makes socialist policies much easier to manage...

 

IF?! Are you new here? I don't mean to the forum, I mean to America? They just concluded an eight year long experiment during which time they tried to re-create the plot of Atlas Shrugged.

 

Not to mention an almost completely homogeneous population with the same cultural values and shared experience.

 

Well actually I have a Canadian Passport, but I have lived in 5 countries and traveled extensively to many more. And yes I spent most of the last 20 years in the US. Not because I couldnt find a good job elsewhere - but because it was the place I wanted to be. So I do know about Obama, and also a reasonable bit about the world in general....

I too hope it wont be the Democrats in their present form, but some more liberal type of government will come to power in the US within the next generation and will stay there for a long time. Absolutely without any doubt. Because us old white guys are dying off fast and a black / hispanic majority is not that far away.

Also when discussing the affordability of social policies in other countries, be careful about using US costs and systems as a basis for this. A good example is health care. No other country in the world gets less value per dollar spent on health care than the US ...

 

So is Russia.

So is Saudi Arabia (or so I heard).

Venezuela, Iran, Iraq, etc....

Norway seems more hospitable....

 

Prove that last statement.

 

The gov gets royalites from the oil, same as the US but less pork projects.

 

LOL, reading what you've said caused me to realize that you've hit one of our nails right dead center on the head. I kind of chuckled and thought, damn, Steve is right. Us old white guys are in fact, dying off, yet here we are raising hell on this forum about something that is so frigging complicated (modern US society) that there is absolutely no way for any set of leaders to have all the answers for everyone.

Are small rural communities happier? Were the "old days" better? Heck, I think so. What I use to judge it is based on the fact that I lived in the old days and I'm still living so I get to judge what the "new days" are also like. All the younger people are not good judges of what the old days were like since they can only read about it. Do I need my computer, or cell phone, or super duper fuel injected car? Why hell no, I got along just fine with my 1955 Ford Fairlane trying to lay every girl in my hometown. Was I unhappy then? Only because I wasn't successful with "all" the girls. (I think I need a do over.)

You're right. Sooner or later we will end up with some form of Socialism in this country. We already have some socialist ideas in place so the push farther left is not going to be hard. People tend to look at Socialism as a rather pleasant way to live. It's not all roses and good smelling flowers but people have to learn for themselves. Us "old white guys" will be history by then so there's that.