Regrettably true. Hungary forbade a gay pride parade, but Hungarians had one anyway,in the capital, in the tens or hundreds of thousands, and peaceful, no military on standby,
By design, the U.S. is too divided in ideology to ever be like Norway and the other similar democracies. They pay a lot more income taxes to be able to afford those privileges in those countries, something the Americans have been indoctrinated to reject. Until that attitude changes, nothing else will change. Norway sacrifices a smaller tax base and smaller military in order to pay for their social services. Which I think is a good thing. Why does the U.S. think they have to have the largest, most expensive military in the world? Think about that for a minute before you answer. Who stands to benefit from this over large, over priced military? Certainly not the American public.
Cultural differences. "Norwegians are investing in their people."
Defense: Norway is committed to spending 5% of its GDP on defense-related expenditures. This includes 3.5% on "classic defense" and 1.5% on "defence-related expenses"
US: roughly 13% of the US federal budget was allocated to national defense. This translates to about $872 billion. While this may seem like a large portion, it's worth noting that this percentage has fluctuated throughout history, reaching highs of over 27% in the late 1980s and lows of around 11% in recent years.
.
Once upon a time, I produced a seminar in Minneapolis, and at the time, Golden Girls was big on TV and the Prarie Home Companion was popular on radio. One of the characters in Golden Girls (played by Betty White) was from Minnesota, and her accounts of home, were her comedy schtick. Mythical Lake Wobegon, Minnesota was "where all the women are strong, all the men are good-looking, and all the children are above average."
I told them bad jokes, like I'm from Miami, where all the women are macho, the men may be hermoso but since we're afraid our kids might turn out to be below average, I'm here to learn.
Not one person laughed.
When we got the teacher evaluations, virtually everyone said I was hilarious. I was told that many in the audience were Norweigan batchelors, who culturally show no emotion.
So I looked into it.
Turns out 117,444 Norwegian Americans live in Florida. That was news. I never had met anyone in Florida who self identified as Norweigan/American.
Approximately 810,300 Minnesotans identify Norwegian ancestry, Norwegian culture is deeply embedded in Minnesota's identity, evident in everything from place names to traditions to the presence of numerous Scandinavian cultural centers. Boy are they proud!
In 2023, Norway's GDP per capita was estimated to be $87,925. This figure represents the total value of goods and services produced in Norway divided by its population. The data is in current US dollars. Noweigans pay a flat income tax rate of 22% on all taxable income
The most recent estimate for the per capita income of the United States is $74,505. Someone with $74,505 in taxable income (single filer) would be subject to:
*10% on the first $11,600.
*12% on the income between $11,601 and $47,150.
*22% on the remaining income between $47,151 and $74,505.
Norway does not have a national debt in the traditional sense. While they do have government debt, it is massively outweighed by the assets held in their sovereign wealth fund, the Government Pension Fund Global. This fund holds assets equivalent to over three times the nation's GDP, making Norway a net creditor. They do not run a budget deficit, instead, they have a surplus, and their net public position is significantly positive.
The sovereign fund started in 1998, the oil fund pools the state's revenues from oil and gas production into investments abroad, both to avoid overheating the domestic economy and for the benefit of future generations. As of June 2025, it had over $1.9 trillion in assets, and held on average 1.5% of all of the world's listed companies, making it the world's largest single sovereign wealth fund in terms of total assets under management. This translates to over $340,000 per Norwegian citizen.
Here's an AI summary of the main taxes in Norway:
Income Tax: Norway has a dual income tax system where ordinary income (from employment, business, and capital) is taxed at a flat rate, and personal income (from employment and pensions) is subject to additional progressive bracket taxes.
Social Security Contributions: Individuals contribute to the National Insurance Scheme (NI-scheme), which funds healthcare, unemployment insurance, and retirement benefits. The employee's contribution rate is typically 7.9% of gross income, while the employer's contribution varies by region and can be up to 14.1%.
Value Added Tax (VAT): This is a consumption tax applied at each stage of production and distribution of most goods and services. The standard VAT rate in Norway is 25%, with reduced rates applying to specific goods and services like foodstuffs and cultural events.
Wealth Tax: Norway imposes a wealth tax on net wealth above a certain threshold at both the municipal and state levels. The municipal rate is 0.525%, and the state rate is 0.475% for net wealth over NOK 1,760,000 for single taxpayers. An increased rate of 0.575% applies to net wealth above NOK 20,700,000.
Property Tax: Municipal authorities may levy property tax on real estate at rates between 0.1% and 0.7% of the assessed value. Some municipalities do not impose this tax.
In summary, Norwegians contribute to a comprehensive tax system that supports a robust welfare state and high quality of life
Calvin Coolidge said : "The business of America is business" However America includes the whole continent, thus it should be the United States,. This is the only country founded on an idea, and idea expressed in our constitution. A Norwegian, a Frenchman, a Guatemalan can immigrate, be naturalized and become an American.
An American can immigrate to China but will never become Chinese. Or to France and become French, he will always be an American.
Addressing the issue of our overly large military. The citizens of this country enjoy the riches that the world produces because of our military might. The US Navy keeps the sea lanes open and punishes pirates, that we, and the world, can enjoy the fruits produced by other countries.
Our Army, Navy, Air Force protect the sources of those goodies on which we depend.
Take OPEC for example.All OPEC has to do is turn the oil spigot clockwise and the United States would fall to it's knees, as would Europe, and what is deterring OPEC (Saudi Arabia) from holding us hostage? A landlocked aircraft carrier on the shores of the eastern Mediterranean called Israel, that is what.
Without an over sized military, any country in the world could cripple us, and our standard of living.
