The American Dream ... is in NORWAY!! Saturday night live

[RhoDaZZGR]

Even though I agree with the underlying point of the video, it's overstated and too black/white : Denmark does not have more than a few electric cars, public wages being higher than private gives an unmanageable bureaucracy obsessed with verifications, and I doubt most countries (well, besides Norway) could afford the best of all worlds that you portray here (a good standard of living requires proportional wealth). Also, those debt numbers might be entirely dependant on economic fluctuations.

[captcrais101]

Well at least Norway would never vote for a bill like S1867 into law over their own people. They would never call their own citizens terrorists without court and a attorney. America has passed a bll that does this to Americans. How do you feel about their socialism now?

[gulbirk]

And you find that in Norway exactly because we have a more socialised version of society.

The american dream doesnt work in a capitalist society.

Just like george carlin said ""You have to be asleep to believe it"" (because its called the american DREAM).

The resat of Europe is failing because right winged parties promise people MORE money in their pockets, and lower taxes and more personal freedom, all at the same time. Thats why its failing.

[faelismaegnus]

Europe is about to break up because of welfare state debts in many of it's countries. I have lived in Europe. They put people in English-language programs paid for by the government (tax payers) and count it as "employment". The Islamists are growing in number and audacity. The governments in Europe are the CORPORATIONS that profit off of their citizens. Europe is in for trouble. America has problems, but you are exaggerating them and misrepresenting the reality of American life.

[MedicalStorage]

@1:26 These are the figures I just found:

Worldwide Exporters 2010 est -

China $ 1,581,000,000,000

Germany $ 1,303,000,000,000

United States $ 1,289,000,000,000 

Japan $ 765,200,000,000

France $ 517,300,000,000

Netherlands $ 485,900,000,000

[baron8107]

@MedicalStorage

You're not telling us where you found them...

[MedicalStorage]

@baron8107

The comments section won't allow aninternet addy, but It's at: cia.gov/library/publications/t­he-world.../2078rank.html

[turbofritz2]

What is this bullshit? I went here to vote my support for Ron Paul to end this monetary system that we have today and i end up in this supid video praising EU!??

[hansson2000]

@turbofritz2 without telling why Eu is stupid lol

[Seasurf88]

I would quibble with a few of your statistics, but overall, your analysis is right on the mark.

Corporations need to be factored out of decision-making in the U.S.A. Their bottom line should be: How many livable wage jobs did I create for my fellow Americans this quarter ? And: How fast can top management reduce their salaries to less than $200K per year?

[GlobalistPotato]

Scandinavian countries like Norway and Sweden remind me of the economic model that we had in the '50s-'60s; Strong Unions, high levels of Government involvement and planning in the economy, and promoting high productivity. Unfortunately, a large part of the American left tends to bash on that era due to the sexism and racism prevalent at that time and the emergence of automobile and petroleum dependency.

[xhagast]

@GlobalistPotato I think it is more that they hear only about how conservative those decades were. Or how rotten with Hippies. The true mechanics of the economical and social success of the age are not generally known.

[Silberdachs]

I've lived in the USA (3 years) and Norway (2 years). Norway is so much better. Except for the terrible winters, it would be perfect. Comes damn close though!

[samugaag]

America will continue to argue that global warming is a conspiracy. We will continue to critique anyone who supports policies similar to those in Norway as "unpatriotic". We will continue to suffer high crime rates and lower wages. We will continue to die younger and dumber. We will do all this while Europe, Asia, and maybe even South America in the distant future laugh at our ignorance.

[Sashaseyb]

Pretty much sums it up. Sure wish I could get citizenship in Europe. Or that Americans would actually pry themselves away from 24 hour coverage of celebritard gossip news and educate themselves! And sadly, I doubt most high school seniors, or even college students have a hight school senior level interpretation of Ayn Rand. I doubt that too many of them even try to justify or find virtue in selfishness anymore.

[Thagros]

AAAAAAAA!!! We're going the exact same way in the UK!! There are massive protests going on about these issues and the Conservative-lead government (because the Liberals are NOT calling any shots in the coalition) is able to ignore them.

No one's walking around preaching their high-school senior level interpretation of Ayn Rand yet but that's coming too.

Fucking great video, mate.

