Any Questions?

Bet those Soyboy are so pleased with themselves for instituting the destruction of their country and mass suffering.

actually, Venezuela has two very different governments. Hugo Chavez(who won in 2007) died in 2013, and also, HE WAS COMMUNIST, NOT SOCIALIST. JUST GET IT RIGHT

end goal of socialist is communism. Both Hugo and Fidel Castro started as socialists. And still both countries practice socialism.

"Any Questions?"

yes. what are your sources? is the second photo actually from 2020? are you aware of the United States has been trying to launch a coup in Venezuela and control its oil reserves?

We don't need its oil reserves.

Well, not now. Once Biden takes over, we will. That's when you'll see the US backed coup.

"That's when you'll see the US backed coup."

coups have been going on for long before biden's victory. trump's administration even backed one

Sure, had absolutely nothing to do with the fact they gave up their guns.

Maybe they should have thought of that before turning in their guns and voting in a shit government. They would probably still have money then...

Venezuela was the richest country in South America before socialism. What's your point.

Venezuela socialism started in 1998...

Oh, you think Norway is socialist that's cute. Maybe this will help you if understanding Venezuela, https://economics21.org/how-socialism-destroyed-venezuela though I doubt you'll read it.

They're not socialist. But their level of govt control over its citizens' lives is considerably greater than what we have here, so they're much closer to being socialist than we are, at least for now.

I don't think the so called Nordic model would work in the US. The key difference between Norway an the US is obviously population. I'd be interested to know how those who advocate implementation of the Nordic model, or something similar, would scale it up to be effective and efficient, in the US.

People are different in different countries. What the people in one country will accept in terms of govt control won't be accepted in other countries. Take health care as an example, since that's such a contentious issue here in the US. Total govt control of health care means govt mandates on how much people in the medical field can earn, and what treatments are allowed. That will not fly here.

Plus, the people here who claim health care is a right, are just wrong. Nobody has a right to the goods and services of other human beings. That doesn't mean that I believe people should go without health care. Our constitution says our govt was formed in part, to promote the general welfare. A sick populace is not having its general welfare promoted. We just need to come up with an American way to ensure that most, if not all, are able to access quality health care.

And taxes? The Norwegian govt taxes "high" incomes at 50% (not sure if that's changed recently or not) and also taxes employers at 60% of the employee's earnings. Simply put, for someone making the equivalent of $100K in US dollars, the Norwegian govt gets $110K in taxes. Not a bad setup for the govt, right?

So, what do they do with all that money? One thing they do us spend it responsibly. The benefits their citizens get for things like maternal and paternal leave are incredible. Even their health care system is efficiently run and effective, despite the red flags I mentioned earlier if it were to be tried here. Both parties in the US spend money like drunken sailors on shore leave every chance they get. If I believed that our leaders were in any way, and I mean ANY way, fiscally responsible, I'd be more inclined to support giving a US version of the Nordic model a try. Until then, not a chance. Our debt is out of control as it is. Giving our govt (either party) a significantly greater amount of money to spend would be nothing short of a recipe for disaster, imo.

You forgot the part that they tax the poor the most.

I agree bailing out banks is a bad idea.

You have to remember that all these Europeans rely heavily on American medical advancements and that with something were to go wrong while you were in a hospital you can't sue because as everyone knows the government has far deeper pockets.

I don't know if it's true or not, but when the little lady and I visited Norway late last year, we were told (by Norwegians, of course) that their govt has not spent any of the money from their oil and natural gas production. The fund from that is now well over $1 trillion. Not bad for a country that is planning to ban all gasoline powered vehicles by 2025.

I have questions.

What useless bit of information have you memorized and will probably never forget?
What risks are worth taking?
What is something you’ve done that you wish you could undo?
What weird food combinations do you really enjoy?
What question would you most like to know the answer to?
If you lived to 100, would you rather keep the body or the mind of yourself at 30 until you were 100?
At what point is a technologically enhanced human not a human anymore?
What’s happening now, that in 20 years people will look back on and laugh about?
What have you done a lot but are still incredibly bad at?
What fictional character is amazing in their book / show / movie, but would be insufferable if you had to deal with them in mundane everyday situations?