Putin would overrun Europe, China Asia, Turkey and Saudi Arabia, the Mid east and North Africa.
And all of the products on which we depend would cease to flow or would be so expensive as to be unaffordable.
And what has made the billionaires, billionaires? The unquenchable thirst, the bottomless appetite of the Unites States citizen.
This country is a superpower, but not because of it's military, but because our superpower is consumption. Trump uses that superpower to force foreign countries to whore themselves out by sending delegates, including nation leaders, to the Offal Office to prostrate themselves before and be humiliated by Trump.
The military is so large because our consumption is so large. We consume the world, and thus we have to protect the sources of our consumption.
In the 2025 World Happiness Report, Norway is ranked 7th happiest country. This ranking places it behind Finland (1st), Denmark (2nd), Iceland (3rd), Sweden (4th), the Netherlands (5th), and Costa Rica (6th).
The United States is ranked 23rd.
My maternal grandparents lived in Sweden until about 1912. Wound up as snowbirds to Florida. In my family sunshine outweighs economics.
BTW Norway has universal conscription, meaning both men and women are liable for military service. That means every citizen in Norway is hypothetically involved in national defense.
My friend's cousin is a professor in Finland who loves paying 49% taxes for excellent free education and healthcare. Corporations have no problem paying their fair share because they value educated happy employees...imagine!
I know Finnish Americans who got dual citizenship so they can send their kids to school for free in Finland.
Same with a few other countries.
I think I told you a negighbor, born in US has dual Greek citizenship and relocated to Greece. Her kid has brittle juvenle onset diabetes -- gets free meds and free school -- in English/Greek in Athens.
I do believe that I have said in a previous post. That wealth is not money, that wealth is the things that make us happy.
Scandinavian countries are not wealthy like the US, but they are one hell of a lot happier, in fact the U.S. in general is downright miserable, despite its piles of money, and things. I personally chalk it up to bigotry and psyops.
And paradoxically it's affluence. We have millions of poor little men, sitting around, figuratively,in their parents basements, playing video games, and not getting any pussy, and blaming the libs who have given all of the jobs to the immigrants and females who don't need the man anymore for safety and support.
Bye, bye Miss american Pie. No one is leaving it to Beaver, Father doesn't know best, It is not a wonderful world, Rooster Cogburn is not saving damsels in distress, John Wayne is not making America safe for the white man,and Dirty Harry has retired
And the poor things feel victimized because they can't victimize their prey.
Amen, William. Thank you for putting some of the male/female dynamic into words. Most of the modern men have figured out how to be a partner. Women had to figure out how to get an education and hold down a job, so it's time to share the rest.
Your comment William is superb. Ha! ‘Offal office’ good one.
I am not sure how many Americans are clued into the problem that is consumption because they think it is a birth right therefore pulling back from this identity will be years of withdrawal on all the levels you point out. But we could relieve ourselves from the realms of entropy.
Thom’s essay on the principles that define Norway’s democracy is Manna from heaven for me. Just thinking about it reminds me of Rainer Maria Rilke’s ‘a ringing glass that shatters as it rings.’ Thus to be among the vanishing in the realm of entropy, to become the idea we were meant to be, because to stay is to be nowhere.
Here is the thing. Our consumption is enabled because of debt. No debt and our consumption is limited to what it was in the 1960's, cash payment and lay a ways, oh yeh There were gas cards. I had Gulf and Texaco.
I also bought Savings Bonds, during the war they were called War Bonds, what they really did was limit consumption
I am not going to try and explain it, because it takes too much time, but the fractional reserves system, managed by the Fed, is the basis for loaning (creating money), the reserves are government securities, corporate bonds and checking accounts. Not savings accounts, because money in savings is not juicing consumption.
Oh, the cruel irony! (He sighs and faints onto his couch). By the hour it seems, trump's policies are making our country less like Norway. He is on course to make America into one of those "shit hole" countries he seems to admire.
The key quote here is the definition of democratic socialism: "the people vote for leaders who actually implement policies the majority wants." In other words, democracy, properly implemented, is socialism. It is a levelling institution, whereas hierarchical institutions, such as corporations, religions, or the military, are innately dictatorial.
Yes they are. As a retired officer, I can affirm, that the military is no democracy, and a good thing at that. Can you imagine taking a vote on every objective or decision.
In that vein, democracies aren't democracies either. We elect people to make decisions for us, and then have to abide by the decisions that they make.
The difference being that in public life, we elect our decision makers. In the military and in corporations the decision makers are appointed. In small business the decision maker is the person who started and owns the business, in non profits a board of directors hires or appoints the decision makers.
What I mean to say is that I don't want corporations, religion, or the military running government, because they don't believe in shared decision-making or accountability to the rank-and-file.
I can't speak for corporations, but let's talk about the military. Ukraine is a great example. tactical decisions are made on the spot by Non commissioned officers NCO's. Major decisions are made higher up on the chain of command, all the way to the top. Zelenskyy couldn't have held off the Russians for three years, if he was fully and totally democratic, he has advisors of course, takes in input, and makes decisions from there, as does his subordinates down the chain of command.
Compare Ukraine to Russia, It is top down, even to squad level, a trooper can't fart (exaggeration) without permission from his commander, and his commander can't make a decision without the permission of his commander, on up the chain.
The American military will never run the government, it is not built that way, it has been under civilian control since the beginning, and the generals wouldn't know what to do or how to run a government.
We have elected generals before, the last one being Ike, but just like all of the other presidents, they get into office and they are naif's, they don't know how the beltway works and are leaped on like they were prey.In Dubya's case it was Dick Cheney. In Obama and Bidens case it was Larry Summers, who earned his stripes in the Reagan Administration on the Council of Economic Advisors.
