Ask me about life in the oily utopia: Norway

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Ask/Tell > Ask me about life in the oily utopia: Norway

Alhazred: Feb 16, 2011

Original_Z posted:

I'm sure it's not the same for the entire population but the Norwegians I've met (admittedly not that many) have had super good English skill and accents, they sounded like native speakers, made no grammar mistakes at all, and probably could have easily passed for Americans yet had never lived abroad. They told me it's because they consume so much American media on TV, but a lot of countries also consume it and I've never met other Europeans that were that good, even the Danes and Swedes I've met have excellent English but still had a minor accent.

Danes can barely speak their own language.

# ¿ Oct 26, 2016 18:30

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# ¿ Apr 29, 2024 07:51

Alhazred: Feb 16, 2011

Pursesnatcher posted:

There is a point to all this. Denmark and Sweden were both proper empires for quite some time. Norway, as we have seen, was an occupied backwater. Even after gaining independence, we only got 35 years of it before the Germans came knocking, and they stayed until 1945. In the meantime, lots of Norwegians got pretty good at speaking German, just as they had learned Swedish and Danish before that.

There's also the fact that there were a lot of germans working in norwegian mines in the 16th century. There were in fact so many that speaking german became s status symbol and the first non-german oberberghauptmann (director of the mines) changed his name from Mikkel Hellesen to Michael Heltzen in order to sound more german.

# ¿ Oct 26, 2016 19:45

Alhazred: Feb 16, 2011

JazzmasterCurious posted:

Regular skis, yes. Roller skis, the ones you talk about, no. Pretty much only professionals, semi-pros or people who want to look like retards in summertime use those.

I have lived in Holmenkollen and can confirm this.

# ¿ Oct 27, 2016 15:17

Alhazred: Feb 16, 2011

punk rebel ecks posted:

How does having such a high quality of life work when they tax you such a high amount?

First of all, the taxes in Norway isn't that high. Second, you do know that taxes is what makes it possible to have a functioning welfare state? It's not like the tax money goes directly into the politician's pocket.

quote:

How is a middle class person better in Norway after getting taxed so heavily?

Stuff like not having to go bankrupt when you get sick or injured helps in that regard.

# ¿ Oct 28, 2016 05:44

Alhazred: Feb 16, 2011

Pellisworth posted:

Hi I'm an American of Norwegian descent who enjoys homemade lefse during the holidays but do you guys actually eat lutefisk, and why the gently caress did you export that cuisine?

Personally I'm convinced that lutefisk is an elobarate prank gone horribly wrong.

# ¿ Oct 28, 2016 12:29

Alhazred: Feb 16, 2011

lizard_phunk posted:

Sure sign of Norwegians: Disagreements about paid holidays.

Soon we will begin to discuss the weather.

# ¿ Oct 29, 2016 09:49

Alhazred: Feb 16, 2011

Pursesnatcher posted:

Oh, and let's not forget that everyone can look up the taxes of anyone else � even anonymously until a couple of years ago. What you make, in Norway, is a matter of public record, so as to make sure nobody gets too successful without everyone knowing about it.

Yeah, no: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xH7eGFuSYI

Also:
Solli and Rege also found something else:
- Those who through tax lists could discover that they had lower incomes than their cousins, had just over a year later increased its income by five percent more than the group that had higher incomes than their cousins.
This applies both to those who were in work and for those who found another job.
- This is much, says the researcher.
Solli thinks the result tells us something about how income comparisons - and income inequality - affecting us.
Information shock that came through the publication of tax list the first time on October 10, 2001, caused many employees to act differently than they would otherwise have done.
- Many got up maybe a kick in the pants that made the rather searched to another job where they got better paid. Perhaps this was also a job where they fit better, says Solli. (the google translation is pretty awful but still gets the point across).

# ¿ Oct 29, 2016 12:43

Alhazred: Feb 16, 2011

Pursesnatcher posted:

It's around 8-900 NOK for the actual appointment itself, but I've always had to add at least another 400 or so due to X-rays and "supplies", whatever that is.

Uhm, yes.

The Q&A from the national tax administration provides the following answer to the question "Why are these lists public?":

"Parliament has decided that taxes paid should be public. This in order to enable society as a whole to control the taxation work in general, and the taxation rates set for individuals and groups of taxpayers."

Now, sure, you could look up your coworkers and find out if you make more or less than they do. But this has nothing to do with the reason for publicizing these lists.

Ensuring that the taxation process is transparent is pretty loving far from "make sure nobody gets too successful without everyone knowing about it".

# ¿ Oct 29, 2016 13:46

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# ¿ Apr 29, 2024 07:51

Alhazred: Feb 16, 2011

Pursesnatcher posted:

I honestly try to stay out of all that, personally. One side lies and cheats, the other lies and steals. There's a host of silly misunderstandings about the how's and why's of our tax system though, and I don't like how people are smiling when they're getting screwed just because they have been led to believe the screwing is in their own best interest. Also "snitch on your neighbor if he seems too rich" is both a peculiar cultural trait which fits nicely into what lizard_phunk described, and a nice scheme for keeping people in line.

Is "snitches get stitches" seriously your argument against public tax records?

# ¿ Oct 29, 2016 19:01

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Ask/Tell > Ask me about life in the oily utopia: Norway