Just got back from Norway and Denmark

[Torg]

In Norway we visited relatives who live on a beautiful goat/sheep farm on the outskirts of Aurland, near Flam, on the Sognefjord.

The family homes can be seen at 2:14. At 3:16 the houses are seen from a farm building where they do cheese tasting for tourists. The family has lived there for 2,3,or 4 hundred years.

 

[The Tradition]

Did you have any of this?

 

[hawkguy77]

My family took the Norway in a Nutshell tour from Oslo to Bergen. Norway is a beautiful country and I hope to go back again soon. My family originated from the Stavanger area on an island named Fogn.

 

[dandh]

Any of you guys related to The Almighty Johnsons?

 

[Menace Sockeyes]

My sister has visited our fatherland in Denmark on honeymoon in Northern Europe, including the Viking ruins in the town our name comes from. She said the Danes she met, and the Germans near the Reeperbahn in Hamburg were her favorite. I need to get there. You get to Copenhagen, OP?

 

[Torg]

My sister has visited our fatherland in Denmark on honeymoon in Northern Europe, including the Viking ruins in the town our name comes from. She said the Danes she met, and the Germans near the Reeperbahn in Hamburg were her favorite. I need to get there. You get to Copenhagen, OP?

My dad’s side is from Norway, Aurland and Voss.
My mom’s side was Danish. Great grandmother from Odense, and great grandfather from Loland. We went to Odense for 3 days and Copenhagen for 3 days. Everybody from both countries was very helpful and friendly. Only a couple of folks in Denmark were not fluent in English, everybody else was easy to speak with.

We loved Odense and Copenhagen. We stayed at a hotel 2 blocks from Tivoli.

Only complaint was I couldn’t find a good cherry Danish.

 

[CarolinaHawkeye]

Copenhagen is a great place. Did you drink any Akvavit?

 

[Torg]

Did you have any of this?

View embedded media

Nope
Seems like it is Swedish.

 

[Torg]

Copenhagen is a great place. Did you drink any Akvavit?

No
I’m pretty much a wino.

 

[CarolinaHawkeye]

No
I’m pretty much a wino.

From what I'm told, the Aalborg Akvavit is now made in Sweden, so it likely is no longer worth drinking.

 

[The Tradition]

Nope
Seems like it is Swedish.

They all look the same.

 

[Torg]

They all look the same.

lol
That’s pretty good

 

[Torg]

One of my favorite memories of our trip is just how friendly and content people seemed.

When people live in truly socialist countries where if they get sick they don’t have to worry about going bankrupt, and everyone makes a livable wage, they find it easy to be happy and content.

We were also surprised by how diverse both countries were.

 

[dandh]

One of my favorite memories of our trip is just how friendly and content people seemed.

When people live in truly socialist countries where if they get sick they don’t have to worry about going bankrupt, and everyone makes a livable wage, they find it easy to be happy and content.

We were also surprised by how diverse both countries were.

Except those are not truly socialist countries. In addition, many Scandanavian countries have drastically cut their welfare entitlements in recent in years.

Carry on.

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

Except those are not truly socialist countries.

Close enough to want more of it here.

 

[Pepperman]

One of my favorite memories of our trip is just how friendly and content people seemed.

When people live in truly socialist countries where if they get sick they don’t have to worry about going bankrupt, and everyone makes a livable wage, they find it easy to be happy and content.

We were also surprised by how diverse both countries were.

To me, the more diverse these countries become, the more they are going to struggle with their "socialism". I say that because socialism works when everybody has the same value set and agrees on how money should be best spent for the benefit of society. If you take it down to the core, each of our families are socialistic set ups and this works because the adults can agree on how money should be spent. Country clubs are effectively the same way - people with similar values agree to pool resources and get what they want out of the pool. Much harder to do when you're in a total melting pot and some of the folks have strong views (even religious views) about what is "right vs wrong".

 

[IACub]

I hope you got some Aass while you were there.

 

[dandh]

Close enough to want more of it here.

You left off this part of my quote:

In addition, many Scandanavian countries have drastically cut their welfare entitlements in recent in years.

I wonder why?

 

[Menace Sockeyes]

Except those are not truly socialist countries. In addition, many Scandanavian countries have drastically cut their welfare entitlements in recent in years.

Carry on.