We already have a corporation running the administration. The Trump Organization. Well it is no longer and administration but a regime, let's see if we can prise ourselves loose, or will we wind up like North Korea with a family dynasty.
I am more aware of how corporations are run. At least how they can be run. Trump is used to running a private corporation, meaning that he CAN act like a dictator. A private corporation’s funding organizations can exert control via financing agreements. On the other hand, publicly owned corporations with stockholders have Board of Directors that answer to their shareholders. One of the Supreme Court decisions “codified” that relationship. The key thing about the corporate model - which Curtis Yarvin believes is the model to follow running countries - is that the CEO can be dismissed and replaced for poor performance. In fact, the entire BOD can be replaced.
If the fad among Republicans who favor the Unitary Executive model, believe that the President is like a Corporate CEO, then we should be able to replace this clown car ineffective, inflation producing, tariff of the day, Constitution ignoring Administration - by a stockholder vote - citizens being the stockholders. Special Election recall by the “stockholders”.
Private corporations are not controlled by funding organizations.
Private corporations have share holderrs, which elect representatives to sit on the board of directors, and these corporations hire executives to manage the corporation. When corporations need money the board then either authorizes the issuance of stock, or authorizes the corporation to borrow money either a loan from a financial institution or by issuing corporate
bonds.
You posit an interesting theory or idea, but alas there is no provision in our Constitution for a recall of a President, much less holding a special election, and if Yarvin's and Heritage's Project 2025 is fully implemented, we will be stuck with a forever regime.
It seems that America’s fundamental value is money. Not good government nor beneficial institutional government. Reagan was instrumental in this with his declaration that government was the problem. Now we have Trump who is quickly dismantling the beneficial in government and taking America back a century or more. Americans have so much to learn.
We're incapable of learning because our educational system sucks — and is about to suck even more. And then there's the social stigma attached to erudition...
Yes egghead is a taunt. Here is the problem. Consider this country a huge classroom. In it are A's, B's.C's.D's. E's and F's. distributed like the bell curve.
The A's and B's are dissed, ostracized, call names like nerd and egghead by the C's and D;s. The C's and D's, look down upon and patronize the E's and F's
The C's and D's are mediocre, but are like sheep, grazing the ground but with one on on the rest of the flock, never daring to wander outside of the safety of the flock, and restricting it's self and behavior to the standard of the flock.
The standard in this era is cultural communism, willful ignorance, cult membership
Just look at the stupidity of Tik Tok, Some fool gets dunked by ice water, and then challenges other fools to to do the same.and the sheep jump on board, taking video's of themselves to be mass distributed.
Not just kids either, how many adults do something, buy something, engage in an activity because "others are doing it".
While I was striving to learn the most I could and do well as in A’s in my undergraduate and graduate classes (I was in my 30’s ) I commented on how many mostly young students were satisfied with a C grade and a professor remarked that the C students will run the corporations.
Yeah, you're exactly right. I went through that constant hazing in school because of my high grades, my lack of interest in sports, and the fact that I looked like an oversized geek.
"...how many adults do something, buy something, engage in an activity because "others are doing it." Most, but in all fairness we're hard-wired for it: For hundreds of thousands of years if you didn't conform you were ostrasized,and if you were ostracized you were probably dead. Likewise, our simian forebears (that ought to rankle a few out there) were also tribal so it's written into our code. Sometimes our behavior resembles a bunch of lemmings. Perfect fodder for cults.
I have always considered that America’s overriding ‘value’ was avarice. I think this bunch of DT’s cronies are proof. And now they are flaunting christianity. A contradiction in their sad, dirty little world.
Good point, Orel. NPR is showing some of the smaller stations and how the cuts are going to affect the community services they provide. It is sad and very harmful to smaller towns and rural areas.
During a hearing, Representative Jared Huffman told sycophant Republicans wanting to change Gulf of Mexico to Gulf of America, that what they should really call it was the Gulf of Ignorance.
It is all in the name, isn't it? The propaganda has come at us so long some just can't wrap their heads around anything using the word "socialist". Bernie changed that to some extent with the younger generations. Time to finish what he started.
The American Dream should not be to move to Norway or Canada, but it has come to that for some. We have worked really hard. We deserve and can do so much better. SCOTUS six, the oligarchs, TRump and his cult be damned!
Make some good trouble---cure some ignorance. See you in the streets.
Another excellent column that clearly outlines massive problems the US faces. However, we are now dealing with a populace that believes nonsense and votes against its own self benefits.
Yes, the billionaires, unsupreme court and corrupt politicians are killing democracy and society, but the same can be said for a large percentage of American.
Why are the percentages not in the 70-90% range??
"The irony? The majority of Americans want a Norway-style system.
— 66% support Medicare for All
— 58% support free college and student debt cancellation
— 64% support taxing the ultra-rich more heavily
— 60% of workers say they’d join a union if they could
So why don’t we have it?
Because six corrupt Republican Supreme Court justices, and the corrupt rightwing billionaires who bought them and support their lavish lifestyles, won’t let us."
However, I don't blame the corrupt Supreme Court, nor do I blame the Republicans or Trump.
I blame the American people who didn't show up en masse to elect Hillary Clinton, and later, Kamala Harris. This corrupt SC and Trump, wouldn't exist had that happened.
Those folks are why we have the corrupt government we are experiencing at this time.
Terry I held my nose and voted for Hillary, because I was really voting against Trump.
Me no like, nor trust Hillary, she is an extension of her husband who betrayed his base and created the rust belt/swing states that became Trump alley.
