Posted on 01/06/2005 7:50:45 AM PST by tomjohn77
I heard a lot of talking about Norwegian taxes and I think some are going over board. Norway has high taxes, too high, but you have to consider that in the taxes we pay we get "free education", Free dentist to the age of 18", free medicare and pretty good pensions compare to other countries etc. Taxes are top 28% at 55000 dollars. We get deducted 28% of interest on loans, like houseloans. Companies pay 12% of yearly wage in Summer Holiday money, this is not taxed. November has half tax.
No tax on the first 5000 dollars. I paid 5% tax when I earn 12000 dollars on my Summer job when I went to university. My dad earned 150000 dollars and paid 30% taxes. He is a part owner of a company. Acctually private enterprises are not scarce like you think. There are many ways to get taxes deducted.
People from North America and oceania has a average family income of around 115000 dollars after taxes. You know then medicare etc is paid for. Cars are expensive , but there are still many BMW, Mercedes and Audis on the road. My friend that is 27 has a new Porche convertible. My other friends that I went in class with from 1-9 grades have boats that are worth more than a million dollars and 200000 dollars etc. More examples from my class, but just to give a picture of life here. And I am not from a big city. I am from a place were middle class people live.
Up to the age of 32 you can pitch in money on a youth savings account for future house buying that gives you deduction on taxes pitch in 2500 dollars and you get 420 dollars in tax deduction.
But of course taxes are to high, but the governing parties are working on it. Like our FED EX is not state run, older peoples communities are both public and private own so are kindergartens, dentists are private, there are private hostpitals that you can pay money to get operated in.
So things are changing rapidly and private business and cost saving is a goal. And taxes will be lower compare to other countries in the future.
You need to get out more often.
Doesn't Norway generate a lot of money from crude oil exports? This has helped to ease the tax burden. Many of these benefits you mentioned are not supported by taxes, but are supported by oil exports.
I have to get the hell out of Europe, I can barely take it anymore. Dawn keeps asking me why I play St Anger all the time. I told her to keep me from unleashing my anger on these liberal bastards. The damn socialists are almost as bad. Norway can kiss my white American ass.
What about Norwegian wood? Is that good?
oh wait...he's from norway, i think
Isn't it?
But of course there are factors that need considered here; Norway has a small population, and is generally people of the same culture, background, and ethnic. Such things tend to encourage stability (at the same time, dullness, or a lack of "diversity").
This is what bothers me when the anti-gun freaks compare our handgun-murder rate with those of Scandinavian or other western European countries.
One should compare "like" with "like."
The United State is a very large country in size. The United States has a very large population. The United States has hundreds of different ethnic and cultural groups, many of them in "conflict" with each other.
So when it comes to things like gun/murder rate, health care, education, whatnot, one should compare apples with apples; the United States with other countries large in size, with a large population, and divergent cultures.
So.....compared with Russia, Indonesia, Brazil ("apples" to our apple), we got nothing to apologize for.
What is your fertility rate? If you are anything like the rest of Scandanavia, your population structure is going to kill you in the end - either that or your Islamic import workers.
Most of the government goodies that you enjoy are due to proceeds from oil exports. Your economy is similar to Alaska.
Why,yes, I believe in a free lunch,Santa Claus the tooth fairy and that my money really belongs to the government and not me because I am too stupid to know how to spend it properly. /sarcasm
Norway does not have 2-3 million illegals coming across their borders each year and getting free hospital care for their pregnant women either.
Norway does not have large cities with a large black population like Detroit, Phialdelphia etc that siphon off resources for housing/prisons/medicaid/food stamps etc.
Free dental ? You can get that in the Army...
Not to sound racist here but this is fact. I read a report in college that said if you took out all the blacks and hispanics out of the US we would have one of the very lowest crime rates in the entire world and our schools would be much higher rated.
Theoretically, a more centrally run society (like that of Norway) is more effective as the population is smaller and more heterogeneous.
It’s most effective at the family or tribe level. It’s least effective and more prone to abuse in a very large and diverse nation like the US (or even more so for the UN). Norway is somewhere in the middle.
I’m happy that it works for you, but it would be a disaster for the US.
I found that out, and I've looked like Austin Powers ever since.
But now Oslo has a significant number of mosques and all the problems that go along with unchecked islamic migration.
Ouch !
Yes, you are right, Bon. TomJohn left out the vital fact that it is primarily Mr. North Sea Oil and not Mr. Taxman who is responsible for what is one of the most lavish womb-to-tomb welfare systems in the world. Norwegians have long been (only half-jokingly) referred to as "The Blue Eyed Arabs" or the "Arabs of the North" because of the oil industry that keeps their economy afloat.
My sister-in-law is a social worker in Norway. The size of her caseload would make any American social worker drool with envy. (I believe it's typically in the single digits). I remember her taking a week-long trip in the middle of winter to some Mediterranean island like Rhodes or Crete with a troubled teenage girl she was counseling. This was completely paid for by the Norwegian government. Since she's had 4 kids of her own, she doesn't do any international trips like this any more, but I assume that social workers who are single or with grown kids still make trips like that.
Tell that to any American social worker. Ask them to imagine what it would be like if their department was swimming in so much money (and available time) that they could go off on Caribbean jaunts for a week at a time with just one of their charges, all expenses paid!
I assume their are only a tiny handful of other countries who can live like that - all or most of them in the Middle East.
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