Life in Norway

It looks like the Norwegian wealth tax is for wealth above $170M, which seems pretty aggressive to me. Gabriel Zucman and others made a website [2] in 2020 aimed at the US that included a wealth tax; the lowest bracket it had was for wealth above $1M. I like wealth taxes, and prefer Zucman's model over that of Norway. Progressive income taxes and wealth taxes seem to me like great mechanisms to build a middle class and to increase social stability. I.e. stabilize the wealth and income distributions (in the statistical sense) so that they do not become bimodal. [1] https://www.lifeinnorway.net/wealth-tax/ [2] https://triumphofinjustice.org/

You might want to learn a few things about Norway first [1] You also have to deal with sunset/sunrise being different from what you are used to, except you are from Alaska or similar high latitude. Best to travel there first or before making the jump. [1] https://www.lifeinnorway.net/things-you-must-know-before-moving-to-nor…

> In countries like Norway, that kind of data is publicly available. It makes for less second-guessing and less suspiciousness. That just means the very rich need more creative accountants. "See I don't own the jet, per se, I just own a majority of shares in a corporation headquartered in Cyprus that owns said asset" > It always struck me as weird that the American Dream can best be lived in Scandinavia I don't think the American Dream is really compatible with Janteloven https://www.lifeinnorway.net/what-exactly-is-janteloven/

Seems like beautiful and great drive. One of things in my bucket list is to drive on Lofoten scenic route [1]. [1] https://www.lifeinnorway.net/lofoten-road-trip/

Many people are seriously afraid of driving in snow and even recommend things like never driving in it. I come from a snowy region and have never lost control of my car unintentionally for more than a second in snow. I used to drive over a hundred thousand miles in snow each year for about one decade in my life. Sometimes the car slips a bit when doing something sudden but it’s quickly resolved by not doing the thing (sudden braking, sudden turning, sudden acceleration, and so on). With proper tyres and the roads being salted, and aside from needing to be a bit less sudden about movements, I have never felt more at risk in the snow than out of it. What is there to be afraid of? Are these people driving with Summer tyres or is there some other reason they seem to find snow so problematic? Perhaps the roads are not salted in the US? Are studded tyres allowed? Is it just that some regions like the US generally do very poorly with driving safety and the “snow effect” is more visible? https://www.lifeinnorway.net/norway-has-worlds-safest-roads/ says, for example, that only 2 fatal crashes happen a year in Norway due to phone distractions. I think this is higher in the US? The author says there are many accidents after heavy snowfalls, but this is not observably the case in most northern European countries that have about an equal number of snow and non-snow days a year. There may be more accidents in snow, but you cannot observe the increase naturally. Genuinely hoping to…

I'm not sure if the main point is that things can't be explained, but rather that a good explanation needs to encompass a (impractically) large section of the culture surrounding the term. Just as you can learn a new culture and language by immersion, that immersion can be approximated by language (one of the reasons why reading books is such a great thing!). I'm not sure if these are examples of things that cannot be translated or explained in a foreign language, but they are a few things that came to mind: You can't really translate Japanese haiku to English, only approximate them (well, some of them). The Samic language (and probably others, at least I'd expect some native American/First Nation languages to have a similar term), has a word for the state between being awake and being asleep/dreaming: adjagas. In Maori, the ideas of boiled food is tightly connected to the physical world, so much so that boiled fish/food is considered anti-magic (or so I've been informed by a linguist). The Norwegian word "koselig"/"å kose seg" is hard to translate to English. It's related to "cozy"[k], but carries a deeper meaning that is deeply connected to Norwegian culture (or so a lot of foreigners seem to think). In martial arts, the concept of distance can be represented by the Japanese term "maai"[m]. Is this really so different from similar concepts from fencing? I'm not sure, but the meaning is certainly deeply connected to the culture and concepts of martial arts. You'll note…

Oh, interesting! I read https://www.newsinenglish.no/2024/10/01/cash-cleared-for-a-comeback/ and https://www.lifeinnorway.net/norway-strengthens-right-to-pay-in-cash/ . The point of budgeting via "cash stuffing" instead of the invisible shuffling of money through a bank card, is something that in retrospect is something similar to what I did when I was younger - the cash in my wallet is getting low, so I should hold back on expenditures. It lists some issues, like "The number of automated teller machines (called a minibank in Norwegian) has also declined, and most of them recently started charging a fee of NOK 10 (USD 1) to withdraw cash. If more people start using cash again, that may change." Can you perhaps tell me how things have changed in the last couple of years?

In most Norwegian supermarkets the card readers (chip and pin and contactless) still work even if disconnected from the network. In my local one they just print two copies of the receipt and ask you to sign one just in case the reconciliation process fails when the network comes online again. Some small stores have an account with Vipps so if their readers actually are down but the phone network is up then they just ask you to pay with Vipps (https://www.lifeinnorway.net/what-is-vipps/).

The article isn't about income taxes. Income taxes are taxes on income that you earn in any calendar year. The article is about wealth taxes. In addition to income taxes, Norway has a wealth tax, which taxes net wealth above $170k (NOK 1.7M) at 1% [0]. So, if you're net wealth is $200k, you are taxed 1% on $30k every year. Separately, it is a myth that the wealthy don't pay taxes. This isn't Reddit. Wealthy pay taxes but they also maximize the value of any benefits already included in the tax code. AMT is an attempt to fix this but has its own problems. [0] https://www.lifeinnorway.net/wealth-tax/

Plenty of drugs are still making it to Scandinavia. I can't speak for Finland specifically, but in the past couple of months over 1600kg of cocaine was found in Oslo and over 100kg were found in western Norway. So yes, drugs are readily available here. There was also an article several years ago that estimated Norway was the 5th cheapest country for drugs compared to average wages. https://www.newsinenglish.no/2023/04/17/more-cocaine-seized-in-oslo/ https://www.newsinenglish.no/2023/04/18/more-cocaine-seized-this-time-… https://www.lifeinnorway.net/norway-surges-in-world-vice-index/

It's the escape tunnel for a tram tunnel with an extra coat of paint: https://www.lifeinnorway.net/bergen-cycle-tunnel/

Gluelam was in the news recently after a bridge collapse in Norway, root cause not yet determined, https://www.lifeinnorway.net/wooden-bridge-collapse/ & https://www.dezeen.com/2022/08/17/norway-timber-tretten-bridge-collaps…

> tied to super market checkout systems Norway is one step closer to that: https://www.lifeinnorway.net/norway-to-track-all-supermarket-purchases…

Cities struggle to build better public transport because car owners complain en masse about any impingement on their freedoms. Car supremacy is a big wedge issue in Norway, which is paradoxically a big oil exporter, and the worlds leader in electric vehicle usage. It even has has its own single issue political party, I wonder if big oil money is behind it? https://www.lifeinnorway.net/norways-drivers-rally-against-road-tolls/

Getting into Norway doesn't seem too hard - but I'm open to be told why I'm wrong. Here is what I found: "Broadly speaking, the award of a residence permit depends on two things: your country of citizenship and your ability to financially sustain yourself and any dependents. This generally means you need a job offer, or you must prove financial sustainability if you are coming to Norway to study or for some other reason. It is possible for some people to move to Norway as a job seeker, but this is only allowed for a relatively short period of time. If you don’t manage to find employment during that time, you will have to leave the country, and there is a waiting period before you will be able to return." - https://www.lifeinnorway.net/norway-immigration-guide/

Here is one article on the subject. I am sure there are more out there. http://www.lifeinnorway.net/2013/03/have-the-norwegians-got-it-right/