I was enthusiasic for Kamala, then I noticed her staying with a "moderate Script" and my opinion of her changed, especially because she had a repetitive script, yet I still voted for her. The sad fact is this. The Republicans have not cultivated or nurture a candidate with charisma and back bone, who can stand up to the billionaires and the powers that be.
We have our Bernies, our AOC's, our Mamdani's, but they are outliers and a threat to the old guard in the DNC.
You are absolutely correct, so is your wife.I too voted for Hillary. It is a hell of a world when we have to vote for Bugsy Siegal because he is running against Al Capone.or vice versa.
I am so tired of voting against, instead of voting for. I want to vote for someone at least once in my life, and I've been voting since Nixon v Kennedy
Not really. The current disposition of the structure of fed/gov. is archaic and destructive. The nation has always been a kleptocracy and a racially compromised society with very unequal protections. Capitalism has destroyed the nation and much of the world, and is at the core of corruption and waste, fraud, abuse and ignorance. We continuously elect a hand-picked candidate at almost every level, picked by corporate/blue blood 'murkan oligarchy. A corrupt SC exists due to the manipulation of the Constitution from day one. The idea of 'representative democracy' is a sham. Too many competing interests, way too much propaganda, professional politicians are two-bit actors schilling the public at the behest of the kleptocratic power structure. The bottom of the public pays for the socialized benefits used by the top end. Including insurance, which is privatized socialism for the insurance/banking industries. WE tried to make a nation huge in size and diversity with a one-size-fits-all approach to virtually every sector of behavior. That cannot work. It does not even work in legal/LE circles, due to the disparities in financial security of the citizens. Why do we keep sugar coating a rotting can of Spam? Look where we are as a crumbling nation in a burning and melting and poisoned world filled with lies and more lies and killing after killing. You think a tweak will fix this? Nah. Not even close.
We must protest on Thursday because “Good Trouble Lives On”. The memory of Troy AL native John Lewis will be honored to have you participate in this manner. Here are signs for you to print. https://hotbuttons.substack.com/p/protest-signage-free?r=3m1bs
Freedom Highway, written in 1965, calls out injustice, and rallies people to walk in defiance because the fight for freedom and justice is always ongoing.
Great article! A short read that’s long on accurate analysis of what was and is being MADE to go wrong, who’s responsible, and what to do to fix it to make it work for “We The People”!
We don’t have the numbers according to a recent Pew poll. The morbidly rich have succeeded in wrecking public education and indoctrinating even people who should know better. We face either full-blown fascism or unrest suspiciously resembling a civil war. I’d leave if I could, but am too old and too ill and too insignificant for that to matter. I am hoping our grandson does. Because there are too many people immune to reason, facts, the truth in this country. Sadly, if fascism prevails, the whole world will be at risk, not just this destroyed country. And yes, the corrupt six on SCOTUS have been gleefully pounding nail after nail into the coffin lid.
It’s not surprising the kraznov and his cronies want to destroy the DOE. After all a dumbed down population is easier to control. It makes me sick. There’s no end to the ways billionaires are planning to screw us.
Forget about Norway, I’m pretty sure that at this point we’re less democratic than Hungary.
Regrettably true. Hungary forbade a gay pride parade, but Hungarians had one anyway,in the capital, in the tens or hundreds of thousands, and peaceful, no military on standby,
now imagine a similar event in Washington D.C.
It would probably have a tragic end. There is no one left in the military to stop the “shoot them” order.
And the Norwegian Prime Minister was in the Oslo Pride Parade!
Cool.
😂😊😳🥺😥😭
By design, the U.S. is too divided in ideology to ever be like Norway and the other similar democracies. They pay a lot more income taxes to be able to afford those privileges in those countries, something the Americans have been indoctrinated to reject. Until that attitude changes, nothing else will change. Norway sacrifices a smaller tax base and smaller military in order to pay for their social services. Which I think is a good thing. Why does the U.S. think they have to have the largest, most expensive military in the world? Think about that for a minute before you answer. Who stands to benefit from this over large, over priced military? Certainly not the American public.
Cultural differences. "Norwegians are investing in their people."
Defense: Norway is committed to spending 5% of its GDP on defense-related expenditures. This includes 3.5% on "classic defense" and 1.5% on "defence-related expenses"
US: roughly 13% of the US federal budget was allocated to national defense. This translates to about $872 billion. While this may seem like a large portion, it's worth noting that this percentage has fluctuated throughout history, reaching highs of over 27% in the late 1980s and lows of around 11% in recent years.
.
Once upon a time, I produced a seminar in Minneapolis, and at the time, Golden Girls was big on TV and the Prarie Home Companion was popular on radio. One of the characters in Golden Girls (played by Betty White) was from Minnesota, and her accounts of home, were her comedy schtick. Mythical Lake Wobegon, Minnesota was "where all the women are strong, all the men are good-looking, and all the children are above average."
I told them bad jokes, like I'm from Miami, where all the women are macho, the men may be hermoso but since we're afraid our kids might turn out to be below average, I'm here to learn.
Not one person laughed.
When we got the teacher evaluations, virtually everyone said I was hilarious. I was told that many in the audience were Norweigan batchelors, who culturally show no emotion.
So I looked into it.
Turns out 117,444 Norwegian Americans live in Florida. That was news. I never had met anyone in Florida who self identified as Norweigan/American.
Approximately 810,300 Minnesotans identify Norwegian ancestry, Norwegian culture is deeply embedded in Minnesota's identity, evident in everything from place names to traditions to the presence of numerous Scandinavian cultural centers. Boy are they proud!
In 2023, Norway's GDP per capita was estimated to be $87,925. This figure represents the total value of goods and services produced in Norway divided by its population. The data is in current US dollars. Noweigans pay a flat income tax rate of 22% on all taxable income
The most recent estimate for the per capita income of the United States is $74,505. Someone with $74,505 in taxable income (single filer) would be subject to:
*10% on the first $11,600.