Yep, this is true. It is Democratic Socialism. And the social safety net is still far more robust than in America. You have a trade-off, a bit more taxation but a populace that doesn't have abject poverty. And there's also a culture of entrepreneurship fostered because you aren't ruined for taking a risk. These countries high number of successful tech start-ups has been attributed to this.

 

[CarolinaHawkeye]

This actually tastes better in Copenhagen than it does here.

And I can't find this here:

 

[Pepperman]

You have a trade-off, a bit more taxation but a populace that doesn't have abject poverty.

For starters, I don't really believe anybody in the United States is truly living in "abject poverty" (unless they make that choice to do so)... but the real question I have is for those that think the US could adopt this Democratic Socialism (not saying Menace believes this necessarily) how do you get people that are poor to buy in to the system?

 

[jasonrann]

My sister has visited our fatherland in Denmark on honeymoon in Northern Europe, including the Viking ruins in the town our name comes from. She said the Danes she met, and the Germans near the Reeperbahn in Hamburg were her favorite. I need to get there. You get to Copenhagen, OP?

Outstanding! My family originates from an area very close to there. It’s a harbor town in northern Germany called Husum. I have tracked family back to the 1700’s. I hope to visit there some day. The wife (pic in another thread) and I visited Dusseldorf and Munich back in 2015, but didn’t make it to northern Germany. The people are simply outstanding, generous, welcoming and one hell of a good time!

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

You left off this part of my quote:

In addition, many Scandanavian countries have drastically cut their welfare entitlements in recent in years.

I wonder why?

I often leave off the parts I'm not responding to.

It's a shame that some of these countries are cutting services.

As for why, it's mainly a concerted neoliberal push - much like we see here in the US. Not justified by anything but the desire of the rich and powerful to become more rich and powerful.

 

[Pepperman]

It's a shame that some of these countries are cutting services.

As for why, it's mainly a concerted neoliberal push - much like we see here in the US. Not justified by anything but the desire of the rich and powerful to become more rich and powerful.

Reminds me of when I was a child. I loved the rides and food at the fair. I recall a year where mom and dad told me I wasn't going to get to take multiple rides and I'd only get to choose one food item.

Knowing bull crap when I see it, I told mom and dad they were not justified. This was simple the desire of rich and powerful mom and dad to become more rich and powerful.

 

[thewop]

Played golf with an 11:30pm tee time on the Lofoten Islands in Norway, watched the sun ALMOST go down, then bounce off the horizon and start coming back up. Amazing experience.

 

[dandh]

I often leave off the parts I'm not responding to.

It's a shame that some of these countries are cutting services.

As for why, it's mainly a concerted neoliberal push - much like we see here in the US. Not justified by anything but the desire of the rich and powerful to become more rich and powerful.

Here's a hint, related to Democratic Socialist plans for the USA, from that right-wing rag Vox:

Total cost: $42.5 trillion in new proposals over the next decade, on top of the $12.4 trillion baseline deficit.

To put this in perspective, Washington is currently projected to collect $44 trillion in revenues over the next decade. And the Republican tax cut, decried universally by Democrats as irresponsible (and by Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi as “Armageddon”) will cost less than $2 trillion over the decade.

The 30-year projected tab for these programs is even more staggering: new proposals costing $218 trillion, on top of an $84 trillion baseline deficit driven by Social Security, Medicare, and the resulting interest costs.

What would be the effects of such an unprecedented spending binge? Federal spending, which typically ranges between 18 and 22 percent of GDP, would immediately soar past 40 percent of GDP on its way to nearly 50 percent within three decades. Including state and local government spending would push the total cost of government to 60 percent of GDP by that point — exceeding the current spending level of every country in Europe.

No, single-payer doesn’t just involve a straightforward shift from private payments to taxes
These numbers are not partisan. They come from the Congressional Budget Office, top liberal think tanks, and the lawmakers themselves. They are the left’s own figures. (And note that we included an absurdly low-cost estimate for the jobs guarantee.)

https://www.vox.com/the-big-idea/20...-cost-medicare-college-sanders-deficits-taxes

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

Here's a hint, related to Democratic Socialist plans for the USA, from that right-wing rag Vox:

Total cost: $42.5 trillion in new proposals over the next decade, on top of the $12.4 trillion baseline deficit.

