It's a dog eat dogg world.

[Save_Ferris]

I guess that's how it is in Norway, the stoners pay Kroners

 

[G-Max]

I assumed it was some Godless Commie thing.

That's my immediate reaction when I think of a place that is only 83% Christian, and only has the second highest GDP per capita in the world, ranked dead last in the failed states index meaning it is the single most stable economy in the world, with a vast per-capita reserve (largest in the world) and a net creditor nation.

Obviously they're fining people for having too much money because they're Godless Commies; what with the universal healthcare and all. That universal healthcare, crippling what could have been the HIGHEST GDP per capita nation in the world. It's that socialism again... danged Commies.

Oops, forgot to shake my fist angrily.

Grrr! Commies and such.


What happened to you Norway? You used to be such a cool, carefree place, with actual freaking Vikings. Loot and plunder, not a care in the world. Now you're all sopping over with consideration for your fellow man and social responsibility.

Yuck.

Whoa there, you're veering dangerously close to starting an actual political discussion. Take that kind of crap to The Chamber Pot. We here in the Tavern are only interested in serious business.

But seriously, Norway has assloads of money by virtue of having vast amounts of Arctic petroleum and a population about as sparse as that of Colorado. Dump 30 million Mexican immigrants over there and then see how well their economy functions.

 

[trader/warrior]

Sweden; No oil, 12.3% of the population is immigrants compared to the US 12.8%

They seem to be doing fine.

 

[G-Max]

This thread is not about Sweden.

 

[trader/warrior]

No, it's about snoop dogg, so why are you talking about mexican immigrants to norway?

I was responding to your hypothetical.

 

[G-Max]

No, it's about snoop dogg, so why are you talking about mexican immigrants to norway?

Because Mexicans listen to Snoop, who was recently arrested in Norway.

 

[IdiotsOpposite]

Because Mexicans listen to Snoop, who was recently arrested in Norway.

I don't think anyone really LISTENS to Snoop anymore. They may hear him, they may comprehend what he's saying, but I doubt they listen.

 

[Askthepizzaguy]

Whoa there, you're veering dangerously close to starting an actual political discussion.

Doubtful, as you're the only one who responded to the politics. And wouldn't have been an "actual" political discussion, as it was quite obviously ironic satire. Folks who say that single payer universal health systems won't work, will result in bad healthcare, or will bankrupt a nation like to overlook places where the system works much better than here, is much cheaper per capita, and costs the nation less than a for-profit system, which totally undermines every point a thoughtless profit-first agenda could ever hope to make. Not to mention the broader point which is that it also didn't ruin the economy either, since they're quite a rich nation.

I also don't want to hear that it's because they have oil. We're also sitting on other natural resources we can't begin to use for ourselves and we're also the largest economy. There's no way a country like that should have any natural advantage over us that we couldn't duplicate or just plain beat, yet here we are, talking hypothetical, like there's no way to make a system like that work, even though there's proof to the contrary as far as the eye can see. It's not just that one country either, there are lots of first world nations with similar systems that work better, and cheaper, and obviously are a great asset for the poor which otherwise have nothing keeping them out of debt if they get sick. Frankly the idea that we think we're so great but won't adopt clearly better systems that are superior on every single level strikes me as prideful, ignorant, and typically conservative American.

Oops, I forgot to add the punchline, to keep this all light-hearted. Or maybe I didn't forget; Our health care system is the punchline. Haw haw haw.

But yeah, if you want a serious discussion about healthcare, we can go to the serious place, where people can wax philosophical about how opposed they are ideologically to the idea of taxing one person to pay for another person's personal benefits, while supporting extending decade-long unnecessary tax cuts for the wealthiest class without bothering to find a way to pay for it except by cutting vital safeguards for the poor during periods of high unemployment. But then again, I could always turn to any of the Murdoch-owned media outlets if I wanted to hear that sort of pro-plutocrat drivel- I don't. I'd rather mock the ideology relentlessly until it's laughed out of existence.

Serious discussions are for the open-minded. I'm happily closed minded on this issue and don't have anything to say to persuade people. If you like declining quality care and some of the highest prices in the world, and millions of people who need to see a doctor who simply can't do it, then you like things that are bad for you and there's no logic that can be put forward to make you change your mind. Healthcare is like education, it's a vital thing that should not be extended only to the rich, and for the supposedly "greatest" country on earth to not be able to figure out how to do it, has everything to do with politics and nothing to do with a lack of means. Can fight wars anywhere on the planet indefinitely while sending robots through space, can't pay for aspirin. Sheer lunacy.

 

[Quintillus]

http://goscandinavia.about.com/od/norwa1/a/customsnorway.htm - apparnetly you can bring up to 25,000 kronor into the country without declaring it. So maybe he just brought too much money without declaring it? Although it seems like it'd have to be an awful lot for that large of a fine.

Although if he'd stuck with just the money, he probably would have been fine. Unless they have money-snooping dogs now, too.