*12% on the income between $11,601 and $47,150.
*22% on the remaining income between $47,151 and $74,505.
Norway does not have a national debt in the traditional sense. While they do have government debt, it is massively outweighed by the assets held in their sovereign wealth fund, the Government Pension Fund Global. This fund holds assets equivalent to over three times the nation's GDP, making Norway a net creditor. They do not run a budget deficit, instead, they have a surplus, and their net public position is significantly positive.
The sovereign fund started in 1998, the oil fund pools the state's revenues from oil and gas production into investments abroad, both to avoid overheating the domestic economy and for the benefit of future generations. As of June 2025, it had over $1.9 trillion in assets, and held on average 1.5% of all of the world's listed companies, making it the world's largest single sovereign wealth fund in terms of total assets under management. This translates to over $340,000 per Norwegian citizen.
Here's an AI summary of the main taxes in Norway:
Income Tax: Norway has a dual income tax system where ordinary income (from employment, business, and capital) is taxed at a flat rate, and personal income (from employment and pensions) is subject to additional progressive bracket taxes.
Social Security Contributions: Individuals contribute to the National Insurance Scheme (NI-scheme), which funds healthcare, unemployment insurance, and retirement benefits. The employee's contribution rate is typically 7.9% of gross income, while the employer's contribution varies by region and can be up to 14.1%.
Value Added Tax (VAT): This is a consumption tax applied at each stage of production and distribution of most goods and services. The standard VAT rate in Norway is 25%, with reduced rates applying to specific goods and services like foodstuffs and cultural events.
Wealth Tax: Norway imposes a wealth tax on net wealth above a certain threshold at both the municipal and state levels. The municipal rate is 0.525%, and the state rate is 0.475% for net wealth over NOK 1,760,000 for single taxpayers. An increased rate of 0.575% applies to net wealth above NOK 20,700,000.
Property Tax: Municipal authorities may levy property tax on real estate at rates between 0.1% and 0.7% of the assessed value. Some municipalities do not impose this tax.
In summary, Norwegians contribute to a comprehensive tax system that supports a robust welfare state and high quality of life
Calvin Coolidge said : "The business of America is business" However America includes the whole continent, thus it should be the United States,. This is the only country founded on an idea, and idea expressed in our constitution. A Norwegian, a Frenchman, a Guatemalan can immigrate, be naturalized and become an American.
An American can immigrate to China but will never become Chinese. Or to France and become French, he will always be an American.
Addressing the issue of our overly large military. The citizens of this country enjoy the riches that the world produces because of our military might. The US Navy keeps the sea lanes open and punishes pirates, that we, and the world, can enjoy the fruits produced by other countries.
Our Army, Navy, Air Force protect the sources of those goodies on which we depend.
Take OPEC for example.All OPEC has to do is turn the oil spigot clockwise and the United States would fall to it's knees, as would Europe, and what is deterring OPEC (Saudi Arabia) from holding us hostage? A landlocked aircraft carrier on the shores of the eastern Mediterranean called Israel, that is what.
Without an over sized military, any country in the world could cripple us, and our standard of living.
Putin would overrun Europe, China Asia, Turkey and Saudi Arabia, the Mid east and North Africa.
And all of the products on which we depend would cease to flow or would be so expensive as to be unaffordable.
And what has made the billionaires, billionaires? The unquenchable thirst, the bottomless appetite of the Unites States citizen.
This country is a superpower, but not because of it's military, but because our superpower is consumption. Trump uses that superpower to force foreign countries to whore themselves out by sending delegates, including nation leaders, to the Offal Office to prostrate themselves before and be humiliated by Trump.
The military is so large because our consumption is so large. We consume the world, and thus we have to protect the sources of our consumption.
Economy is not the only measure.
In the 2025 World Happiness Report, Norway is ranked 7th happiest country. This ranking places it behind Finland (1st), Denmark (2nd), Iceland (3rd), Sweden (4th), the Netherlands (5th), and Costa Rica (6th).
The United States is ranked 23rd.
My maternal grandparents lived in Sweden until about 1912. Wound up as snowbirds to Florida. In my family sunshine outweighs economics.
BTW Norway has universal conscription, meaning both men and women are liable for military service. That means every citizen in Norway is hypothetically involved in national defense.
My friend's cousin is a professor in Finland who loves paying 49% taxes for excellent free education and healthcare. Corporations have no problem paying their fair share because they value educated happy employees...imagine!
I know Finnish Americans who got dual citizenship so they can send their kids to school for free in Finland.
Same with a few other countries.
I think I told you a negighbor, born in US has dual Greek citizenship and relocated to Greece. Her kid has brittle juvenle onset diabetes -- gets free meds and free school -- in English/Greek in Athens.
I have dual Greek citizenship but I have to convince my husband to take a long vacation there....
I do believe that I have said in a previous post. That wealth is not money, that wealth is the things that make us happy.
Scandinavian countries are not wealthy like the US, but they are one hell of a lot happier, in fact the U.S. in general is downright miserable, despite its piles of money, and things. I personally chalk it up to bigotry and psyops.
And paradoxically it's affluence. We have millions of poor little men, sitting around, figuratively,in their parents basements, playing video games, and not getting any pussy, and blaming the libs who have given all of the jobs to the immigrants and females who don't need the man anymore for safety and support.
Bye, bye Miss american Pie. No one is leaving it to Beaver, Father doesn't know best, It is not a wonderful world, Rooster Cogburn is not saving damsels in distress, John Wayne is not making America safe for the white man,and Dirty Harry has retired
And the poor things feel victimized because they can't victimize their prey.