[refuckulate420]

It's really disturbing how corrupt our government is and how dumbed down and apathetic our people are. They just keep voting in the same idiots, hoping for a different result. The 2 party system is a failure, campaign financing needs to be reformed!

I think I'm going to start supporting the green party.

[mrfreedomdemocracy1]

Americans can smugly dismiss the European Union's role as merely the bailer-outer of dysfunctional countries, i.e., Portugal, Ireland and Greece. But the more significant news isn't just that the New York Stock Exchange has been bought by NYSE Euronext and Deutsche Borse, but that as of 2007 the value of the European stock market surpassed that of the U.S., according to the excellent book Europe's Promise: Why the European Way in the Best Hope in an Insecure Age, by Steven Hill.

[mrfreedomdemocracy1]

Not surprisingly, the rising value is reflective of the fact that the European Union is now the world's wealthiest trading bloc, accounting for nearly a third of the world's economy -- almost as large as the U.S. and China combined, says Hill. From 2000 to 2005, Europe added jobs faster than the U.S., posting higher productivity gains and enjoyed a $3 billion trade surplus. Oh, and these Europeans pay high sales and income taxes. Take that, Rep. Paul Ryan!

[mrfreedomdemocracy1]

Not only did Germany overtake the U.S. as the world's largest exporter in 2005, as pointed out in a 2006 Newsweek article entitled "Europe is a House Divided," but it did so by selling high-quality/cost goods produced by generously compensated workers -- its average hourly wage is $48, compared to $32 in the U.S.

A little-discussed feature of the European Union is that it's a partnership between large employers and their workers, not just between countries.

[mrfreedomdemocracy1]

Since 1994 when the EU issued a directive on works councils, defined as "composed of both employer and employees convened to discuss matters of common interest," every multinational company with at least 1,000 workers within the EU and 150 workers in each of two or member states must negotiate agreements with works councils if employees petition the employer to create one, Susan Ladka writes in a June 2005 HRMagazine article entitled "Working Together."

[mrfreedomdemocracy1]

Works councils not only enjoy veto power over job losses but have the right to meet with management to discuss mergers and the introduction of new technologies, says Hill in Europe's Promise.

[mrfreedomdemocracy1]

In fact, works councils existed long before the EU did. According to a 2001 article in The Economist, "Europe: You're Fired," Germany had them after the Weimar Republic and after 1945 required any company with more than 500 employees to have a "supervisory board, in which workers hold one third of the seats

[mrfreedomdemocracy1]

A few decades later, other countries in Europe followed suit, including Austria, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Sweden. While the UK resisted the notion at first, because, as The Economist put it, the British approach is "sack 'em now and argue afterwards" -- it ultimately passed local works council legislation a few years ago to meet a 2005 EU deadline, Ladka writes.

[mrfreedomdemocracy1]

Incredibly, as far as I can tell, no discussion or debate about creating works councils has ever taken the place within "sack-'em-now" American workplaces, much less on Capitol Hill.

So our counterparts in Europe are enjoying American-style prosperity while continuing to receive European style benefits, including health care, a free or cheap college education, pensions, and generous unemployment benefits.

[whedonfreak976]

we need more socialist policies, in the world, the so called free market does not work

[Bawbster1]

Yup - It's happening up here in Canada as well. A little slower, but make no mistake, it's happening here. Us North Americans need to be more like Europeans (esp. the French), when the people don't like something, like storm the streets and protest, sometimes violently - until they get what they want. After all, they did give America the Statue of Liberty (a French symbol- just so you know - that's why it's facing France).

[xexixk]

@Bawbster1 Sorry to hear that about Canada, we don't hear much about Canada politics down here unless we seek out informaion, which I do, but it's still hard to get a feeling for it. I have to say there has always been something about Harper that has creeped me out. And I agree the French know how to protest, I don't think it will happen here unless people can no longer afford to feed themselves.

[Timcookie321]

@Bawbster1 Actually it doesn't face France (mainland), it faces south america, coincidently facing French guiana perfectly, I checked it on google earth!

[MedicalStorage]

@Timcookie321

LOL - That was awesome Tim.

[Silberdachs]

I've been saying this for years!

[justonefirefly1]

Educational because it is factual!  thanks