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Finland... A model of how to do it right? (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter DallasDMac
- Start date
baymen
Footballguy
Once I saw the thread title, I expected it to go that way. The fact that it didn’t at least shows nuance isn’t dead.
Politician Spock
Footballguy
Maybe the US has a higher GDP because people work too much, and that working less not only makes people happier it requires fewer programs to make people happy.
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I will accept American's working 30.5 hours per week to have parity with Finland, while also having the same social programs that Finland has.
Politician Spock
Footballguy
The typical work hours per week in Finland is around 40 hours. They work less because they take more vacation/holidays, not because they work less each week.
From: https://businessculture.org/northern-europe/finland/work-life-balance-2/
IC FBGCav
Footballguy
That is a terrible comparison. General Motors needed socialism to survive not the laundry mat.
IC FBGCav
Footballguy
Greed drives the American people and benefits the elite. If you have a boogieman like immigrants to blame then you don't have to blame the greedy 1%.
That is why the keep resources for the poor heavily regulated and limited. It causes friction between poor people who now can blame each other for using those resources instead of asking the simple question of why isn't our government providing us the services that other countries are provided theirs.
With middle class of the US wages not increasing the last 40 years, it pretty easy to figure out where all that money goes in the richest country in the world.
That is why the keep resources for the poor heavily regulated and limited. It causes friction between poor people who now can blame each other for using those resources instead of asking the simple question of why isn't our government providing us the services that other countries are provided theirs.
With middle class of the US wages not increasing the last 40 years, it pretty easy to figure out where all that money goes in the richest country in the world.
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Punxsutawney Phil
Footballguy
Hot Diggity Dog
Footballguy
Perhaps I am wrong in my thought process and I am interested to hear from Europeans and people who live in Europe, especially Northern Europe. It seems like Western and Northern Europeans demand and get, if only because it is an inbred feature of their culture, fairly efficient government. The American tradition seems to have lots more inefficiencies and outright graft that makes some of us leery of giving the government more $ to, let's say, use.
Love the Nordic countries, but, aren't the winters brutal? I kind of picture it like Game of Thrones north of the wall.
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roadkill1292
Footballguy
I post at another board with a much higher number of European participants and it is an educating experience to listen to them. They expect the government to work for their well-being and their representatives are elected with that in mind. They're happy to pay high taxes by our standards because they get so much more in return for them.
But we have billion dollar planes and carriers and they don't, so there's that.
@msommer
Hot Diggity Dog
Footballguy
I don't think our military is the only source of waste and inefficiencies. There are to many dumb rules, political appointments, and acceptance of debt across the board.
msommer
Footballguy
msommer
Footballguy
I think the best description is that trust in the system enables the rest. Not sure which is cause and effect though.
100 years ago the Nordic countries were agrucultural backwaters. Our democracies were young but there was a sense of common cause, particularly when social democrats started being represented in the legislature and ultimately governing. The post war years brought prosperity and urbanization so betting on education came naturally and with the exception of Norway (oil) all are pretty much service economies now.
Up into the seventies social cohesion was absurdly high, this is when the first immigrants started coming - for work, and we all took in a bunch of refugees.
So for about a hundred years the aim has been to have a healthy population free of poverty and exploitation, which was largely attained (with the possible exception of true equality of the sexes) in the sixties/seventies.
So the system (mostly) works and thus is trusted. Can it be replicated? IMHO not on a short timescale.