Amen, William. Thank you for putting some of the male/female dynamic into words. Most of the modern men have figured out how to be a partner. Women had to figure out how to get an education and hold down a job, so it's time to share the rest.
On average, Norwegians are richer than we are, too.
No doubt. I count wealth in other currency than money.
Notice that out of your list, only one (Costa Rica) is not a Nordic country.
Just today, trouble in paradise. https://globalpost.com/stories/climate-of-insecurity-a-rise-in-crime-threatens-costa-rican-stability/?lh_aid=35942&lh_cid=zdq3zgqk3g&lh_em=apaalj%40gmail.com&di=bcd7254beb7c60312d927ef29b965ceb
I saw that news too. Costa Rica had been a place to emigrate - but things do change.
Your comment William is superb. Ha! ‘Offal office’ good one.
I am not sure how many Americans are clued into the problem that is consumption because they think it is a birth right therefore pulling back from this identity will be years of withdrawal on all the levels you point out. But we could relieve ourselves from the realms of entropy.
Thom’s essay on the principles that define Norway’s democracy is Manna from heaven for me. Just thinking about it reminds me of Rainer Maria Rilke’s ‘a ringing glass that shatters as it rings.’ Thus to be among the vanishing in the realm of entropy, to become the idea we were meant to be, because to stay is to be nowhere.
Here is the thing. Our consumption is enabled because of debt. No debt and our consumption is limited to what it was in the 1960's, cash payment and lay a ways, oh yeh There were gas cards. I had Gulf and Texaco.
I also bought Savings Bonds, during the war they were called War Bonds, what they really did was limit consumption
I am not going to try and explain it, because it takes too much time, but the fractional reserves system, managed by the Fed, is the basis for loaning (creating money), the reserves are government securities, corporate bonds and checking accounts. Not savings accounts, because money in savings is not juicing consumption.
Yes, please, I'd even settle for a country that looks more like Denmark!
Or Finland. Or New Zealand....
Oh, the cruel irony! (He sighs and faints onto his couch). By the hour it seems, trump's policies are making our country less like Norway. He is on course to make America into one of those "shit hole" countries he seems to admire.
The key quote here is the definition of democratic socialism: "the people vote for leaders who actually implement policies the majority wants." In other words, democracy, properly implemented, is socialism. It is a levelling institution, whereas hierarchical institutions, such as corporations, religions, or the military, are innately dictatorial.
Yes they are. As a retired officer, I can affirm, that the military is no democracy, and a good thing at that. Can you imagine taking a vote on every objective or decision.
In that vein, democracies aren't democracies either. We elect people to make decisions for us, and then have to abide by the decisions that they make.
The difference being that in public life, we elect our decision makers. In the military and in corporations the decision makers are appointed. In small business the decision maker is the person who started and owns the business, in non profits a board of directors hires or appoints the decision makers.
What I mean to say is that I don't want corporations, religion, or the military running government, because they don't believe in shared decision-making or accountability to the rank-and-file.
I can't speak for corporations, but let's talk about the military. Ukraine is a great example. tactical decisions are made on the spot by Non commissioned officers NCO's. Major decisions are made higher up on the chain of command, all the way to the top. Zelenskyy couldn't have held off the Russians for three years, if he was fully and totally democratic, he has advisors of course, takes in input, and makes decisions from there, as does his subordinates down the chain of command.
Compare Ukraine to Russia, It is top down, even to squad level, a trooper can't fart (exaggeration) without permission from his commander, and his commander can't make a decision without the permission of his commander, on up the chain.
The American military will never run the government, it is not built that way, it has been under civilian control since the beginning, and the generals wouldn't know what to do or how to run a government.
We have elected generals before, the last one being Ike, but just like all of the other presidents, they get into office and they are naif's, they don't know how the beltway works and are leaped on like they were prey.In Dubya's case it was Dick Cheney. In Obama and Bidens case it was Larry Summers, who earned his stripes in the Reagan Administration on the Council of Economic Advisors.
We already have a corporation running the administration. The Trump Organization. Well it is no longer and administration but a regime, let's see if we can prise ourselves loose, or will we wind up like North Korea with a family dynasty.
I am more aware of how corporations are run. At least how they can be run. Trump is used to running a private corporation, meaning that he CAN act like a dictator. A private corporation’s funding organizations can exert control via financing agreements. On the other hand, publicly owned corporations with stockholders have Board of Directors that answer to their shareholders. One of the Supreme Court decisions “codified” that relationship. The key thing about the corporate model - which Curtis Yarvin believes is the model to follow running countries - is that the CEO can be dismissed and replaced for poor performance. In fact, the entire BOD can be replaced.
If the fad among Republicans who favor the Unitary Executive model, believe that the President is like a Corporate CEO, then we should be able to replace this clown car ineffective, inflation producing, tariff of the day, Constitution ignoring Administration - by a stockholder vote - citizens being the stockholders. Special Election recall by the “stockholders”.
Like the Corporate Model now Republicans???
Private corporations are not controlled by funding organizations.
Private corporations have share holderrs, which elect representatives to sit on the board of directors, and these corporations hire executives to manage the corporation. When corporations need money the board then either authorizes the issuance of stock, or authorizes the corporation to borrow money either a loan from a financial institution or by issuing corporate
bonds.
You posit an interesting theory or idea, but alas there is no provision in our Constitution for a recall of a President, much less holding a special election, and if Yarvin's and Heritage's Project 2025 is fully implemented, we will be stuck with a forever regime.
It seems that America’s fundamental value is money. Not good government nor beneficial institutional government. Reagan was instrumental in this with his declaration that government was the problem. Now we have Trump who is quickly dismantling the beneficial in government and taking America back a century or more. Americans have so much to learn.