To put this in perspective, Washington is currently projected to collect $44 trillion in revenues over the next decade. And the Republican tax cut, decried universally by Democrats as irresponsible (and by Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi as “Armageddon”) will cost less than $2 trillion over the decade.

The 30-year projected tab for these programs is even more staggering: new proposals costing $218 trillion, on top of an $84 trillion baseline deficit driven by Social Security, Medicare, and the resulting interest costs.

What would be the effects of such an unprecedented spending binge? Federal spending, which typically ranges between 18 and 22 percent of GDP, would immediately soar past 40 percent of GDP on its way to nearly 50 percent within three decades. Including state and local government spending would push the total cost of government to 60 percent of GDP by that point — exceeding the current spending level of every country in Europe.

No, single-payer doesn’t just involve a straightforward shift from private payments to taxes
These numbers are not partisan. They come from the Congressional Budget Office, top liberal think tanks, and the lawmakers themselves. They are the left’s own figures. (And note that we included an absurdly low-cost estimate for the jobs guarantee.)

https://www.vox.com/the-big-idea/20...-cost-medicare-college-sanders-deficits-taxes

And your point is?

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

Reminds me of when I was a child. I loved the rides and food at the fair. I recall a year where mom and dad told me I wasn't going to get to take multiple rides and I'd only get to choose one food item.

Knowing bull crap when I see it, I told mom and dad they were not justified. This was simple the desire of rich and powerful mom and dad to become more rich and powerful.

And how did that work out for you?

Because, yes, that argument doesn't go very far when you are dealing with the rich and powerful - whether whether or not you are right. Power laughs at truth and justice.

 

[rchawk]

Denmark, Norway, Sweden. Your ancestors went on the best road trips ever.

 

[QChawks]

we are working on plans to visit relatives in Norway next March

they live just outside of Oslo, looking for any feedback from those that have visited before

 

[billanole]

You left off this part of my quote:

In addition, many Scandanavian countries have drastically cut their welfare entitlements in recent in years.

I wonder why?

Cause you really make a big point about it? Gotta dig, make some point, right?

 

[billanole]

For starters, I don't really believe anybody in the United States is truly living in "abject poverty" (unless they make that choice to do so)... but the real question I have is for those that think the US could adopt this Democratic Socialism (not saying Menace believes this necessarily) how do you get people that are poor to buy in to the system?

You think no one lives in abject poverty in the US?
You don’t get out much.

 

[Tom Paris]

And your point is?

His point is we can’t afford to do anything that makes the middle and lower class’ lives better. Ever. We get poorer and the rich get wealthy.

 

[Hawki97]

we are working on plans to visit relatives in Norway next March

they live just outside of Oslo, looking for any feedback from those that have visited before

Get out of Oslo. If you spend most of your time in the city, you’re going to miss the best parts of Norway.

If you don’t like paying $15/beer - don’t plan to drink when you’re out and about.

Do not speed. They will ticket you, they will find you, you will pay.

Trolltunga is cooler than pulpit rock. Don’t go the usual route up the old cog rail, do the via ferrata.

Kjeragboltn isn’t actually scary at all because the approach to it is in back from where the picture is and you basically just step right on to it. If you want a picture to freak out all your friends, this is it.

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

His point is we can’t afford to do anything that makes the middle and lower class’ lives better. Ever. We get poorer and the rich get wealthy.

Probably.

I was thinking he's just another among many cons who only look at the price tag and not what we are getting for our money.

Some people would reject world peace, a cure for cancer, and a solution to the climate crisis just because it costs too much. Yet those same people seldom bother to consider what war, poor health care, and climate catastrophe cost us.

These are the same people who want to cut federal spending and focus on so-called entitlements because they cost so much. Faced with difficulty paying their own bills, they would stop paying the mortgage because it's the biggest bill - with no thought to what comes next.

 

[QChawks]

got back last night!

my suitcase is still missing in Denmark 😞

Norway is absolutely beautiful!

 

[FAUlty Gator]

 

[Finance85]

Close enough to want more of it here.

They have a different work ethic, and believe everyone should contribute, not just the top 10%.

 

[jonesy5960]

Did you pick up one of those cool horn hats while you were there? 🤔

 

[QChawks]

Did you pick up one of those cool horn hats while you were there? 🤔

No horn hat, but I bought $200 of candy and chocolates

Luckily it wasn’t packed in my suitcase so it all made it back