We're incapable of learning. Mostly because we don't want to.
We're incapable of learning because our educational system sucks — and is about to suck even more. And then there's the social stigma attached to erudition...
Yes egghead is a taunt. Here is the problem. Consider this country a huge classroom. In it are A's, B's.C's.D's. E's and F's. distributed like the bell curve.
The A's and B's are dissed, ostracized, call names like nerd and egghead by the C's and D;s. The C's and D's, look down upon and patronize the E's and F's
The C's and D's are mediocre, but are like sheep, grazing the ground but with one on on the rest of the flock, never daring to wander outside of the safety of the flock, and restricting it's self and behavior to the standard of the flock.
The standard in this era is cultural communism, willful ignorance, cult membership
Just look at the stupidity of Tik Tok, Some fool gets dunked by ice water, and then challenges other fools to to do the same.and the sheep jump on board, taking video's of themselves to be mass distributed.
Not just kids either, how many adults do something, buy something, engage in an activity because "others are doing it".
While I was striving to learn the most I could and do well as in A’s in my undergraduate and graduate classes (I was in my 30’s ) I commented on how many mostly young students were satisfied with a C grade and a professor remarked that the C students will run the corporations.
Especially if they are men! Thanks Carol.
Yeah, you're exactly right. I went through that constant hazing in school because of my high grades, my lack of interest in sports, and the fact that I looked like an oversized geek.
"...how many adults do something, buy something, engage in an activity because "others are doing it." Most, but in all fairness we're hard-wired for it: For hundreds of thousands of years if you didn't conform you were ostrasized,and if you were ostracized you were probably dead. Likewise, our simian forebears (that ought to rankle a few out there) were also tribal so it's written into our code. Sometimes our behavior resembles a bunch of lemmings. Perfect fodder for cults.
Because we already think we are the best! So wrong.
I have always considered that America’s overriding ‘value’ was avarice. I think this bunch of DT’s cronies are proof. And now they are flaunting christianity. A contradiction in their sad, dirty little world.
And don’t forget, the silencing of truth. Congress is voting this week on whether to cut funding to NPR.
Good point, Orel. NPR is showing some of the smaller stations and how the cuts are going to affect the community services they provide. It is sad and very harmful to smaller towns and rural areas.
Pleasing TRump.....
During a hearing, Representative Jared Huffman told sycophant Republicans wanting to change Gulf of Mexico to Gulf of America, that what they should really call it was the Gulf of Ignorance.
It is all in the name, isn't it? The propaganda has come at us so long some just can't wrap their heads around anything using the word "socialist". Bernie changed that to some extent with the younger generations. Time to finish what he started.
The American Dream should not be to move to Norway or Canada, but it has come to that for some. We have worked really hard. We deserve and can do so much better. SCOTUS six, the oligarchs, TRump and his cult be damned!
Make some good trouble---cure some ignorance. See you in the streets.
Another excellent column that clearly outlines massive problems the US faces. However, we are now dealing with a populace that believes nonsense and votes against its own self benefits.
Yes, the billionaires, unsupreme court and corrupt politicians are killing democracy and society, but the same can be said for a large percentage of American.
Why are the percentages not in the 70-90% range??
"The irony? The majority of Americans want a Norway-style system.
— 66% support Medicare for All
— 58% support free college and student debt cancellation
— 64% support taxing the ultra-rich more heavily
— 60% of workers say they’d join a union if they could
So why don’t we have it?
Because six corrupt Republican Supreme Court justices, and the corrupt rightwing billionaires who bought them and support their lavish lifestyles, won’t let us."
Sadly, the racists in charge of our country will point to demographics as the reason Norway is so clean and orderly 😒
Sad, but true emoji here…
I agree with what you say here.
However, I don't blame the corrupt Supreme Court, nor do I blame the Republicans or Trump.
I blame the American people who didn't show up en masse to elect Hillary Clinton, and later, Kamala Harris. This corrupt SC and Trump, wouldn't exist had that happened.
Those folks are why we have the corrupt government we are experiencing at this time.
Terry I held my nose and voted for Hillary, because I was really voting against Trump.
Me no like, nor trust Hillary, she is an extension of her husband who betrayed his base and created the rust belt/swing states that became Trump alley.
I was enthusiasic for Kamala, then I noticed her staying with a "moderate Script" and my opinion of her changed, especially because she had a repetitive script, yet I still voted for her. The sad fact is this. The Republicans have not cultivated or nurture a candidate with charisma and back bone, who can stand up to the billionaires and the powers that be.
We have our Bernies, our AOC's, our Mamdani's, but they are outliers and a threat to the old guard in the DNC.
My wife and I voted for Clinton because my wife told me, ‘it’s all about the Supreme Court.’
And she was soooo right.
I agree, Clinton had her problems, but nothing like Trump, I’m sure you agree.
If she’d won, we would have a completely different judiciary, and Roe versus Wade would still be the law of the land, As would many other things.
You are absolutely correct, so is your wife.I too voted for Hillary. It is a hell of a world when we have to vote for Bugsy Siegal because he is running against Al Capone.or vice versa.
I am so tired of voting against, instead of voting for. I want to vote for someone at least once in my life, and I've been voting since Nixon v Kennedy
Sometimes, you have to vote for one candidate to block another worse candidate from winning office. Sort of like playing chess.
Not really. The current disposition of the structure of fed/gov. is archaic and destructive. The nation has always been a kleptocracy and a racially compromised society with very unequal protections. Capitalism has destroyed the nation and much of the world, and is at the core of corruption and waste, fraud, abuse and ignorance. We continuously elect a hand-picked candidate at almost every level, picked by corporate/blue blood 'murkan oligarchy. A corrupt SC exists due to the manipulation of the Constitution from day one. The idea of 'representative democracy' is a sham. Too many competing interests, way too much propaganda, professional politicians are two-bit actors schilling the public at the behest of the kleptocratic power structure. The bottom of the public pays for the socialized benefits used by the top end. Including insurance, which is privatized socialism for the insurance/banking industries. WE tried to make a nation huge in size and diversity with a one-size-fits-all approach to virtually every sector of behavior. That cannot work. It does not even work in legal/LE circles, due to the disparities in financial security of the citizens. Why do we keep sugar coating a rotting can of Spam? Look where we are as a crumbling nation in a burning and melting and poisoned world filled with lies and more lies and killing after killing. You think a tweak will fix this? Nah. Not even close.
We must protest on Thursday because “Good Trouble Lives On”. The memory of Troy AL native John Lewis will be honored to have you participate in this manner. Here are signs for you to print. https://hotbuttons.substack.com/p/protest-signage-free?r=3m1bs
🍁 Elbows UP! 🏒
The next big action for democracy happens TOMORROW:
Good Trouble Lives On
Thursday July 17th 2025
https://goodtroubleliveson.org/
Freedom Highway, written in 1965, calls out injustice, and rallies people to walk in defiance because the fight for freedom and justice is always ongoing.
Bring your voice, and take the next step with us.
The Specials - Freedom Highway
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=wfSTXDOURFI
Indivisible
https://www.mobilize.us/indivisible/
American Civil Liberties Union
https://www.aclu.org/action
No Kings
https://www.nokings.org/next
Women's March
https://action.womensmarch.com/calendars/free-america-weekend
50501
https://www.fiftyfifty.one/events
MoveOn
https://www.mobilize.us/moveon/
Public Citizen
https://www.mobilize.us/publiccitizeninitiative/
🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁
Juzzie Smith - SUPERHEROS Offical Video
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=37J2vb81Z8o
🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁
Here are resistance related guides from around the world:
🇺🇸 Fundamentals of physical surveillance: a guide for uniformed and plainclothes personnel
https://archive.org/details/fundamentalsofph0000silj
The RCMP has its own publications including:
🇨🇦 GCPSG-022 (2025) - Threat and Risk Assessment Guide
GCPSG-010 (2022) - Operational Physical Security Guide
🇨🇦 GCPSG-019 (2023) - Protection, Detection, Response, and Recovery Guide
https://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/physec-secmat/pubs/index-eng.htm
The non-profit Electronic Frontier Foundation also has excellent guides on:
🇺🇸 Street Level Surveillance
https://sls.eff.org
🇺🇸 Surveillance Self-Defense
https://ssd.eff.org/
🇪🇺 🇸🇪⚠️ Resistance Operating Concept
https://jsou.edu/Press/PublicationDashboard/25
🇺🇦 🇺🇲 Radio Free Ukraine Resistance Manual
https://radiofreeukraine.com/3d-flip-book/resistance-manual/
⚠️ John Hopkins University:
Assessing Revolutionary And Insurgent Strategies (ARIS) Studies
This one is used a lot by ICE, so the Trump Regime keeps suppressing it. Here are alternate links as it keeps getting moved around by the good guys:
Small Wars Journal
Assessing Revolutionary and Insurgent Strategies (ARIS) Project
https://archive.smallwarsjournal.com/blog/assessing-revolutionary-and-insurgent-strategies-aris-project
Author's website:
On Resistance, Revolutions, and Insurgencies
https://zimmerer.typepad.com/resistance/
Free PDF download of the book from the original author:
Casebook on Insurgency and Revolutionary Warfare, Volume II 1962 - 2009
http://zimmerer.typepad.com/Documents/ARIS%20Casebook%20Vol%202%202012%20s.pdf
⚠️ Civilian-Based Defense: A Post-Military Weapons System
https://www.nonviolent-conflict.org/resource/civilian-based-defense-a-post-military-weapons-system/
🏁 Simple Sabotage Field Manual by United States Office of Strategic Services
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/26184?ref=404media.co
⚠️ Library of Congress
Revelations from the Russian archives: documents in English translation
https://www.loc.gov/item/96024752
🏁 Robert Reich/Resistance School
Communicating Across Difference
https://m.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLaT8gjnOmQl3dguy0_E0vVCL5ZYEyCTzu
🏁 Bernie Sanders:
https://m.youtube.com/@BernieSanders
🏁 CPJ Committee to Protect Journalists:
Safety Kit
https://cpj.org/safety-kit/
🏁 Activist Handbook:
https://activisthandbook.org/introduction
(⚠️ These are USA sponsered websites. Some publications may have been removed by the Trump regime)
Phew Andy---that was a lot of work! Thanks.
Great article! A short read that’s long on accurate analysis of what was and is being MADE to go wrong, who’s responsible, and what to do to fix it to make it work for “We The People”!
We don’t have the numbers according to a recent Pew poll. The morbidly rich have succeeded in wrecking public education and indoctrinating even people who should know better. We face either full-blown fascism or unrest suspiciously resembling a civil war. I’d leave if I could, but am too old and too ill and too insignificant for that to matter. I am hoping our grandson does. Because there are too many people immune to reason, facts, the truth in this country. Sadly, if fascism prevails, the whole world will be at risk, not just this destroyed country. And yes, the corrupt six on SCOTUS have been gleefully pounding nail after nail into the coffin lid.
It’s not surprising the kraznov and his cronies want to destroy the DOE. After all a dumbed down population is easier to control. It makes me sick. There’s no end to the ways billionaires are planning to screw us.